Dark Souls & Other Souls-Likes

Let's not forget nippleless Queelag and her sister + the gaping dragon

A handful of new development photos have been revealed by Namco Bandai Games for their upcoming multiplatform title, “Dark Souls 2.” The latest images, which were posted on the Namco Bandai Facebook page on Jan. 24, show the staff at From Software working on the PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 video game. Some of the armor sets and character designs can be seen on some of the monitors in the office. You can check out the development photos, as well as some screens from the action role-playing game, in the slideshow at the top of this article.

“Dark Souls 2” is currently being developed by From Software, the same studio responsible for the development of “Dark Souls” and “Demon’s Souls.” The sequel will be published by Namco Bandai Games when it launches for the PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 gaming systems sometime later this year (it could also be pushed back until 2014).

Pre-order links:

• Playstation 3
  

• Xbox 360

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old news:

Hidetaka Miyazaki, the godfather of Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls, is clicking his ballpoint pen repeatedly. He’s sitting across the table from us, wearing his trademark casual navy blue jacket over a buttoned-down shirt. His hair looks slightly more dishevelled than usual, hanging noticeably limply across his forehead. The atmosphere in the room has grown suddenly charged. The virtuosic young Japanese game designer has dropped a bombshell.

“I will not be involved in the actual development of Dark Souls II,” he says matter-of-factly. “I want to clarify that I will be a supervisor, not the actual director or producer.”

This is a crushing revelation for any hardcore fan of Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls, akin to a cinephile learning that Pulp Fiction 2 is in production, but that Quentin Tarantino isn’t attached to the picture. The strong personal tie between Miyazaki and the two dark fantasy RPGs he’s created to date has been well established. He explained to us in a previous interview, for instance, that the veil of ambiguity hovering over the Souls games grew out of his experiences as a child poring over western fantasy literature. Due to his patchy comprehension of English at the time, there were large chunks of each book he couldn’t decipher, leaving him to fill in the details with his imagination. He set out to create that same sense of awe and bewilderment in his games, letting players fill in the gaps with their imagination instead of having every plot point and objective clearly articulated through in-game text or cutscenes.


So what does it mean that Miyazaki is a supervisor on Dark Souls II? When we first hear the word, we imagine him popping by at the end of every workday to check in on development and see how things are progressing, maybe even signing off on features and visual concepts as they’re being prototyped – you know, supervising. In reality, his role is less involved and ongoing than the term ‘supervisor’ would suggest, having simply ensured things got started on solid footing before stepping aside. So what has he contributed to the project?

For one thing, Miyazaki has insisted on setting the top-line level of Dark Souls II’s production schedule. “I’m aware that many fans were a little bit frustrated about Dark Souls in terms of the scheduling – more specifically speaking, about the patches that we’ve released,” he says, alluding to the consequences of pushing Dark Souls out the door before it was 100 per cent polished. “I really regretted that, so I reviewed all those kinds of things that I worked on in Dark Souls to make sure that Dark Souls II is ready on time.”

The second item that Miyazaki claims to have looked after is the transition from a peer-to-peer online system to server-based network play, which promises a markedly improved online experience.


Finally, he points to his role in assigning the pair of replacement game directors – Tomohiro Shibuya and Yui Tanimura – who have now assumed the reins of the Souls series. Both had previously worked on FromSoftware’s mech-action series Another Century, which caters to the tastes of the local Japanese audience and isn’t currently available abroad. (Coincidentally, Miyazaki worked on the mech-action Armored Core series before creating Demon’s Souls, so it’s not as big a leap from mech combat to the fantasy-RPG genre as you might expect.)

Though the discrepancy could well be attributed to a translation error, moments after stating that “there will be two directors for Dark Souls II, which I have secured myself”, Miyazaki tacks on a correction after his introduction of Shibuya and Tanimura, saying “the decision about the new assignments was not made by me; it was made by FromSoftware and Namco Bandai as a whole”. These competing statements make it hard to decipher whether Miyazaki wished to step away from the Souls series, or if he was asked to move aside by the company so that the IP could be steered in a fresh direction. When asked about his new full-time role, Miyazaki mentions that he’s working on a new title as director, but when we ask if it’s a new IP he simply laughs and replies, “Sorry, I can’t answer that.”

