New ‘Dark Souls 2’ Patch Adds New Character And Content

‘Dark Souls 2 Crown Of The Old Iron King’ DLC For PlayStation 3, XBox 360 And PC Released On Aug. 26, 2014 [WATCH VIDEO] — IN PHOTO: (L-R) Japan's videogame company Namco Ltd's President Shigeichi Ishimura, Vice-Chairman Kyushiro Takagi, Chairman and founder Masaya Nakamura, Japanese toy maker Bandai Co's President Takeo Takasu and Managing Director Kazunori Ueno attend a joint news conference in Tokyo May 2, 2005. Bandai said on Monday that it planned to take over Namco in a $1.6 billion deal that will bring together the creators of "The Power Rangers" and "Pac-Man". Reuters/Yuriko Nakao

Bandai Namco Games have announced a new "Dark Souls 2" patch for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows PC via the company's Tumblr post. What's surprising about this patch? Just like the game's rich and ridiculously detailed world it is massive. Many expected a simple bug fix here or there, maybe something to fix the problems in multiplayer - more on that in a bit - but what was revealed is something much more well thought out. And it's free.

In preparation for the game's re-release on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, Bandai Namco have decided to give last-gen PS3 and Xbox 360 players as much as they can according to IGN. This is probably the last "Dark Souls 2" update for these consoles, so the company has decided to go out with a bang and have added a huge amount of new content. These include plenty of game balancing, a new character, new items, multiplayer fixes, simple solutions to arbitrary problems and more.

The new character being introduced is the the "Scholar of the First Sin." This character is an apparent big deal as the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of the game will be called "Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin" which must mean it's important, naturally. Not much is known about "The Scholar of the First Sin," but players will probably find out in February.

As far as multiplayer goes there is a new item called the Agape Ring, which is a mixed bag according to Kotaku. Aside from the head-scratching name, this new item let's players collect souls through the ring and will help with online matchmaking for a more fair online experience. In theory that is great, since it will stop mean spirited players with higher levels from being trolls, but it may also prevent much gentler players from helping lower leveled rookies and their boss woes. This is "Dark Souls 2" after all and boss woes are inevitable.

Aside from the possible multiplayer problems, this update is still a welcome occurrence. The sheer number of improvements made - which can be viewed here via the company's Tumblr - is enormous. The update will be released in Feb. 5, 2015 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC, while the re-release "Scholar of the First Sin" is set to come out on April. 7, 2015.