From Software The Dark Souls II Megathread™

[Kanedias]

I don't know if this is legit or not, but someone who played the game is doing an AMA on reddit with some information.

It contains heavy spoilers (especially of the first two bosses) and may actually be legit because what seems like the Namco community manager posted there.

There was a worrying part, though:

"I noticed that the cat in Majula sells a ring not only for friendly but for enemy voice chat which could be interesting."

I guess I can simply not use the ring, but I really hate this crap with the voice chat. The voice chat, the preorder weapons and the enemy respawn thing (which to be honest we don't know too much about yet) are what worry me the most. Three possible major declines.

 

[Invictus]

A very interesting preview is up at Eurogamer, it is very nice to see that the marketing and PR departments at Namco Bandai are pushing the game hard with special events and invites to youtubers to get into the mainstream (and chase the sweet sweet dolar) but there has apparently been no compromises on the game itself.
I would be shocked if the game doesn't sell at least the 4 mil that os beign projected across all plataforms
Oh and for the guys who are cringing about the wraping ability beign there from the start it is an option for those who want it and I have no issues with it...but the voicechat is pure xbox decline; it is so cool beating a boss with a total stranger who does the praise the sun gesture and then disappears

 

[praetor]

voice chat devils advocate: (disclaimer: yeah i hate it with a passion... the "voice stones" from the DLC were enough of a voice communication device for the Souls series) you won't know the difference if you never wear the ring that enables it (i know i won't)... the textual messages from scrubs who use it will be all the more delicious and salty

EDIT:
short interview at neogaf (cliffnotes of new confirmed info: big secret levels (like PW) are still in, more and more frequent bonfires , cutscenes only at the beginning, doing everything in Majula instead of bonfires is because Tanimura is a DeS nostalgiafag , they're working on the removal of GFWL from DaS1 )

 

[Visperas]

Going back to Firelink to buy stuff or go in another direction wasn't special, I hope this Majula thing works out.

 

[praetor]

Going back to Firelink to buy stuff or go in another direction wasn't special, I hope this Majula thing works out.

except now you'll have to travel back to Majula for everything (buy, upgrade, level up, repair.. every fucking thing because one of the directors thought doing the same in DeS was "emotional", when it was only tedious)

anyway, allegedly spanish cover art:

 

[meanwhileInPoland]

since you can warp to majula from every fucking bonfire to level up whats your fucking problem?it did not bother people in Des i doubt it will be a big hindrance if at all.

firelink shrine was fucking great with new npc gathering around and new stuff to buy/learn but it loses its meaning after 1/3 of the game and its a shame. i hope majula will be usefull/meaningfull till the end of the game.

 

[Zep Zepo]

Going back to Firelink to buy stuff or go in another direction wasn't special, I hope this Majula thing works out.

except now you'll have to travel back to Majula for everything (buy, upgrade, level up, repair.. every fucking thing because one of the directors thought doing the same in DeS was "emotional", when it was only tedious)

Getting back to the Nexus is DeS was easy enough with the way the hubs worked. 1,1 - 1,2 - 1,3 - 1,4 - 2,1, etc... relatively short chunks of game play in each hub,number.

DaS was a little more difficult (without having the later game bonfire warp)

DaS II will have bonfire warp earlier they say, so probably close to DeS in getting back to a place you have to be to do something.

Zep--

 

[praetor]

DaS will have warp from the beginning. the "do everything in Majula, nothing at bonfires" only adds tedium, nothing else.

now in DaS2:

-almost every single time you'll rest at a bonfire, you'll teleport back to majula *loading screen* run to the emerald harold, press "X" 2-3 times to skip all the repeating dialogue, level up, run to the blacksmith(s), press "X" 2-3 more times to again skip repeating dialogue, repair/upgrade, run to the bonfire, warp *loading screen*

how it is in DaS1:
-rest at bonfire, do your shit, carry on

DeS structure and game mechanics (the shitty WT and item burden) forced you to go to the nexus so it was ok to have the MiB, as annoying as she was, for level ups. but in a DaS1's sequel? it's fucking retarded and it will only add tedium/annoyance (which will be the only "emotions" players will feel after the 35th time they'll be forced to warp back to Majula to do trivial/mundane shit). with the overabundance of NPCs and sidequests related to them there was enough reason to return back there even without the banal parts. it's just stupid/bad game design

 

[DragoFireheart]

DaS will have warp from the beginning. the "do everything in Majula, nothing at bonfires" only adds tedium, nothing else.

