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Dark Souls 2 - FIRST LOOK AT GAMEPLAY
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Synonamess Botch
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September 21, 2013 - 11:48 am
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Oh don't get me wrong, I'm all about the Pyros.  My Iaito wielder is too.  I just don't see a reason for sticking around after spider lady gives up the swag.  You know Queelana or whatever her name is - the one in Blighttown with the mosquito repellant - has some pretty awesome Pyros too.  And don't forget to talk to her before and after taking on her whacked out mom.  Funny how she's so nice to you even after you take out pretty much her whole family.

Xtal, I'm almost certain that degraded HP status can be restored (hence hollowing removed) by popping what ENB called an effigy.  So it's not permanent.  And said effigies are apparently not a limited resource.

 

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xtal
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September 23, 2013 - 12:37 pm
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Yeah, to clarify, half of my characters are in the Chaos Covenant, the other half Forest Hunters. It's cool beans, and totally worth it if you're a pyromancer with at least 3-5 attunement slots.

The effigies are an idea I like. I believe ENB said this, but it is reminiscent of Purging Stones; using a surrogate "host" to accept a curse; the effigy seems it would work in a similar way. Brilliant. (I'd like to add - since I was already talking about item descriptions in the comments of one of the Diaries a few days ago - the description of the Purging Stone is so deliciously sinister, and just one of the 170,248,936 things that makes Dark Souls wretchedly wonderful.)

Quelana's gift pyromancy received after defeating Bed of Chaos is exceedingly useful as a crowd control device for hairy situations in the forest. I was cycling between using Black Flame and Power Within with my 1 attune slot on my high level Forest Hunter (Tarkus!) but neither of those helped as I'd hoped they would in necessary situations. Fire Tempest, however, is surprisingly handy for a next-to-no-magic heavy fighter.

If being wrong's a crime I'm serving forever

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Synonamess Botch
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September 28, 2013 - 11:26 am
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My one concern is how Namco Bandai is marketing this game as a full-on AAA title ("guns blazing" as they put it).  While I don't think this will affect the quality of the game, I am concerned that it could affect its profitability.  Dark Souls is not a AAA game and thank goodness for that.

Jim Sterling had an interesting Jimquisition on this:

 

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xtal
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October 2, 2013 - 2:55 pm
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Just watched that Jimquisition; I'm fully in line with his concerns. I hadn't heard that particular PR message, but yeah, it's awful. I mean, really, you want to be Skyrim? The fifth game in a two-decade-old franchise, the pinnacle of games that can be considered both AAA and hardcore at once, and Bamco thinks Dark Souls II can match this? Even if it can, that's not the point: it shouldn't try, and shouldn't have to.

spank

Hopefully Bamco's marketing team are just a bunch of asses and haven't twisted their tendrils too firmly into Fromsoft.

If being wrong's a crime I'm serving forever

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Synonamess Botch
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October 19, 2013 - 12:23 pm
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Impressions from a beta-tester:

http://www.eurogamer.net/artic.....going-soft

 

I like what I'm reading here.  Seems that although some things may be easier (or less obtuse, or whatever), it hasn't lost a bit of its edge.  Frankly, I'm hoping that his hunch about the merchants is correct.  I had an invader once cause me to accidentally attack, and irreversibly provoke, Blige in Demons' Souls.  And while it was aggravating, I wouldn't change it.  It does, as the author maintains, give one insight into the developer's commitment to its vision.  Oswald's pardon was all the concession to this reality that I needed in Dark Souls.

 

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xtal
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October 21, 2013 - 2:24 pm
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Ah, I've read that one - it was good.

I've heard several people make note of this feature as well, Botch, and I agree with you, I like the old way (i.e. ya kill em you're fucked) ... but for all we know this could have been 1) a beta test thing 2) just one NPC in particular. I'd be fine with it if it were a truly 100% essential character to game completion - remember, the Maiden in Black couldn't be killed, though the explanation worked perfectly within the game's laws. If it just blanket applies to all NPCs however, I would be sad.