“It was a company decision,” clarifies Namco Bandai producer Takeshi Miyazoe. “Miyazaki worked on Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls, but for the IP to evolve and provide a new experience within the Dark Souls world the new wind from directors Shibuya and Tanimura is key to providing players with [a] brand new Dark Souls experience. In order to maintain the expectations and satisfaction and the rewards that players experience, this was the right time to bring in the new characteristics and taste[s of the directors] for this series to continue on evolving.”


While it’s sad to see Miyazaki part ways with his fantasy-RPG series, it certainly makes sense from a company perspective to steer him towards a fresh title, especially if it does turn out to be something brand new. Apart from Dark Souls, Namco Bandai’s recent attempts to develop memorable new properties have been largely unsuccessful. If there’s any chance this proven young designer can cause lightning to strike twice, it makes sense to give him that opportunity. For his part, Miyazaki seems ready to access a different part of his psyche. In response to an unrelated question, he says, “sometimes I’d like to work on a warmer game – not necessarily casual, but warmer in terms of the atmosphere and the environment”. It’s the closest thing that we’re given to a hint about the nature of his next project.

So how does Miyazaki feel about entrusting his baby to new parents? “I’m not one to restrict the potential that Dark Souls has by insisting that only I can work on the titles,” he stresses. “I want new expressions. It’s true that I’m sad about not being involved in the development of Dark Souls II, because I’ve worked on Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls’ development for the past five years. I really love those two titles; however, maybe this is the time to have new inspiration, so I’m fine about that. I’m looking forward to playing Dark Souls II not as part of the development team, but with a little bit of distance. Everybody knows what the core of Dark Souls is – the dev team does, the fans do, the media does – and that will never change. I [wouldn’t] really care for Dark Souls VIII to come out. That’s not the point. It’s more, ‘What do the fans want?’ We want to stay true to what they expect.”

At the conclusion of our interview, Miyazaki volunteers some formal closing remarks. He mentions this will probably be one of his last interviews about the Souls series for a while and wants to offer his appreciation on behalf of himself and the development team to fans and the media for lavishing such enthusiastic praise on Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls. As he exits the room, the reality sinks in – this is really happening. We’ve been taught that if the Fire Keeper dies, the bonfire they guard turns to cold ash. Let’s hope this is the exception. Dark Souls II has the potential to be a dramatic departure indeed.

One half of the directorial duo behind Dark Souls II, Tomohiro Shibuya clearly has more than a passing interest in fashion. He sports stylishly layered hair, his jeans are ornamented with faux-stencilled graffiti, and the shirt he’s got on displays a black-and-white photograph of a woman reclining on a sofa while wearing nothing but black gloves. One arm conceals her breasts, while a strategically positioned cushion keeps the image just softcore enough to ensure it remains tantalising without being pornographic. The composition of the photo is designed to tease viewers, and to kindle their curiosity.

Shibuya is here to try to accomplish the same trick with Dark Souls II, but it becomes quickly apparent that he doesn’t intend to be nearly as forthcoming as the woman on his shirt. She’s opted for black gloves, but he might as well be cloaked in the Tower Knight’s daunting plate armour.

His initial flurry of answers are vague. We’re able to establish that Dark Souls II will be a direct sequel to Dark Souls, and it will take place in an open world of similar dimensions to its predecessor but more dense with content. The game will not take place in Lordran, yet Shibuya won’t disclose the name of the setting. “The name of the world will be key to the story,” he says. “We will reveal it eventually, but not in the first announcement. If Lordran was to be an area in a world called, say, Earth, the setting of this game will be somewhere completely different. The two places won’t necessarily interact directly with each other, but, from a visual concept [standpoint] at least, it will be within the same world.”


We’re told the story will once again revolve around a character who is cursed and seeking to find the cure for his affliction, but Shibuya won’t be drawn out further. He will provide no details about how much continuity there is between the story of Dark Souls II and its predecessor, nor explain why the player has appeared in this new region. “They’ll find out right away,” he says, “but that’s something we want to refrain from speaking too much about today.”

In the preceding interview, Miyazaki stressed that FromSoftware was interested in evolving the series to keep fans surprised and engaged. So if the key alteration from Demon’s Souls to Dark Souls was providing players with an expansive and seamless open world, what’s the defining change that Dark Souls II will offer us?

