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[1stStrike]

Oh fuck, I can't wait for this. Holiday 2011? Ugh, end of the year

*gets out his delorian*

I'm driving into the future, bitches.

 

[oracrest]

I'm actually about to replay the game, because i cant wait. End of the year is too far away.

The opposite. I hadn't played it in a while and started a new game yesterday.

The trailer did the opposite for me. I'm putting the finishing touches on a high strength/endurance character that I'd abandoned last year and loving every minute of it.

Now I just need to level up and I'll be ready for NG+.

I just ordered a UK copy so I can play through again but on EU servers this time.
Although that has been something I've been meaning to do for a while (since it got a UK release actually)

Good to know

yeah i wanna take a break this year, so when it comes out the mechanic feels fresh

Haha, you don't count!

I was hoping to mainly encourage new players not to skip out. So many sequels simply outdo the previous title, bit I have a feeling that Demons Souls will still retain a lot of it's own character and uniqueness once dark souls comes out.

 

[DarkoMaledictus]

Oh fuck, I can't wait for this. Holiday 2011? Ugh, end of the year

*gets out his delorian*

I'm driving into the future, bitches.

I bet japan get is sooner, if its region unlocked i m getting it!

 

[Vesper73]

You know what's great. Nine pages in this thread and I don't think I've read a single negative comment on this game.

Missing realtime environment shadows...... just saying!

It's actually kind of surprising, seeing as The Last Guardian got them in there, and that game has some INSANE geometry detail!

Not that it really matters. Demon's Souls was probably my favorite game of this whole generation. Day one.

 

[Canova]

I bet japan get is sooner, if its region unlocked i m getting it!

true. If Japan get it in Aug or Sept, I'm importing.

 

[JaseC]

Missing realtime environment shadows...... just saying!

Did Kittonwy tell you to say that?

 

[M°°nblade]

Anyone catch this from the trailer? The rolling breaking wheels with corpses on them.

Cuts from Berserk volume 17 and 18

They sure love Berserk at From Software

Demon's souls also had those wheels with corpses at the bottom of 3-2. But they were just decorative.

 

[oracrest]

true. If Japan get it in Aug or Sept, I'm importing.

Yeah, probably me too.

 

[Captain Pants]

So does anyone know specifically which font they're using for the webpage and logo and everything. I'm sure it's something obvious, but I just can't figure it out...

I messed around for a bit in photoshop and I'm pretty sure the font is Galant.

 

[ArjanN]

Demon's souls also had those wheels with corpses at the bottom of 3-2. But they were just decorative.

Those wheels and the armour design are not berserk references IMO. It's just that Berserk is heavily inspired by medieval europe.

Have they said anything about a PC version this time? I don't see a good reason not to do one now that it's not exclusive anymore.

 

[Cloudius12]

Anyone catch this from the trailer? The rolling breaking wheels with corpses on them.

Cuts from Berserk volume 17 and 18

They sure love Berserk at From Software

Something I found. What I didnt know.
http://www.medievality.com/the-wheel.html

 

[nib95]

youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7U-a9pJtHQ

Thanks guys, looks fantastic!

 

[Canova]

Yeah, probably me too.

I think they should release this game in summer/fall.

Winter/Holiday 2011 is already too crowded, uncharted, gears, cod, halo(rumoured) etc. Namco got to adjust their timeline here, I know they want the holiday sales pie, but this game can't compete with the big boys yet. It will go under the radar

 

[Blackheim]

Well, I have this thread to blame for forcing me to impulse buy:

Gaf is awesome but, Gaf seems to cost me a lot of money >_> Damn you all...I mean, you're all wonderful! *cough*

 

[oracrest]

Well, I have this thread to blame for forcing me to impulse buy:

Another Demon's Souls PS3 system seller

Gaf is awesome but, Gaf seems to cost me a lot of money >_> Damn you all...I mean, you're all wonderful! *cough*

Well done.

 

[Cloudius12]

Well, I have this thread to blame for forcing me to impulse buy:

Gaf is awesome but, Gaf seems to cost me a lot of money >_> Damn you all...I mean, you're all wonderful! *cough*

 

[Yaweee]

It wasn't quite an impulse buy (it took a lot of research and waiting to get one for $215), but yeah, all of the Demon's Souls/Project Dark hype got me to get a PS3 with DS as one of my three first games, for $15 no less.

 

[carlo6529]

It wasn't quite an impulse buy (it took a lot of research and waiting to get one for $215), but yeah, all of the Demon's Souls/Project Dark hype got me to get a PS3 with DS as one of my three first games, for $15 no less.

Ummm... where?

