From Software The Dark Souls II Megathread™

[pocahaunted]

I was hoping for a 2013 release, damn Japs need to work faster. Fucking slackers.

 

[Morgoth]

I was hoping for a 2013 release, damn Japs need to work faster. Fucking slackers.

Faster usually results in shit.

FROM needs to take all it's time it needs.

 

[DragoFireheart]

Will there be a pause button? Old hardcore games had a pause button.

 

[Morgoth]

There are two ways to pause the game: You either die, or quit.

 

[Morgoth]

http://www.destructoid.com/dark-souls-ii-directors-differ-on-how-to-tell-story-256356.phtml

"I don’t really have any intentions to change how the story is told. I think it’s an important part of the game for players to pick up certain pieces of information throughout the game; whether it be descriptions, items, whatever; and try to piece them together to try and create their own story. That methodology of storytelling, I think, is an important part of Dark Souls and I want to maintain it."

 

[deuxhero]

fuck this shit. its almost a year from now i might finally buy ps3 and play fucking demons souls

Do it! The PS3 has a decent number of exclusives that are legitimately good beyond DeS

 

[pocahaunted]

Fuck yeah, don't want no hollywood pseudo-cinematic shit on DaS2.

 

[Machocruz]

So the fear over the whole "we're going to make it more understandable" comment turns out to be just that, fear? Seems like they meant they were just going to make some of the mechanics more transparent, like maybe more information about weapon effects (instead of just icons), spells, less obscure secrets.

 

[Harg Harfardarssen]

So the fear over the whole "we're going to make it more understandable" comment turns out to be just that, fear? Seems like they meant they were just going to make some of the mechanics more transparent, like maybe more information about weapon effects (instead of just icons), spells, less obscure secrets.

The full statement was “I personally am the sort of person who likes to be more direct than subtle. [Dark Souls 2] will be more straightforward and more understandable". For some of us, the virtue of the DS storytelling wasn't just just how the story was told, it was that the story itself resisted easy player comprehension and definitive interpretations. This allows the world to maintain a sense of mystery even after you've experienced everything in the game and gives the players plenty of opportunities for fun speculation and discussion about the cosmology of the world and the events preceding the game. In other words, the subtlety and obscurity were part of its charm. Making the story more direct and "solvable" would still be a decline even if you had to read all of the items to find all the secrets.

 

[Machocruz]

The full statement was “I personally am the sort of person who likes to be more direct than subtle. [Dark Souls 2] will be more straightforward and more understandable". For some of us, the virtue of the DS storytelling wasn't just just how the story was told, it was that the story itself resisted easy player comprehension and definitive interpretations. This allows the world to maintain a sense of mystery even after you've experienced everything in the game and gives the players plenty of opportunities for fun speculation and discussion about the cosmology of the world and the events preceding the game. In other words, the subtlety and obscurity were part of its charm. Making the story more direct and "solvable" would still be a decline even if you had to read all of the items to find all the secrets.

I didn't think about the story aspect. Not really a story guy. I could see the cause for concern on that front. The story should absolutely maintain the cryptic nature the series is known for. I was thinking he meant certain things like NPCs, events, items that the player had no reason to even begin to expect were in the game or how they were obtained, or the clues were too cryptic or non-intuitive and led to things like Yurt killing Nexus vendors, or getting a different resolution with the onion knight because it took a certain amount of damage, or if you kill an NPC black phantom three times you'll be able to get his armor over in this other area.

 

[Harg Harfardarssen]

Funny, I thought the whole Yurt killing Nexus vendors was awesome. To be fair, it wasn't totally non-intuitive. He was pretty clearly up to no good. I think what made that hard to predict was that we weren't really expecting a game to allow such important characters die from an event that wasn't explicitly flagged as an Important Decision To Make. I liked that the game was willing to punish you for a failure to act as well as react to your actions - it made me really careful about everything else I did. Even the innocuous dialogue had to be considered!

