Dark Souls II Catch-All

Think Ill get it for PS3, unless there are good reasons for getting it for PC (beside the fact that PC is by definition superior of course).
One of those few games I prefer with a gamepad.

If they announced it for next-gen, DS2 could convince me to prematurely buy a new console though.

PC isn't next-gen. "Next" implies a beginning and end. The superiority of PC is eternal.

My completely objective opinion is that everyone should buy everything on the PC whenever possible. Because; PC.

I'm getting it on PC.

PC?

Yeah, this one's all pc all the way for me!

Dark Souls II Impressions Videos:

http://www.gametrailers.com/videos/1...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xvie...

- No more kick, now you do a shoulder tackle. Should be functionally the same but a little sad to lose that badass kick.
- Lifegems do a slow heal over time but can be used while moving. They can drop from enemies.
- Bonfires may tend to be closer to the boss fog gates.
- The game is not set in Lordran.
- There are no starting classes. Instead you just distribute points to your stats during character creation and your "class" is determined by how you distributed those starting points.
- Three weapon slots per hand. Personally this change seems a little odd to me, especially if alternate equipment still adds to your weight burden.
- When dual wielding there's a "power stance" that lets you do heavier swings while holding down a button (triangle on PS3).

psoplayer can you back up that statement?

Dakuna wrote:

psoplayer can you back up that statement?

What is there to back up? The PC is all generations to all people. Your PC might be current gen, but mine is next-gen, and GameGuru's is in some other next-next-gen universe. Maybe you don't like that way of thinking about it. For a suitable alternative:

Shadout wrote:

PC isn't next-gen. "Next" implies a beginning and end. The superiority of PC is eternal.

Latrine wrote:

Dark Souls II Impressions Videos:

http://www.gametrailers.com/videos/1...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xvie...

- No more kick, now you do a shoulder tackle. Should be functionally the same but a little sad to lose that badass kick.
- Lifegems do a slow heal over time but can be used while moving. They can drop from enemies.
- Bonfires may tend to be closer to the boss fog gates.
- The game is not set in Lordran.
- There are no starting classes. Instead you just distribute points to your stats during character creation and your "class" is determined by how you distributed those starting points.
- Three weapon slots per hand. Personally this change seems a little odd to me, especially if alternate equipment still adds to your weight burden.
- When dual wielding there's a "power stance" that lets you do heavier swings while holding down a button (triangle on PS3).

Love that it's not set in either of the two universes/worlds of the previous souls entries. So far I like the changes. Gonna have to get home tonight and play me some Dark Souls to quell the fever.

I like the should tackle change. The kick seems like a good idea, but when it actually animates, it just looks a little funny. It's kind of like: "Hey look at me, I'm kicking at your shins! You'd better hop backwards!" At least, that's how it was for the character I've been working on. Most of it was that the speed was really slow. I think I shoulder tackle will play better animation-wise.

I love the no starting classes thing. Just letting a character unfold by how you divide up experience, what armor you decide to use, what weapons you decide to use, and how you play seems much more organic. I think that's actually how DeS and DS really played, it's just that you explicitly had to make the choice.

Everything else seems fine.

The kick is just such a limited tool. You use it early some, then I kind of forget it exists.

Latrine wrote:

Dark Souls II Impressions Videos:

http://www.gametrailers.com/videos/1...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xvie...

- No more kick, now you do a shoulder tackle. Should be functionally the same but a little sad to lose that badass kick.
- Lifegems do a slow heal over time but can be used while moving. They can drop from enemies.
- Bonfires may tend to be closer to the boss fog gates.
- The game is not set in Lordran.
- There are no starting classes. Instead you just distribute points to your stats during character creation and your "class" is determined by how you distributed those starting points.
- Three weapon slots per hand. Personally this change seems a little odd to me, especially if alternate equipment still adds to your weight burden.
- When dual wielding there's a "power stance" that lets you do heavier swings while holding down a button (triangle on PS3).

Neat! My guess would be that the three weapon slots is aimed less at having three weapon-weapons, and more about having increased flexibility with casting items.

Sonicator wrote:

Neat! My guess would be that the three weapon slots is aimed less at having three weapon-weapons, and more about having increased flexibility with casting items.

