Dark Souls II Edge Info

• Dynamic lighting
• huge graphical leap ready for next gen
• Edge says PC version it's on par with the fidelity of Watch Dogs and Star Wars 1313
• Miyazaki says straight forwardly he won't be involved but will be a supervisor
• Miyazaki says he regrets sending Dark Souls out ahead of time, won't happen for Dark Souls 2
• The decision was made by From Soft and Namco for him to step aside.
• The reason given is for the I.P to evolve it needs fresh blood
• He is working on something else but wouldn't say what
• New director wants to make the covenants and other areas that were difficult to adapt to more accessible
• Story will be more clear
• In development Since September 2011
• bigger team working on the game
• morality system
• 2014 Release date
• Only 25% complete
• Early parts are restricted, so it won't be too hard. After a ceartain time, you'll expierence the true Dark Souls

Neogaf Summary

[spoiler] Edge says they were shown a 10 minute playthrough of Dark Souls 2, and it is a huge step forward graphically. It looks on par with Watch Dogs and Star Wars 1313 in terms of "next-gen"-ness, or so they claim.

- Miyazaki is not working on the development of Dark Souls 2. He is not a director or producer, and is merely a "supervisor".

- Even as a supervisor, he isn't making any development decisions. He only tried to reinforce the team's commitment to releasing things on time, because of the bad experience they had with the patches in Dark Souls, and he also recommended the return to server-based gameplay ala Demon's Souls.

- The new directors, Tomohiro Shibuya and Yui Tanimura, are indeed the From Software staff who previously directed the Another Century's Episode series. The decision to have the two directors replace Miyazaki was a company decision made by both From Software and Namco Bandai Games to help move the series forward in a fresh direction.

- Miyazaki is working full time on directing a new game. He will not disclose if it is a new IP or a sequel to something else.

- Darks Souls 2 will be a direct sequel, and have an open world of about the same size, but more dense with content.

- It does not take place on Lordran. The name of the world is the key of the story, they will reveal it at a later date.

- One thing Shibuya wants to enhance is the action in the game. He feels that he can contribute because of his experience working on action games in the past.

- Shibuya says he wants to make things like the Covenant system clearer and more accessible, and he wants to make the story and messaging less subtle.

- He promises there will still be "hidden" elements in the story and world which can be missed.

- Development started in September last year, and was done in parallel with some of the Dark Souls patches and DLC content.

- The game is 25% complete, and the team is substantially larger than Dark Souls. The world creation internal staff for the sequel is nearly double that of the first game.

- The game might not make it for 2013.

- They showed a fat grotesque creature, which Shibuya said was the result of the fusing of different creatures by a mad scientist character in the game, like Frankenstein.

- Another new enemy is a Nazgul-like black rider, who apparently serves as an executioner of evil doers. Shibuya confirms there is some sort of morality system in the game. [/spoiler]

Gamefaqs Summary

[spoiler] This the article source for the infamous "we want the skyrim audience" quote. To be perfectly clear, even though this was already known, this quote is from the writers of the article and not From Software.

-Huge leap in graphical quality. The game is compared to Watch Dogs and Star Wars 1313. Dynamic lighting and smoother animations all around.

-Hidetake Miyazaki, the director for Dark/Demon's souls, will not be directing the game and will only be lightly involved in the production. To be perfectly honest it basically seems like his name is there to be there- his involvement is mostly about getting the project started and occasionally checking in on it.

-The unknown nature of the games came from Miyazaki's interest in western fantasy/mythology and his relative inability to read the English text as a child, leaving him to fill in the blanks.

-Miyazaki was disappointed about having to patch Dark Souls, saying that they pushed the game out without being 100% complete. Dark Souls II will be complete when it launches.

-Server based PVP is back (yay!)

-The information about the directors for the game is worrying. Information is unclear whether or not Miyazaki willingly stepped down from the director's chair. Namco calls is a "company decision" and has this disturbing anecdote to share:

"For the IP to evolve and provide a new experience within the Dark Souls world the new wind from directors Shibuya and Tanimura is key to providing players with a brand new Dark Souls experience. In order to maintain expectations and satisfaction and the rewards players experience this was the time to bring in new characteristics and tastes of the directors for the series to continue evolving."

