Dark Souls II - Now on PS4/XBO

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Really must get the first one in a Steam sale when I can!

Looks like they're keeping the theme similar, hopefully they'll develop the combat a bit more and use the online features in more varied ways.

Oh and the video is dead for me.

 

I wouldn't get the PC Edition if I were you. It's fairly difficult to play it with a keyboard and mouse.

I need to get the first one my self for the PS3, but this looks awesome.

 

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I couldn't really get into Dark Souls, it's not really for me. But I can see the appeal.

Good to see it did well enough to get a sequel. While it may not have got massive numbers. They were smart in how they distributed it.

 

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Everything I've heard about this sequel has left a bad taste in my mouth and set my expectations very low. This is going to be radically different from the other Souls games, for better or worse is what I'm waiting to figure out.

 

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The first thing I noticed, and the thing that stuck with me throughout the demo, is that the player's sword swings were fast as hell. It looks like the gameplay has been tightened back to Demon's Souls standards, and I could not be happier. The speed drop between DeS and DkS is noticeable, and though DkS is planned around those slower attacks, they still make it feel clunky by comparison. I understand you're supposed to feel weak and vulnerable, but chrissakes, if a pack of ghouls is swarming you from every direction, the least you're gonna do is put some elbow grease into your hysterical flailing.

Other bright points: Lighting doesn't appear to magickally transform between rooms anymore, and the ability to carry a torch looks a lot better thought-out than the one-shot lantern mechanic in DkS. Slight hints of dual wield mechanics, which is exciting. The developers continue to show an acute awareness of their own games' meta: The turtle-shelled thinger is an interesting addition in that no prior Souls enemy would really shut out the ability to flank. Discourage it, maybe, but never make it a non-option. And the bridge is reminiscent of the comparatively harmless bridge to the Painted World. Gives you a false sense of security; I imagine a lot of people will think those dragons are just background flavor.

Oh, and leave us not forget: DAT SWAGGER.



I was a little worried when the first trailer was straight theatrical, but it seems as if FromSoft got the hint. Gameplay trailers always put my mind at ease. I am officially looking forward to DkS2.

 

NEW TRAILER BAYBEEEE

Headed to PC, 360, and PS3 in March of next year¹. Sweet merciful Old One I am WAY too hype for this.

 

I might try it... also Demon's souls is free at Ps Plus , I hope I don't rage quit it!

 

I was really hoping by "accessible" they didn't mean making the game easier. It looks like the difficulty's been retained. Hype restored.

 

I really think they got off on the wrong foot when they used the term "accessible." I don't think they're dumbing down the difficulty; I think they're just re-packaging it with a more appealing image. Even the trailers send totally different messages with the same game mechanic: The original Dark Souls was all about "Prepare to get brutally murdered over, and over, and over again," but DkS II is playing up your ability to fight through a thousand deaths. The new slogan, the song in the trailer... It makes you feel more powerful than vulnerable. Which I don't mind one bit, as long as the game's still hard as nerts.

 

I think they've probably fixed the gameplay problems, the fairly useless use of the bow seems to now work better, along with fully realised dual wielding blades and a better countering system (and perhaps magically imbued blades?).

Looks like fun for sure, same great enemy design, with the same scale and play style. Should be like Dark Souls but with better improvements.

BETTER MENUS PLEASE!

 

Uhh wut

There's nothing useless about the bows in DkS. In fact the new meta sees a lot of builds carrying Pharis Bows on backup. With a quick-draw like that, though, the DkS II equivalent of this may be a lot less of a gimmick.

Now this definitely needed work, and I'm glad to see it's getting some. I'd like to see more shieldless builds in Dark Souls's future.

...Wait, what's wrong with the menus?

 

I found the lack of picking up ammo on the go and the slightly basic bow shot useless to rely on the bow as a main weapon. One of the things I want is to see people being encouraged to use more diverse playstyles, instead of the basic blade weapon or magic. Like, the selection of bows is fairly limited and they all function the same. Looking at other gams like, Dragons Dogma which feature multiple bow styles and the ability to charge shots, rapidly fire or snipe from a distance. Just something to allow gamers a more diverse playstyle choice, since many of the class types focused on close combat styles.

