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Cloudius12 · Feb 8, 2011

Definitely picking this up for PS3 because I'm sure that where majority of the players will be, especially the international community.

Raide · Feb 8, 2011

If only they could get cross format online as well as cross country.

duckroll · Feb 8, 2011

canova said:
here's the full 4Gamer interview from andriaSang

http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2011/02/09/miyazaki_dark_souls/

fucking badass!!

Still not quite the full interview. The actual interview is -very- long, and involves a lot of back and forth about various points and subjects.

Canova · Feb 8, 2011

duckroll said:
Still not quite the full interview. The actual interview is -very- long, and involves a lot of back and forth about various points and subjects.

then, what are you waiting for?

Despera · Feb 8, 2011

Cloudius12 said:
Definitely picking this up for PS3 because I'm sure that where majority of the players will be, especially the international community.

And much more experienced black phantoms

Elixist · Feb 8, 2011

Sounds pretty good, nothing too interesting for me in the interview, except the dark ring things pretty funny. Cant wait for more footage, or maybe I should just media blackout, decisions...decisions...

Canova · Feb 8, 2011

Elixist said:
Sounds pretty good, nothing too interesting for me in the interview, except the dark ring things pretty funny. Cant wait for more footage, or maybe I should just media blackout, decisions...decisions...

yeah I'm going into media-blackout as well. If it's just interviews, then fine. but no more trailer or gameplay videos for me

IrishNinja · Feb 9, 2011

Speevy said:
No DLC PLEASE

Demon's Souls is one of only a handful of PS3 games where the entire experience is on the disc.

i get the sentiment...but tell me you werent kinda hoping they'd release the 6th archstone in Demon's Souls at some point.
at no point did i feel i was playing less than a complete game, but idve loved (and BOUGHT AT A HIGH PRICE) a new world. this idea only becomes less than favorable because of namco.

also, +1 to appreciation for Duckroll's efforts here.

Unknown One · Feb 9, 2011

Oh great DLC for Namco. Paying for armor anyone?

Cloudius12 · Feb 9, 2011

Crakatak187 said:
Oh great DLC for Namco. Paying for armor anyone?

Interview said:
What he does rule out specifically is that they will not be selling items or cheats. They will never put out DLC which gives the player an option of paying to get something other than working for it in the game itself. Instead, DLC will only be considered if it fits into the online design and engine of the game, in a way where it is actually interesting to explore such an option.

I believe in Miyazaki

Unknown One · Feb 9, 2011

Damn now I look real stupid for skimming. Well deserved.

the_prime_mover · Feb 9, 2011

IrishNinja said:
i get the sentiment...but tell me you werent kinda hoping they'd release the 6th archstone in Demon's Souls at some point.
at no point did i feel i was playing less than a complete game, but idve loved (and BOUGHT AT A HIGH PRICE) a new world. this idea only becomes less than favorable because of namco.

also, +1 to appreciation for Duckroll's efforts here.

And don't forget that that world was Giants! I hoped for so long that they would release that archstone as DLC. I definitely would have bought at a high price.

All this information about Dark Souls and months and months to wait. I think this has become my most anticipated game of 2011. Every idea that I am hearing sounds really good and I like this teams approach to online interactions.

Mr_Appleby · Feb 9, 2011

great stuff. FROM clearly have vision.

ijed · Feb 9, 2011

GOTG - Believe!

Only thing I thought was obtuse about the crafting system was Ed requiring the Red Hot Demon's Soul for most of the upgrades - if Boldwin was also able to do the upgrades or tell you what you had to do it would have made more sense.

oracrest · Feb 9, 2011

thanks for the translation.

Canova · Feb 9, 2011

Here's more on the 4Gamer interview posted by Gamespot

http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/rpg/pro...&om_clk=picks&tag=picks;title;8&mode=previews

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 somethingbeing 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.

