DARK SOULS 2 - All info so far Thread - Interviews, Trailers, etc. - Release Date: March 2014

I'm not really all that worried to be honest. A past Monster Hunter dev brining some new ideas to Dark Souls sounds great to me. I think what he meant by "more straightforward"(remember Japanese translation) is that there will be a much better tutorial. Which i don't mind, that was a major complaint from a lot of gamers. Just hope they do it in a cool way, so the atmosphere isn't sacrificed.

I have been seeing a lot of people on forums already dismissing the game as being horrible, that kind of makes me laugh. I do hope there is no difficulty levels, but explaining things to new players wouldn't be the worse thing ever.

We should start saying things we would like to see, or done away with. With a franchise like this it can be hard to do anything risky, which usually would mean we would be getting a Dark Souls 1.5. I want to see them try something new, but try their best to retain what made the games popular in the first place.

If streamlining the tutorial is what Shibuya means, then I'm absolutely cool with that. It will be the only time I commend accessibility, providing they apply it smartly, like it's not mandatory to do it, all will be fine.

Eat what's put before you or don't eat at all!

I hated every second of this something they are calling Dark souls II.

Serious_Much wrote:.........I almost cried when I saw all this ****..

A direct sequel? More accessibility? getting rid of the subtle story that remains firmly in the back seat?

The only good thing I feel is that there has been announcement of another souls game.. I'm really worried that they're gonna mess it up :|

Same feeling.

Its fair enough for FROM to want to appeal to a broader audience and shift more boxes, but the problem is that the dedication and exploring that DS demands isnt something 'the broader audience' are particularly enamoured with, not to sound too derogatory at all, but often they need a bit of handholding.

So why not introduce an optional 'hint' system that can be toggled on and off as the player desires. Create the game like DS, hidden lore, difficulty etc, but if youre stuck you can turn on the help system and it will give hints, subtle at first, then getting more obvious the more you request help.

Then us lot can still play DS2 as intended, raw and bloody as hell, and those who want to make it a bit more accessible can turn on the hints to help them through.

I'd even go as far as to create a difficulty setting, if it increases sales, makes it more accessible, then i'm all for it so long as the devotees have the option to crank it up to 11 and put in the hard work, be nice to see a bonus for your commitment too.

Broadening the players options seems a fairly obvious suggestion if youre trying to keep everybody happy.

Geez, I think to many people are making assumptions and misreading the wording.

Accessible=/=Easy

All in all, time will tell, we have virtually no details besides a few development points. Let's wait until we can get more information.

Besides, it's not like suddenly we have an unknown or shoddy director at the helm. Monster Hunter is a very good series that is praised, yes, -praised- for it's on-line. Something that the souls series is in bad need of revamping!

As for money grabbing. The gap between each game is about two years, max. Demon Souls in 2009. Dark Souls in 2011. Dark Souls 2 in 2013. So it's not like it's a sudden half-arsed attempt.

I don't think there needs to be a difficulty level. It is greatly exaggerated how difficult the Souls games are. A simple tutorial at the start of the game would work wonders for most new gamers. I'm really not worried at all, i actually knew the new game would have a new director and people working on it.

A while ago in an interview Miyazaki mentioned how he wanted to get some "new blood" working on the next title. Honestly who better then a past Monster Hunter dev? I'm VERY excited to see how this turns out, and think a lot of gamers are a little too cynical when it comes to this stuff. Obviously i love this game too, but them trying something new isn't the end of the world.

It would be cool if they did Final Fantasy type optional bosses, that are way more difficult then the main storyline ones but yield a reward.

In case anyone was wondering:

FexDS wrote:

We are currently finalizing organization for the next wiki, with hopes of having a seamless progression for our community and users.

We will have a separate wiki for the new game in order to avoid confusion over stats, etc, however there are many other things that are being considered and not yet finalized.

We are going to be needing volunteers for all sorts of things so if anyone has an interest in helping, please let us know and do list your skillset: (graphic design, web developtment, etc)

We will have a community announcement soon so everyone else can join in and participate in wiki creation

I like the combination of Monster Hunter director and Dark Souls overseer. One thing they really need to work is the tutorial, that is all I'll say.