Edit~

Thx =)

 

[Yaweee]

Ummm... where?

Amazon Warehouse Deals, spurred by the CAG thread about the service. It is where Amazon cycles their returns through. According to the thread (and my experience), most of the consoles that show up there under "USED: Like New" or "USED: Very Good" condition are basically new and unused, in banged up or dirty boxes. Mine was marked "Used: Very Good", but there was no indication at all that the system had ever been removed from the cardboard box, which was dirty and scuffed.

And if it is used, you can return it no questions asked. And as usual with Amazon, no tax or shipping cost (super-saver)

 

[oracrest]

I think they should release this game in summer/fall.

Winter/Holiday 2011 is already too crowded, uncharted, gears, cod, halo(rumoured) etc. Namco got to adjust their timeline here, I know they want the holiday sales pie, but this game can't compete with the big boys yet. It will go under the radar

Hopefully the big holiday launch doesn't affect it as much as most other titles, considering DS' slower but steady sales pattern.

 

[TheThunder]

The latest Geekbox is unintentional gold. Everyone should go listen to their Demon's Souls conversation. The amount of misconceptions and sheer misinformation are madness, and some of them actually played the game (or at least the first stage).

googled "Geekbox", it's a 1 hour and 20 minutes podcast. At what time do they start talking about DS ?

 

[RyanDG]

googled "Geekbox", it's a 1 hour and 20 minutes podcast. At what time do they start talking about DS ?

About 36:23. I tried to listen all the way through to the whole thing, but eventually skipped around till I found it.

Edit - Gah... Some people still really, really don't get Demon's Souls.

 

[Man]

Interview up on PS.Blog:

http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2011/02/04/dark-souls-qa-variety-is-the-spice-of-death

 

[Cloudius12]

grr was about to post

 

[Captain Pants]

Interview up on PS.Blog:

http://blog.eu.playstation.com/

I don't see it.

 

[Speedymanic]

I don't see it.

Sid Shuman: Would you describe Dark Souls as a sequel to Demon’s Souls, or a spiritual successor? Does Dark Souls reside in the same universe as Demon’s Souls?

Hidetaka Miyazaki, director, Dark Souls: Dark Souls is not a sequel to Demon’s Souls by any means. However, it’s created by the same producers and director and so the ideologies, concepts, and themes have carried over and are similar. It’s a totally new game with similar concepts.

SS: Demon’s Souls is infamous for its high difficulty. Will Dark Souls be as difficult?

HM: Yes, Demon’s Souls was known for its incredible difficulty [laughter]. With Dark Souls, we don’t want to decrease the difficulty at all. Actually, we intend to increase the difficulty of the game. (Sid: !!!) But not simply by making the game harder, but by giving players the freedom to strategize freely and conquer that difficulty, and to be rewarded accordingly.

This is an analogy we often use: We are trying to create a game that is spicy. And we want to make it as spicy as possible. But it is edible, it tastes good, and it leaves you wanting more.

SS: How do you keep a difficult game from becoming overly punishing, and drive the player to quit in frustration?

HM: Good question. We can’t tell you all of our secrets, but there are a few ways we prevent users from drifting away. Number one, the difficulty is not dependent on the skill level of the user. We have not created a game where players who react faster or press buttons faster are better than others. Second, when a player dies, we try to leave a sense of “maybe if I try a different strategy I can succeed.” Things that you lose in death can be outweighed by the rewards of trying again. We try to give players lots of freedom to design their own gameplay style, and we’ve implemented enough content to enable users to continue challenging themselves and continue making progress.

One more aspect is the difficulty based on repetitiveness. We don’t want users to have to constantly carve away health from enemies. We’ve created all characters — including enemies and the player — to have high attack power but low defense. We don’t want users to hack and hack and hack away to defeat an enemy. It’s more strategic. We want users to think, “if I avoid this enemy, maybe I can overcome him.” We don’t want players to be frustrated by doing the same things over and over.

SS: Death was a part of life in Demon’s Souls. But it required that you replay the entire level from scratch with enemies in identical locations. Will Dark Souls force players to restart levels? Will levels be less repetitious to replay?

HM: The main concept has not changed: You try something, die, learn from your mistakes, and eventually overcome those mistakes. In Dark Souls, we’ve added the ability to players to choose their recovery point — essentially respawn points. If you die, you won’t be taken back to the beginning of the level. And as you explore the world, you can carve out your own territory and retry quests you failed. That’s a big difference. It’s an aspect that we want players to use to strategize their approach to the game.

SS: Will Dark Souls have a less intimidating control scheme than Demon’s Souls?