GS: Early reports suggest that Dark Souls is even more difficult than Demon's Souls. But one of the biggest hurdles in Demon's Souls came from understanding the rules of the world, rather than the combat. Is that the case in Dark Souls as well? Or is the actual combat going to be more difficult as well?

HM: So in terms of difficulty, there are several ways of increasing the difficulty. But one thing I'm set on is to not make the game more difficult based on skill level. I don't want the users to necessarily have to be quick or necessarily have high-skill level in terms of how you control the game. That's not where we're trying to create the difficulty.

What I'm trying to achieve is a game that anybody can clear. It may take time, but a player who is attentive, can strategize, and create their own game stylethat's how the player will be able to complete the game.

The way I plan to make Dark Souls is a little bit more difficult than Demon's Souls. We will require players to pay a little more attention and be a little bit more careful as opposed to being strictly not quick enough [to use a bunch of different moves]. That's not how we will make the game difficult.

GS: What sorts of limitations exist when dual-wielding weapons? Does it restrict your movement or magic abilities? What sort of dual-wielding combinations are there and how will that help you survive?

HM: In terms of dual-wielding, the quick answer is it's a demerit or it'll make the game a lot more difficult for the player. The difficulty of the game has been tuned based on having one shield and having one sword. And using a shield has many advantages against enemies, obviously. Taking that shield off and putting weapons in two hands will cut down on the amount of stamina that the character has and will make the game a lot more difficult.

But if that's the game style that the player chooses...if that's the offense that he decides to take, the game will become difficult. We wanted to leave that choice up to the user. [At the same time], we don't want half the users to be dual-wielding. That's not what our intent is. Hopefully, very few players make that choice.

I love the shield. And so that's where the difficulty has been set. But if there is a player that decides to use two swords, he's more than welcome to do so. But I want to make sure that having two swords is a cool characteristic and that's an aspect of a character or of a person's way of thinking. So if everybody uses two swords, it's not going to look as cool. So we're trying to have a small number of people go for that extra coolness, but I fought against the difficulty--the increased difficulty--by using two swords. So that's sort of the balance that I want to keep.

GS: Do you have more choice in whose game you play if you join in cooperative mode than in Demon's Souls? Is voice chat possible if you team up with a friend?

HM: In terms of ways to cooperate, the number of variations has increased from Demon's Souls. But as a basis, we want to make sure that players use the network to share their experiences. There's no concept of friends, or there's no concept of voice chat. Each player will play their role in the world and there will be a way to contact each other within the game. But the obvious concept of it is not to hold hands with somebody, obviously.

The network feature for this game is designed to enhance the single-player mode. It's designed so that players playing single-player will be able to have that [new game plus] effect when playing the game. And that's something that's original for this game.

There are lots of games out there that allow people to play multiplayer or play with friends or voice chat, but that's not what we're trying to provide the user. I understand people may want multiplayer mode or people may want voice chat. But for this game, because we are trying to achieve an original sort of game standard, we have deliberately not put in any voice chat. And, again, the network system is not to support multiple people at the same time but to enhance the single-player mode.

GS: Are there any significant changes, such as being able to ride animals or dabble in alchemy or other crafting activities?

HM: Riding animals. I actually put some thought into it, but I cut it out of the features.

GS: What about downloadable content?

HM: We're at a difficult stage to be able to really explain new features to you. So we can't tell you very much, but I guess in terms of new features, we can tell you the recovery system has changed drastically. It has changed from Demon's Souls, where you have to collect grass to recover yourself, to something a little bit different.

And the interesting aspect about this new feature is--for really hardcore players--the game will probably be a little bit more difficult. And for casual players, the game will be a little bit...not easier, but this feature will be a little more helpful and accessible.

GS: One of the most noteworthy aspects of Demon's Souls was the sense of discovery. Not only do you have to learn most of the rules of the game yourself, but every level also had many shortcuts, items, and buried treasures that made replays enticing. Is that still the case here?