“The concept of time and the existence of time is something that will be key to Dark Souls II,” replies Shibuya. When we press for more detail, he simply rephrases the word ‘time’ with ‘eras’ and leaves it there. That’s as much as he will say, claiming that he doesn’t want to spoil the surprise for players. We’ll have to wait to see just what this clue means, then, but it sounds as though time travel between different epochs of the world’s history could play a role in the game. For a series that already shares so much DNA with The Legend Of Zelda, playing with time mechanics can only serve to strengthen that bond.

Any sequel in a beloved franchise gets stuck between the competing values of preserving the core of an experience that players have loved and the desire to offer up fresh enticements. Despite his caginess, Shibuya doesn’t intend to be shy about building on the foundation of the past games and changing things up.


“Ideally we want Dark Souls players to smoothly get into Dark Souls II,” he explains, “but at the same time I am implementing a lot of different aspects as well. So there might be a sense of awkwardness at the [beginning] when experienced Dark Souls players pick up Dark Souls II. But ideally we want that smooth process, so Dark Souls II will have the same general feel in terms of the experience in the game. I don’t intend to change the controls.”

Our conversation then turns to the issue of accessibility. Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls are notorious for not just being difficult to master in a mechanical sense, but remaining staunchly inscrutable as well; the games rarely explain their systems to players. Demon’s Souls contained a feature called World Tendency that veered between pure white and pure black, changing the nature of the world depending on certain actions, but you had to flee online to the Demon’s Souls wiki if you were to have any hope of untangling the mystery of how it worked. Dark Souls has a host of different ‘covenants’, which require different actions from players to both join and maintain good standing in. The covenant system will return in Dark Souls II, but Shibuya assures us it will be easier to understand.

“I personally feel that the covenant system was something that was difficult to fully absorb and experience [in] Dark Souls, and I intend to make it more accessible to players. And that’s not just with the covenant system, but with a lot of other aspects that I felt were difficult to fully adapt to.


“I will follow the same concept as Dark Souls, but there were a lot of hidden story elements that some players may not have caught before, and I’m hoping to make some of that a little bit more clear or directly expressed to the player as well – not just in the story, but messaging. A lot of elements were very subtle in Dark Souls, and that was something that was characteristic to Dark Souls. But I personally am the sort of person who likes to be more direct instead of subtle, so I think that part of me will [result in] a difference [for] players when they pick up Dark Souls II. It will be more straightforward and more understandable.”

Despite Miyazaki telling us in an interview conducted back in November 2011 that he wasn’t yet sure if he’d have the chance to make a follow-up to Dark Souls, Dark Souls II had in fact already been in development for two months at that stage. Shibuya mentions being approached about the project in September of last year, at which point, we’re told, development was proceeding in parallel, with some of the Dark Souls team working on patches and DLC content, and staff gradually migrating over to the new game as required.

According to Shibuya, the team working on Dark Souls II is “substantially bigger”. Though he won’t quantify the growth numerically, he points out that the studio has nearly doubled the internal team focused on world creation alone, in addition to adding new members across every other department. When asked what state the game is currently in, he estimates it being roughly 25 per cent finished. In other words, if the current pace of development holds, you can almost definitely rule out the game arriving in 2013. Is the team hoping to finish the game before the end of the current hardware generation? Shibuya politely declines to comment.

After about 90 minutes of question-and-answer jousting, we haven’t teased out many specifics. It’s just like Dark Souls to raise more questions than it answers, but we can’t help feeling frustrated. Diehard fans of the series will surely be disappointed as well. But it’s also just like Dark Souls to provide players with dizzying turnabouts in fortune. After stumbling blind and hopeless through the pitch black Tomb Of The Giants in Dark Souls, discovering that first bonfire near the base of the tall cliff-face ladder felt like reaching pure nirvana. In a cavern that dark, the illumination from even a tiny bonfire can feel as penetrating as the sun itself.

The Souls franchise is one of the toughest to beat this generation. But that is where the fun and challenge lies. Dark Souls 2 was announced at last year’s VGA and it will be every bit as tough as it’s predecessors.

Tomohiro Shibuya, co-game director of Dark Souls 2 has revealed that the game is completed 25% till date. According to Edge, the game will be missing the 2013 release window.

When Shibuya was asked whether it will get completed before the advent of next generation consoles, he simply declined to comment.