HM: In Demon’s Souls, when you finally get used to the controls, it feels pretty good. So for Dark Souls, the controls and feel won’t change too much. However, we are adding a tutorial so players don’t have to fight to learn how to play. We don’t want to take the players step-by-step, we just want them to get past the first step.

But generally, for Dark Souls, learning commands and controlling your character is probably a little bit easier. But to counter that, we’ve added a lot of aspects that users must learn beyond the controls. The amount of magic, the number of weapons, the types of weapons, the moves attached to the weapons…there is a lot more that players must learn in order to conquer the challenges.

SS: Does that mean we can expect a lot of new weapons with unique functions?

HM: The simple answer is yes. But we’re not just increasing the number of weapons; we want to improve the uniqueness of each weapon. Each weapon will have characteristics that are vastly different from other weapons in the game. As an example, the player starts with a Long Sword. Eventually he might find a Holy Sword, which is far more powerful but is used very differently. Some players will choose to continue using the Long Sword simply because they’re more comfortable with it.

We want to give players many options, even if that means they use the sword that ‘fits best in the hand.’ We want you to become emotionally and physically attached to the weapon you’re using. Perhaps the Long Sword, after you’ve used it for so long and taken such good care of it, is the real Holy Sword. [laughter] The real Holy Sword, though, might be very hard to master despite its power. And some players will say, “This is difficult to use? Leave it to me, I’ll master it.” [laughter]. The mind games and strategizing — that’s the most fun aspect of the game to me.

SS: How will dual-wielding weapons impact combat? Is using two swords at once a successful strategy, or more of an “expert’s mode”?

HM: Dual wielding is an option, but it’s a very difficult choice for novice players. The default fighting style is holding a shield in one hand, a weapon in the other. And the shield adds a lot of protection, it’s quite powerful in its own way. If you see another player dual wielding, we want you to think, “Oh my god, this guy is special!” Dual wielding is a way to challenge yourself, but it has a lot of downsides and makes the game much harder. When you’re in trouble, you’ll want to return to your shield and sword.

We want to keep dual wielding special. It’s a very unique strategy that will hopefully give a new experience to the player as well as those who see him.

SS: Like Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls will include online co-op and competitive play. Are you planning any broad changes to the multiplayer?

HM: Yes. Throughout the game, there will be both cooperative and competitive play with other players. Each user will enjoy a unique single-player game; at times, they will cross paths with one another. Depending on the situation, the time, and the players’ goals, those players may cooperate or compete against each other. The multiplayer system we’re creating will envelop the single-player mode. Multiplayer will enhance single-player, make it more unique, compared to other games that emphasize traditional multiplayer co-op or competitive play.

SS: What’s the single addition to Dark Souls that you’re most excited by?

HM: Probably the Beacon Fire. It stands for a lot of things. It serves as a recovery point; when the player’s health is low, the Beacon Fire helps you recover. It serves as a respawn point as well. So it’s powerful from a gameplay perspective. Secondly, the Beacon Fire will be used to share experiences with other players. It’s a place where players can gather together and communicate — not verbally communicate, but emotionally communicate. Third, it’s probably the one place in Dark Souls where users can relax just for an instant. In this cold, dark world, the Beacon Fire is a place of warmth. It’s one of the few locations in the game that is heartwarming. It expresses this dark fantasy world I’m trying to create.

SS: How will character creation work? Are there still classes? How can I augment and customize my character?

HM: The basics are quite similar to Demon’s Souls, but you can customize the physical build of your character now in addition to his face. There’s a lot of customization in terms of gameplay styles and parameters. It’s very open, and there are many more options than in Demon’s Souls. You can create any type of character you’d like to create.

SS: What’s your philosophy regarding monsters in Dark Souls? Are you going for really grim, grotesque creatures?

HM: Calling it a “philosophy” is probably overstating it a bit [laughter]. I want to expand the range and variety of all the enemies, whether they’re hideous or beautiful or strong. I don’t lean towards any particular type, but [high-level enemies] will be pretty disgusting. And you might not believe this, but all the monsters I design — from Demon’s Souls to Dark Souls — are “beautiful” to me, no matter how gruesome their appearance.

SS: What games are you looking forward to playing in 2011?

HM: Politically this is sort of a difficult question to answer! [laughter] I’m a big gamer. But to be honest, right now I absolutely love Magic: The Gathering Online. For 2011, I’m really looking forward to UNCHARTED 3 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

UNCHARTED 2 came out around the same time as Demon’s Souls, so it was a big competitor for us at the time. But UNCHARTED has done so well, and now I’m really excited for UNCHARTED 3. I’m quite interested in Skyrim because the fantasy world is something I really look forward to in games.

http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2011/02/04/dark-souls-qa-variety-is-the-spice-of-death/

 

[Man]

SS: What games are you looking forward to playing in 2011?
HM: Politically this is sort of a difficult question to answer! [laughter] I’m a big gamer. But to be honest, right now I absolutely love Magic: The Gathering Online. For 2011, I’m really looking forward to UNCHARTED 3 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Dude got taste.

