Dark Souls

As one of the more pleasant surprises of 2009, FromSoftware's Demon's Souls broke the traditional paradigm of Japanese RPGs, transitioning the gameplay into a more action-oriented one. Moreover, the extremely high difficulty and the incorporation of online multiplayer transformed it into an even more intense and interesting experience.

In short, Demon's Souls was one of the best titles of 2009, showing that death can be very good. Now, FromSoftware presents Dark Souls, the "spiritual successor" to Demon's Souls. Previously known as Project Dark, the Japanese developer of this new adventure promises the game to be as challenging as its predecessor.





This time NAMCO BANDAI wasted no time and has already confirmed the distribution of the game in other continents. In a press conference held in San Francisco, Takeshi Kajii - producer of Demon's Souls and Dark Souls - presented a demonstration of the game and gave some details about the brutal new adventure developed by FromSoftware. Takeshi Kajii made it clear that the game is not a sequel to Demon's Souls, but the two titles do share many common elements, most notably the visuals and gameplay.


Besides the emphasis on strategy, tactics and sword fighting, one thing's for sure: both titles are extremely difficult. You will die several times. In fact, Takeshi Kajii went on to say that players will die many times as they will laugh at their deaths.


Like Demon's Souls, you can customize your hero. However, Dark Souls leaves the class system from its predecessor and targets the player's freedom element of the entire gameplay. The weapons follow the same path and are more "soft", making it easier for players who quickly become frustrated from the slow strokes of Demon's Souls.

 

Moreover, this freedom does not apply only to the protagonist. In Dark Souls, the player must remain aware that enemies can attack at anytime and anywhere. According to the producer of the game, you should be aware of the whole environment to not be caught by surprise, considering that the enemies are no longer stationed in one place.


In addition to changes in gameplay, the combat system is also much more flexible. The weapons have different characteristics, which confer particular attack tactics without restricting the gameplay style of each player. As there are no class restrictions or any other limitations, you can use weapons you like the way you want, such as using two swords or a big axe, and choose over 100 different weapons.


Some key elements inherited from Demon's Souls are the visuals and the dark atmosphere that follows you throughout the whole adventure. Gloomy scenarios and minimalist soundtrack create a suspense atmosphere that grows as the player progresses through the game and faces unexplored areas.

 

The dangers are everywhere: traps, monsters and even other players can stalk you any time of the day. That's right, Dark Souls brings back the online system, so other players can invade your world - with either good or bad intentions. Dark Souls also brings back the spells--with the addition of new ones--such as a new element, the camouflage. Among the charms, one of the most interesting  is you can transform yourself into a vase. So you can cloak yourself in the scenario and wait for a victim - a fact that will certainly increase the tension.


The best news - at least for Xbox 360 gamers - is the announcement of Dark Souls also launching on Microsoft's console (remember that Demon's Souls is a PlayStation 3 exclusive). Dark Souls has no release date confirmed as of late, but the game is expected to arrive later this year, just in time for Christmas on both the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.


Marco Cecilio, NoobFeed