The most hated map in the entire series

The optional co-op areas in each of the DLCs were a little questionable.

Song used: Snowpeak Ruins - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess OST

[odd-eyesfemboy]

"The only way to leave the Frigid Outskirts is through a warp point that appears here".

Me leaving in a body bag: Are you sure about that?

[ZullietheWitch]

The idea of being able to summon players who didn't own the DLC, allowing them to earn limited access to DLC items, was a respectable concept, it's just too bad about the areas they decided to let you summon them into.

[AzureGreatheart]

“The summoning circle allowed you to summon even players who didn’t own the DLC.” Imagine getting summoned by another player, and ending up in Horse@&#% Valley before you knew the area existed.

[the_guiding_qui]

Fun fact: you can avoid interacting with everything in this area before the boss by tiptoeing in chameleon form. It takes ~20 minutes.

[Owen-oydw]

Blindness ✅
No bonfires ✅
Relentless Enemies ✅
Respawning Enemies ✅
Safe houses that enemies can walk into ✅
Reused boss but just a gank version ✅
Longest boss run back in the history of mankind ✅

Honestly if the area just had a bonfire at the end barely anybody would care about it, it’s just the fact that it’s so bad and you have to do it again and again and again.

[spectrasoulfaire]

Imagine trudging through this snowy hellscape in a dress and heels. Now that's dedication.

[RisingOnion]

Summoning someone for this area is a great way to make them not buy it

[Not_an_alligator]

I like this area on paper, but it was executed rather poorly. Should've had a bonfire at the end or something.
I always thought, maybe it should've been the starting area for the Ivory King DLC. Finding a whole city to explore at the end of this level would've been a much better reward than the double Aava reskin we got

[nutria]

A single bonfire before the boss arena could have saved this area

[kun]

Sir we ran out of characters for the NPCs in the new DLC. What do we do?

"Better call Saulden."

[rinerwainkler]

The best strat i found for this area is to play literally anything else instead.

[gheorghestavila]

Fun fact: That damn ruins never covered me from Kirin, they kept attacking me while i was in the ruins, and kept spawning and spawning
That's how in a run i almost got 9 kirins running round the area trying to kill me.ihatethismap.

[kiramcdonalds]

I really like the concept of seeing a single hollow wandering aimlessly through the snow wasteland

[Curlorly]

Man, I remember this “fun” area. Seems kind of neat on paper. A wasteland plagued by a never ending blizzard, filled with mystic creatures who attack adventurers… it’s too bad that the execution of the idea made this whole area seem like a literal chore instead. And if you die to Lud and Zallen, tough stuff, you gotta tread the entire map again.

[TheodoricFriede]

This area feels like it was made in direct response to people asking:
"What could possible be worse than a seemingly unfinished area, wreathed in an eye melting orange glow, surrounded by lava and dragon asses, with a terrible, gimmicky, final boss?"

[nikolaosboukouvalas]

"I will always be here... watching over you..."

- Saulden, apparently literally.

[m.s.e.advanced]

Arguably the best location in DS2 and the worst area in the entire series are located in the same dlc

[PancakeBreakfast]

If you didn't have to travel so dang far every time you wanted to fight the boss. This area might have actually been one of the more loved areas of the game.
Imagine PVP in a snowstorm

[Thelacker]

"A surprising number of NPCs are actually Saulden."

It's Saulden all the way down is it?

[RamAurelius]

To this day, Lud and Zallen are the only bosses in the Souls series that I have yet to beat. I have no intention of ever dealing with this area again either.