That **** sounds worrying to me. I could just be paranoid since this is one of the last bastions of hardcore gaming being released, but it sounds too much like PR bull ****.

-Miyazaki is working on a new game he can't talk about.

-Miyazaki is disappointed he doesn't have a greater role in Dark Souls II

-The Graphics are shockingly close to the trailer's quality

-According to Shibuya, one of the co-directors, the player's ability to parse meaning from subtle hints or clues will determine the difficulty of the game and the challenges that are there to experience.

-The map is roughly the same size, but has more content and more "areas of interest".

-The notion that Dark Souls needs to evolve was "common". Edge says not to expect a minor update.

-In designing map areas, the main concept was to create areas that had not been in either game.

-Talks of implementing a system that will let you reveal the clues you've learned over the course of the game (wut?)

-Shibuya talks about "limiting players options for the early portion of the game, making it simpler to understand new concepts. Then, after a certain amount of time has elapsed, they will suddenly experience the true dark souls experience". [/spoiler]

Game is getting Hayashi'd. F*ck this. Hype destroyed.

I can't post a link, since this info is from the Edge magazine scans, and scans aren't allowed to be posted.

• Dynamic lighting -
• huge graphical leap ready for next gen
• Edge PC version says it's on par with the fidelity of Watch Dogs and Star Wars 1313
• Miyazaki says straight forwardly he won't be involved but will be a supervisor
• Miyazaki says he regrets sending Dark Souls out ahead of time, won't happen for Dark Souls 2
• The decision was made by From Soft and Namco for him to step aside.
• The reason given is for the I.P to evolve it needs fresh blood
• He is working on something else but wouldn't say what
• New director wants to make the covenants and other areas that were difficult to adapt to more accessible
• Story will be more clear
• In development Since September 2011
• bigger team working on the game
• morality system
• 2014 Release date
• Only 25% complete
• Early parts are restricted, so it won't be too hard. After a ceartain time, you'll expierence the true Dark Souls

Game is getting Hayashi'd. F*ck this. Hype destroyed.

I can't post a link, since this info is from the Edge magazine scans, and scans aren't allowed to be posted.

Thefatness16

So its being nerfed?

It's good that there seems to be a next gen focus when I read this but they need to show gameplay and clear up what they mean before I allow myself to get excited.

so its a next gen game?TheGuardian03

Already confirmed for 360, PS3, PC. The ten minute demo was played on a very high end gaming laptop.

Maybe it is though.

[QUOTE="TheGuardian03"]so its a next gen game?Thefatness16

Already confirmed for 360, PS3, PC. The ten minute demo was played on a very high end gaming laptop.

Maybe it is though.

• Miyazaki says straight forwardly he won't be involved but will be a supervisor
• The decision was made by From Soft and Namco for him to step aside.
• The reason given is for the I.P to evolve it needs fresh blood
• New director wants to make the covenants and other areas that were difficult to adapt to more accessible
• Early parts are restricted, so it won't be too hard. After a ceartain time, you'll expierence the true Dark Souls

Thefatness16

These 5 sound worrisome, and may bring plenty of changes that won't sit well with the "franchise's" fanbase...

A game like Dark Souls caters to its own niche, a very specific group of gamers, as indicated by the sales. It would be very difficult to market this to the "mainstream audiences", and if they try it while abandoning the original fanbase, there's a good chance things won't end well, as they might bring a product no one cares about...

[QUOTE="Thefatness16"]

• Miyazaki says straight forwardly he won't be involved but will be a supervisor
• The decision was made by From Soft and Namco for him to step aside.
• The reason given is for the I.P to evolve it needs fresh blood
• New director wants to make the covenants and other areas that were difficult to adapt to more accessible
• Early parts are restricted, so it won't be too hard. After a ceartain time, you'll expierence the true Dark Souls

Rocker6

These 5 sound worrisome, and may bring plenty of changes that won't sit well with the "franchise's" fanbase...

A game like Dark Souls caters to its own niche, a very specific group of gamers, as indicated by the sales. It would be very difficult to market this to the "mainstream audiences", and if they try it while abandoning the original fanbase, there's a good chance things won't end well, as they might bring a product no one cares about...

