[Antan]

Another must have title. Sounds fantastic and the trailer shows a considerable bump in gfx quality! I really should of played more DS than i actually did. Got sidetracked to often to put in the time needed.

[patsu]

Originally Posted by KongRudi

I loved this in Demon's Souls..
I don't see how you can leave messages to other players, and see death-replays without dedicated servers tough.. I assumed this would be lost when they brought it over to XBox Live, and when I heard that there weren't going to be dedicated servers this time around, but it's really cool if it's true that it's coming back..

Do you know if we can see random ghosts aswell of other players ghoing about in their single-player world, like in Demon's Souls? That were also one of the really cool features I loved in Demon's Souls.

XBL can support dedicated servers. I read that Dark Souls will support the ghosts and user messages, but not the tendency.

PvP in Demon's Souls has 2 flavors. The player boss (monk) and the phantom stones. So they should be able to use it creatively in the new game. Can always play offline to avoid contact. Some PvP is probably a good thing but not 3-4 invading phantoms in succession.

[RenegadeRocks]

Originally Posted by patsu

You didn't play Demon's Souls ?

Borrow a copy from your friends. I suck at games in general. Completed it in a week or two. The game is not that difficult if you pay attention and respect the enemies. .
You can cheese every boss in DS to death once you get a strong bow.

Well, I can buy it no problem, but I already have RDR, enslaved and ME2 lying around and I don't have time for them these days. Trying to get my small studio to get up and running and games already suck away much of my productive time !

I will get it , nevertheless, just don't know when I'll get time for it, especially when KZ3, Infamous2, Crysis2, Brink are already lining up along with the above mentioned ME2, Enslaved and RDR vying for my time ! I am in a mess !
I will just go with one game at a time, even if it means I play the games well past their prime time. That way the game's feel isn't lost among multiple games.

[patsu]

The other games can wait. Demon's Souls has a unique server component that may not be around by the time you get to it. ^_^
RDR is more recent and popular. I reckon the servers will stick around longer.

[patsu]

http://www.siliconera.com/2011/02/03...taka-miyazaki/

"You might laugh because you die so much," Hidetaka Miyazaki, the producer at From Software who worked on Demon’s Souls, joked before showing up the spiritual successor, Dark Souls. The hands-off demo began on castle grounds with a conveniently placed orb containing a great sword. In the distance we saw a sleeping dragon guarding another treasure.

...

After slaying the skeletons (and effectively stopping a long range attack), the minotaur approached the tower and jumped to the top of it, crushing the knight reveling in his minor victory. "There’s no safe place in Dark Souls," Miyazaki laughed. "My goal is to kill all players who think there is a safe zone in Dark Souls."

...

The final area Miyazaki revealed was the development team’s favorite, Trap Road. As soon as the knight stepped into this level he was greeted with an auto-firing arrow trap and a snake-man (with a slithering head) carrying a scimitar. In the next few rooms, I saw a narrow bridge with swinging guillotines passing by. The trap hit the character and threw him into a level below with even more traps. Miyazaki said if players don’t fall for traps they may miss out on some parts of the world.

...

This guy must be Hayao Miyazaki's evil twins.

[Sigfried1977]

Demon's Souls and its spiritual successor (hopefully at least) are really the only games this generation that deserve the label Survival Horror. I'm almost done with Dead Space 2, and that game ain't got shit on Demon's Souls' Tower of Latria. Even less on Valley of Defilement. It's really no contest.

[patsu]

I tend to think the game challenges/pushes the gamer, rather than trying to be a horror game.

Most scary is the PvP. It's like a roach crawling up my legs. Absolutely must purge it right away, with no mercy !

[patsu]

Dark Souls' spells:
http://www.siliconera.com/2011/02/03...in-dark-souls/

Attack spells are fairly straightforward, so Miyazaki took some time to demonstrate some of the more unusual magic From Software added to Dark Souls. One spell transforms your character’s body from flesh to iron. While this enchantment protects the hero from sword strikes, it also greatly restricts movement. Imagine wearing three lead vests while walking underwater. That’s roughly how the hero moved. Evading attacks was impossible since this spell also canceled the dodge roll.

…

Another spell transforms the hero into a tall vase. Similar to Snake from the Metal Gear Series, you can creep through a stage as a background object. This spell isn’t designed to decoy enemies, it’s made to trick invading players. Miyazaki asked the demonstrator to move to a row of jugs and the knight, dressed as vase, fit right in. Stand still you may be able to pull a surprise attack.

...

[Sigfried1977]

Originally Posted by patsu

I tend to think the game challenges/pushes the gamer, rather than trying to be a horror game.

It doesn't try at all. It just happens, and that's the beauty of it.

[Gradthrawn]

Originally Posted by patsu

Yap, hope they don't make the area too big/sparse. Demon's Souls is a very focused experience and tense.

New trailer:
http://www.eurogamer.net/videos/dark...l-announcement

EDIT: YES !

