Dark Souls 2 Gameplay Reveal

Dark Souls co-director, Yui Tanimura, and Tak Miyazoe of Namco Bandai showcased gameplay of Dark Souls 2 last night, and in a video interview with IGN they presented close to 10 minutes of new, unseen footage of the game.

It was said one of the main aims for Dark Souls 2 was to create a game with more graphical prowess. From the gameplay it’s clear to see that visually the game is looking better. Character movements look more life-like and the environments are dynamic – more so than ones we’ve seen in Dark Souls.

The main gameplay mechanics remain the same, but there are a few new features.

Firstly, it’s now possible to light a torch to illuminate dark areas. This is a lot easier than scrambling around trying to find a Skull Lantern to equip. However, once you’re carrying a torch you’re unable to equip a shield, so it will leave you vulnerable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMU5DBsrpe4

Another new feature is the ability for enemies to break down walls. In the video an obese looking cyclops was locked away in a cell, remaining harmless to the player. The player then fired an arrow through the cell bars at the cyclops’ head.

Enraged the beast broke down the cell door and sought to attack the player. You can say there’s certainly going to be a surprise element in the game – not that it will be a good surprise!

In keeping with the Souls’ game trend plenty of different ways to die were brutally shown – as if there couldn’t be enough already? It’s safe to say that Dark Souls 2 will be a very challenging game.

Overall Dark Souls 2 is looking great. Hopefully more information on the game will be revealed in the near future.

19 Comments

  1. Maybe I’m missing something but it doesn’t look that impressive to me.

    • I did notice a not so good frame rate. Hopefully they clean that up before release. They really need to sort it out generally; being the third game.

    • Graphics is the least important thing about the Demon’s/Dark Souls games. They could look like early PSone titles and would still be among the greatest games of this generation due to their gameplay and atmosphere.
      Really looking forward to Dark Souls 2 :)

      • Obviously that is true but I was referring to their self set aim to improve on the graphics.
        Not a fan of the genre so I couldn’t say if the gameplay looks refined or not. I Haven’t played the games.

  2. Looks like more of the same great gameplay. Loved the previous two games and this looks promising.

    A nice surprise actually, I hadn’t known they were making a second until now :D

  3. I don’t like how quickly after the first one this is coming out. It feels like a sequel for sequels sake (money). And didn’t they fire the creator too?

    • I’d like to think they’re in the business to make money. It will also be coming up to two years when DS2 is released. Does not sound like much of a rush to me.

      Also they will be reusing a lot of assets from their previous game(s). Essentially it will be an expansion on lore and maps I presume.

    • 2 years between Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls, and now 2 years between Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2 :)

      • Has it been two years? Damn.

      • October 2011, yeah last year and a half has really flown by!

  4. “We want players to feel nervous and stressed” that’s me not buying it then
    Demons souls I could do but dark souls I couldn’t even do the second level were you have to ring bells or something before I was pissed off with it.

  5. No comment of solid Steven yet?

    • I HATE THIS GAME! *preorders it*

  6. It will probably be the same where it is harsh but fair. Everything has a weakness and there’s usually a sign of a trap coming ahead. If you take your time and think everything through its not so bad. I think i manged to finish dark souls with only 46 deaths.

  7. We all know it’s going to be the same as Dark Souls only with a few minor modifcations. I am glad that enemies will respond to you being behind them as it will eliminate backstabs being easy to pull off. I do like the sound of deflecting stuff with your weapon but i suspect most Dark Souls players won’t even attempt it due to the brutal nature of the game. We all know that it will be very frustrating to play, kill you loads of time and be excellent. I do hope that lag on backstabs will not happen as Dark Souls suffered from lagstabs and was abused by certain players as well as doing too much damage. However, if they do a boss that is even more annoying then Bed Of Chaos, i will have to create a controller budget and DS2 budget. :O

    Something tells me that we get ambushed a lot. It is good to know that enemies can chase after you instead of staying where they are although it does make it harder to kill them.

  8. Really can’t wait for this. I want it right now. It still looks like it needs some polish but I can see hundreds more hours of my life gone on this.

  9. Any new on a released date?

    • None at the moment, won’t be coming to next gen though. I’d Assume a september/october release :)

  10. Damn, I haven’t even played the two previous ones and here we have another awesome part. I really need to buy Demon’s Souls soon.

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