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GO BEYOND DEATH
From Software
Namco Bandai
Action RPG
14.03.2014
PlayStation 3, XBox 360, PC
Despair
Go Beyond Death
Of Masks and Dragons
Aching Bones
Developed by From Software, Dark Souls II is the highly anticipated sequel to the punishing 2011 breakout hit Dark Souls (9.5/10 Gamespot, 9.0/10 IGN). The unique old-school action RPG experience captivated imaginations of gamers worldwide with incredible challenge and intense emotional reward. Dark Souls ll brings the franchise's renowned difficulty & gripping gameplay innovations to both single and multiplayer experiences.
- Prepare to die . . . Again: dare yourself to engage against intense gameplay in a vast world powered by an all new engine that leaps graphics, sound & fx forward like never before
- A labyrinth of monsters & bosses: immerse yourself into mind-bending environments filled with new twisted monsters and deadly bosses that could only come from the imagination of From Software
- Sensory assault: a wide range of threats will prey on human senses & phobias - auditory hallucinations, vertigo, acrophobia, etc
- Deeper and darker: more intricate customization options provide weapons and armor tailoring to player style
- Evolved multiplayer: updated multiplayer system enables improved online interaction to bring forward cooperative & competitive play
- Go beyond death: Dark Souls II features fluid motion-capture animations, upgraded combat system, a vastly expanded suite of characters, deeper customization options, new weapons, armor abilities, and balanced player progression system
Press Release
Hopelessness, Despair, and Impending Doom Arrives With Dark Souls II
SAN JOSE, Calif. – December 7, 2012 – Leading video game publisher and developer NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. today proudly announces that the critically acclaimed Dark Souls™ saga marches forward with Dark Souls™ II, currently in development at FromSoftware in Tokyo, Japan. Dark Souls II will continue a legacy of goading its passionate fan base with unrelenting challenge and suffering that are considered a hallmark of the series; while presenting new devilishly devised obstacles for players to overcome. Dark Souls II will be available for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, and PCs.
Built upon the foundation established by Souls series creator and Dark Souls II Supervisor, Hidetaka Miyazaki with development helmed by FromSoftware Director Tomohiro Shibuya, Dark Souls II will feature a new hero, a new storyline, and an unfamiliar world for players to survive in while delivering its signature brand of unrelenting punishment that players hunger for. Epic battles with gruesome enemies and blood-thirsty bosses await adventurers as they traverse through a devastated world filled with death and despair; only those who are strong willed or cunning can survive this journey to achieve great glory. Players seeking to share their experience will discover a revamped server-based multiplayer mode that will put a distinct Dark Souls II twist on the concept of playing with others.
“Dark Souls II retains the core essence of Dark Souls while evolving to present new twists and challenges that are sure to please longtime fans and attract new comers to the series,” says Carlson Choi, Vice President of Marketing at NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. “FromSoftware is going to take a very dark path with Dark Souls II; players will need to look deep within themselves to see if they have the intestinal fortitude to embark on this journey.”
“This new chapter in the Dark Souls saga presents opportunities for us to drive innovation in gameplay design, develop an entirely new story, and expand the scope of the world in which the player interacts with the game. We have taken these necessary steps with Dark Souls II in order to evolve the overall experience of the Dark Souls series,” says Tomohiro Shibuya, FromSoftware Director on Dark Souls II. “The entire development team is striving to make Dark Souls II an experience that is fresh while not forsaking its roots in presenting players with challenging gameplay. Our goal is to surprise and delight our fans with new experiences and plot twists while enticing new players to join our dark journey.”
More details surrounding Dark Souls II will become available in the months leading to its release. Begin your Dark Souls II journey at www.DarkSoulsII.com or join the Dark Souls II conversation on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/DARKSOULS or follow us on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/Filthierich
Hidetaka Miyazaki
Everybody knows what the core of Dark Souls is and that will never change
Hidetaka Miyazaki, the godfather of Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls, is clicking his ballpoint pen repeatedly. He’s sitting across the table from us, wearing his trademark casual navy blue jacket over a buttoned-down shirt. His hair looks slightly more dishevelled than usual, hanging noticeably limply across his forehead. The atmosphere in the room has grown suddenly charged. The virtuosic young Japanese game designer has dropped a bombshell.
