Dark Souls Sequel Seeking Accessibility
Dark Souls 2The two new directors for Dark Souls 2 may be getting under the skin of hardcore gamers, especially those who adored the first title.
While it certainly makes sense from a business standpoint, making the upcoming sequel more "accessible" sounds suspiciously like a "catering to the mainstream" approach, which is precisely the opposite of the appeal of Dark Souls.
But let's see what the fans have to say. Maybe it's not an issue at all. In speaking to Edge, Dark Souls 2 director Tomohiro Shibuya said he wants the new production to be a "good introduction" to newcomers:
"Accessibility to players who haven’t picked up Dark Souls is definitely a key topic. Right in the beginning when players first pick up the game is something that I will definitely focus on. To not immediately throw them into Dark Souls but provide a good introduction in terms of what the game’s about and how the game should be played.
Hopefully that adjustment at the very beginning of the game will help draw in players and get them addicted right away without immediately making players feel rejected [by] the game system itself."
Okay, so maybe it's just more about informing players via tutorials and hints, which doesn't necessarily mean the core difficulty will be easier. Basically, he's just saying it was too hard to get really involved in Dark Souls and that he wants to make things a bit more clear, as he stated here-
"Making it more accessible to players is something that I want to express… 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."
The word "accessible" is definitely being used a lot in describing Dark Souls 2, but maybe it's all in how you interpret it, and what the team means by it. What do you say? Do you have a problem with "accessible?"
Related Game(s): Dark Souls II
Tags: dark souls ii, dark souls 2, from software, dark souls sequel
12/17/2012 10:59:55 AM Ben Dutka
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Comments (14 posts)
Zen_Zarab
Monday, December 17, 2012 @ 11:42:15 AM
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WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, December 17, 2012 @ 11:52:32 AM
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Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 12/17/2012 11:52:41 AM
3 up, 2 down
Oxvial
Monday, December 17, 2012 @ 12:09:23 PM
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maxpontiac
Monday, December 17, 2012 @ 12:57:16 PM
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1 up, 0 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, December 17, 2012 @ 1:24:39 PM
2 up, 0 down
maxpontiac
Monday, December 17, 2012 @ 5:04:57 PM
I really would like to know.
Keep the game the same for the fans, bring in a Skyrim difficulty adjuster for the sales and people who avoided the game because of the difficulty.
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xenris
Monday, December 17, 2012 @ 6:23:41 PM
I mean I'm not saying it wouldn't work or couldn't but it doesn't seem like something that would be easy to do. It would also throw off the PvP balance because people could farm hard to get items on easy then jump into someones game and own them.
I would rather they explain things to the player a bit better in the first hour of gameplay with a good tutorial than have a difficulty slider.
This is coming from a fan who beat both games multiple times.
2 up, 0 down
Knightzane
Monday, December 17, 2012 @ 1:30:02 PM
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Snaaaake
Monday, December 17, 2012 @ 5:19:14 PM
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I heard Demon's Souls was pretty much boring in story because of the lack of cut-scene conversation and also the lack of making choices like most other RPG does.
Is it the same with Dark Souls?
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xenris
Monday, December 17, 2012 @ 6:28:51 PM
I like the minimalistic story a lot, it made me feel more immersed in the world. I will say Dark Souls has a kind of more obvious story and more dialogue but only slightly. There aren't any dialogue heavy cutscenes to speak of other than the intro.
I think you should play dark souls, despite what people said about it being harder I found it way easier than Demon Souls.
If you like a thinking mans RPG where you can't button mash this would be up your alley. If your looking for something with JRPG like cutscenes or mass effect dialogue trees move alone.
1 up, 0 down
Snaaaake
Monday, December 17, 2012 @ 6:46:13 PM
Bought it almost immediately after it won Gamespot GOTY.
I do however, find everything technical about it to be flawless, controls were tight and responsive.
After 3 days of playing it, I decided to give up and sell it off, when I have a game I that I couldn't even make it till the first boss for 3 days, I know that game ain't for me.
1 up, 0 down
xenris
Monday, December 17, 2012 @ 8:02:13 PM
Dark souls you can't get away with spamming spells like in Demon Souls, but I found the game over all to be easier. Especially if you co op, co op makes the game so much easier so try doing that if you do get dark souls.
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___________
Tuesday, December 18, 2012 @ 4:50:43 AM
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i dunno its like people just go looking for something to bitch about!
just because its going to be more accessible does not mean there going to tone the games difficulty.
this will still very much be the prepare to die edition, just a little more helpful and explainable of why you died.
its nice to get some information to base your decisions on instead of blindfolding someone and saying ok 1 room has a bomb and one a pot of gold, go choose.
a few hints on which is which would not be too much to ask for!
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xenris
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Monday, December 17, 2012 @ 11:37:40 AM
If he wants to make tutorials more straight forward, if he wants to teach people about the stamina bar and how no to spam attacks and waste it thats fine too.
Accessibility is one thing, streamlining is another, as long as it isn't streamlined to the point where it loses what made the original special I will be okay with this.
I hope really that the only real changes made are the introduction. I think its so embarrassing when you get a tutorial shoved down your throat every time you encounter a new enemy and how you should beat them. This would ruin the game, the whole fun of the souls series to me was learning from my mistakes and problems solving on my own. This is why it was so special and unique. Some things could be clarified in the beginning like controls, general tactics etc, but I don't want this to continue through out the game in every new area we come into.
I'm not going to jump on this game and purchase it before really listening to fan feedback when it is released. The name alone isn't going to sell me on it, Miyazaki was a brilliant game designer and I am more interested in his new unannounced project than DS2 so far.