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Dark Souls 2 'more approachable' - Series creator steps aside

CVG: Pair of newcomers to helm Namco sequel as Miyazaki takes supervisor role

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computerandvideogames.com
NYC_Gamer4923d ago

I'm scared that DS2 will be made to please casual fans

Conan-O-Brady4923d ago

DS1 was already casualized so it's very likely that DS2 will be even more-so....I along with many others want a true sequel to Demon's Souls, but that's probably never gonna happen now.........Umbasa

Awesome_Gamer4923d ago (Edited 4923d ago )

I don't really think Dark Souls was casualized that much, but I do have some concers this one will be, but just to bring some hope for people, Miyazaki has taken the supervisor role and if "supervises" like Kojima with the MGS series than we have nothong to worry about, I didn't click disagree btw.

ChronoJoe4923d ago

Bonfires aside I don't really see how it was 'casualised'. Enemy variety / attack patterns were much more complex in Dark Souls.

The main distinction that made it a better game (Dark Souls) was the Estus Flask system. In Demon's Souls you can farm herbs and become borderline unkillable as a result.

Vanfernal4923d ago

@ChronoJoe

Dark Souls was actually patched and the difficulty toned down notably from the Vanilla version of Dark Souls, so yeah it was casualized to some point and the creators themselves said that they were worried the difficulty of the game wouldn't appeal to everyone. I love Dark Souls and I love Demon's Souls even more, so I hope this sequel would will be everything we've come to expect. Altough I wouldn't be surprised if they add and easy mode. There's a couple of articles around about the developers talking about this.

MikeMyers4923d ago

There's nothing wrong with trying to appeal to more fans but they need to do it in a way that still retains what people loved about the previous games. They can add an easier mode or add checkpoints but they need to distinguish who played the game that way with trophies and achievements.

I'm all for giving the gamer choices. What I am not for is adopting a more casual appeal to make it more mainstream for everyone.

Deputydon4923d ago

Well, to me it sounds like they want to just make it easier for players to understand HOW to play, not so much make it easier to play. Like all of the people that complained the game was too difficult because they didn't know how to do something simple. A lot of people don't even understand that the weapons scale with specific stats, so they just pump everything into strength then use a lightning weapon, which doesn't scale. In that sense, I suppose I would be okay with "more accessible" but making the game play itself easier would be a huge disappointment.

Especially considering I didn't think Dark Souls was THAT difficult.

Neckbear4923d ago

Dark Souls was actually harder than Demon's, though.

@Vanfernal:

The patches barely touched the game's difficulty, they mostly balanced spells and skills (usually nerfed overpowered crap) to give a better PvP experience.

ABizzel14923d ago

Just stopped in to say "More Approachable" doesn't always mean "More Casual".

ziggurcat4923d ago

@ Vanfernal:

i believe that was the PC version because PC owners were the only ones crying over the difficulty of the game, and xbox owners who hadn't played demons souls didn't even complain!

dark souls was hard, but i think the difficulty was relative in that those who had played demons souls didn't have as difficult of a time getting through the game.

should dark souls II's difficulty be dumbed down because of people who cried about how hard darks souls was, i may hesitate to buy.

Mounce4923d ago

DS1 was DEFINITELY NOT....Casualized....

Demon's Souls had a 'touche' to classic games like.....Ghosts and Goblins? (lol) but....neither of them were casualized.... That's just stupid.

But I too will fear that this is going to be casualized.

JoySticksFTW4922d ago (Edited 4922d ago )

Dark Souls was definitely patched to be more accessible.

While they did nerf brokenly overpowered spells and weapons (Iron Skin, Crystal Ring Shield, Strong Magic Shield), the patch also

-dialed down enemy health and poise,
-changed dangerous enemy placement in levels,
-shortened aggro range,
-awarded a bunch more souls per kill,
-added item drops and increased item drop rate dramatically,
-Twinkling Titanite on sale now
-And the big one, made Curse a non-issue. It no longer stacks.

The only thing truly worrisome about Dark Souls were those basilisk curse frogs. Even though you could wear curse-resistant armor, get the cursebite ring, and learned not to stand still in their clouds, you still worried a bit when playing in the basilisk tree or sewer locations.