HM: Definitely. I understand that this was one of the big key points in Demon's Souls, and we have implemented even more discoveries for Dark Souls. So hopefully, even the players that love Demon's Souls will come back to Dark Souls and have a lot more discoveries as he or she plays the game.

GS: Are the classes still based on basic archetypes, such as wizard, barbarian, or warrior? Are there any additional classes or are different races going to play a part? Do you still play the human regardless of your skills?

HM: The base concept of having different classes and archetypes is very similar to what was in Demon's Souls. We will have prepared several archetypes, such as wizards, that the user can choose. But, again, the concept is how the player chooses to live life within the game. Yeah, so we haven't shifted very much from that.

But an additional comment is that the volume and what you can reveal from the different archetypes has increased as compared to Demon's Souls. The options have grown and the users will have more freedom to sort of...again, live within the Dark Souls world.

lastly....

GS: So will it be out before TGS?

HM: Nice try.

GS: Had to try! Thanks for your time.

Cloudius12 · Feb 9, 2011

So we can't tell you very much, but I guess in terms of new features, we can tell you the recovery system has changed drastically. It has changed from Demon's Souls, where you have to collect grass to recover yourself, to something a little bit different.

hmm hopefully its just another recovery item and does not depend on the Beacon fire for recovery.

Joei · Feb 9, 2011

Is there any time frame for release on this? Ie. Q3 2011 or Summer 2011? Or is it still just "2011"?

As for the game: I love that there are no difficulty modes, I love the idea of a more connected world, and I am totally psyched for this. And I wish they would have went for Dark Ring, lol, although Dark Souls will look nice next to my Demon's Souls.

Augemitbutter · Feb 9, 2011

Joei said:
As for the game: I love that there are no difficulty modes,

yea, i love how everyone is getting the same kickass experience. no need for many difficulty modes when you can make the perfect one. use your head or die.

charlequin · Feb 9, 2011

Vinci said:
The fact that this is even under debate of any kind, or people are defending Demon's Souls contrary to this perspective, is a bit depressing.

Eh, people will defend any damn fool thing. The important thing is that the people who actually made the game came away with a good conclusion from their feedback about it.

DiscoJer · Feb 9, 2011

The one King's Field game I played on the original PS1 was free roam, so I dunno how they could really call this a Oblivion copy.

If anything, I think that game (and this) hearken back to the old Ultima Underworld games (one of the many, many, many IPs that EA owns and lets go to waste..).

Zeliard · Feb 9, 2011

Demon's Souls did have a bit too much obscurity for its own good. Going outside of the game and using the wiki or chatting with other players became almost necessary, and while I found some charm in that sort of old-school design, the game should have been a bit better about clearing some things up.

It was already packed with plenty of information in its various stats screens, but what certain things meant and how they tied to other things weren't always evident, and that was a fault of the game.

TheThunder · Feb 9, 2011

Is there a way to make this game come out faster ??

Man this Miyazaki has the perfect "what I want to hear for a Demon's Souls sequel" answer to every question !!!

Hyped about this more than anything this year, and finally my PS3 will have something to do.

mjemirzian · Feb 9, 2011

"So in terms of difficulty, there are several ways of increasing the difficulty. But one thing I'm set on is to not make the game more difficult based on skill level. I don't want the users to necessarily have to be quick or necessarily have high-skill level in terms of how you control the game. That's not where we're trying to create the difficulty.

What I'm trying to achieve is a game that anybody can clear. It may take time, but a player who is attentive, can strategize, and create their own game stylethat's how the player will be able to complete the game."

Say it aint so. It's ok, I'll purchase it anyway. The atmosphere is cool and I like the idea of exploration.

astroturfing · Feb 9, 2011

hmm good new info. thanks.

worldwide player base is fantastic. ohh man it's going to be so much fun with more players than Demon's Souls.. i expect many, many desperate and doomed black phantom invasions in my world

my hunger for souls is growing by the minute..