On another note, it appears the game will take place in the Dark Souls universe, but I think they'll go with a different storyline altogether.

Come on, folks, lets keep our heads on straight. All this negative reaction to a few snippets in an interview should be above this community. Don't start acting like those tools on the Bioware forums.

I fully expect there to be design and gameplay changes, just as there were when we moved from Demon's Souls to Dark. While the community was critical of a few, most agreed that Dark Souls was a fantastic game, made evident by the sheer number of hours most of us spent in-game, and in this forum. I for one am a very open minded gamer. I don't want to keep playing the same game during each iteration. Let's just keep cool and celebrate the fact that DARK SOULS II IS COMING!!!!!!!!

Doom sayers need to step down a bit. You guys are literally judging a book by its cover before the story is even written. Yes I can see why some are hesitant and where problems may lie but you act like the game is all ready going to suck.

More accessibility does not mean difficulty setting, could mean better tutorial, or the fact that the story will be easier to follow. Also just because the story is going to be more upfront doesn't mean it's a bad thing or that there won't be lore. Look at Demon's Souls, it had an upfront story and still tons of lore.

Also just because the premiere trailer is all CGI and action doesn't mean its new. Look at Demon's Souls world premiere trailer, it was all CGI and action oriented as well. It's not a new thing for Fromsoft. Also the fact that there is no gameplay is probably because FROMSOFT only got done with the DLC for Dark Souls two months ago. Making a working game in two months is impossible, you have to high of expectations.

The head of Dark Souls is a supervisor, I doubt he'd just sit there and won't care what goes into Dark Souls 2. Plus with the Monster Hunter Director, you really thing they would have this game be easier? I doubt it, both make challenging games. It is a worthy combination.

Honestly, yes the hyped people can't overly judge and neither can the doom sayers judge so lowly. We both need to step down and wait and see for more information about the game before we can actually make logical assumptions or else really its all just opinions and really has no value.

FruitPunchNinja wrote: It is greatly exaggerated how difficult the Souls games are. A simple tutorial at the start of the game would work wonders for most new gamers.

Totally agree with you, only I think its important how its perceived by casual gamers aswell as us lot if FROM want to coin it in this time, a lot of people (I work with several) were scared off by its reputation and the hype surrounding its difficulty and so i'd guess it lost a fair few sales because of it. So I guess this move towards 'accessiblity' is a direct way to capture those sales. So I thought a difficulty 'level' would allow the game to remain unaltered in essence, but introduce a way of easing those who are new to the series into the game and not scaring them off, then when they get used to the glory of DS in its raw form they could ditch the stabilisers.

Jees man, it was only announced this morning and ive been thinking about it all day already. . .there is no hope for me im afraid!

Totally looking forward to it by the way, Miyazaki seems too shrewd and protective to hand over his baby and have it ruined, so the guys in charge must be highly capable of doing it justice. Also, just wondering if the new guys have any work in the Design Works book, be good to see what DS stuff theyve been responsible for in the past.

I don't mind if they make some things more accessible (I mean c'mon, it took me forever to realise what different things humanity can do).
If the server system works better, the combat is still top of the world and the superior visual design is still there, I think they can't go too much wrong.
We still have our Dark Souls no matter what happens so let's see if the "new blood" can top it

Back Lot and Arghet are totally right, we need to chill out, we're leeting our excitement get the better of our judgment. Give yourself a few days for the news to sink in, then we can continue discussing and whatnot.

On the other hand..What I can't wait to hear is the damn music! Monster Hunter's music was amazing, and they're gonna have a Dark Souls touch of epicness with them? Or vice/versa? Yes freakin please!

It's too early to say anything about it.
Yet I hope they don't make any changes that would 'cause the game to lose its essence, even if they want more audience. I've noticed how Dark Souls commmunity has increased, specially after the pc release. Making drastic changes would just make them lose audience instead of gaining it.

it seems like the majority of people here have not played monster hunter, i love those games(psp), ive played unite alone for over 1200 hours, that hundreds of hours more than demon's/dark souls together, that says a lot about the MH franchise. if people are worried about dk2 beign easier think again, going by the MH games im pretty sure its gonna be a lot harder than both demon/dark souls.

