Dark Souls 2
Dark Souls 2 is the sequel to the brutal action RPG released in 2011 and published by Namco Bandai Games. I say brutal not in reference to its level of violence or in a negative way but in the game’s unforgiving difficulty. Dying was as much a part of game play as any other mechanic. And for those unfamiliar with Dark Souls there was a Prepare to Die Edition so yes its difficulty was an aspect promoted by the publisher. And according to the director Yui Tanmura, Dark Souls 2 won’t be any easier. So if you enjoyed Dark Souls and had concerns about a sequel being easier have no fear, you will die often. Buried under all the talk about dying, Dark Souls had a rewarding game play experience due to the story and its mechanics. In Dark Souls you were an Undead, one of many humans branded with the Darksign mark and almost immortal as a result. In this world all Undead were kept imprisoned but you was able to escape with the help of another Undead and learned of the prophecy of one who would journey to Lordran, the Land of the Ancient Lords, and ring the Bells of Awakening. The purpose was to set off a series of events where the player could ultimately end the suffering the world was afflicted with by defeating Gwyn, the Lord of Cinder.
Dark Souls 2 will feature a completely different protagonist who is afflicted with an unknown curse and will have to search for a way to remove it. The open world environment will be about 2 times the size it was in Dark Souls and filled with new monsters and enemies. It will not only be difficult but will have some horror in it that Namco describes as threats designed to prey on different phobias through hallucinations and other sensory bombardments. There will be new weapons, armor, etc and that’s to be expected in just about any game and the customization will be deeper than the first game. Co-op and multiplayer will return as well with some improvements and will be server based. Namco hasn’t released much additional information but there is a sick official trailer to check out now. No, seriously you should watch the trailer.
And I have even more good news. I was one of the people who brought the PC version of Dark Souls and it wasn’t a very good port. First it used Games for Windows Live and the graphics weren’t great (I added mods to improve the textures and framerate issues.) The good news is Namco won’t be bringing it to the PC as the result of a campaign by PC gamers but have been working on the PC version simultaneously for a much better experience. Namco has acknowledged that the PC port wasn’t the best with them calling it half-assed. I’m not sure which platform I’ll be getting this on yet but it’s so good to know the PC version won’t be an afterthought. It’s scheduled to be released December 31st.
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