Modder Ganaboy recently released a public version of a modification for Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin that allows for graphics transformation in the game.
The tech enthusiast decided to implement path tracing, volumetric fog, shadows from light sources and surfaces, Ambient Occlusion, and other improvements into Dark Souls II:
The mod introduces dynamic shadows throughout the game: almost all torches, bonfires, and ambient light sources now cast shadows. The mod includes pre-configured presets for each area, but you can also adjust the settings manually; however, note that areas are determined based on the original DS2 lighting data.
The mod can sometimes complicate gameplay — if there are no light sources in a location, it will be truly dark, so a torch or another light source will come in handy.
The "DS2LightingEngine SotFS" modification for Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin is distributed for free via Nexus Mods. There's a catch — it's a beta version, and rendering bugs may still occur in some places.
An example of gameplay with path tracing can be viewed at the following link.
Rumors are circulating online that the entire Dark Souls trilogy might return in an updated format.