 

[Cloudius12]

So Beacon fire is essentially a "checkpoint" with alot of other features? Seeing it how it open world, I dont mind.

 

[Evolved1]

http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2011/02/04/dark-souls-qa-variety-is-the-spice-of-death/

Whoa... some cool info.

 

[Raide]

Whoa... some cool info.

Indeed. The Beacon Fire thing is interesting, though I am unsure what Emotional Communication means.

Nice to heard they are planning more character creation options and also Duel Wield would really interesting.

 

[Zeal]

HM: Politically this is sort of a difficult question to answer! [laughter] I’m a big gamer. But to be honest, right now I absolutely love Magic: The Gathering Online. For 2011, I’m really looking forward to UNCHARTED 3 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
UNCHARTED 2 came out around the same time as Demon’s Souls, so it was a big competitor for us at the time. But UNCHARTED has done so well, and now I’m really excited for UNCHARTED 3. I’m quite interested in Skyrim because the fantasy world is something I really look forward to in games.

it is very telling and promising that this guy's favorite games are all western developed. this also shines through in DS and will most definitely be evident in Dark Souls.

it's like the best of the east coming together with best of western game design philosphies.

now if you'll excuse me, i need to talk to Mister Freeze on DC Universe and cryogenically freeze myself until the release of this game.

Spoiler

oh, and he has damn good taste in games.

 

[InternHertz]

SS: Death was a part of life in Demon’s Souls. But it required that you replay the entire level from scratch with enemies in identical locations. Will Dark Souls force players to restart levels? Will levels be less repetitious to replay?

HM: The main concept has not changed: You try something, die, learn from your mistakes, and eventually overcome those mistakes. In Dark Souls, we’ve added the ability to players to choose their recovery point — essentially respawn points. If you die, you won’t be taken back to the beginning of the level. And as you explore the world, you can carve out your own territory and retry quests you failed. That’s a big difference. It’s an aspect that we want players to use to strategize their approach to the game.

SS: What’s the single addition to Dark Souls that you’re most excited by?

HM: Probably the Beacon Fire. It stands for a lot of things. It serves as a recovery point; when the player’s health is low, the Beacon Fire helps you recover. It serves as a respawn point as well. So it’s powerful from a gameplay perspective. Secondly, the Beacon Fire will be used to share experiences with other players. It’s a place where players can gather together and communicate — not verbally communicate, but emotionally communicate. Third, it’s probably the one place in Dark Souls where users can relax just for an instant. In this cold, dark world, the Beacon Fire is a place of warmth. It’s one of the few locations in the game that is heartwarming. It expresses this dark fantasy world I’m trying to create.

I hope this won't be something we can spam over and over again and that it'll ruin the dread we experienced in Demon's Souls upon dying...
Also, a place where we can regenerate health can't be something we can use anywhere we want...for healing we should only stick to items or maybe rings.

I'm really looking forward to hearing more details on this and how exactly it works because my first reaction upon reading this was "WHAAAAAAAAT !?"

 

[Raide]

I hope this won't be something we can spam over and over again and that it'll ruin the dread we experienced in Demon's Souls upon dying...
Also, a place where we can regenerate health can't be something we can use anywhere we want...for healing we should only stick to items or maybe rings.

I'm really looking forward to hearing more details on this and how exactly it works because my first reaction upon reading this was "WHAAAAAAAAT !?"

It could require either an item or specific places in the world to trigger. It could have a cooldown linked to it also (e.g 30 mins) I am sure they have thought about how to do it so people don't spam it over and over.

I also wonder if it is actually a place on your current map or if you make a portal to a safe haven, like a PSO style lobby. I hope they add a few NPC's for repair and items.

 

[Zeal]

i'm really not worried about the campfire. you watch the trailer of the game and it's essentially:

"your fire will burn out. only darkness remains, and then....."

but in all serious, i expect the campfire mechanic to be used pretty sparingly. it will probably be difficult to come by, be a place to summon other players into your world, and possibly be where you cache in your 'souls' or whatever currency for progressing your character build. it will have to be used wisely, and i'm sure it will be limited appropriately.

 

[Zzoram]

How do we know that campfires didn't just replace archstones?