That's probably true. I came across the situation last night in Demon's Souls where I wanted my sword, bow, and catalyst all equipped for quick switching.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:
Sonicator wrote:

Neat! My guess would be that the three weapon slots is aimed less at having three weapon-weapons, and more about having increased flexibility with casting items.

That's probably true. I came across the situation last night in Demon's Souls where I wanted my sword, bow, and catalyst all equipped for quick switching.

Story of my (first character's) life, tuff.

Fedaykin98 wrote:
tuffalobuffalo wrote:
Sonicator wrote:

Neat! My guess would be that the three weapon slots is aimed less at having three weapon-weapons, and more about having increased flexibility with casting items.

That's probably true. I came across the situation last night in Demon's Souls where I wanted my sword, bow, and catalyst all equipped for quick switching.

Story of my (first character's) life, tuff.

I don't see a problem there at least in Dark Souls. I went with sword right hand 1, catalyst right hand 2, shield left hand 1, bow left hand 2.

Fedaykin98 wrote:
tuffalobuffalo wrote:
Sonicator wrote:

Neat! My guess would be that the three weapon slots is aimed less at having three weapon-weapons, and more about having increased flexibility with casting items.

That's probably true. I came across the situation last night in Demon's Souls where I wanted my sword, bow, and catalyst all equipped for quick switching.

Story of my (first character's) life, tuff.

I don't see a problem there at least in Dark Souls. I went with sword right hand 1, catalyst right hand 2, shield left hand 1, bow left hand 2.

Fedaykin98 wrote:
tuffalobuffalo wrote:
Sonicator wrote:

Neat! My guess would be that the three weapon slots is aimed less at having three weapon-weapons, and more about having increased flexibility with casting items.

That's probably true. I came across the situation last night in Demon's Souls where I wanted my sword, bow, and catalyst all equipped for quick switching.

Story of my (first character's) life, tuff.

I don't see a problem there at least in Dark Souls. I went with sword right hand 1, catalyst right hand 2, shield left hand 1, bow left hand 2.

Okay, okay, I get it! It wasn't a problem!

I tried that but remember it having an issue. I think the issue was that when you have your bow out with your left hand and want to switch quickly to your sword and shield, say, if someone is charging you, switching to your sword by hitting right on the D-pad makes you go to Sword in right hand bow in left hand. If you have only a shield equipped in your left hand, and a sword and bow equipped for your right hand, selecting the sword instantly puts you in sword/shield mode.

That's Demon's Souls, though, so maybe that changed with DS?

Huh, I didn't expect shoddy hotel wifi to triple post there.
EDIT: @TB, I think that's how it works in Dark Souls too. I just saved the bow for special occasions and trusted my thumb to tap both d-pad buttons in a pinch.

I'm actually using the bow quite a bit in Demon's Souls. Also, I suck at the game, so having to do all those Y-button/Triangle and D-Pad presses is a little much for me to think about in the middle of combat.

S0LIDARITY wrote:

Huh, I didn't expect shoddy hotel wifi to triple post there.
EDIT: @TB, I think that's how it works in Dark Souls too. I just saved the bow for special occasions and trusted my thumb to tap both d-pad buttons in a pinch.

I like having a choice of readily available shields... so having three slots for this would be great! More flexibility and versatility without making it so I can cycle through a tone of choices. Three's the perfect amount, methinks!

I like three a lot.

I'm assuming they're using the Dark Souls rogue-like encumbrance model over the DeS D&Dish model.

Shadout wrote:

Think Ill get it for PS3, unless there are good reasons for getting it for PC (beside the fact that PC is by definition superior of course).
One of those few games I prefer with a gamepad.

If you don't have a 360 pad or equivalent gamepad, then you are doing it wrong as a PC gamer. Many have considered it an essential peripheral for a while now. I sure do. I know I picked one up in 2008 and have just become more and more happy with that choice as time goes by. I hope newer pads continue with wired usb Windows support, but I fear the wired part will be dropped.

mrtomaytohead wrote:
Shadout wrote:

Think Ill get it for PS3, unless there are good reasons for getting it for PC (beside the fact that PC is by definition superior of course).
One of those few games I prefer with a gamepad.