FINALFANTASYDOG · Feb 9, 2011

mjemirzian said:
What I'm trying to achieve is a game that anybody can clear. It may take time, but a player who is attentive, can strategize, and create their own game stylethat's how the player will be able to complete the game."

I liked his mario quote, anybody can pick up and play the original Mario and have a ton of fun with it, but beating it isn't a requirement for that fun.

subversus · Feb 9, 2011

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.

He wanted to express something. More game designers should think how they can express something through gameplay instead of "mmmm, let's add this shit, this will increase fun factor. I hope."

Death Dealer · Feb 12, 2011

duckroll said:
- In terms of content and play time, Miyazaki says that Demon's Souls takes players on average about 30-40 hours to complete, and contains about 40 enemy types or so. For Dark Souls, he expects the game to last about 60 hours on average, and there will be close to 100 different enemy types.

On the first playthrough ? If so, I really sucked at Demon's Souls. It must have taken me that long just to complete 1-1, 1-2, 2-1, 2-2.

But extrapolating that comment as a ratio, it sounds like Dark souls will have 1.5-2x as much content. And I'm very happy to learn there will be no regional divisions regarding the online player base. PS3 should be popping with Japanese, NA, and European players in the same instances.

Amir0x · Feb 12, 2011

- In terms of content and play time, Miyazaki says that Demon's Souls takes players on average about 30-40 hours to complete, and contains about 40 enemy types or so. For Dark Souls, he expects the game to last about 60 hours on average, and there will be close to 100 different enemy types.

Gotta be BS.

Dwight Schrute · Feb 12, 2011

Amir0x said:
Gotta be BS.

Let's hope it's not.

Amir0x · Feb 12, 2011

i hope it's not too but people always exaggerate the play time they think people get out of games, I don't know why but they do!

Dwight Schrute · Feb 12, 2011

I agree for the playtime, it depends too much on the player, but I'm actually more interrested in the nmber of ennemis, if it means finding a new strategy for each one. The play time is increased by the replay value for my. If the game is 30hours long, it's enough for mye, as long as I have NG+.

Kevtones · Feb 12, 2011

+ 60 vs. 40 hours. Just means MORE.

- I want the weapons to have that sword in the stone/unsure treasure feel they had in DS. You'd legitimately struggle for something even if the it turned out to be useless. The promise of something different and mysterious was absolutely thrilling. I wouldn't change a thing.

Unknown One · Feb 12, 2011

If it's 60 hours long it will just mean it's 180 hours for me.

Urban Scholar · Feb 12, 2011

Amir0x said:
i hope it's not too but people always exaggerate the play time they think people get out of games, I don't know why but they do!

It'll vary among us but every time a developer mentions playtime, it's always off the mark. They're underestimating our skills I'd say =P

Kevtones · Feb 12, 2011

Urban Scholar said:
It'll vary among us but every time a developer mentions playtime, it's always off the mark. They're underestimating our skills I'd say =P

I just look at it as more content. The landscapes/environments and enemies were the big draw of DS. The excitement generated when simply entering into a new area was possibly its greatest quality.

Death Dealer · Feb 12, 2011

Amir0x said:
i hope it's not too but people always exaggerate the play time they think people get out of games, I don't know why but they do!

Well no exaggeration in Demon's Souls case, I think I had around 100 hours on the clock. That was exploring every thing inch by inch, replaying many sections over a dozen times, all of that dying added up. Some of the bosses took me several hours and dozens upon dozens of attempts to finally kill. Of course knowing what i know now, I could breeze through it in much less time. If anyone seriously completed it the first time through in only 30-40 hours, I'm mightily impressed.

InternHertz · Feb 12, 2011

Yup on my first playthrough of Demon's Souls it took 60/70h, and I platinum'd it in 99h26, so I think it's not BS that Dark Souls is going to take 60+h to complete.

Instro · Feb 12, 2011

Is Dark Souls now just an Oblivion knock-off?