Although I agree with you on the transparency of the item mechanics/stats generally issues. It probably could have been clearer on the way weapons and spells worked.

 

[Malpercio]

I honestly didn't give too much of a shit about the story in DS.

 

[Serious_Business]

I honestly didn't give too much of a shit about the story in DS.

Why my friend, please elaborate

 

[wergle]

Other than the clever mechanic and plot device of making the player character a cursed zombie thing who can't die nothing about the DS story struck me as particularly memorable. The game world was presented well, yeah, but that has less to do with the details of the plot and more to do with Demons/Dark Souls being the only modern fantasy games with any sense of mystery to them. Magic doesn't feel magical if it's clearly delineated — why don't videogame writers understand this?

 

[Harg Harfardarssen]

There's more to the narrative than the plot details, such as tone, storytelling methods, characterization etc. The fact that Demons'/Dark Souls are "the only modern fantasy games with any sense of mystery to them" is kind of a big deal.

 

[wergle]

Yeah but usually when people talk about videogame stories they mean the storyline so I'm never sure what to think

Also I didn't really care at all about any of the characters in DS and most of them felt really stupid compared to the ones in DeS

 

[Harg Harfardarssen]

Fair enough. As a sidenote, one of the things I like about both of the games is that the story is there if you want to dig into it, but its not forced on you. If you don't care, you don't have to go any deeper than the surface to enjoy the game.

 

[Malpercio]

I honestly didn't give too much of a shit about the story in DS.

Why my friend, please elaborate

Do i really need to?

I love DS because of its gameplay, but the story was basically just... there. Like they filled the game with it only after completing the game. And there is nothing wrong with it.

 

[Serious_Business]

I honestly didn't give too much of a shit about the story in DS.

Why my friend, please elaborate

Do i really need to?

I love DS because of its gameplay, but the story was basically just... there. Like they filled the game with it only after completing the game. And there is nothing wrong with it.

There's more to the narrative than the plot details, such as tone, storytelling methods, characterization etc.

 

[pocahaunted]

I honestly didn't give too much of a shit about the story in DS.

Why my friend, please elaborate

Do i really need to?

I love DS because of its gameplay, but the story was basically just... there. Like they filled the game with it only after completing the game. And there is nothing wrong with it.

Yes, it definitely lacked QTEs, immersive cutscenes, player character VA and an obvious plot. If only there were more games that had all of these...

 

[bminorkey]

non-professional das2 interview. good questions

 

[Malpercio]

I honestly didn't give too much of a shit about the story in DS.

Why my friend, please elaborate

Do i really need to?

I love DS because of its gameplay, but the story was basically just... there. Like they filled the game with it only after completing the game. And there is nothing wrong with it.

Yes, it definitely lacked QTEs, immersive cutscenes, player character VA and an obvious plot. If only there were more games that had all of these...

Yeah, that's definitely what i'm looking for a game. Hence why i said i love DS.

You sir, are a genius. Now go watch 8 hours video about DS plot on youtube or something.

 

[pocahaunted]

That's not the point at all, I don't care what you're looking for in a game, nor did I assert any such notions. Please do brush up on your reading comprehension, genius.

The story meshes together with the setting, it doesn't feel like an after thought at all. Even if it were so, it becomes irrelevant considering how well integrated everything feels. I'm sorry that being blasted by constant exposition is necessary for you to feel that a game's story isn't glued with spit.

Hey, but don't fret, I'm sure you'll be enjoying The Last of Us and Bioturd infinite for their fantastic storytelling.

 

[Malpercio]

That's not the point at all, I don't care what you're looking for in a game, nor did I assert any such notions.

But you just did. Again.

By the way, DS isn't even a good example of story to piece together told through the setting/inventory items. Try the first Siren or Silent Hill or something.

 

[Morgoth]

Couple of videos that show classes:
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/416238/dark-souls-2-gameplay-videos-show-classes/