Dark Souls Discussion - GS Reivew 9.5 - Official Topic (keep it here)

Official Gamespot Review 9.5 - http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/dark-souls/review.html

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Info:

Genre: Action RPG
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Developer: FromSoftware
Online Play: 4 Co-op

Available on:Xbox 360 & PS3

Lead platform: PS3

Release Date: October 4, 2011

.WARNING: This game will be really hard! Harder then Demon Souls! Suggest you play Demon Souls!

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Japanese-

European-

American

Collectors Edition

Pre-order the Collectors Edition and it will be priced at 59.99$

STORY-What is Dark Souls?:The spiritual sequel to Demons Souls, the action RPG Dark Souls is set in a rich, dark fantasy universe. Intense action within the dungeons, encounters with terrifying enemies and innovative online features combine for a unique gaming experience. Dark Souls' world breaks down barriers with a fluid design encourages exploration and promotes an adaptation experience. At a time when the players come face to face with terrifying enemies and find new areas, the infallible system and reward challenge takes possession of everything to offer a sense of achievement without equal.

-Then what is Demons Souls?:

Demon's Soulsis an action role-playing game video game developed primarily by From Software exclusively for the PlayStation 3, marking it as the first video game for its library. It was released in Japan on February 5, 2009 and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. In North America it was released on October 6, 2009 and published by Atlus while in Europe it was released on June 25, 2010 and published by Namco Bandai Games. Set in a dark fantasy world, players take control of a custom hero who has journeyed to the fictional kingdom of Boletaria, which is being ravaged by an accursed fog that brings forth demons that feast on the souls of mortals. The gameplay involves a character creation system with emphasis on gathering loot through combat with enemies in a non-linear series of varied locations. It also has a unique online multiplayer system integrated into the single-player where players can leave useful messages and warnings for other players' game worlds.

Upon its release in Japan and North America, Demon's Souls was met with a positive response from critics, winning numerous awards. Praised for its dark fantasy art design, variation in combat choice and integrated online multiplayer, the game is particularly notable for its high difficulty level with many critics praising it as a genuine challenge.

GS 9.0

IGN 9.4/10

PVP- 60 Barbarian 2 vs 1

Demon Souls Boss Fighting lvl183

Now Dark Souls :twisted:

Dark Souls Debut Trailer

Prepare to die Trailer

E3 2011 Trailer

Armored Boar Gameplay

Cathedral Fight

"Death is Common" Gameplay

E3 2011 Stage Demo with Kevin

E3 2011 Interview with Jane

Dark Souls Demo Walkthrough( Solaire of Astora)

Pyromancer Gameplay

What's different between Demon's Souls and Dark Souls?

"In many ways, the answer to this question remains to be seen. When I last saw the game in a demo, I noted how ridiculously hard Dark Souls was. Otherwise, the game seemed to look identical to Demon's Souls, and played identically as well.

Of course, the game is still a ways out, and we don't know nearly everything there is to know about the game yet. We'll no doubt learn more at E3, but in the meantime, there are a lot of mysteries, including Dark Souls' online connectivity, something that made Demon's Souls an interesting and unpredictable adventure. Gamers could leave notes and clues for other gamers and even invade other people's games without warning."

Cl@$$es of Dark Souls! Returning Cl@$$es of Demons Souls as well-

-Temple Knight

-Thief

-Barbarian

-Hunter

-Wanderer

Preserved for updates.

What are bonfires?

Its a key new feature into the game. Basically a checkpoint where you can restore health,magic, and of course items.

You Hollowed, what is this?

Nothing new here, just the wording actually. Ok, you are alive in the game(Literally alive, you haven't died yet) and you die, Screen will say "You Died". You die again but this time it will say " You Hollowed" Make sense really, because you can't die when you're already dead.

-Oath System Revealed

-Xbox 360 will be Heavily Compressed onto 1 disc.

-Dark Souls Development dogged by PSN Outage

-Dark Souls will be harder then Demon Souls

-Demon Souls gives Inspiration to The Witcher 2 Dev

-Red Phantoms can hide in coffins

-Dark Souls Q & A on GS

GameSpot: Why did you decide to do a game like Dark Souls as opposed to a traditional sequel?