If a picture is worth a thowsand words, how many words does a 1 minute trailer is worth? we are not judging it by it's cover, this trailer gave us a gigantic ammount of data that says: Dark souls is changing more than we want it to change.

If they give a better tutorial they would then be able to increase the actual difficulty of the gameplay itself, and not have the difficulty lay so heavily on the learning curve. Just a speculation.

There are two things and two things only that need to be present for me to enjoy this game- 1. combat gameplay remains essentially the same. One button press makes one attack action, actions are irreversible until completed, same lock on system, same blocking and stamina drain, etc.
2. Don't make me watch cutscenes or try to make me give a **** about the story, unless I want to.

If they hit those two points I'll be a happy camper, and I'm pretty sure they will. If not, I just won't play it. Won't detract anything from Dark Souls though.

Acessibility hits the community like a nuke, Souls series are also about helping people and being helped, they are removing it from the next.

RantFromRant wrote:it seems like the majority of people here have not played monster hunter, i love those games(psp), ive played unite alone for over 1200 hours, that hundreds of hours more than demon's/dark souls together, that says a lot about the MH franchise. if people are worried about dk2 beign easier think again, going by the MH games im pretty sure its gonna be a lot harder than both demon/dark souls.

I only really played the original MH on ps2, which i know isn't the best. I remember some bosses being damn near impossible to beat on your own. Maybe that is something they might implement, bosses that can be beat solo but are incredibly difficult to do. Then the Co-Op aspect of the game would be greatly improved, cause honestly as is you usually just destroy everything.

eminusx wrote:

FruitPunchNinja wrote: It is greatly exaggerated how difficult the Souls games are. A simple tutorial at the start of the game would work wonders for most new gamers.

Totally agree with you, only I think its important how its perceived by casual gamers aswell as us lot if FROM want to coin it in this time, a lot of people (I work with several) were scared off by its reputation and the hype surrounding its difficulty and so i'd guess it lost a fair few sales because of it. So I guess this move towards 'accessiblity' is a direct way to capture those sales. So I thought a difficulty 'level' would allow the game to remain unaltered in essence, but introduce a way of easing those who are new to the series into the game and not scaring them off, then when they get used to the glory of DS in its raw form they could ditch the stabilisers.

Absolutely. Look, we all loved the cryptic way in which lore was revealed in this series, but if they decide to make a superficial surface story, and still include interesting bits of lore for those who like to dig, then everyone wins.

Core gameplay (combat) is the essence of this series, and if it's retained, what do I care if they include a more straightforward tutorial that might expand the player base.

I too can list reams of people who flinched when I suggested they try Dark Souls. They've been brainwashed by this idea that the series is for hardcore gamers only. If they can find a way to keep the core game the way it is, but allow new players to have a more casual introduction, before ripping the skin from their bones, then great. I'm all for it.

I had a friend who got stuck not being able to kill Taurus. He tried 20 times or more, and couldn't do it. Loved the gameplay enough to stick with it that long, but just hit a wall. Sure, maybe he sucked, but if he'd been given the soapstone before that boss, he might have been a convert.

Bottom line is, I trust them to get this right.

it seems like the majority of people here have not played monster
hunter, i love those games(psp), ive played unite alone for over 1200
hours, that hundreds of hours more than demon's/dark souls together,
that says a lot about the MH franchise. if people are worried about dk2
beign easier think again, going by the MH games im pretty sure its gonna
be a lot harder than both demon/dark souls.

I do wonder how the combination of Monster Hunter's arguably harder difficulty and a combination of Dark Soul's "learn from your mistakes; we are fair" is going to turn out.

carlucio wrote:Acessibility hits the community like a nuke, Souls series are also about helping people and being helped, they are removing it from the next.

You're being argumentative and touting your speculations as facts. Stop it!