Yep, alot of red flags after I read this but then again expect the worst and be pleasantly surprised if you're wrong. Either way I feel like it's too early to have an opinion either way until actual gameplay is shown.

[QUOTE="Rocker6"]

[QUOTE="Thefatness16"]

• Miyazaki says straight forwardly he won't be involved but will be a supervisor
• The decision was made by From Soft and Namco for him to step aside.
• The reason given is for the I.P to evolve it needs fresh blood
• New director wants to make the covenants and other areas that were difficult to adapt to more accessible
• Early parts are restricted, so it won't be too hard. After a ceartain time, you'll expierence the true Dark Souls

theSADmafioso

These 5 sound worrisome, and may bring plenty of changes that won't sit well with the "franchise's" fanbase...

A game like Dark Souls caters to its own niche, a very specific group of gamers, as indicated by the sales. It would be very difficult to market this to the "mainstream audiences", and if they try it while abandoning the original fanbase, there's a good chance things won't end well, as they might bring a product no one cares about...

Yep, alot of red flags after I read this but then again expect the worst and be pleasantly surprised if you're wrong. Either way I feel like it's too early to have an opinion either way until actual gameplay is shown.

True, it's too early to form opinions, and I don't like jumping to conclusions. That said, this did make me a bit skeptical, but will wait for more news, hoping we'll hear something more positive next time...

I will wait for further footage of it to decide on it. It sounds like it will be more straightforward but not necessarily bad, that remains to be seen. But the graphical thing surprised me, hard to believe the game being close to that CG.

The straightforwardness sounds bad now but the part that worries me most is the morality system. That never ever works in a game, ever. There better not be like a bar and if it's full of good then I get the good ending, that sh!t sucks. DS1 had a great moral system by just letting you do what you wanted, you could kill NPCs if you liked and if it made you feel bad then there was your morality system. Having it tied to gameplay and story arcs would be bad.

If they're not careful this attempt at bringing the game to a broader audience could ruin the franchise and have the opposite effect

I still have Dark Souls 1, so I'm good with that. jg4xchamp

Also ^ this :P

"For the IP to evolve and provide a new experience within the Dark Souls world the new wind from directors Shibuya and Tanimura is key to providing players with a brand new Dark Souls experience. In order to maintain expectations and satisfaction and the rewards players experience this was the time to bring in new characteristics and tastes of the directors for the series to continue evolving."

-Shibuya talks about "limiting players options for the early portion of the game, making it simpler to understand new concepts. Then, after a certain amount of time has elapsed, they will suddenly experience the true dark souls experience"Thefatness16

Dark Souls II confirmed to have Mountain Dew Double XP

:P

The straightforwardness sounds bad now but the part that worries me most is the morality system. That never ever works in a game, ever. There better not be like a bar and if it's full of good then I get the good ending, that sh!t sucks. DS1 had a great moral system by just letting you do what you wanted, you could kill NPCs if you liked and if it made you feel bad then there was your morality system. Having it tied to gameplay and story arcs would be bad.

seanmcloughlin

This is a good point, been thinking about the same thing. A contrived morality system definitely isn't something I'd like to see...

sooooo... what's wrong about this? they all look like improvements, and the "morality system" might be something similar to the tendency system from demon's souls, or how in dark souls some covenants hunted down evildoers.BrunoBRS

I will wait for further footage of it to decide on it. It sounds like it will be more straightforward but not necessarily bad, that remains to be seen. But the graphical thing surprised me, hard to believe the game being close to that CG.

The straightforwardness sounds bad now but the part that worries me most is the morality system. That never ever works in a game, ever. There better not be like a bar and if it's full of good then I get the good ending, that sh!t sucks. DS1 had a great moral system by just letting you do what you wanted, you could kill NPCs if you liked and if it made you feel bad then there was your morality system. Having it tied to gameplay and story arcs would be bad.

