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[SundownKid]

A lot of people are looking at DKS1 though rose colored goggles when a lot of aspects of it were less than great. That said, it feels as though many areas of Dark Souls were way more memorable and atmospheric. Probably because there was a more clear progression through and you were unable to warp, so you have to trudge through it so much. The warping in DKS2 makes it feel a little bit more arcadey and makes the areas less atmospheric. Every level is a one-way street, there's no need to turn back and take in the view. It doesn't feel like a hard fought battle forward, just picking and choosing where to go.

I feel as though they could have made it more weighty by preventing warping until you lit the Primal Bonfire and activated the warps in that branch of the game (it even makes sense story wise, the Primal Bonfire could retain the power of the Lordvessel, which gets transferred to the other bonfires). Then they could have had a way to activate the warps in each subsequent area, but you would have to go through the entire area first. (That would probably necessitate being able to level/repair at the bonfire again, but you could call upon the Herald's manifestation at whatever bonfire you were at).

[C.A. Silbereisen]

or just, you know, having 1 bonfire in an area instead of 5 and compensating for it with shortcuts

[jamesprimate]

well i dont think that people on here are discussing DS2 on its own qualities. were it called something else besides "dark souls 2" im sure it would be having a much easier time. plus, its developers talking, so criticism is going to be through a microscope and directed more a the art of it versus "as a game", you know.

sure, DS2 is still way better than OTHER games, but it just doesn't have what made DS special. in fact they almost seemed to specifically target what made it special and get rid of it, like having high level enemies and difficult areas to stumble across at an early level, the cool twisted short-cut system for advancement, the interesting intertwined world map and the fact that for much of the game you had to trudge through the same routes over and over, choreographing your fights through and gradually expanding your reach to find even greater inter-connectivity.

like when you finally open up the huge door from new londo that leads to the valley of the drakes? its a huge moment because you've wondered about that door the whole damn game. or that damn hydra just blasting you all game then you FINALLY cut its heads off. it feels like a HUGE victory! and there are tons of moments like that throughout, which are very rewarding as a player.

at the end of DS, you knew that world by heart and had visceral memories attached to each area. i could easily draw a map of lordran with my eyes closed: this is where that viciously over-powered black knight is, here is havel, here are those ridiculous wolf-bear things, here is that asshole sif, here is the sniper spot for those royal sentinels.

DS2 with its combination of linearity and perma-fast-travel, who even cares? the game is just: fight to boss, more on. the enemies even stop spawning after a few runs through, so even if the world WAS interconnected, it would just slowly lose that bubbling threat level that made journeys through DS so cool. and dont even get me started on the devolution of the combat system...

but like everybody else here, im still going to put 100+ hours into DS2 and probably buy all the DLC because, as you say, even with all that its still way better than pretty much everything else in that style. Ill just have to vent about it on webforums

[C.A. Silbereisen]

If you feel like overall DS2 is a better game than DS1, then perhaps you're in the minority, but you're not at all alone in thinking that DS2 is very, very good.

im not sure if i would call it the better game but like i said im enjoying with it than dark souls 1 at the moment. but yeah, probably just dark souls 1 fatigue after playing the game so much.

also im not really talking about ppl here on tig (i agree with most of you), but if you look at other places it feels like some people decided to hate dark souls 2 the moment it was announced that it would be developed by a different team.

[C.A. Silbereisen]

sure, DS2 is still way better than OTHER games, but it just doesn't have what made DS special.

dark souls 1 misses a lot of what made demon's souls "special". less dense atmosphere, fewer permanent choices, more content recycling, boss designs are conceptually more generic, story is more convoluted etc. etc. the interconnected world in dark souls is very nice, but demon's had separate stages and was an amazing game. like, amazing to the point where it changed the way i think about videogames.

that is to say dark souls 1 is not a demon's souls remake. just like dks2 is not a dks1 remake.

and dont even get me started on the devolution of the combat system...

but the combat system is better. what.

[jamesprimate]

that is to say it's not a remake. just like dks2 isn't a dks1 remake.

oh i agree, but demons souls and dark souls were titled differently, so there is the idea that its a successor not a sequel. if DS2 was called Giants Souls or something like that, then there would be a similar delineation. im not saying this is really important (it isnt), but it does invite a more direct comparison.

and ive already ranted way too much, but re: combat system, DS2 kills the fluidity for me at least. the shoulder charge sucks compared to the kick. the various move-set between weapons seems much less useful, and even just silly in some cases. plus tracking is totally broken for a few weapons making them almost useless (ultra greatswords.) parrying and dashing attacks lack the snappy response and thus that super cool almost balletic way you could move through a crowd of enemies (dash, stab, roll, parry, riposte, block, slash, kick, stab) is lost as well. for me at least! ive tried so many combinations and can't seem to achieve that fluidity.