It's the new Nexus. Not that big of a deal.

now in DaS2:

-almost every single time you'll rest at a bonfire, you'll teleport back to majula *loading screen* run to the emerald harold, press "X" 2-3 times to skip all the repeating dialogue, level up, run to the blacksmith(s), press "X" 2-3 more times to again skip repeating dialogue, repair/upgrade, run to the bonfire, warp *loading screen*

how it is in DaS1:
-rest at bonfire, do your shit, carry on

DeS structure and game mechanics (the shitty WT and item burden) forced you to go to the nexus so it was ok to have the MiB, as annoying as she was, for level ups. but in a DaS1's sequel? it's fucking retarded and it will only add tedium/annoyance (which will be the only "emotions" players will feel after the 35th time they'll be forced to warp back to Majula to do trivial/mundane shit). with the overabundance of NPCs and sidequests related to them there was enough reason to return back there even without the banal parts. it's just stupid/bad game design

"you don't know enough it could be useful for other reasons."

 

[praetor]

It's the new Nexus. Not that big of a deal.

it is a big deal because it's a waste of time in a sequel where the directors said they'll remove the wastes of time of the previous titles only to remove one of the better mechanics from the previous title and reintroduce one of the shittiest from the first title that adds nothing but tedium and loading screens because "nostalgia" and "emotions". this is the motherfucking Codex, and those reasons aren't good enough to have shitty mechanics

"you don't know enough it could be useful for other reasons."

it WILL be useful for other reasons (the aforementioned abundant NPCs and related side-quests), that's why the added, constant return to the area just for mundane shit is abso-fucking-lutely 100% retarded

 

[DragoFireheart]

It's the new Nexus. Not that big of a deal.

it is a big deal because it's a waste of time in a sequel where the directors said they'll remove the wastes of time of the previous titles only to remove one of the better mechanics from the previous title and reintroduce one of the shittiest from the first title that adds nothing but tedium and loading screens because "nostalgia" and "emotions". this is the motherfucking Codex, and those reasons aren't good enough to have shitty mechanics

"you don't know enough it could be useful for other reasons."

it WILL be useful for other reasons (the aforementioned abundant NPCs and related side-quests), that's why the added, constant return to the area just for mundane shit is abso-fucking-lutely 100% retarded

Maybe at some point you'll be able to buy items to repair and such.

Even in Dark Souls you had to go find Blacksmiths to modify equipment to a new upgrade level.

 

[praetor]

Maybe at some point you'll be able to buy items to repair and such.

Even in Dark Souls you had to go find Blacksmiths to modify equipment to a new upgrade level.

yeah.. i can understand having special blacksmiths for special purposes (and in DaS1 you could buy the upgrade/repair stuff before the 2nd frigging "serious" boss in the game... you couldn't even upgrade stuff before that because materials were almost non-existent and there was also that New Londo blacksmith...), for weapon "ascension" (but for every upgrade? fuck no), the NPCs for covenants and all... but having to travel back every single time i want to level-up (and let's face it, that will be way more often than in DeS) or repair/upgrade stuff even only one level is just stupid (hopefully there'll be a way to unlock level up and other stuff at bonfires... especially since the green bitch can be permakilled apparently)

 

[DragoFireheart]

especially since the green bitch can be permakilled apparently)

See, there you go. Even in Demon's Souls you can't kill (permanently) the only way to level up. Just gets disabled in the time before the first boss and after the last boss.