“I will not be involved in the actual development of Dark Souls II,” he says matter-of-factly. “I want to clarify that I will be a supervisor, not the actual director or producer.”
This is a crushing revelation for any hardcore fan of Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls, akin to a cinephile learning that Pulp Fiction 2 is in production, but that Quentin Tarantino isn’t attached to the picture. The strong personal tie between Miyazaki and the two dark fantasy RPGs he’s created to date has been well established. He explained to us in a previous interview, for instance, that the veil of ambiguity hovering over the Souls games grew out of his experiences as a child poring over western fantasy literature. Due to his patchy comprehension of English at the time, there were large chunks of each book he couldn’t decipher, leaving him to fill in the details with his imagination. He set out to create that same sense of awe and bewilderment in his games, letting players fill in the gaps with their imagination instead of having every plot point and objective clearly articulated through in-game text or cutscenes.
So what does it mean that Miyazaki is a supervisor on Dark Souls II? When we first hear the word, we imagine him popping by at the end of every workday to check in on development and see how things are progressing, maybe even signing off on features and visual concepts as they’re being prototyped – you know, supervising. In reality, his role is less involved and ongoing than the term ‘supervisor’ would suggest, having simply ensured things got started on solid footing before stepping aside. So what has he contributed to the project?
For one thing, Miyazaki has insisted on setting the top-line level of Dark Souls II’s production schedule. “I’m aware that many fans were a little bit frustrated about Dark Souls in terms of the scheduling – more specifically speaking, about the patches that we’ve released,” he says, alluding to the consequences of pushing Dark Souls out the door before it was 100 per cent polished. “I really regretted that, so I reviewed all those kinds of things that I worked on in Dark Souls to make sure that Dark Souls II is ready on time.”
The second item that Miyazaki claims to have looked after is the transition from a peer-to-peer online system to server-based network play, which promises a markedly improved online experience.
Finally, he points to his role in assigning the pair of replacement game directors – Tomohiro Shibuya and Yui Tanimura – who have now assumed the reins of the Souls series. Both had previously worked on FromSoftware’s mech-action series Another Century, which caters to the tastes of the local Japanese audience and isn’t currently available abroad. (Coincidentally, Miyazaki worked on the mech-action Armored Core series before creating Demon’s Souls, so it’s not as big a leap from mech combat to the fantasy-RPG genre as you might expect).
Though the discrepancy could well be attributed to a translation error, moments after stating that “there will be two directors for Dark Souls II, which I have secured myself”, Miyazaki tacks on a correction after his introduction of Shibuya and Tanimura, saying “the decision about the new assignments was not made by me; it was made by FromSoftware and Namco Bandai as a whole”. These competing statements make it hard to decipher whether Miyazaki wished to step away from the Souls series, or if he was asked to move aside by the company so that the IP could be steered in a fresh direction. When asked about his new full-time role, Miyazaki mentions that he’s working on a new title as director, but when we ask if it’s a new IP he simply laughs and replies, “Sorry, I can’t answer that.”
“It was a company decision,” clarifies Namco Bandai producer Takeshi Miyazoe. “Miyazaki worked on Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls, but for the IP to evolve and provide a new experience within the Dark Souls world the new wind from directors Shibuya and Tanimura is key to providing players with [a] brand new Dark Souls experience. In order to maintain the expectations and satisfaction and the rewards that players experience, this was the right time to bring in the new characteristics and taste[s of the directors] for this series to continue on evolving.”
While it’s sad to see Miyazaki part ways with his fantasy-RPG series, it certainly makes sense from a company perspective to steer him towards a fresh title, especially if it does turn out to be something brand new. Apart from Dark Souls, Namco Bandai’s recent attempts to develop memorable new properties have been largely unsuccessful. If there’s any chance this proven young designer can cause lightning to strike twice, it makes sense to give him that opportunity. For his part, Miyazaki seems ready to access a different part of his psyche. In response to an unrelated question, he says, “sometimes I’d like to work on a warmer game – not necessarily casual, but warmer in terms of the atmosphere and the environment”. It’s the closest thing that we’re given to a hint about the nature of his next project.
