From Software The Dark Souls II Megathread™

[AngryEddy]

And now IGN has posted the first screenshot for DS2:
https://twitter.com/lynchtacular/status/321782366286774272/photo/1

Doesn't look a whole lot different, really. Actually, if it wasn't IGN posting it, I'd have just marked it off as a doctored DS1 screen.

Looks like they might be going for the Demon's Soul's art design, as opposed to the Dark Souls one.

 

[Fat Dragon]

Would be cool if true. There is something truly sinister, hostile and bleak about Demon's Souls world design that was missing in Dark Souls, which had more in common with standard fantasy.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

This, pretty much. If they were actually going to improve the UI and such, they'd have probably mentioned that specifically instead of vague 'accessible to a broader audience' statements. That shit is pretty much invariably a polite way of inviting retards to play the game.

I'm also not convinced you could make the mechanics more transparent without sacrificing atmosphere. I generally like my mechanics pretty transparent, but not in a game like this. I don't want to know how many swings of an axe it will take to stagger an enemy in elite knight armor. I want that fucker to be scary and mysterious.

Or you accept the fact it's basically just a random statement made for marketing purposes that probably can't be taken too seriously. Regardless of what a game turns into, every dev on the planet will say "of course it will appeal to X, Y, and Z, and of course it will be deep and also casual, open-ended but with a strong story!" I wouldn't read into it too much.

Besides, didn't they say Dark Souls would appeal to a wider audience than Demon's Souls anyway?

 

[AngryEddy]

This, pretty much. If they were actually going to improve the UI and such, they'd have probably mentioned that specifically instead of vague 'accessible to a broader audience' statements. That shit is pretty much invariably a polite way of inviting retards to play the game.

I'm also not convinced you could make the mechanics more transparent without sacrificing atmosphere. I generally like my mechanics pretty transparent, but not in a game like this. I don't want to know how many swings of an axe it will take to stagger an enemy in elite knight armor. I want that fucker to be scary and mysterious.

Or you accept the fact it's basically just a random statement made for marketing purposes that probably can't be taken too seriously. Regardless of what a game turns into, every dev on the planet will say "of course it will appeal to X, Y, and Z, and of course it will be deep and also casual, open-ended but with a strong story!" I wouldn't read into it too much.

Besides, didn't they say Dark Souls would appeal to a wider audience than Demon's Souls anyway?

Demon's Souls was remarkably better in every way possible. The online system was server based, so it was easier to connect/invade, the environment/creatures had more color to them, despite being grimdark, there were more tracks that I could personally listen to casually than in Dark Souls, and the NPC's in Demon's Souls actually had motivations, and weren't just killable retards [King Jeremiah, Richard the Archer, the guys in the woods who don't respawn etc compared to Mephistopheles, the guy who wants the Katana at the Storm place, Yurt the Silent Chief].

I am a huge fan of Armored Core, and the same kind of decline happened to that franchise as well, it started off as incredibly fun, gradually got worse, then better, then worse, then better, then nosedive in to mediocrity with their latest games on the present gen consoles. From Software isn't a company that releases consistently good games, and as an experienced veteran of their company, I wouldn't put so much faith in to them.

 

[praetor]

Demon's Souls was remarkably better in every way possible. The online system was server based, so it was easier to connect/invade, the environment/creatures had more color to them, despite being grimdark, there were more tracks that I could personally listen to casually than in Dark Souls, and the NPC's in Demon's Souls actually had motivations, and weren't just killable retards [King Jeremiah, Richard the Archer, the guys in the woods who don't respawn etc compared to Mephistopheles, the guy who wants the Katana at the Storm place, Yurt the Silent Chief].

yeah... not really. server-based was better implemented because the lobby system in DkS was coded by morons (completely random, meaning you could be in a lobby where all players have 1000+ ms pings). the lobby is more flexible and you don't need 3 separate copies of the game if you want to play it with players from asia and/or eu/us (although with PC that would/should be obsolete.. as it should've been on the console with a simple "server selector"), but i digress... the music is entirely subjective (i'd personally take any DkS track over any DeS with the sole exception of Astraea's theme). envs/enemies had more color? that's 101% bullshit. with the exception of the fat officials and some things in latria, DeS was mostly blander and more boring when it comes to creature design, and the environments aren't that far off (again, with the exception of latria, there's maybe a handful of other levels worth noting, and that's more because of the level design rather than "color"). as for NPCs, it's really "nice" that you mention only the NPCs that are there pretty much only to "simulate" some online features for people playing offline while conveniently "forgetting" to mention NPCs with character and full blown sidequests (onionbro, sunbro etc..).

don't get me wrong, DeS is a great game and i love it almost as much as the fanboys, but, with perhaps the exception of a few minor, mostly subjective/aesthetic areas, DkS is a definitive and pretty big improvement (weapon/moveset diversity, armour usefulness, magic is significantly improved, more viable/interesting builds, more diverse enemies and environments, more diverse/challenging bosses, more ambiguous story)

 

[AngryEddy]

There's no malicious intent, if you want, I could literally list all of the NPC's [i'm not going to] who either had their motivations/quests/goals cut from the game [Oscar and Shiva of the East] or were just poorly made characters which shouldn't even be in the game, but I thought you would get the point. I thought the most well designed characters in Dark Souls, were probably the Clerics, since you see them before, and after they go hollow, they have a clear goal/motivation, and they don't die because of any noble battle, they just get fucked over by Patches. Also, I never had a problem connecting to people with DeS, but have always had problems with DkS and so has everyone I know, so im going to even argue that point.

