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New previews for Dark Souls II

feel said:
Loved just sitting there looking harmless for a second and baiting invaders into doing the gesture and then taking away all their health easily. PvP doesn't exist for me, I roleplay, you're considered "evil scum" if you're entering my world to steal my shit so you will be treated as such.
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Exactly. Fuck your "honorable PvP", you invaded my world to kill me when I didn't want you here. You get no consideration, no mercy, I kill you in any way possible and I go on my merry co-oping/PvE way.

You want rules, put down a red summon sign or go to the arena. Gloves are off from the get-go if you invade me.
 
AlphaDragoon said:
Exactly. Fuck your "honorable PvP", you invaded my world to kill me when I didn't want you here. You get no consideration, no mercy, I kill you in any way possible and I go on my merry co-oping/PvE way.
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Correct.

Had this brilliant moment when I was helping some guy through Sen's Fortress a while back. We had just crossed the second pendulum bridge (the one with the serpent mage blocking the end) and we were in that room when we got the invasion message. Our main guy stood in plain sight in the doorway while I hid just off to the side where the invader couldn't see me. Our guy backed into the room, the invader followed suit completely unaware, and I shoved my katana into his back. Damn it felt good.

Another proud moment was knocking a guy off the rafters in anor londo with a great lightning spear as he was chasing my friend down. Good times.
 
AlphaDragoon said:
Exactly. Fuck your "honorable PvP", you invaded my world to kill me when I didn't want you here. You get no consideration, no mercy, I kill you in any way possible and I go on my merry co-oping/PvE way.

You want rules, put down a red summon sign or go to the arena. Gloves are off from the get-go if you invade me.
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Who is everyone arguing with about this, anyway? I'm pretty sure everyone who's ever mentioned "honourable" PvP strictly refer to red sign duels or camping in the Burg/Township, not the invasions of questers.

I dunno, it all feels like a big strawman to me. I have never heard anyone suggest that someone who invades a quester (someone trying to progress through the level, reach the boss, etc.) is entitled to a "fair" duel. Not once.
 
Morrigan Targaryen said:
Who is everyone arguing with about this, anyway? I'm pretty sure everyone who's ever mentioned "honourable" PvP strictly refer to red sign duels or camping in the Burg/Township, not the invasions of questers.

I dunno, it all feels like a big strawman to me. I have never heard anyone suggest that someone who invades a quester (someone trying to progress through the level, reach the boss, etc.) is entitled to a "fair" duel. Not once.
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Agreed. When i invade it's just to kill the player nothing more , unless it's in the dueling pvp hotspots. I'm always weary on bowing to a host because i fell for that trap to many times. Honor invasion are the dumbest thing ever.
 
AlphaDragoon said:
Exactly. Fuck your "honorable PvP", you invaded my world to kill me when I didn't want you here. You get no consideration, no mercy, I kill you in any way possible and I go on my merry co-oping/PvE way.

You want rules, put down a red summon sign or go to the arena. Gloves are off from the get-go if you invade me.
Click to expand...

6834_8c75.gif
 
After replaying a bunch of Dark Souls on PC today, I think I'm going to have to hold out and wait for the PC version. Going back to PS3 graphics would seem rough after how good it looks on PC. Fingers crossed it hits soon.
 
So, I wasn't sure where else to share this, so I'll just bump this thread with it.

Warning, some slight spoilers for the early part of the full game. (It's mainly gameplay stuff, as he even says he doesn't want to spoil story stuff for anyone, but I know there are people who are on complete blackout and I wouldn't want anyone accidentally seeing anything they didn't want to.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk9Pq_hmiH0

For those familiar with Vaati and his Dark Souls lore videos, he has posted his impressions of Dark Souls 2. He was able to play the first few hours of it and has nothing but good things to say about it.

Some slight spoilers, as he talks about the begging of the game, and goes over things like the way character creation is set up and your starting gift options.
There's one that you can burn in a bonfire to make the enemies that spawn around that fire harder!

There is also a bit of new info related to how healing has changed, kindling, and leveling up.
 
A bunch of new info from GameFAQs (originally from Reddit):

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/693331-dark-souls-ii/68488576

You can buff left handed weapons

You can respec skills

There is some form of covenant like the dragon covenant that allows you to transform into something.