So how does Miyazaki feel about entrusting his baby to new parents? “I’m not one to restrict the potential that Dark Souls has by insisting that only I can work on the titles,” he stresses. “I want new expressions. It’s true that I’m sad about not being involved in the development of Dark Souls II, because I’ve worked on Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls’ development for the past five years. I really love those two titles; however, maybe this is the time to have new inspiration, so I’m fine about that. I’m looking forward to playing Dark Souls II not as part of the development team, but with a little bit of distance. Everybody knows what the core of Dark Souls is – the dev team does, the fans do, the media does – and that will never change. I [wouldn’t] really care for Dark Souls VIII to come out. That’s not the point. It’s more, ‘What do the fans want?’ We want to stay true to what they expect.”
At the conclusion of our interview, Miyazaki volunteers some formal closing remarks. He mentions this will probably be one of his last interviews about the Souls series for a while and wants to offer his appreciation on behalf of himself and the development team to fans and the media for lavishing such enthusiastic praise on Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls. As he exits the room, the reality sinks in – this is really happening. We’ve been taught that if the Fire Keeper dies, the bonfire they guard turns to cold ash. Let’s hope this is the exception. Dark Souls II has the potential to be a dramatic departure indeed.
Tomohiro Shibuya
The concept of time and the existence of time is something that will be key
One half of the directorial duo behind Dark Souls II, Tomohiro Shibuya clearly has more than a passing interest in fashion. He sports stylishly layered hair, his jeans are ornamented with faux-stencilled graffiti, and the shirt he’s got on displays a black-and-white photograph of a woman reclining on a sofa while wearing nothing but black gloves. One arm conceals her breasts, while a strategically positioned cushion keeps the image just softcore enough to ensure it remains tantalising without being pornographic. The composition of the photo is designed to tease viewers, and to kindle their curiosity.
Shibuya is here to try to accomplish the same trick with Dark Souls II, but it becomes quickly apparent that he doesn’t intend to be nearly as forthcoming as the woman on his shirt. She’s opted for black gloves, but he might as well be cloaked in the Tower Knight’s daunting plate armour.
His initial flurry of answers are vague. We’re able to establish that Dark Souls II will be a direct sequel to Dark Souls, and it will take place in an open world of similar dimensions to its predecessor but more dense with content. The game will not take place in Lordran, yet Shibuya won’t disclose the name of the setting. “The name of the world will be key to the story,” he says. “We will reveal it eventually, but not in the first announcement. If Lordran was to be an area in a world called, say, Earth, the setting of this game will be somewhere completely different. The two places won’t necessarily interact directly with each other, but, from a visual concept [standpoint] at least, it will be within the same world.”
We’re told the story will once again revolve around a character who is cursed and seeking to find the cure for his affliction, but Shibuya won’t be drawn out further. He will provide no details about how much continuity there is between the story of Dark Souls II and its predecessor, nor explain why the player has appeared in this new region. “They’ll find out right away,” he says, “but that’s something we want to refrain from speaking too much about today.”
In the preceding interview, Miyazaki stressed that FromSoftware was interested in evolving the series to keep fans surprised and engaged. So if the key alteration from Demon’s Souls to Dark Souls was providing players with an expansive and seamless open world, what’s the defining change that Dark Souls II will offer us?
“The concept of time and the existence of time is something that will be key to Dark Souls II,” replies Shibuya. When we press for more detail, he simply rephrases the word ‘time’ with ‘eras’ and leaves it there. That’s as much as he will say, claiming that he doesn’t want to spoil the surprise for players. We’ll have to wait to see just what this clue means, then, but it sounds as though time travel between different epochs of the world’s history could play a role in the game. For a series that already shares so much DNA with The Legend Of Zelda, playing with time mechanics can only serve to strengthen that bond.