If you don't have a 360 pad or equivalent gamepad, then you are doing it wrong as a PC gamer. Many have considered it an essential peripheral for a while now. I sure do. I know I picked one up in 2008 and have just become more and more happy with that choice as time goes by. I hope newer pads continue with wired usb Windows support, but I fear the wired part will be dropped.

@Shadout If you also have a PS3, then you should just get it for PC and use your PS3 controller there! It's not difficult to set up if you're willing to settle for using it wired.

@mrtomaytohead Both controllers are still just using USB, and the XOne controller is going to work like the Dualshock3 (being fully wired while charging instead of requiring a wireless adapter to use on PC). During the time Microsoft reps were on Giant Bomb's E3 evening podcast the question of controller support on PC came up. They were quick to talk around the issue, though in a very hinting manner. Something to the effect of "Hm, being able to just plug it in to a PC would be a pretty neat feature to have. Hmm......"

garion333 wrote:

As a huge fan of this series and the weighty combat the changes they're making seem to move away from what I want. Shame.

Wait and see, right?

I'm a bit late to the party again, but I have similar concerns to Garion333... though not necessarily about combat.

Each iteration of this game seems to deliver improvements in some areas, but definite concessions to 'accessibility' in others.

I thought the pyromancer class, for example, was a concession to far. It offered too many advantages in the first and final 3rds of the game. By the final 3rd of the game (New Game), pyromancy spells were arguably overpowered when paired with the better shields, armours and weapons. (At least, it felt that way to me.) I can live with the class being folded into sorcery.

I accept the need to have a class that makes the early game easier for new(er) players. But it needs to be a class like the Royal from Demons Souls whose early advantages levelled out fairly quickly.

I was also disappointed by the use of bonfires in Dark Souls to provide checkpoints in levels, for example. I was certainly a lot less careful on my runs through Dark Souls than through my runs through Demons Souls. For me, much of the point of Demons Souls was the need to remain patient, to be methodical and to balance risk and reward as you made your way through the levels.

1-3 was the best example of this (though 4-1 came close). A long level featuring a large number of tough enemies with some all-too-tempting red-eyed phantoms in side areas. There basically weren't any similar areas in the spiritual sequel.

The reason I mention this is because what I've read in in-depth interviews (Edge and/or GamesTM, I think) leads me to believe that checkpointing and short 'levels' will also feature in DS2.

I wasn't quite clear about the weapons slot thing, but I would say that 'more than two' is too many. Again, for me, part of the challenge of the Souls games was making a run know that you were effectively stuck with your loadout. By the time you release you probably have the wrong weapons (or at least a sub-optimal load out) you're pretty much lumbered with them until you've cleared an areas sufficiently to access the inventory.

Finally, I'm not too sure about lifegems. My worry is that they will make the management of healing resources a little too easy. Again, part of the challenge of Dark Souls was estimating how far you could get without a swig of Estus.

However, that all said, I'd be delighted to be proved wrong. Overall, probably a second or third week - post-review - purchase for me.

EDIT: To correct my p*ss poor spelling and grammar.

psoplayer wrote:

@Shadout If you also have a PS3, then you should just get it for PC and use your PS3 controller there! It's not difficult to set up if you're willing to settle for using it wired.

I did that with the PC release of Dark Souls.
It was quite annoying sometimes with the wired controller. I would have to get a longer cable for sure.

Shadout wrote:
psoplayer wrote:

@Shadout If you also have a PS3, then you should just get it for PC and use your PS3 controller there! It's not difficult to set up if you're willing to settle for using it wired.

I did that with the PC release of Dark Souls.
It was quite annoying sometimes with the wired controller. I would have to get a longer cable for sure.

Luckily that's pretty cheap, and opens up lots of options for playing other games on your PC. Replace the entire cable with 6 feet, or just extend any existing usb cable by 10 feet.

Here's high praise from Joystiq about the E3 demo they played :

http://m.joystiq.com/2013/06/20/co-o...

Brief gameplay videos follow, apparently representing the different starting classes. Which is confusing, as I thought they were abandoning starting classes for straight-up point allocation. But hey: Dark Souls II!

I think I might be changing up my normal style and going dual swordsman from the start. It could be very interesting going through a first playthrough without steady blocking.

Shameless self-promotional link alert! Here are my impressions.

I really can't wait for this to come out. Want want want.