Also the checkpoint thing, could refer to a set/recall type system like from Morrowind/Oblivion, where you can only have 1 set point at a time, and can recall to it from anywhere

 

[Captain Pants]

http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2011/02/04/dark-souls-qa-variety-is-the-spice-of-death/

Thanks a bunch! The one line I didn't like in that interview was from the interviewer:

"SS: Will Dark Souls have a less intimidating control scheme than Demon’s Souls?"

The controls are plenty simple. Any attempt to make it simpler would be detrimental.

 

[Raide]

Thanks a bunch! The one line I didn't like in that interview was from the interviewer:

"SS: Will Dark Souls have a less intimidating control scheme than Demon’s Souls?"

The controls are plenty simple. Any attempt to make it simpler would be detrimental.

I think it suggests they won't be changing the old scheme much but they will be adding a tutorial so people can get learn before jumping in if they have not played Demon's Souls.

 

[Canova]

In Dark Souls, we’ve added the ability to players to choose their recovery point — essentially respawn points. If you die, you won’t be taken back to the beginning of the level.

hmmmm....I don't know about that one.

Players can just choose the re-spawn point right before boss fight. Why do they have to mess with the original concept? shortcuts have worked brilliantly, why changed it?

 

[bengraven]

Looks pretty decent. I may rent it when it hits the 360.

 

[indigo-cyclops]

I messed around for a bit in photoshop and I'm pretty sure the font is Galant.

Thank you, I was thinking Galant as well but can never be sure with serif fonts.

How do we know that campfires didn't just replace archstones?

Also the checkpoint thing, could refer to a set/recall type system like from Morrowind/Oblivion, where you can only have 1 set point at a time, and can recall to it from anywhere

This is what I thought. The campfires, to me, look to be a replacement of the archstones. Even the hand gesture is the same.

 

[ZeroRay]

Great interview.

I think the fires are going to be very rare. Probably in the "entrance" to each area so I'm not worried that the game will be less challenging.

 

[makingmusic476]

The guy continues to insist that Dark Souls isn't a sequel to Demon's Souls in any way, but he then goes on to compare the game to Demon's Souls in just about every facet of the two games' design.

Just say it's a spiritual sequel and call it a day lol.

 

[KUFI]

SS: Demon’s Souls is infamous for its high difficulty. Will Dark Souls be as difficult?

HM: Actually, we intend to increase the difficulty of the game.

 

[TheThunder]

Yeah, the "choose your respawn point" makes me uneasy but From Software are smart people, so will wait and see.

 

[indigo-cyclops]

Yeah, the "choose your respawn point" makes me uneasy but From Software are smart people, so will wait and see.

But considering the game is more of a field-based exploration could this mean a more open approach to respawning? He did say that instead of taking you back the beginning, that you'd choose where to be. Perhaps the fields aren't the levels, but if they are, this may very well be a non-issue since the level design is more open.

 

[Canova]

Yeah, the "choose your respawn point" makes me uneasy but From Software are smart people, so will wait and see.

yeah I guess so. As long as the combat mechanic stays the same

and one more thing From Soft, bring back my sword Makoto or the puppy gets it

 

[ezekial45]

So this is an open world game?

 

[Zeal]

The guy continues to insist that Dark Souls isn't a sequel to Demon's Souls in any way, but he then goes on to compare the game to Demon's Souls in just about every facet of the two games' design.

Just say it's a spiritual sequel and call it a day lol.

to be honest, i think this is an external effort to keep sony's copyright ninjas off them. i mean, it is also coming to 360, afterall.

regardless, this IS the spiritual successor to DS2.

 

[indigo-cyclops]

So this is an open world game?

I wouldn't go that far but it seems, unlike Demon's Souls, the game is based more on interacting in a less restrictive world. They mentioned field exploration and the like. I LOVE the sound the Beacon Fire concept. I can imagine a lot of worn and weathered gamers finding respite in the Beacon Fire.

Miyazaki also mentioned that as you "unlock more of the world, you can go back and complete quests you may have failed". To me, coupled with the inclusion of "fields", this game may be more open world in its approach. But a true open world game, no one can say yet.

to be honest, i think this is an external effort to keep sony's copyright ninjas off them. i mean, it is also coming to 360, afterall.

regardless, this IS the spiritual successor to DS2.

Poor SONY, they fucked up with this one. Let's hope they make an attempt at relinquishing what could have been one of their best franchises.

 

[Captain Pants]

Thank you, I was thinking Galant as well but can never be sure with serif fonts.

The more I look at their logo, the 'd' and the 's' are different from Galant. They might have changed that though. I'm starting to think I might not have the font even though I've got a bunch that are similar.