Any sequel in a beloved franchise gets stuck between the competing values of preserving the core of an experience that players have loved and the desire to offer up fresh enticements. Despite his caginess, Shibuya doesn’t intend to be shy about building on the foundation of the past games and changing things up.
“Ideally we want Dark Souls players to smoothly get into Dark Souls II,” he explains, “but at the same time I am implementing a lot of different aspects as well. So there might be a sense of awkwardness at the [beginning] when experienced Dark Souls players pick up Dark Souls II. But ideally we want that smooth process, so Dark Souls II will have the same general feel in terms of the experience in the game. I don’t intend to change the controls.”
Our conversation then turns to the issue of accessibility. Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls are notorious for not just being difficult to master in a mechanical sense, but remaining staunchly inscrutable as well; the games rarely explain their systems to players. Demon’s Souls contained a feature called World Tendency that veered between pure white and pure black, changing the nature of the world depending on certain actions, but you had to flee online to the Demon’s Souls wiki if you were to have any hope of untangling the mystery of how it worked. Dark Souls has a host of different ‘covenants’, which require different actions from players to both join and maintain good standing in. The covenant system will return in Dark Souls II, but Shibuya assures us it will be easier to understand.
“I personally feel that the covenant system was something that was difficult to fully absorb and experience [in] Dark Souls, and I intend to make it more accessible to players. And that’s not just with the covenant system, but with a lot of other aspects that I felt were difficult to fully adapt to.
“I will follow the same concept as Dark Souls, but there were a lot of hidden story elements that some players may not have caught before, and I’m hoping to make some of that a little bit more clear or directly expressed to the player as well – not just in the story, but messaging. A lot of elements were very subtle in Dark Souls, and that was something that was characteristic to Dark Souls. But I personally am the sort of person who likes to be more direct instead of subtle, so I think that part of me will [result in] a difference [for] players when they pick up Dark Souls II. It will be more straightforward and more understandable.”
Despite Miyazaki telling us in an interview conducted back in November 2011 that he wasn’t yet sure if he’d have the chance to make a follow-up to Dark Souls, Dark Souls II had in fact already been in development for two months at that stage. Shibuya mentions being approached about the project in September of last year, at which point, we’re told, development was proceeding in parallel, with some of the Dark Souls team working on patches and DLC content, and staff gradually migrating over to the new game as required.
According to Shibuya, the team working on Dark Souls II is “substantially bigger”. Though he won’t quantify the growth numerically, he points out that the studio has nearly doubled the internal team focused on world creation alone, in addition to adding new members across every other department. When asked what state the game is currently in, he estimates it being roughly 25 per cent finished. In other words, if the current pace of development holds, you can almost definitely rule out the game arriving in 2013. Is the team hoping to finish the game before the end of the current hardware generation? Shibuya politely declines to comment.
After about 90 minutes of question-and-answer jousting, we haven’t teased out many specifics. It’s just like Dark Souls to raise more questions than it answers, but we can’t help feeling frustrated. Diehard fans of the series will surely be disappointed as well. But it’s also just like Dark Souls to provide players with dizzying turnabouts in fortune. After stumbling blind and hopeless through the pitch black Tomb Of The Giants in Dark Souls, discovering that first bonfire near the base of the tall cliff-face ladder felt like reaching pure nirvana. In a cavern that dark, the illumination from even a tiny bonfire can feel as penetrating as the sun itself.
Yui Tanimura
It's important to allow the player to learn about their deaths
"Accessible" probably wasn't the right word to describe the new design direction for Dark Souls 2. Yui Tanimura, producer of the sequel, doesn't say it in as many words during our interview, but the sentiment is evident when he clarifies earlier statements.
"We understand that a lot of fans took the word 'accessible' and translated it to 'it will be easier'," he said. "We apologise for casually using the word".
From Software's true intent was muddled in translation. This time, Tanimura and Namco Bandai producer Tak Miyazoe are clear and precise with their words: "There's no intent for us to make the game any easier."
