PowerGamers

Dark Souls II is an upcoming action role-playing open world video game, developed for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 by From Software. From Software will also publish the game in Japan, while Namco Bandai Games will do it in other regions.

As the sequel to Dark Souls, Dark Souls II was announced at Spike Video Game Awards on December 7, 2012. Hidetaka Miyazaki, who served as director on Demon's Souls and Dark Souls, will not return as director for Dark Souls II. Instead he will act as a supervisor and the game will be directed by Tomohiro Shibuya and Yui Tanimura. Miyazaki stated there will be no direct connection between Dark Souls and Dark Souls II. The game will use dedicated multiplayer servers.

 

Plot

The story will revolve around a cursed character trying to find a cure for their agony, and will also be emotional and involved in the fashion of Demon's Souls's story. The game's director has been cited as mentioning that the sequel is linked to its predecessor, but with no specifications as to how. The director mentioned that the concept of time factored into the story and also that "if the first game was set in the North Pole, this one would be in the South Pole; that sort of contrast."

 

Development

Dark Souls II features gameplay mechanics similar to its predecessor; co-director Tomohiro Shibuya has stated that he has no intention of changing the controls. Covenants, a feature in Dark Souls that allowed the player to align with different factions, are making a reappearance, though they will be easier to understand and more accessible to the player. The game world is going to be roughly twice the size of Dark Souls with the beginning of the game made more accessible to newcomers. Tanimura also confirmed that the game will retain the challenging gameplay known to the series: "We do not plan on having an Easy Mode since we are creating this game with a thought that challenge and difficulty are core elements of the game.”

The development team has cited utilizing a more powerful graphics engine for the sequel that is currently being showcased in gameplay trailers. New challenges, adding to the series' documented difficulty level, have also been shown. The game will feature a more advanced AI system that allows enemies to react to a wider range of actions by the player.

On September 19, 2013, an announcement regarding the delay of the PC-version was made by the game's director Yui Tanimura. He explained that the delay was necessary to ensure an optimal version of Dark Souls 2 on PC.