According to an interview with Edge, Shibuya also confirmed that the team working on Dark Souls II is ‘substantially bigger’. He also confirmed that that the development team has almost doubled plus they are adding new team members.

It is interesting to note that despite such a massive team, we have to wait till next year to get our hands on. I personally think that it may land up on next generation consoles, seeing how Shibuya declined to comment on the actual release date.

There are a number of glossy printouts of Dark Souls II concept art lying on the table between us and Shibuya – the same images you’ll find illustrating this feature. With the formal interview concluded and our final minutes ticking away, we make one last push for information. Would Shibuya kindly give us a guided tour of the concept art before us so that we know what we’re looking at?

He lays his index finger on a knight dressed in a regal coat of blue and grey armour. This is the main hero, he says. We point out the grey animal fur adorning the shoulders of the armour and recount a conversation we had with Miyazaki months ago about the Dark Souls team experimenting with – and later abandoning – snowy terrain because it was too technically demanding.

“We’re not really thinking of anything to take place covered in snow or blizzards or stuff like that,” explains Shibuya. “But the aspect of snow and weather is something that we’re definitely looking into and thinking about implementing, so that this actually makes sense as well.” The idea of dynamic weather in a Dark Souls game is enticing. Can you imagine how much more evocative the mood of, say, Darkroot Garden would have been if a misty rain began pattering on the grassy turf as you traced a path in the dark between those incandescent flower blossoms?


Shibuya points out a curious-looking weapon that’s been designed for the game, which looks like a statue sitting on an upside down dome pedestal, and explains that it’s actually a bell with a thin dagger tip on the end. Ringing the two Bells Of Awakening in Dark Souls marked key moments of the player’s progression through the game. We’ll have to wait to see if this bell has any connection to those ones, or if it’s simply an answer to the question, ‘Hey, you know what would be cool?’


Next up is a sketch of ruins near a misty coastline. “This is something new that we’re trying to do. Using the ocean or the sea as a concept, that hadn’t really been [done] in Demon’s Souls or Dark Souls. The ocean aspect is something that we’re newly implementing into the game, so one of the concept artists started on this for us to use. With the ocean or the sea as a concept, the aspects that are involved are strong winds from the ocean [and] the strong waves as well. This is an area where we’re trying to express loneliness. In Japan, it’s an iconic idea that when you’re standing by the sea all alone, you’re often depressed.”

We ask about boats, one of the fantasy genre’s most familiar modes of transport. “Being on a ship or boat is definitely something we are considering,” he says, “but being able to control one is not in the works.”


Shibuya moves on to a grotesquely obese enemy wielding massive crescent-shaped sickles. Though he said earlier he wouldn’t be talking about any characters in the new game, he makes an exception. He explains that there’s a mad scientist in the world, and that this creature is the product of a Frankenstein-like experiment in which he reanimated a corpse containing the parts of various powerful creatures.


A separate image of what looks like a dwarf wielding a monstrous axe isn’t necessarily a dwarf, Shibuya points out, but it is a character that lives underground.


Another enemy that looks like a spider mutant has a far more disturbing explanation. The spider has actually attached itself parasitically to the being’s back and is controlling its movements. The hairy leg piercing the host’s cranium allegedly manipulates his brain in some way.


Curiously, one of the relatively pedestrian-looking enemies on display, a blind, bandaged zombie with a gaping open rib cage, who seems a little like something out of a Resident Evil game, cannot be discussed at all. Shibuya simply informs us “This is top secret.”


The black rider in the chariot, who looks like one of Tolkien’s Nazgûl, is in fact an undead who acts as an executioner if you commit evil deeds. So does this mean there will be some kind of moral system underpinning Dark Souls II? “Yes, definitely,” Shibuya confirms with a grin. “If you’re unlucky enough, you’ll be able to meet them.”

The undead executioner’s chariot also points to another feature that hasn’t been explored in the series previously: vehicles. The player’s vulnerability in Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls was reinforced by the lack of vehicular assistance. You were always the footsoldier on the front lines wading into certain death, never the horseback cavalry charging in with the upper hand. Shibuya describes vehicles as something the team wants to implement in Dark Souls II as a new element for players. “We want to constantly think of something new that hasn’t been tried before, so that’s where that idea [of the chariot] came up.”


Shibuya didn’t offer any insight on the next few images, so you’ll have to draw you’re own conclusions on how they fit into Dark Souls II’s world.