There is a weapon called a "ladle" it's a spoon, like, literally just a spoon

There is no male/female only armor

There is a way to change your characters gender

There is a way to make your enemies respawn again after killing them 15 times

Wrath of the Gods confirmed - 1 cast only

Stat based weapon buffs confirmed

No Penetrating Sword 2.0

No Bed of Chaos style gimmick boss

Armor sets can give you certain bonuses, such as item discovery

1v1 covenant called the "Company of Champions"

"Fans of Great swords and Pickaxes will be very happy"

"Fans of the Ninja Flip Ring will not be so happy"

Agility and Resistance combined into one stat called "Adaptability"

Adaptability and Endurance increase your natural poise as you level them

There are more "utility" spells like Chameleon or Hidden Body

There is a Necromancer type spell that "makes use of dead bodies"

Rings have weight

You can warp to EVERY bonfire you light in the game

Boss souls are not only used for weapons

The gesture "Well what is it" is making a return

One of the weapon types known as "Twin blades" are quality scaling weapons

You can play left-handed (Sword in left-hand shield in right-hand)

Parrying while two-handing a weapon confirmed

Amazing chests ahead confirmed
Click to expand...

The most interesting thing is that the Agility stat from the beta no longer exists; they combined Agility and Resistance into one stat called Adaptability.

Also, Wrath of the Gods got nerfed. Only one cast now.

Edit: Meant Resistance not Endurance.
 
You can warp to EVERY bonfire you light in the game

I dont like it. I mean, certain are good but EVERY one is too much.
 
Shinjica said:
You can warp to EVERY bonfire you light in the game

I dont like it. I mean, certain are good but EVERY one is too much.
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With the revelation that leveling up
only happens via the green cloaked woman
, this at least suggests you can level up as often as in Dark Souls. I didn't see it confirmed whether that is an unlocked ability or not, however.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk9Pq_hmiH0

I just watched this preview and was flabergasted for some reason by the animation of the character after defeating a monster. It can be seen at 0:28-0:32.

It gives this impression that he has been fighting tirelessly fighting this unnatural monster and finally can get some rest. Thought it was quite an awesome detail.
 
Visceir said:
Here's a 43 min video of a guy talking about the mechanics and the lore in second half: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fbl-DC9LMno

He explains more in depth how the easier co-op and voice chat ring work, how invading priorities work and sin levels. There's some pretty cool information.

Guess you could just avoid the second part if you want to avoid spoilers.
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Yeah, I just watched this video as well. To be honest, the last 15 minutes or so pretty much confirm that this game series might indeed be headed in the wrong direction for me personally.

Just as for Mr. Lees, for me the Souls games are about game mechanics on the one hand and a world that feels bigger / more important than "just" being a video game world on the other. One without the other would not work for me: the reason I want to master the game mechanics is to be able to press on and explore that world and uncover its lore. To hear him say that it is precisely this much needed sense of place which is now lessened greatly due to a weaker art direction (as far as the areas seen up till now go), worries me quite a bit. I fear we might end up with a mechanically more competent game with a better UI that has lost its soul (no pun intended) in the process due to being set in a game world that is only designed around the mechanics and not around spatial storytelling / world building as well. I agree with Matt that this last aspect is quite intangible and difficult to describe, but that doesn't make it less important or present in many a player's enjoyment of the previous two Souls games including myself.

I also might be the only Souls fan like this, but I played and completed both games completely on my own in offline or hollow mode because I can't stand my immersive, slow threading single player experience being interupted by other players that pretty much always manage to kill me. For me, the invasion aspect (since I do like the messages and the summoning of helpers), apart perhaps from its use in boss encounters, stands as much at odds with the pacing and careful playstyle of these games as four player co-op does in the latest Mario games. It works, sure, but the result is a very different game in my opinion (i.e. by injecting everlasting unpredictability into games that are essentially about control and planning). I get why some people like these PvP elements, but I don't and for me the news that invasions will even occur in hollow mode was not well received. Yes I can still play in offline mode of course, but then I lose out on the messages as well which certainly isn't ideal either.

I do have hope the game will manage to surprise me in the end. At the same time I can't overlook the fact that it is rarely the case that going for a more mass market appeal and target demographic - which seems to be what is happening here - has yielded a better game. This is especially true in a word-of-mouth series liked for its need to figure things out on your own and its world that feels like a magical place you want to explore despite its dangers. Please disagree with me if you feel the need to, but this is how I currently feel about Dark Souls 2.
 
Chitown B said:
why? seems dumb to limit it.
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In Dark Souls you start warping through the bonfire at half the game and not all of then were accessible.

The backtracking was a part of the game because with all the shortcut you can unlock, you need max 5 minute to go were you want to go.