Dear From Software,

Please let me know when you need my money, and how much of it you need.

Regards,

-Darthrawn

[patsu]

This could be the reason I buy an NGP, if Dark Souls NGP has special features that appeal to me:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...dark-souls-ngp

"I like the platform. It's very attractive," he told Eurogamer during a recent interview.

"We're not considering it right now but there's always a chance. There's always a sense that I'd like to try and do something on that platform."

Miyazaki is currently hard at work on Dark Souls for PS3 and Xbox 360. He said that while he thinks the series would work on Sony's new handheld, any such instalment would have to be built from the ground up.

"If we were going to port [the series] to the NGP, I would probably redesign it so it fits the handheld," Miyazaki confirmed. "It won't be a straight port, if we do happen to do it."

[Prophecy2k]

Originally Posted by patsu

I tend to think the game challenges/pushes the gamer, rather than trying to be a horror game.

Most scary is the PvP. It's like a roach crawling up my legs. Absolutely must purge it right away, with no mercy !

Very nice analogy!!!

The constant fear of being ambushed by some twisted freak of a meat-head, coupled with the fact that other playes could invade your game at any time was what really put the fear of God in me whilst playing DS... i flippin loved it!!!

Funny thing is, i was so afraid of being invaded by a black phantom that as soon as the first one appeared in my game for the first time i just unleashed all my pent-up terror and oppressed fear on the poor sap straight away. Didn't even give him time to think or be strategic, i just visited my righteous fury and petrified nerd-rage on him until he was dead. Afterwards i was sweating so hard that i had to turn off the game and go and watch some TV to calm myself down

[patsu]

Hah ! I defeated all the tough bosses from far, safe and sound. When the first Black Phantom hit, I had this overwhelming sense of guilt and despair, as if I got caught cheating in a test. ^_^ ("F*ck, should have practised melee more !").

Here're the 2 funny invasion stories I came across:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost...ostcount=21487
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost...ostcount=21532

… and my own:
http://forum.beyond3d.com/showpost.p...&postcount=170 [EDIT: Pasted wrong link]

EDIT:

Originally Posted by Prophecy2k

Afterwards i was sweating so hard that i had to turn off the game and go and watch some TV to calm myself down

Same here !
Mixed with the fear is the feeling of getting violated and rage. ^_^

[patsu]

Informative Dark Souls Q&A with evil Miyazaki:
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/...pice-of-death/

SS: How do you keep a difficult game from becoming punishing, and drive the player to quit in frustration?

HM: Good question. We can’t tell you all of our secrets, but there are a few ways we prevent users from drifting away. Number one, the difficulty is not dependent on the skill level of the user. We have not created a game where players who react faster or press buttons faster are better than others. Second, when a player dies, we try to leave a sense of “maybe if I try a different strategy I can succeed.” Things that you lose in death can be outweighed by what you gain by trying again. We try to give players lots of freedom to design their own gameplay style, and we’ve implemented enough content to enable users to continue challenging themselves and continue making progress.

One more aspect is the difficulty based on repetitiveness. We don’t want users to have to constantly carve away health from enemies. We’ve created all characters — including enemies and the player — to have high attack power but low defense. We don’t want users to hack and hack and hack away to defeat an enemy. It’s more strategic. We want users to think, “if I avoid this enemy, maybe I can overcome him.” We don’t want players to be frustrated by doing the same things over and over.

SS: Does that mean we can expect a lot of new weapons with unique functions?

HM: The simple answer is yes. But we’re not just increasing the number of weapons; we want to improve the uniqueness of each weapon. Each weapon will have characteristics that are vastly different from other weapons in the game. As an example, the player starts with a Long Sword. Eventually he might find a Holy Sword, which is far more powerful but is used very differently. Some players will choose to continue using the Long Sword simply because they’re more comfortable with it.

We want to give players many options, even if that means they use the sword that ‘fits best in the hand.’ We want you to become emotionally and physically attached to the weapon you’re using. Perhaps the Long Sword, after you’ve used it for so long and taken such good care of it, is the real Holy Sword. [laughter] The real Holy Sword, though, might be very hard to master despite its power. And some players will say, “This is difficult to use? Leave it to me, I’ll master it!” [laughter]. The mind games and strategizing — that’s the most fun aspect of the game to me.

SS: How will dual-wielding two weapons impact combat? Is dual-wielding a successful strategy, or more of an “expert’s mode”?

HM: Dual wielding is an option, but it’s a very difficult choice for novice players. The default fighting style is holding a shield in one hand, a weapon in the other. And the shield adds a lot of protection, it’s quite effective. If you see another player dual wielding, we want you to think, “Oh my god, this guy is special!” Dual wielding is a way to challenge yourself, but it has a lot of downsides and makes the game much harder. When you’re in trouble, you’ll want to return to your shield and sword.

We want to keep dual wielding special. It’s a very unique strategy that will hopefully give a new experience to the player as well as those watching him.