 

[praetor]

See, there you go. Even in Demon's Souls you can't kill (permanently) the only way to level up. Just gets disabled in the time before the first boss and after the last boss.

hence my "apparently".. we know she can be killed 'cause some did it in the event last week, but we don't know if it's permanent and/or if From will just say "fuck you" if you kill her (would be funny, though... but if there's an alternative, i'm killing the cunt the second i get it). and hopefully the alternative will carry on through NG+ (but i doubt it), but new characters will still have to go through the tedium every time. so it's still a stupid decision (unless you unlock the alternatives relatively soon)

 

[Kanedias]

I doubt they will take away our ability to repair or do the "minor" upgrades at bonfires. Anyways I really don't like going back to levelling at an NPC, it seems backwards.

Like you said, in DeS you had to go to the Nexus anyways to get rid of all the extra items you picked up on the level, so levelling up was done on the same trip. The pacing of the game also felt different, with the hub based world it was natural to go back to the Nexus every time you did a chunk of a level. With an interconnected Dark Souls style world, however, the pacing is way different, and if we had to go back to Firelink Shrine every time it would seem awfully disruptive. It won't bother me too much, but the Dark Souls system was better. I wonder what made them go back to it... They had originally intended to have the same system in Dark Souls, with Priscilla being the Maiden in Black equivalent, but they decided against it later on.

I also don't know how to feel about the extra bonfires. Dark Souls seemed to have the right amount, and all the bonfires made sense in the level design. I never really felt tedium when running back to a boss or something, except maybe New Londo before I found the most optimal route to the boss. It's weird hearing this, though, because the people who played the game never saw any extra bonfires, and from what they described it seemed exactly like Dark Souls 1. The Network Test also didn't have that many bonfires.

 

[DragoFireheart]

so it's still a stupid decision (unless you unlock the alternatives relatively soon)

I don't see why not.

 

[praetor]

I wonder what made them go back to it...

going by the short interview from neogaf, only because Tanimura is a DeS nostalgiafag

 

[meanwhileInPoland]

Spoiler

gameplay footage which shows a bit of majula.

Spoiler

i dont know what class he is playing but that red tunic looks awesome

 

[DragoFireheart]

gameplay footage which shows a bit of majula. i dont know what class he is playing but that red tunic looks awesome

Please use spoiler tags.

 

[meanwhileInPoland]

red tunic is spoiler now or what?

more gameplay around of 1 minute of footage.

Spoiler

some dark forest arena

 

[DragoFireheart]

red tunic is spoiler now or what?

No, but the video is since it isn't just a press-release or a demo.

 

[subotaiy]

Are those

Spoiler

undead little pigs?

 

[Visperas]

I'm sure you'll be able to repair things on bonfires and there'll be traders outside the town. You'll probably also be able to level in bonfires after a while.

 

[Invictus]

The new maiden in black is no big deal to me really, I got the habit of undloading my gear in DeS and I continued that it DaS so the concept of having a down time cebtral hub where you can train, fix and upgrade gear an get some NPC quests and interaction seems fine to me
About the bonfires, I get the idea they will be like the locked bonfire from the beta (which you could unlock or not) or the hidden bonfires from Tomb of Giants, Sen's or even the Deep Hollow
If all we got right now to nitpick is stuff like that an not how they nerfed the knight gear we have entiretly too much time on our hands ;D

 

[DragoFireheart]

The new maiden in black is no big deal to me really, I got the habit of undloading my gear in DeS and I continued that it DaS so the concept of having a down time cebtral hub where you can train, fix and upgrade gear an get some NPC quests and interaction seems fine to me

Odd, but I played Dark before Demon's but I have nostalgia about off-loading in the Nexus as well and prefer it to Dark Souls all-in-one bonfire. It certainly did not seem tedious to me.

What was tedious was having to go to 2-1 every time I want to upgrade my weapons. Blacksmith should have relocated to the Nexus.