- 4Gamer also quizzed the director on whether being a fully seamless world, that Dark Souls would be an open world game like Oblivion. Miyazaki says that the style of the game is very different from Oblivion, and it won't be the sort of open filler exploration world. Instead the concept is to create fully integrated dungeons and to link them to each other in a seamless way. In other words, it will be no different from how Demon's Souls have various stages and parts of stages, but this time they will all be connection seamlessly instead.

So like Metroid perhaps?

Raide · Feb 12, 2011

I am bound to play this several times over with new characters and maybe even more with co-op. For a new player, it could take 60 hours. For the seasoned Demon's Souls vets, it might be shorter but I am sure the challenge will be there. Its a new land after-all, with new stuff to kill/get killed by.

Dever · Feb 12, 2011

Amir0x said:
Gotta be BS.

DS took me 40 hours, so 60 is imo plausible. 100 different enemy types sounds crazy though.

yamo · Feb 12, 2011

Never heard of dark ring, brown ring on the other hand...

Gattsu25 · Feb 12, 2011

Instro said:
So like ~~Metroid~~ From Software's own franchise King's Field perhaps?

Hopefully.

TheThunder · Feb 12, 2011

Amir0x said:
i hope it's not too but people always exaggerate the play time they think people get out of games, I don't know why but they do!

I finished DS in about 40h (38 if I'm not mistaken) so he's not off base.

EviLore · Feb 12, 2011

Celebration of uncompromising values in game design, knowing full well that it's not going to appeal to the broadest possible audience and embracing that, yet not remaining stagnant.

I appreciate it, From.

Brobzoid · Feb 12, 2011

Dever said:
DS took me 40 hours, so 60 is imo plausible. 100 different enemy types sounds crazy though.

When they say 100 different enemy types, I hope they focus more on differentiating them via AI patterns and whatnot and don't get to bogged down with aesthetic differences.

Like for instance the Red eyed knights in Demon Souls versus the blue eyed ones. Not a lot of changes in appearance, but they have different patterns and you have to adapt different strategies fighting against them. Also the visual differences are very apparent so it's not an issue that they look similar.

indigo-cyclops · Feb 12, 2011

EviLore said:
Celebration of uncompromising values in game design, knowing full well that it's not going to appeal to the broadest possible audience and embracing that, yet not remaining stagnant.

I appreciate it, From.

Exactly how I see it/feel. It says a lot and so far they have proven to be one of the only developers interested in exploring what can be done. At least amongst the Japanese devs for sure. They've quickly jumped to a whole new level in my eyes.

Who would've guessed.

Snuggles · Feb 12, 2011

Miyazaki knows what the fuck is up. Thanks for the translation, and the interviewer seemed to actually press for good information rather than just asking "HOW KEWL IS YER GAME".

Clear · Feb 12, 2011

I have total admiration for his clarity of vision and purpose. What I took from that interview, and also from his post-release comments about DS, is that Miyazaki really knows what type of experience he wants to create and is laser-focussed on delivering it.

That's so exciting to me!

Speaking of exciting, I think its worth remembering that the excellence of Demon's Souls came from all departments, and judging from the screenshots released the visuals look even better this time around.

Magicbox.com put up a bumper collection of stuff here and here which if you've not seen already are most definitely worth checking out.

Snuggles · Feb 12, 2011

Clear said:
I have total admiration for his clarity of vision and purpose. What I took from that interview, and also from his post-release comments about DS, is that Miyazaki really knows what type of experience he wants to create and is laser-focussed on delivering it.

That's so exciting to me!

I know what you mean.

I love his uncompromising attitude, and he seems to be perfectly in tune with what made Demon's Souls such a success. I was super excited about the announcement of Dark Souls, but I couldn't help feel some reservations about the idea of a sequel, it has a lot of potential to be a let down, but as of now I have no worries about that thanks to the recent interviews with Miyazaki.

This is gonna be awesome.

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