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Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin details - 1080p/60fps, Soul Memory, and more

L

Loudninja

Member
http://www.polygon.com/2015/2/5/798...-sin-next-gen-port-ps4-playstation-4-xbox-one
In Dark Souls 2, your ability to join someone's game (whether as friend or foe) was determined by something called "soul memory" — basically a stat tracking how much currency a player had earned and spent throughout their total time in the game. Many players complained about this system, as it was difficult to determine the best soul memory range to ensure that you could find people to play with or against.

From Software isn't dumping soul memory altogether, but Yoshimura says that players will now have ways to control the range of soul memory that the game searches for when connecting to other players. This will also allow friends who want to play co-op together to find each other more easily, a long-standing request from many fans.

"I'm not saying players can directly communicate with their friends, "Yoshimura says. "Indirect communication with other players is the unique aspect of the Dark Souls franchise. We're not going to change that. But we will let players control soul memory to at least let them match more easily."
Click to expand...
In addition to different enemies in different locations and enemies from the DLC making their way into the core game's zones, Yoshimura says that enemy AI has been improved across the board. More dense packs of enemies have been placed in some areas, and they'll now track players for much longer, effectively ending the strategy of just running past less bad guys.
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http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/02...player-dark-souls-ii-scholar-of-the-first-sin
Other alterations seem to be in place mainly to keep returning players on their toes, like a new NPC Dark Phantom called the Forlorn, who can invade and attack you anywhere online play is possible. If you've built up a sense of security about your surroundings, he can show up anytime to destroy it.
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http://www.gamespot.com/articles/scholar-of-the-first-sin-makes-dark-souls-2-harder/1100-6425107/ <-- There's also a PS3 vs PS4 Graphic comparison here
Part of mastering a Dark Souls game is understanding the characteristics and locations of your enemies. According to Yoshimura, Scholar of the First Sin wipes the slate clean. "Enemy placement is completely revised in all areas of the game. It's not just several areas, it's all areas," he reiterates. "What makes this unique is that it completely changes the gameplay. For example, there were a lot of fireman looking zombies in the Forest of Fallen Giants, but you will recognize that the number of [these enemies] has increased. Also, their AI is improved. Previously, their AI was not that smart. It was easy for players to escape from zombies without actually fighting them. They're smarter than before. They'll basically chase players all the way down until they get killed, so it's really difficult to escape from them."

Yoshimura explained that beyond new enemy placement and improved AI, there will also be certain types of enemies that appear where you least expect them to. "Right after you start from the bonfire in the Forest of the Fallen Giants, you will see this hippo-looking guy in the River. He wasn't there [before]. Remember the elevator that takes you to the boss arena? There were no enemies there, but this time there are! All of those hardcore Dark Souls fans [probably] remember safe areas, but these are no longer safe. They need to come up with a completely new strategy in order to conquer each area in Scholar of the First Sin."
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The Forlorn:
3iwo5Ns.jpg

I5Kya2H.jpg
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---

The jump to PS4 has given developer FromSoftware an opportunity to paint a more pleasing picture. The native 1080p resolution, upgraded lighting effects, and cinematic filters give the game a richer, cleaner look compared to the PS3 version.

But the biggest improvement comes from the improved framerate &#8212; 60 frames per second according to Bandai Namco representatives. The increased fluidity translates into more responsive movement and combat, a major advantage considering the game&#8217;s famously unforgiving difficulty.
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Then there are the gameplay adjustments. You won&#8217;t be able to rely on your memory to cakewalk the PS4 game because some enemies and item locations have been changed. Enemies will follow you more tenaciously, even through fog gates &#8212; a terrifying, potentially ruinous side effect of PS4&#8242;s expanded RAM pool.

Some weapons are also being tweaked. I noticed that the Fire Long Sword, a powerful early-game weapon that saved my butt countless times on PS3, seemed to be way less durable in this version. In other cases, a producer told me, weapons that were largely overlooked may be easier to find, or be adjusted in other ways.

Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin on PS4 also includes all previously released Dark Souls II content expansions: Crown of the Sunken King, Crown of the Old Iron King, and Crown of the Ivory King, so there will be no shortage of things to do and monsters to kill.
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http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2015...id=563381904930390018&adbpl=tw&adbpr=36969785
 
N

nrvalleytime

Member
In my dead, dead, dead, dead, dead, dead, veins.

Looks fantastic. I wonder how this will affect the perception of playing - these games are so finely balanced, it almost will seem like the 60fps jump will play tricks on me.
 
M

Moon_frogger

Member
I'm in the 30 fps is fine camp but direct x upgrade or no, it would be a disgrace for this last gen game to run at anything less then 1080p 60 fps, seeing as the visuals aren't dramatically improved.
 