Plus even low level enemy can be dungerous if you aggro all of them. I died so many times because is was so sure they will not kill me because i was a higher level
 
Shinjica said:
In Dark Souls zou start warping through the bonfire at half the game and now all of then were accessible.

The backtracking was a part of the game because with all the shortcut you can unlock, you need max 5 minute to go were you want to go.

Plus even low level enemy can be dungerous if you aggro all of them. I died so many times because is was so sure they will not kill me because i was a higher level
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This! Part of the magic of the game was that you have to revisit most areas to travel the world. Almost every enemy stays a threat if you're not careful.

By having warp accessible from the start, I'm afraid the game will become easier in the beginning and will shorten the game length.

Can understand that some people hate backtracking
 
Parrying while two-handing a weapon confirmed
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Overall, seems like a good list. Except for the bonfires. I know you can simply "not use them", but it's not as easy as that. Anyway, the change above is one that I always thought was silly not to have in the other games, and it will give you more options than simply either
trying to dodge, or blocking but still taking quite a bit of damage
.
 
I think it is good for every bonfire to be warp-able unless From took that option as a license to design a less compact, less interconnected map.
 
- Bonfire warping always available
- Respeccing
- enemies don't respawn after getting killed a certain number of times (what?)

These three things do concern me a lot, to be honest.
 
Lost Fragment said:
Think this info was originally from DreadedCone's stream when a dude who worked on the guide was in the chat and broke NDA.
Click to expand...
Do we really know if he's legit?

Bedlam said:
- Bonfire warping always available
- Respeccing
- enemies don't respawn after getting killed a certain number of times (what?)

These three things do concern me a lot, to be honest.
Click to expand...
That last one does sound a bit concerning.
 
Raitaro said:
I also might be the only Souls fan like this, but I played and completed both games completely on my own in offline or hollow mode because I can't stand my immersive, slow threading single player experience being interupted by other players that pretty much always manage to kill me. For me, the invasion aspect (since I do like the messages and the summoning of helpers), apart perhaps from its use in boss encounters, stands as much at odds with the pacing and careful playstyle of these games as four player co-op does in the latest Mario games. It works, sure, but the result is a very different game in my opinion (i.e. by injecting everlasting unpredictability into games that are essentially about control and planning). I get why some people like these PvP elements, but I don't and for me the news that invasions will even occur in hollow mode was not well received. Yes I can still play in offline mode of course, but then I lose out on the messages as well which certainly isn't ideal either...
Click to expand...

well said. no, you're not alone. i, & i'm sure many others, enjoy the souls games as creepy, solo, survival horror experiences. eliminating the existing framework, which lets the player choose to either play the games this way or not, for one where you're either completely online or offline, is a seriously wrong-headed move, & a step backwards. i'm having a hard time understanding who thought this'd be a good idea - fixing something that wasn't broken...
 
semiconscious said:
well said. no, you're not alone. i, & i'm sure many others, enjoy the souls games as creepy, solo, survival horror experiences. eliminating the existing framework, which lets the player choose to either play the games this way or not, for one where you're either completely online or offline, is a seriously wrong-headed move, & a step backwards. i'm having a hard time understanding who thought this'd be a good idea - fixing something that wasn't broken...
Click to expand...

Because it is their design that it work that way? I get that some people like to be online and not worry about invasions, but that's not what they intended.

Either way, you can still evade invasions while online, you just have to burn that thing or whatever. I think that adds a lot to gameplay. If you don't want to get invaded, you gotta watch your back.
 
fluffydelusions said:
When are they going to give a PC release date =\
Click to expand...

Seriously!

I'm wondering if I should pick up a PS3 copy to tide me over- but I don't want to start there and then transition to PC :/

But I also want the CE stuff... and not after a long delay. Damn, first world problems. I'm just damn excited to play the game in some form!
 
I must have missed something really important cuz I have no clue what "There is a way to make your enemies respawn again after killing them 15 times" means? Are you telling me that normally enemies only respawn 15 times?
 
dreamfall said:
Seriously!

I'm wondering if I should pick up a PS3 copy to tide me over- but I don't want to start there and then transition to PC :/

But I also want the CE stuff... and not after a long delay. Damn, first world problems. I'm just damn excited to play the game in some form!
Click to expand...