If they're not careful this attempt at bringing the game to a broader audience could ruin the franchise and have the opposite effect

seanmcloughlin

[QUOTE="BrunoBRS"]sooooo... what's wrong about this? they all look like improvements, and the "morality system" might be something similar to the tendency system from demon's souls, or how in dark souls some covenants hunted down evildoers.Loegi

[QUOTE="seanmcloughlin"]

I will wait for further footage of it to decide on it. It sounds like it will be more straightforward but not necessarily bad, that remains to be seen. But the graphical thing surprised me, hard to believe the game being close to that CG.

The straightforwardness sounds bad now but the part that worries me most is the morality system. That never ever works in a game, ever. There better not be like a bar and if it's full of good then I get the good ending, that sh!t sucks. DS1 had a great moral system by just letting you do what you wanted, you could kill NPCs if you liked and if it made you feel bad then there was your morality system. Having it tied to gameplay and story arcs would be bad.

If they're not careful this attempt at bringing the game to a broader audience could ruin the franchise and have the opposite effect

BrunoBRS

Yeah but they never promoted the morality system before as a selling point. It was just there and never affected the game as such, just the player. This sounds like it will be a Mass Effect type of morality system, which I know is jumping to conclusions but I hope not.

I'm worried, pessimistic, but very interested.

so its a next gen game?TheGuardian03

It seems that they are messing with the formula that made the first two games great. I like Skyrim but I don't want Dark Souls 2 to be Skyrim. Many of this worries me.

So, will probably be a next gen game

Seems like they are making the diffulculty more responsive to the player, which seems like a good thing.

Those wanting to experience the basic can have their fun, and the core wanting to have their pain.

I don't care much about the story, but hopefully they don't dumb down the gameplay.

[QUOTE="TheGuardian03"]so its a next gen game?blackace

I get the sense that this will be one of those crossgen titles, with a graphically scaled down version for 360 & PS3. Why would they otherwise demo it on a high end PC.

[QUOTE="blackace"][QUOTE="TheGuardian03"]so its a next gen game?theSADmafioso

I get the sense that this will be one of those crossgen titles, with a graphically scaled down version for 360 & PS3. Why would they otherwise demo it on a high end PC.

A lot of developers demo their games on high-end PCs because they want to market the best version of their games, not the laughable console versions.

[QUOTE="Thefatness16"]

• Dynamic lighting -
• huge graphical leap ready for next gen
• Edge PC version says it's on par with the fidelity of Watch Dogs and Star Wars 1313
• Miyazaki says straight forwardly he won't be involved but will be a supervisor
• Miyazaki says he regrets sending Dark Souls out ahead of time, won't happen for Dark Souls 2
• The decision was made by From Soft and Namco for him to step aside.
• The reason given is for the I.P to evolve it needs fresh blood
• He is working on something else but wouldn't say what
• New director wants to make the covenants and other areas that were difficult to adapt to more accessible
• Story will be more clear
• In development Since September 2011
• bigger team working on the game
• morality system
• 2014 Release date
• Only 25% complete
• Early parts are restricted, so it won't be too hard. After a ceartain time, you'll expierence the true Dark Souls

Game is getting Hayashi'd. F*ck this. Hype destroyed.

I can't post a link, since this info is from the Edge magazine scans, and scans aren't allowed to be posted.

clyde46

So its being nerfed?

If they make the game easy then it won't be the same Demon/Dark Souls that we know of. Those games had it's own original identity and if they make this game nerfed down then it would be some generic game that we all played many times before. Also I don't like the way that Miyazaki is treated badly from Namco and From Software. He was the one who made that series and he would know best if they gave him a bigger role in Dark Souls 2. Hopefully they won't screw this game up so badly.

Why? Just why? How could they do this to my favorite new IP of this gen? This is disrespectful to all the fans of the games and gaming in general.game_masta14

[QUOTE="game_masta14"]Why? Just why? How could they do this to my favorite new IP of this gen? This is disrespectful to all the fans of the games and gaming in general.Animal-Mother

[QUOTE="Thefatness16"]

[QUOTE="TheGuardian03"]so its a next gen game?ShadowDeathX

Already confirmed for 360, PS3, PC. The ten minute demo was played on a very high end gaming laptop.

Maybe it is though.

Edge says PC version it's on par with the fidelity of Watch Dogs and Star Wars 1313

Dat Domination Continuation.

Demon Souls 2 for ps4 is what that guy is working on? lol :P