Now that the Curse effect never takes you lower than 50 percent of your health, it's a breeze for old Demon's Souls soul form players, which many intentionally played in (Nexus suicides! :D) to avoid invasions but still get / offer online messages or to stabilize their world tendency.

I think Dark Souls has a good example of making the Souls games more accessible, without dumbing down difficulty with how it now deals with npc hostility.

In Demon's Souls, you can be in the talk menu with an npc - and with the slip of a finger, accidentally attack and permanently turn a NPC hostile for the rest of the playthrough. Sucksss!

In Dark Souls, you can absolve sins and have a chance at resetting the various NPC's you've angered. It's a huge upgrade in my opinion! It's more accessible, but does not negatively affect playability.

Though I still trained my myself to initiate the conversation, and then turn away from the npc just in case I fire off a stupid attack.

More accessible doesn't automatically mean more easy, though it often does. Please keep the challenge, but continue to eliminate ways a gamer can totally screw their playthrough (i.e. accidental permanent npc hostility)

SilentNegotiator4922d ago (Edited 4922d ago )

"DS1 was already casualized"

........how? I thought it was a lot more difficult than Demon's Souls.

@JoysticksFTW
Good on the Curse change. Stacking curses was bulls**t. Half health in itself is HARDLY "not an issue". It wasn't a problem in Demon's Souls ONLY - and I mean ONLY - because you were half-health almost constantly. The full health was practically a reward....the half health didn't feel like so much a punishment.

JoySticksFTW4922d ago (Edited 4922d ago )

@ Silent

I think you've made my point.

In Demon's Souls you are constantly at half health for near the whole game.

Should anyone used to that fear curse at all?

Especially with it already limited to a couple of rare instances. And now only limited to half health?

In Demon's Souls you had to either use rare stones to revive or beat a boss.

The Dark Souls patch not only limited the curse effect to half, but also added purging stones to another merchant's sell list. Plus with the improved item drop rates and the covetous serpent ring the stones can be farmed making curse a bigger non-issue.

If you're getting cursed or once you are out of the curse area, simply pop a stone and be cured.

How's that scary now?

For a lot of gamers, one or two curses were enough to learn to put on some curse resist armor, maybe detour to New Londo with transient curses to get that cursebite ring, and above all learn to move out of the fog.

Part of the fun of these games is learning from past mistakes.

Stewie2k84921d ago

Dark Souls wasn't "casualized"....

+ Show (10) more repliesLast reply 4921d ago
dedicatedtogamers4923d ago

I liked Dark Souls just as much as Demon's Souls, but the difficulty was definitely taken a notch down. I hope they don't get too casualized.

Then again, "more approachable" might simply mean that some inscrutable aspects of the game are explained better, or that the combat is given more polish (which would be nice, especially for online play).

icewater854923d ago

I don't think the difficultly was taken down. Since you played Demon Souls you had a very good idea of how to play Dark Souls. I think the difficulty was about the same as Demon Souls, but again since a lot of people already played that they knew how to play Dark Souls.

soundslike4923d ago

All they have to do to make the game more approachable is make it easier to join up in co-op, and not just for boss battles.

Then just make a covenant with a sweet weapon for the solo hardcore players to fawn over to give them reason not to do co-op all the time.

TUGA4923d ago (Edited 4923d ago )

@ icewater85 That poisonous swamp area from Demon's Souls was more difficult to me than anything on Dark Souls so i have to disagree with you there. Demon's Souls is definitely more difficult than Dark Souls.

GrumpyOla4923d ago

The 4 Kings was the toughest thing in both games to me and much worst on NG+. The witch that was supposed to aid you was completely useless.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 4923d ago
shutUpAndTakeMyMoney4923d ago (Edited 4923d ago )

It's becuz of dem casuaul pc gamers.. /s

This game barely sold about 700,000 on each console. The hardcore gamers are a very small crowd on console.

Vanfernal4922d ago

Dark Souls was definitely patched to be more accessible. ESPECIALLY when it came to the curses. Now you can buy curse removal stones from that creepy skeleton lady on the sewer next to the Undead Burg. Originally you had to buy them from the pardoner next to the church bell (he only sold 2) or make it all the way to the smack middle of New Londo to remove it. Also item drops in general where increased and humanity and homeward bone drops were more abundant.