A short gameplay video and trailer are positive proof of this. They show a fur and iron clad Knight meeting his demise in various heinous ways. So, what did they mean then? According to Tanimura, Dark Souls 2 it will be a much "leaner" experience, without compromising the challenge - obviously.
"At the same time, the goal isn't to make Dark Souls 2 more difficult, just more rewarding," he continued. "What we meant by accessibility was streamlining a lot of the so-called tediousness that was in Dark Souls to make sure we can trim the fat and directly deliver the pure challenges and emotional aspects we want to communicate."
Streamlining, trim; more flammable words, but this time better explained: "For example; having to backtrack in Dark Souls and having to do all that travelling. Warping was only available in the latter half of the game, which seemed a little bit useless."
All this is in service of boiling Dark Souls 2 down to its pure, undiluted essence. Tanimura goes to pains to point out difficulty, facing seemingly insurmountable challenges, and then overcoming them is key to that essence.
Given the somewhat disjointed sections structure of our gameplay demo we can't speak to how this leaner, no-less-meaner experience comes together, but all the right pieces seem to still be there.
Our demo kicked off with a slow pan around the aforementioned Knight, who stands in an outdoor environment, at the entrance of a dungeon. Tanimura highlights the improved visual quality. While the distant mountains still use the same low-resolution, painted backgrounds seen in the previous games, the jump in visual fidelity is noticeable in the character model and his immediate environment.
Immersion is key to the Dark Souls experience, and to remove any barriers to it From Software has created a new engine for the sequel. The benefits are obvious, especially in the next room, where the flickering of a bonfire casts a warm glow on a nearby statue, and the Knight's shadow is cast across the wall, bending and shifting believably as he walks towards a ladder.
With the next generation of consoles imminent and a brand new engine in hand, we questioned why From Software targeted current consoles, instead of PS4 and the next-Xbox.
"Discussions of next-gen did actually come up briefly," admitted Tanimura. "But if we were to develop for next-gen we wouldn't be able to deliver the game for a lot longer. We wanted to deliver something to fans as soon as possible.
"We still feel there's potential and ability for us to express a little bit more than what we did with Dark Souls, even on current-gen consoles. We hope to elaborate on what we were able to communicate with Dark Souls."
"We understand that next-gen is coming, it'd be a lie to say we didn't consider it at all, but right now there's no intent to have Dark Souls on next-gen."
The success of Dark Souls came as a surprise to many. Demon's Souls, the PlayStation 3 exclusive spiritual predecessor, enjoyed cult hit status. Few imagined that an equally idiosyncratic, equally punishing sequel would be anything more.
However, driven by word of mouth and evangelised by fans, Dark Souls penetrated the mainstream consciousness. Tanimura admitted there's an element of wanting to capitalise on that.
"We understand that there are still people playing Dark Souls, but we also hear voices saying they want the next version. That's one of the other reasons we wanted to stay on current-gen, to deliver a newer experience as soon as possible."
The first enemy we encounter is an Undead Soldier wielding a spear, and the language of combat looks no different from Dark Souls: locking on is smart, staying mobile is essential, pick your moments, and mistakes will be punished severely. The one thing that did catch our attention is a roll which transitioned seamlessly into an attack. In Dark Souls this wouldn't be possible due to recovery animations after the roll; a new ability perhaps.
Over a bridge above a fire pit and a menacing Salamander, past the sneaky enemy that leaps out from behind a stone pillar, is a pitch black tunnel. Before venturing in we're shown a new feature: the ability to light and carry flame torches. Torches are disposable items, they're great for scoping out enemies concealed in shadows, but carry the penalty of not being able to use two hands, which means no shield or secondary attacks.
Although the core mechanics of combat haven't changed, enemies are far more reactive to player movement and strategies. Emerging from the tunnel, our hero finds himself in a room littered with barrels, benches and pillars. Naturally, also waiting for us a huge, heavily armored enemy with a rather large mace and a shielded back. The knight attempts to circle around and backstab it, but the enemy does a backdrop to crush him and prevent the attack.