D

Durante

Member
I'm EXTREMELY happy this is confirmed as 60 FPS on consoles. People should finally understand what we mean when we say it makes a truly qualitative gameplay difference.
 
Jin

Jin

Member
I wonder if this means they fix the weapon durability bug that was present on the PC version. 60fps cause it to degrade faster last I heard.
 
B

brandonh83

Banned
Great news, but I'm guessing it looks roughly the same as the PS3 version? I know there are some supposed improvements in lighting or whatever but I recall that latest thread where people were upset about the graphics.
 
I

ironcreed

Banned
A great game just got better. New content, all the DLC I missed, plus the added benefit of 1080p and 60 fps. I have zero problems with buying it again.
 
B

BadRamen

Member
"Some weapons are also being tweaked. I noticed that the Fire Long Sword, a powerful early-game weapon that saved my butt countless times on PS3, seemed to be way less durable in this version."

60fps weapon durability loss rate confirmed to not be glitch, but rather feature??
 
Omnipunctual Godot

Omnipunctual Godot

Gold Member
Moon_frogger said:
I'm in the 30 fps is fine camp but direct x upgrade or no, it would be a disgrace for this last gen game to run at anything less then 1080p 60 fps, seeing as the visuals aren't dramatically improved.
Click to expand...
Well, considering it's more or less open world, and most open world remasters have been 30FPS, this is impressive and appreciated.
 
M

Moon_frogger

Member
Durante said:
I'm EXTREMELY happy this is confirmed as 60 FPS on consoles. People should finally understand what we mean when we say it makes a truly qualitative gameplay difference.
Click to expand...
i dunno man. I'm with you but I think the argument that a solid 30 fps is fine has some merit here. I mean, souls games don't even hit that on console so it would be a noticeable improvement just to achieve a locked 30. I don't think this will change anybody's mind in that regard. Still, I wouldn't be playing dark souls on pc if it wasn't for your fix. After beating dark souls 2 the first one seemed unplayable even at a locked 30.
 
Corpsepyre

Corpsepyre

Banned
This is shocking. No, seriously. Was expecting 30fps/1080p on consoles, much like Resident Evil REmake, a game from 2002.
 
M

Mr. Poolman

Member
Durante said:
I'm EXTREMELY happy this is confirmed as 60 FPS on consoles. People should finally understand what we mean when we say it makes a truly qualitative gameplay difference.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

But I still think the PC users are getting the short stick on all of this. We already had 60FPS, and thanks to you, I currently play it over 4k.
 
M

Moon_frogger

Member
Omnipunctual Godot said:
Well, considering it's more or less open world, and most open world remasters have been 30FPS, this is impressive and appreciated.
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How many open world remasters have their been? Also I think the term 'open world' is a bit technically misleading here. Not sure if something like gta is a really valid comparison at all.
 
M

Mifec

Member
I feel bad for people going back to 30fps with Bloodborne after this :/

Feel happy that console only people are gonna experience how Souls games should feel when playing.
 
L

LegatoB

Member
Some weapons are also being tweaked. I noticed that the Fire Long Sword, a powerful early-game weapon that saved my butt countless times on PS3, seemed to be way less durable in this version. In other cases, a producer told me, weapons that were largely overlooked may be easier to find, or be adjusted in other ways.
Click to expand...
No, guys, I don't think they fixed the 60fps durability bug. I think it's a feature now.
 
Grinchy

Grinchy

Banned
This is no surprise. My old PC was pretty shitty and could still run DS2 at 1080p/60fps. I was pretty surprised by how well-optimized it was.
 
B

brandonh83

Banned
Mifec said:
I feel bad for people going back to 30fps with Bloodborne after this :/
Click to expand...

That's fine. Bloodborne looks better regardless of framerate IMO. The fact that we're getting both of these pretty much back to back is awesome, especially considering that I haven't played Dark Souls II yet.
 
C

cakely

Member
I beat this on PC in 2014 so I really wasn't planning on getting it.

But, all the expansions? 1080p/60fps? That's hella tempting.
 
T

TronLight

Everybody is Mikkelsexual
LegatoB said:
No, guys, I don't think they fixed the 60fps durability bug. I think it's a feature now.
Click to expand...

I wonder how the weapon degradation works... If it's twice as fast at 60fps does that mean that it's tied to the framerate? Do weapons break 4x faster at 120?
 
M

Miles Quaritch

Member
I don't like how bright the sun/lighting is in the PS4 version though, it was perfect in the PS3/PC version.

Removes some of the atmosphere by having everything so well lit.
 
T

Twenty7KVN

Member
I would hope so based on how the trailer looks.

cinematic filters give the game a richer, cleaner look
Click to expand...
Durante strikes again :)

Edit : looking at the video it seems like they made look brighter,while Durante's filter makes it a bit darker.
 
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