Also things like joining the Sunlight Covenant became easier (now you need 25 faith in order to join instead of 50). Plus equipment weight was readjusted. I could NEVER put on Havel's or the Stone armor without equipping Havel's ring before, now I barely ever use it.

Also, originally a boss would only give you a fraction of the souls if you summoned ghosts to help you with the battle.

Come on people, Dark Souls is still hard and everything, but it's not as brutal as it was in the first version. Denying that they decided to make it more accessible is just silly.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 4921d ago
wishingW3L4923d ago (Edited 4923d ago )

I find funny that on another article there was some guy stating this and he got bubbled down and inundated with disagrees, and now this article comes out.... lol

People in N4G should take it easy with the bubbles because they are hard to gain them back but way too easy to lost them.

DOMination-4922d ago

The guy on the other article lost bubbles because he made it a consoles thing. Saying Demons Souls was better because it was ps3 exclusive.

Conan-O-Brady4923d ago

More approachable?....Even more casualised than the last.

cleft54923d ago (Edited 4923d ago )

So the game will now be easy, fucking great. Well there goes that game right down the fucking drain with the rest of the shit games that use to be good. Still, I will at least rent it.

grifter0244923d ago

How is free roam..go wherever you want create your own adventure a bad thing? Why do we need them to linear this game? Did I get frustrated because I didn't know what to do? Yes. Did I still have fun swathing my own path in the game? Heck yeah!

More than likely they are going to make you go in order between realms and not let you choose which place you go to anymore.

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90°

Dark Souls Series Hits a Huge Milestone As The Franchise Reaches 40 Million Sales

Bandai Namco has released its latest financial report, revealing that the Dark Souls series has reached around 40 million units combined.

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tech4gamers.com
P_Bomb207d ago

I wanna know how many busted controllers! 😅

jznrpg205d ago (Edited 205d ago )

Souls I didn’t thankfully but Sekiro I did.

130°

Why Dark Souls 2 Deserves a Second Chance in 2025

As difficult and frustrating as it is, people should consider reliving the Dark Souls 2 experience, especially because of what's coming to the game.

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gamerant.com
PrimeVinister386d ago

Many of those who hate Dark Souls II hate it because it's not Dark Souls. The same people love Dark Souls III because it isn't Dark Souls II.

And so many of the issues at the centre of common complaints about DS2 are present in DS3 and sometimes even DS1. The hatred and bile spewed over this perfectly decent game is ludicrous.

CrimsonWing69386d ago

I don’t think it’s a terrible game, but like a movie sequel by a different director, for me, it does NOT capture any of the “magic” felt from the Miyazaki entries. Boss battles don’t feel epic, environments don’t have the same sense of awe, the enemy variety isn’t particularly interesting, the art direction just feels bland, about the only thing I can give it praise for is some of the music.

Now, again, this is only how I feel about it, so I’m not trying to invalidate his you feel about the game, but it is the worst entry in the series due to those factors and it’s the least re-visited entry, for me.

Is it decent as a game on its own? Sure. But in comparison to the Miyazaki entries, it does not stack up and I believe that’s where many were disappointed with it.

PrimeVinister386d ago

Completely fair. I cannot disagree either, mate.

MrWood386d ago (Edited 386d ago )

You can also play it in VR flawlessly on PC & controller with the LukeRoss mod so… another reason to jump back in with extra immersion.

jznrpg386d ago

It’s not a bad game it’s just not as good as the others

Shadow Man385d ago

The controls felt very clunky to me, I tried playing it after beating Darksouls 3 and it didn’t feel fluid, obviously the hit detection is less superior for been an older game.

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100°

Dark Souls 2 Broke the Mold with Smelter Demon’s Over-the-Top Design

The Smelter Demon is a bombastic boss design that bolsters Dark Souls 2's roster with an experience that updates an older fight's form to function.

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gamerant.com
CrimsonWing69595d ago

Man, I dunno about that. In fact, most boss fights in Dark Souls 2 were forgettable.

__y2jb595d ago

Dark souls 2 is really underrated.

HyperMoused594d ago

My First DS's no idea why it gets so much hate

Redgrave594d ago

Or as I liked to call it, Horny Butthole Face