SS: Like Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls will include online co-op and competitive play. Are you planning any broad changes to the multiplayer?

HM: Yes. Throughout the game, there will be both cooperative and competitive play with other players. Each user will enjoy a unique single-player game; at times, they will cross paths with one another. Depending on the situation, the time, and the players’ goals, those players may cooperate or compete against each other. The multiplayer system we’re creating will envelop the single-player mode. Multiplayer will enhance single-player, make it more unique, compared to other games that emphasize traditional multiplayer co-op or competitive play.

SS: What’s the single addition to Dark Souls that you’re most excited by?

HM: Probably the Beacon Fire. It stands for a lot of things. It serves as a recovery point; when the player’s health is low, the Beacon Fire helps you recover. It serves as a respawn point as well. So it’s powerful from a gameplay perspective. Secondly, the Beacon Fire will be used to share experiences with other players. It’s a place where players can gather together and communicate — not verbally communicate, but emotionally communicate. Third, it’s probably the one place in Dark Souls where users can relax just for an instant. In this cold, dark world, the Beacon Fire is a place of warmth. It’s one of the few locations in the game that is heartwarming. It expresses this dark fantasy world I’m trying to create.

[Prophecy2k]

Originally Posted by patsu

Hah ! I defeated all the tough bosses from far, safe and sound. When the first Black Phantom hit, I had this overwhelming sense of guilt and despair, as if I got caught cheating in a test. ^_^ ("F*ck, should have practise melee more !").

Here're the 2 funny invasion stories I came across:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost...ostcount=21487
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost...ostcount=21532

… and my own:
http://forum.beyond3d.com/showpost.p...&postcount=170 [EDIT: Pasted wrong link]

EDIT:

Same here !
Mixed with the fear is the feeling of getting violated and rage. ^_^

Cheers for those Patsu... made my evening

It's stuff like this that will make Dark Souls incredible if it can maintain the beautiful gameplay systems of it's predecessor.

What would make Dark Souls the 'Real Game of the Forever' for me would be allowing for cross-platform play between PS3 and Xbox 360.... heck Namco should get them to do a PC port too so that everyone can get in on the action

Demon Souls is really just one of those games that everyone has to experience at least once in their lives (like Avatar in 3D only much more satisfying)

[patsu]

Missed this video interview:
http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/rpg/proj.../video/6297412

Not much new info, except that you can see the producers.

[RenegadeRocks]

Originally Posted by Prophecy2k

Very nice analogy!!!

The constant fear of being ambushed by some twisted freak of a meat-head, coupled with the fact that other playes could invade your game at any time was what really put the fear of God in me whilst playing DS... i flippin loved it!!!

Funny thing is, i was so afraid of being invaded by a black phantom that as soon as the first one appeared in my game for the first time i just unleashed all my pent-up terror and oppressed fear on the poor sap straight away. Didn't even give him time to think or be strategic, i just visited my righteous fury and petrified nerd-rage on him until he was dead. Afterwards i was sweating so hard that i had to turn off the game and go and watch some TV to calm myself down

Originally Posted by patsu

Hah ! I defeated all the tough bosses from far, safe and sound. When the first Black Phantom hit, I had this overwhelming sense of guilt and despair, as if I got caught cheating in a test. ^_^ ("F*ck, should have practised melee more !").

Here're the 2 funny invasion stories I came across:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost...ostcount=21487
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost...ostcount=21532

… and my own:
http://forum.beyond3d.com/showpost.p...&postcount=170 [EDIT: Pasted wrong link]

EDIT:

Same here !
Mixed with the fear is the feeling of getting violated and rage. ^_^

Ha Ha Ha ! Your stories are awesome ! I don't think any such thing can happen in any other game. Now, I understand Patsu ! I need to play this before anything else !

[patsu]

Andriasang summarized Famitsu's Miyazaki (4 page) interview:
http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/201...ki_dark_souls/

Why From Software? From is among the few companies out there that will hire a 30-year-old planner who doesn't have experience, explained Miyazaki. He felt lucky to get the job at From, as he was actually a fan of King's Field.

[messyman]

Is this game still using the phyre engine?

[Silent_Buddha]

It's multi-platform so I kind of doubt it.

Regards,
SB

[messyman]

Nevermind

[Sigfried1977]

Should have been named Dark's Souls.

[patsu]

Originally Posted by Silent_Buddha

It's multi-platform so I kind of doubt it.

PhyreEngine is multi-platform. ^_^

[RenegadeRocks]

Originally Posted by patsu

PhyreEngine is multi-platform. ^_^

Is Dark Souls using PhyreEngine too? Has very pretty visuals !

[N_B]

PhyreEngine is multiplatform but only for PC, PS3, PSP (developed by Sony).

They could do something like Codemasters and make a fully multiplatform engine based on it (EGO) but I've heard From Software wont be doing the 360 version.