I've seen some interesting builds, like double shields an so on, would be great for the base system to encourage and reqard players using more exotic play styles, like double shields, swords, spears and so on, instead of the always superior blade and shield combo.

So many lists, nothing was properly labelled and some of the button allocations like equipping and unequipping items as ell as selecting items need to be more streamlined.
This a special need for a game where pause doesn't stop time for a fair system to select things quicker. I should be fighting enemies, not the menu system. I shouldn't get a challenge form a menu system in a fighting game.

 

Fair enough, but it's also nice to see certain weapons fill a niche role, as long as that role is definitely needed in a player's arsenal; then there is more diversity in tools available and which tactics you'll see in a single fight, as opposed to all different types of weapons being diverse.

Either way, speaking from experience, diversity of weapon roles is always one of the first things FromSoft looks at with each new installment of a series, so hopefully we can count on DkS II carrying on that tradition. Even between DeS and DkS, the range of bows and bow types was expanded; the crossbows in DeS were mostly useless, and there was no rapid-fire option, nor were there greatbows that required one to sit down and aim. I think the system just has to be fine-tuned to make these sorts of things more viable - that and everyone needs to get out of the "honor duel" mentality, which sadly is where that bland, boring DkS meta comes from.

Yeah, but you've got to be careful about rewarding those styles, because if they become too powerful or too prevalent, they lose their exoticism and become obnoxious instead. Double shield users would be hard to damage at all if shields were much more powerful or durable, and spear users are already great at turtling. I want to see DkS II pay attention to these things, don't get me wrong; but part of the problem lies also in the community ignoring them at present.

What exactly are you after? Switching weapons on the fly? Adding usable items to your inventory? Because people already do that, and it essentially allows them access to five or six weapons for no penalty. Quality builds are terrifying with the current menu structure. Streamlining it would make things even worse.

And not to offend but if you're pausing in combat or danger zones, you're probably doing something wrong. It's very possible to clear each individual level and defeat each boss, much less eke out a fairly successful PvP career, with a single, static set-up, so you shouldn't need to go into those menus under duress unless you made a mistake. The pause menu may not pause the game, but that doesn't mean you should keep playing it when paused; it means you should pick your pauses carefully.

I think it's important that there be some bureaucracy in the pause menus because it is both a curse and a blessing that the action doesn't freeze when you navigate them; it allows you to freely access your entire inventory at any time, which would be game-breaking in many other action/RPGs I can name. It's like loosening the Resident Evil controls; the game plays the way it does because of those limited controls, and if you take that away, the game starts to crumble.

 

True enough, but I like diversity in play styles is all, various weapon categories, weapon styles, weapon forms, and so on because it allows you to try new things without having to start a new game all over again to spec to it. Good to hear there probably will be more happening, but we'll see more in the future.

Oh yeah, they've got to be programmed to be accurate, can't make a shield cause bleeding (unless it has a spike or something) so as long as it's perfectly balanced, be happy with whatever is included.

Maybe the menus in Dark Souls was alright, but my biggest problem was the lack of explanation for everything, like the menus and all that's on there. You're dumped into the world with no explanation with how to grow or what you've been given. I can cope with no explanation of plot or characters but a lack of labels or obvious menus really didn't help and so on. One concept for example, Humanity, wtf that was when I started, I had no clue, and the game gave me no real way to know what it does. I don't want the menus to pause time, I like that feature as part of the whole sense of danger, however, I feel it punishing to find specific equipment and not even a rewarding punishment, just a general annoyance.

When they say they want to make things more accessible, it better be that damned kind of thing, be clearer menus, knock down the lists, I don't want to dedicate an hour watching a video explanation to learn how to play a game.
Just explain the whole system better is my thing.

Just a little rant.... pay no heed : P

 

MORE GAMEPLAY

IWRHRGKSHGSKGJHGKSFS GODS I JUST WANT THIS WHY CAN'T IT ALREADY BE HERE

DID YOU SEE THAT!? AT 3:23!? THAT WAS A SPELLBLADE. AN ACTUAL, LITERAL SPELLBLADE.

 

TGS trailer!

Mostly shows off stuff we've already seen in the gameplay demos. But let's just pause to reflect on the fact that we know this is all gameplay footage because we've seen the gameplay and this is actually how it looks. Why aren't more trailers like this :'D