Hidetaka Miyazaki: From a creative standpoint, I'm glad that it's not a direct sequel and that we're calling it Dark Souls, which is a new game, simply because we don't have to be bound by the features, the game design, and the content of Demon's Souls. So we were able to try out new things, take the experience from Demon's Souls, and put it into a brand new game.

GS: What do you find interesting about the fantasy setting and themes associated with Demon's Souls?

HM: So, there are two answers to that. First of all, my past experience with creating Demon's Souls [was] a good experience. But I want to express being strict. Life is not easy, you know. I wanted to express being in a devastating situation and being able to fight against it to try and succeed. [This doesn't just apply to games], but sort of to life, and that's what I want to express.

And when you think, "OK, how do I express this or where do I express this?" the dark fantasy world was a perfect place to sort of communicate to people that play this game to constantly stand up--to constantly fight. Perhaps it's not as deep as I sort of make it sound, but to answer your question, one is my past experiences, but the next is sort of the message I want to try and get across.

GS: One of the things Demon's Souls is known for is its difficulty, but was there any internal concern over making a game so challenging?

HM: In terms of game difficulty, there were definitely some arguments or discussions that went on within the development team itself. And there have been requests for different modes, like an easy, normal, and difficult or hard mode. But the reason why we [said no to those modes] is we want to give rewards for something…being able to carry out and achieve something very difficult. As soon as you start to make an easy mode and as soon as you bring down the barriers for that difficulty, then what we're trying to create and what we're trying to express isn't going to be true. It's not going to be real.

Secondly, the messaging system in the game--similar to the one in Demon's Souls--and the feelings you have from reading the messages is simply because you know that other people are facing the same difficulty. The way I express it to my team and help them understand is this: It's like throwing seeds into a dried-out land, basically. You throw seeds out, but sometimes the seeds will bloom. That's sort of what I'm trying to express with Dark Souls.

But I don't feel all games have to be as difficult, but for this game, that's the concept I have in mind. There's no intent in making the game any easier just because of the rewards, happiness, and satisfaction you get from seeing the seeds sprout out of dry land.

Dark Souls Follow up details-Famitsu

AAAA epic masterpiece.

AAAA epic masterpiece.

Master_ShakeXXX

Its gonna be an AAA quality title.

Cant wait for it, looks even better than Demons Souls.

People have to stop with this difficulty exaggeration thing though. The game really wasnt that difficult.

I want to hype it, but Demons Souls dissapointed me. Maybe this one will fix my issues with Demons Souls. And please...PLEASE no pitch black levels!

Don´t overhype this one cows or it may flop as well. :P

Edit: Forget it,this one is multiplat. :oops:

going to be GOTY and one of the best games of the generation.

AAA

gonna be sweet!

It'll be excellent, just like the last was.

Don´t overhype this one cows or it may flop as well. :P

Edit: Forget it,this one is multiplat. :oops:

Arach666

Ha, that's what you get for questioning the unrelenting superbness and greatness and excellenceof the Souls' games!

8.5 spot

i dont care what the game scores, im buying it day 1

demons souls is my favorite game this gen and 2nd favorite all time so i highly doubt it will surpass it, so ill guess an 8.5 for the score

for anyone that hasnt played demon's souls yet, i suggest you pick it up and get ready for this game. and the game isn't that difficult - there is no doubt that it is challenging but if you use co-op you should be able to get through the game in about 50 hours the first play through

If they make it too hard, then I won't buy it. I enjoyed Demons Souls a lot. I enjoyed the difficulty, but if they amped it up considerably (which it sounds like from the interviews), then it will put me off.

Anyone noticed that... Xbox users get to use Cross game chat during Co- Op ? :( I survived Demon Souls with Skype and oovoo :P

I'm going to hope for AAA. Demon's Souls was awesome, and I'm guessing this one will be too.

So is it confirmed 4 player co-op this time around instead of 3?

It might be a AAAA for me, but I expect a AAA score from GS, and possibly a candidate for GotY. Demon's Souls was my favorite game of 2009, so this game has me endlessly excited.