But these are subjective things based on preferred style of play. Magic and ranged seem better, and clubs focusing on breaking poise makes a lot of sense. but, eh. anyway, all this talk and now i have to go back and try another weapon build XD

[jans]

the cool twisted short-cut system for advancement, the interesting intertwined world map

Yes the world is one of my main complaints of DS2 too.
I found it really frustrating when, at the end of an area they give you a key.
Then you have to go back and find that goddamn door you forgot where it is.

And the worst decision they made was, that you have to talk to the woman several times after
the Dragonrider fight so she appears in that thing in the beginning to hit the button.
I had to look this up on the wiki and when I was there I was extremely op and didnt really enjoy blasting through all those bosses.

[Glyph]

and ive already ranted way too much, but re: combat system, DS2 kills the fluidity for me at least. the shoulder charge sucks compared to the kick. the various move-set between weapons seems much less useful, and even just silly in some cases. plus tracking is totally broken for a few weapons making them almost useless (ultra greatswords.) parrying and dashing attacks lack the snappy response and thus that super cool almost balletic way you could move through a crowd of enemies (dash, stab, roll, parry, riposte, block, slash, kick, stab) is lost as well. for me at least! ive tried so many combinations and can't seem to achieve that fluidity.

-Kick did absolutely nothing and guard breaks weren't even punishable 99% of the time
-You have to manually aim ultra greatswords
-DS2 combat was plenty fluid, at least fluid enough to make 3v1s still interesting

I dunno, it just seems like they improved everything to me. In regard to combat.

[jamesprimate]

well you WOULD mr. mirror knight avatar

[Rat Casket]

Kick was nearly useless. The only argument I have ever heard for kick is that "you could kick people off ledges" which you could do in maybe 3 total places in the entirety of Dark Souls. You could break shields, sure, but most of the time you couldn't counter off of it.

Guard break into crit is probably the single most important change to the entire combat system, especially in regards to PVP.

You can still swat people off cliffs with it.

Almost all giant weapons have to be manually aimed. The tracking isn't broken its just not there in the first place. Given the massive buff to strength weapons in this game (damage, speed) I feel like this is a necessary change.

EDIT: Dammit, Glyph. Why do I even bother?

[C.A. Silbereisen]

^what this guy said

ultra greatswords fucked me over hard the first time i tried to use one haha.

i think mechanically the only thing that really sucks is soul memory. but even that fixes a big problem with the SL system (twinking).

[C.A. Silbereisen]

or they could switch to SL starting with ng+, thats what a lot of people thought when the gam was new. trying new builds wouldnt  be that much of a problem either because you can respec with a soul vessel and farm materials with ascetics

[Rat Casket]

Most of the problems I have with Ds2 is PVP related. :I

[HöllenKobold]

dks2 pvp being the worst is kinda hilarious because souls pvp is already so bad in general

[Derek]

Hey, let's post some funny PVP videos!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ecS0yKnNLA

[C.A. Silbereisen]

the chot plickens

http://imgur.com/a/LqWmw

my guess is: not actually based on solomon kane but "inspired" by it the same way demons/dark souls was "inspired" by berserk

[Rat Casket]

Talk about grasping at straws.

Most of these images aren't even remotely similar. Trenchcoat McBighat isn't an original thing. Swordman Shootgunner is also played out. Van Hellsing, the dude from that game with a character that looks exactly like that (ps2 shooter cant remember the name).

Rotting corpses on sticks? Berserk, Game of Thrones, Vlad the Impaler, 100000000000000000000 other dark fantasy or just plain fantasy games, stories, movies, animations, etc etc etc.

Castle compared to castle, which look nothing alike, aside from being castles.

Door with light in the next room compared fog gate. Hurr durr.

Combat scene from trailer compared to generic panel with sword fight. Keep in mind in the trailer only one sword was used, against a group of undead looking things, in a graveyard. Which is nothing even close to the picture aside from there is a man with a weapon.

Boss room compared to a picture that is actually nothing.

You can do this with Demons Souls, and Dark Souls 1/2 with most dark fantasy stuff and literally place all 3 games side by side with Berserk.

The internet is hella stupid.

[C.A. Silbereisen]

also lol people saying its a shadow tower abyss sequel because it has guns. because from is totally going to make a sequel to an obscure kings field spinoff that was only released in japan as the next installment in the "souls" franchise.

[Rat Casket]

^ Especially if its all going to be a Sony exclusive. Here, exclusively on Sony consoles, is some shit ya'll have never heard of.

Yeahhhhhh right.

Also DeS and DaS both had Project Thing type code names during their reveals.



This is the best pic IMO.

OKAY DUDES LOOK IT HAS TWO WORDS. ONE ON TOP OF THE OTHER. AND THE O'S HAVE THAT DOT. LIKE. ITS LITERALLY THE SAME THING. LIKE. THE NAME, AND THEN THE SUBTITLE OF "WORKING TITLE" TOTALLY THE SAME AS BLOODBORNED.

[C.A. Silbereisen]

project beast: the solomon kane of videogames?