After recovering he raises the mace over his head and charges, the knight backs away and the camera spins around to another of the same enemy is closing in from behind. Stuck in an enclosed space, in between the two powerhouse enemies, the knight is battered to death. Another example of reactive enemies is shown in another area, where the knight attempts to close the gap on an enemy for a strike and is met with a boot, throwing him back.
There's a delicacy to the design of Dark Souls and, whether by design or not, a balance to it. Even the slightest changes risk upsetting it, in some ways its very much like a fighting game.
In our interview we raise the point that some might find backtracking and the predictability of enemies important to the experience. Retreading old ground, for example, might be considered as a flabby part of gameplay by some, but to others the familiarity may be essential to building the confidence needed to tackle new challenges. Similarly, learning patterns to the point where battling enemies requires little effort also feeds into building comfort. Is it wise to tinker with such things?
"The balance we have to achieve is very fine," agrees Tanimura. "We understand that there are certain aspects that fans will like, that others may feel are tedious, it's my job personally to find that balance. We understand that within the tedium and other things perceived to be negative, there are fun aspects. If we do decide to cut those portions or clean them up, we want to make sure the fun element of it is carried over in a different way.
"We will make sure that we don't just cut away, we'll figure out what's critical to the essence, what needs to remain, and what we can cut away to deliver a pure experience."
Mind the Gap
The second time around we're taken along a different path, to an outer wall where a huge sword has been plunged into the stone building. The weapon, which has a severed hand attached to a hilt (maybe there's a battle against a one handed colossus demon in our future), is large enough to walk along. On the blade awaits a troll who throws axes from a distance. The first attack is batted away with a well timed sword swing, but the second lands square in the knights head - instant death.
The demo then jumps to a cathedral-like environment. Apparently the building was used to conduct experiments on dragons, which explains why there's a huge dragon skeleton lying in the middle; here we're shown environmental traps. At the mouth of the bone dragon is an item, picking up activates the trap and the dragon snaps in the direction of the player.
Dark Souls 2 places a greater emphasis on killing the enemy using the environment. There are Temple of Doom type areas which feature little or no enemy encounters, but lots of insta-kill traps that, more often than not, will just require you to die and learn from failure.
"One thing we do focus on is that no matter the kind of deaths they experience, players should understand the reason they died. Killing players is easy, you can just make an enemy strong or use surprise attacks, but it's important to allow the player to learn about their deaths. That is a fine balance, but we always keep in mind that it isn't unfair, we make sure to add a reason to each of the situations in the game."
The next area we're in is outside. In the distance is a castle, but to get to it the knight must cross a lengthy rope bridge. Dozens of wyverns circle in the sky above, but with no options apparent, crossing seems to be the only choice. Of course, a few steps in and a wyvern crashes onto the bridge and tears it off. The knight falls to his death.
"The bridge instance is actually a surprise feature," explains Tanimura, "we want to express the 'oh my god, what do I do now, how the hell do I get past this part?'
"We want the player to start thinking about what to do next and come up with strategies to conquer that area. Obviously we don't want to have a situation where, if you try and cross that bridge, you die no matter what. We'll leave hints and clues to allow players to anticipate what's going to happen. If they try and cross the bridge, they'll probably die, but the death will have meaning. That's the emotional takeback we want from each of the situations, like the bridge."
Our eyes-on demo ends with a quick visit to the Torture Chamber, where a boss riding a silver chariot appears and promptly runs the knight over. The purpose of this display of cruelty is to show that some bosses in Dark Souls 2 can be taken out in ways other than one-on-one combat. Though we aren't given any details, Tanimura says the Silver Chariot Rider can be defeated before the traditional boss encounter moment, much like The End in Metal Gear Solid 3.
The demo felt like it was very much designed to assuage fears that Dark Souls 2 would be an easier game, perhaps to parlay its recent success into reaching a broader audience. But Tanimura made it clear that From Software is under no pressure to do such a thing and, in fact, has been given complete creative freedom by Namco Bandai. From what we've seen, Dark Souls 2 is shaping up to be a worthy successor.
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