Is there any word on whether us 360 owners will ever get the first one?

Is there any word on whether us 360 owners will ever get the first one?

Leejjohno

[QUOTE="Leejjohno"]

Is there any word on whether us 360 owners will ever get the first one?

VensInferno

Sony owns the Demons Souls IP, so no there is no chance.

Normally I'd expect at least a 9, but lately GS is giving everything I want .5 less then usual, so I'll say its a solid 8.5. Or an 8.0 if they read this and decide to make it .5 less then I expected (it would be rather clever).

Is there any word on whether us 360 owners will ever get the first one?

Leejjohno

Normally I'd expect at least a 9, but lately GS is giving everything I want .5 less then usual, so I'll say its a solid 8.5. Or an 8.0 if they read this and decide to make it .5 less then I expected (it would be rather clever).

SPYDER0416

[QUOTE="Leejjohno"]

Is there any word on whether us 360 owners will ever get the first one?

Dead-Memories

Its gonna be an AAA quality title.

Cant wait for it, looks even better than Demons Souls.

People have to stop with this difficulty exaggeration thing though. The game really wasnt that difficult.

Shirokishi_

Thank You. The game was very simple and easy. I beat the game 3 times in a row at Level 1, on my own, and never leveled up. Now that was hard... Anyways, this is the only console game, I am buying Day 1 for sure. PvPing in 4-1 took the life away from me and prob. counted for 55% of PS3 time.

Now the question is; for what platform should I get it for?

Xbox 360 and play with most of console friends or PS3 and fit it with my collection. Ummmm

[QUOTE="Dead-Memories"]

[QUOTE="Leejjohno"]

Is there any word on whether us 360 owners will ever get the first one?

VensInferno

[QUOTE="VensInferno"]

[QUOTE="Dead-Memories"] no, but they are shutting down the servers soon apparently :( going to be tough to say goodbye, but there would be no reason to want it anyway without online support.

Dead-Memories

Foget this "AAAA" stuff. Harder than Demon's Souls? And supposedly it's open-world? I don't see how it could be anything short of S++ rank.

[QUOTE="VensInferno"]

[QUOTE="Dead-Memories"] no, but they are shutting down the servers soon apparently :( going to be tough to say goodbye, but there would be no reason to want it anyway without online support.

Dead-Memories

its still incredible without mp but PvP does give it even more replayability than it already has.]

AAA + GotY - lock it

Dig the thread. Anyway, I'll say 9.0 and think it will end up being my personal GOTY along with Skyrim.

[QUOTE="Dead-Memories"][QUOTE="VensInferno"] Im worried about that as well . I still need to finish Demon Souls but I wouldnt dare play it without online support :(

Some-Mist

its still incredible without mp but PvP does give it even more replayability than it already has.]

[QUOTE="Some-Mist"]

[QUOTE="Dead-Memories"] yeah the first playthrough can be pretty rough, you'll probably need some sort of assistance for some of the bosses later bosses if you want to play it legit without a guide etc. you should finish it while you can though!Dead-Memories

its still incredible without mp but PvP does give it even more replayability than it already has.]

[QUOTE="Dead-Memories"][QUOTE="Some-Mist"] it really isnt as hard as youre making it out to be. I mostly did solo clears even on the asian version, which believe it or not, was more challenging than the 2 localized versions.

its still incredible without mp but PvP does give it even more replayability than it already has.]

Some-Mist

I died while trying to read this thread :P Thief be so hard to play :(

[QUOTE="VensInferno"]

I died while trying to read this thread :P Thief be so hard to play :(

TheGuardian03

I took a psychology course in college, and one of the lessons was how people react after completing an arduous task. No matter how difficult the task or how much the person hated it, they will say they enjoyed it, if only for the sheer fact that they don't want to believe it was time wasted, much like people who join the military say boot camp was good for them :P

Watch it the game might get a lower score since it feels like demonssouls. Its most likely not one of the "privilaged" games that get the pass. Im personally hyping AA. I think it will be a great game.

[QUOTE="VensInferno"]

[QUOTE="TheGuardian03"] I recommend a knight or hunter.TheGuardian03