Yeah luckily March is packed for me anyway...Titanfall, RoS, Infamous SS etc etc.
 
plexcide said:
I must have missed something really important cuz I have no clue what "There is a way to make your enemies respawn again after killing them 15 times" means? Are you telling me that normally enemies only respawn 15 times?
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That's what it sounds like, I read it somewhere else before too. It seems brute-forcing your way through the game will now be a much bigger thing than ever before. :-/

In general I'm seeing a lot of changes that seem like concessions to casual players. Yes, I said it. Call me an elitist or whatever; I don't care. It's pretty clear.
 
The only thing that is potentially a concession to casuals is the enemy respawning thing. If that is exactly what it sounds like, then yeah I don't like it either.
 
That sounds like an attempt at keeping people from grinding just to level up quickly. They could have done it in a way that if they die so many times in a certain amount of time, they don't respawn for an hour or so.

But yeah, I'm not liking the way this seems right now.
 
TheCongressman1 said:
That sounds like an attempt at keeping people from grinding just to level up quickly. They could have done it in a way that if they die so many times in a certain amount of time, they don't respawn for an hour or so.

But yeah, I'm not liking the way this seems right now.
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If it was that, then they easily could've made it so that you start getting diminishing returns.
 
Lost Fragment said:
If it was that, then they easily could've made it so that you start getting diminishing returns.
Click to expand...

Right, there's lots of ways they can fix that.

But what I'm saying is, I'm not seeing how this is supposed to make the game easier. If you can warp, you don't have to worry about backtracking through enemies anyway. So that's the only reason I can see why they would do that.

Warping is what I'm worried about...
 
Lost Fragment said:
The only thing that is potentially a concession to casuals is the enemy respawning thing. If that is exactly what it sounds like, then yeah I don't like it either.
Click to expand...
I believe there was an interview where they specified that the respawn counter in an area only starts when you've cleared an area and reached the next bonfire. So it's not like an area you're stuck on will suddenly become easier just because you've died so much trying to get through it, you actually have to clear the whole area first. I dunno if that entails running to the next fire, clearing all enemies, or defeating the area boss.
 
TheCongressman1 said:
Right, there's lots of ways they can fix that.

But what I'm saying is, I'm not seeing how this is supposed to make the game easier. If you can warp, you don't have to worry about backtracking through enemies anyway. So that's the only reason I can see why they would do that.

Warping is what I'm worried about...
Click to expand...
You're stuck at a boss, you die over and over again, but you keep killing enemies on the way back, and so the game becomes easier by simple attrition. I don't know how much actual backtracking will be required, but it could also be to make backtracking less tedious since enemies are supposedly much less easy to just run around.

Bonfire warping doesn't bother me because it's probably a response to the more open-ended nature of the game as much as anything. Traveling in Dark Souls after Anor Londo wouldn't be very fun if you ignored warping.
 
What I had it explained to me was that they remove easy-to-get-to enemies from close to a bonfire after a certain amount of deaths to try and cut down on easy soul farming. I think that was PR conjecture though.
 
Jintor said:
What I had it explained to me was that they remove easy-to-get-to enemies from close to a bonfire after a certain amount of deaths to try and cut down on easy soul farming. I think that was PR conjecture though.
Click to expand...
If this is just with certain enemies to cut down on the Dark Souls 2 equivalent of phalanx farming then it makes sense and I'm totally ok with that.
 
Bedlam said:
- enemies don't respawn after getting killed a certain number of times (what?)
Click to expand...
This one interest me, and I think it might have something to do with the items that let you increase the difficulty of an area. One video said you could do that incrementally - and this sounds similar to World Tendency.

So my guess is that enemies stop spawning (probably after a long time, or only the boss is cleared or some other condition) until you use that item at the bonfire, then the enemies are harder or different, maybe the item drop rate is higher too and more souls of course. And maybe at the max point of this system, equivalent to pure black tendency say, then enemies respawn infinitely again. Just speculation, but I'm more excited about this feature than concerned.
 
Any word on performance issues in this one? I don't want to buy it if the framerate is going to constantly drop into the 20s and even teens again.
 
Shinjica said:
In Dark Souls you start warping through the bonfire at half the game and not all of then were accessible.

The backtracking was a part of the game because with all the shortcut you can unlock, you need max 5 minute to go were you want to go.

Plus even low level enemy can be dungerous if you aggro all of them. I died so many times because is was so sure they will not kill me because i was a higher level
Click to expand...

yeah I know, I haven't even gotten the bonfire warp yet on DS1. But I still think once you gain the ability you should be able to fast travel anywhere, regardless of the shortcuts. Just saves time.
 
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