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

Screenshots: http://www.destructoid.com/some-lovely-dark-souls-ii-screenshots-have-emerged-251252.phtml

I'm prepared to die. And die. And die.

 

[betamin]

When is this thing coming out?

 

[Palikka]

Looking good so far!

 

[Fat Dragon]

Okay, just watched the IGN demo. Feeling much more optimistic about this game now, it looked great. Art direction is amazing, loved that huge ruined mansion level.

http://www.ign.com/videos/2013/04/10/dark-souls-2-gameplay-reveal-12-minute-demo

edit
Developer q&a
http://www.ign.com/videos/2013/04/10/everything-you-want-to-know-about-dark-souls-2

 

[Surf Solar]

Looks like Dark Souls 2.0, I am surprised. If it's just more of the same I wouldn't even mind since the previous title was excellent.

 

[Azazel]

Dark Souls ranks highly as one of the best games I've played this generation, a beacon of hope in a desolate wasteland (I didn't get in on Demon's Souls). Combat is tactical, the world is absolutely haunting, and having to actually work at finding the plot instead of having it handed to you was a very pleasant change in console-land. The game was also staggeringly non-linear, not in the bullshit way that most modern RPG's profess themselves as, noooo, here you could skip ahead and beat entire bosses out of order if you wanted to. Naked, if that was your thing.
Thus I am right chuffed that there is a second installment coming, with what appears to be a healthy dose of
12 minutes of Gameplay and 10 minutes of Developer Chat here: http://ca.ign.com/articles/2013/04/10/dark-souls-2-gameplay-reveal-coming

Apparently they are fixing the shitty netcode of the first game too, which I hope means kicking GFWL to the curb for the PC release.

 

[Jaedar]

Wathcing the video

Comments:
At the beginning he says something about the combat: It has simple controls but .... trial and error ... . Can't quite make it out. Looks like dualwielding is in.
He blocks a large dudes megaswing with the sword, and while it drains his entire stamina, no damage goes through.
He consumes a health item while moving.
Fire graphics look pretty.

 

[Heresiarch]

The gameplay video was worthy. It's practically the same as Dark Souls only with better graphics and new monsters, and the various YOU DIED are fucking awesomely sweet as ever. OOOOHHH I AM CUMMING

The comparably low damage he suffer from blows (even when blocking with a sword) do worry me a bit, I hope that's only because that character was in very nice armor or something.

 

[Tommers]

Looks very cool.

 

[Damned Registrations]

The interview was pretty reassuring. I noticed one of the UI changes was enemy health bars have an outline now, which makes them much easier to see. Hopefully stuff like that was what they were talking about in terms of maknig things easier for new players.

Kinda looking forward to this now. Unless the guy was lying through his teeth, it should be an excellent game.

 

[Fat Dragon]

The gameplay video was worthy. It's practically the same as Dark Souls only with better graphics and new monsters, and the various YOU DIED are fucking awesomely sweet as ever. OOOOHHH I AM CUMMING

The comparably low damage he suffer from blows (even when blocking with a sword) do worry me a bit, I hope that's only because that character was in very nice armor or something.

It's pretty common for them to used really buffed up character builds when doing demos like this, to show off gameplay features quicker. They did the exact thing when presenting Dark Souls 1. I wouldn't worry too much about that, you'll likely be much weaker in that part when playing the full game.

 

[keppj0nes]

Wow the game is looking fantastic. Good graphical improvements, some destructible environments, and the dragon mansion level is great. I'm glad they're diving right into this game instead of waiting for PS4.

 

[Fat Dragon]

And now a new trailer has been posted, showing off even more new areas we'll be exploring:

 

[Azazel]

Oh, cool, I can't edit the original post. That's fun: http://ca.ign.com/articles/2013/04/10/dark-souls-2-gameplay-reveal-coming

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

You know, a lot of those things look like the Painted World...

 

[AngryEddy]

Definitely looks more like Demon's Souls than Dark Souls, and the game looks way more alive. I'm really looking forward to this now.

 

[AngryDude]

The series would be much better if they were real RPGs with turn based combat and not the action stuff. Mashing buttons gets repetitive and boring after a time. I'd like to see game mechanics and thinking being utilised rather than fast finger reflexes, but I guess that is even more hardcore than constant dying and doing the same thing over and over again in todays days.

 

[Manjuice Nutella]

"We want the players to be nervous, stressed, really careful it terms of walking around each corner, being aware of any enemies that come in"

 

[Machocruz]

Crisis averted. I'll be over here riding out the decline on Souls and Dragon's Dogma games.