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Dark Souls 2 is just around the corner with a scheduled release date of March 11. If you were turned off by the infamous difficulty or design decisions that were made in Demon’s Souls or Dark Souls, know that the developers at From Software have given extra effort to make this the best Souls game yet, one that is still every bit as challenging as its predecessors, but is a truly fair game. No one will truly know how successful From has been, but I have faith in them, and these are 5 signs that they have given it all they have to produce something truly special for fans and newcomers alike. Many of these are taken from my experiences with the network test beta.
[promo title=”5: Graphics and Engine”][/promo]
This is a pretty obvious and easy sign to pick, but it’s true. The polygon count and texture resolution don’t appear to be significantly better than they were in Dark Souls, but the physics and lighting are significantly better, with PS3 version’s lighting rivaling that of many next-gen titles. The animations are significantly better than the ones in Dark Souls, with smoother, more realistic movements, and greater attention to subtle detail. Not only does Dark Souls 2 look great, but watching for tells in the enemy’s attack patterns feels more natural than ever.
[promo title=”4: Accessibility”][/promo]
Possibly the biggest problem in Demon’s Souls and especially Dark Souls was how difficult it was for newcomers to begin playing and enjoying the experience. Demon’s Souls didn’t explain world tendency at all, and Dark Souls never explained one of its core mechanics, humanity. Dark Souls 2 aims to make the game as easy to pick up as possible, while not hand-holding its players. Humanity and hollowing are better explained, and the game mechanics surrounding these is more accurate to series lore, making them easier to understand and use. Experienced players may not notice or care about this, but newcomers will certainly appreciate the care the dev team took to never confuse or trick the player, but to instead give the player the knowledge to face the challenges ahead.
[promo title=”3: Magic System”][/promo]
Magic in Dark Souls wasn’t a highly viable tool, and was only useful to complement a primarily melee character. Magic was nearly impossible to aim well without locking on to an enemy, which made spells with longer casting times less useful, and each spell had a very limited number of casts before resting at a bonfire. Meaning the player would either have to spend most of his or her magic getting to a boss, or run past enemies to get to the boss with magic at the ready.
In Dark Souls 2, however, From Software added consumable items that replenish the number of times magic can be cast, they added a greater variety of spells, and added two modes of casting. When the player taps the button for light attack, the character casts a quick, weak version of the spell, but if the player presses the button for a heavy attack, the character casts a slower, more powerful version of the spell, greatly fleshing out the magic system. Spells can also be aimed in first person now, like bows in previous Souls games, making spells such as “soul arrow” much more effective. Playing the game as a sorcerer, pyromancer, or cleric in Dark Souls 2 is proving to be perfectly viable now.