Not only would I not change this, like you, but I believe it's an essential learning tool: yes, you can kill Andre of Astora, but nothing happens. There is no game over screen, there is no acknowledgement. Just another corpse, the Crest of Artorias Key (this too is another rub and a key to certain shortcuts, should you desire them - making a fire weapon build and want early forest access? Kill Andre for the Crest of Artorias; want the Slumbering Dragoncrest Ring immediately and don't plan to use sorcery? Murder Griggs - it's all so fucking brilliant!) and the ever encroaching reality that in Lordran (and Souls in general) everyone is going to die. The lack of kid gloves is vital here: yes, now your Longsword can never (excluding NG+) ascend to +15 or what ever may be in your sights, but that the game didn't end tells you it can be done.

You will beat Dark Souls with your fists if you must. Stealing from another game, "everything is permitted." If only ol' Cresty told us at Firelink! "Oh, don't piss off the living!"

Somewhat related, if you have some time to kill ENB has put up three hour-long videos over the past few days, just chatting about a variety of topics, but most deliciously of course his experience with the Dks2 "network stress test" (not beta, as he insists). It's not his most riveting stuff, he just rolls a new character using the Zweihander and mucks about, rambling about various things. As usual, if you like his videos (and him in general) then you'll probably enjoy his thoughtful commentary.

If being wrong's a crime I'm serving forever

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Steerpike
Subtropical Southeastern Michigan
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October 22, 2013 - 9:50 am
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As with the early just-before-release of Dark Souls, part of me's a bit worried they might have gotten some things wrong - but we know how Dark Souls turned out, so I'm going to take it as jitters. Specifically, some reports remark on how a portion of the challenge stems from the fact that enemies tend to mob you. One writer went so far as to say "you almost never face just one foe at a time in Dark Souls 2."

Even the best will go down when facing two or more in Dark Souls. I've been playing other things despite trying to get the Prepare to Diaries started, and as such I'm still stuck on those two fucking Silver Knights in Anor Londo, partly because I'm stupidly still trying with the PC version since it makes screenshots and videos easier. Anyway, I see that sort of thing as a misstep. Not the Silver Knights, they're fine, but the artificially inflated challenges. Before the 1.05 patch (so like the first three months of DkS) it was a very different game. Many - many - enemies dropped no souls at all; curses stacked; foes seemed much more aggressive (or maybe I sucked more). This sort of thing is the key mistake I fear a new director might make taking over from Miyazaki: carelessly assuming that "hard" is easily accomplished.

Life is the misery we endure between disappointments.

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Synonamess Botch
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October 22, 2013 - 11:07 am
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"Jitters" is a good way to describe it.  I've broken down and watched a bit of footage on Youtube (from Peeve in this case) and some of it is bothersome.  Just the way the mechanics look.  But I understand that all of this is subject to change (before and after launch).  Also, I'd hate to see the new stat (Agility) become too important.  That's one thing which was so great about DeS and DkS - all stats had importance (well, except for Resistance and Luck).

I've never been so anxious about a sequel.  And I feel more than a little ridiculous for even nit-picking this stuff.  But I really want this game to give me that fantastic Souls experience.

I'm not even "hard core" really.  I love my Uncharteds and what-not.  But this game...whatever it's got, I don't want it diluted even a little bit.

EDIT: Just checked my Dark Souls II pre-order.  I have the Black Armor edition, which I don't remember getting initially.

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xtal
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October 22, 2013 - 10:13 pm
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All the talk of agility is indeed worrisome - seems like it controls how fast you do anything, whether it's rolling or raising your shield. Sounds like an OP stat, but I'm sure they'll balance it. Endurance is being nerfed it seems, controlling only stamina and not equip limit - that is apparently being moved over to Vitality, and Vitality no longer controls HP - that will be done by Vigor apparently. It sounds like there has to be more stats this time around because I haven't heard of a single one being removed - even Resistance is retooled to be useful now (defense does not raise with all stats anymore - just Resistance).

What worries me most about more stats means more players in general (especially inexperienced ones) will rely more on stats and leveling up, and as such there could be a greater disparity in player levels. I think there could possible be a higher "soft cap" set by the community this time around - maybe up to level 200, who knows.

FYI - If you're available on Thursday afternoon (terrible time they chose...middle of the work day for most) at 2pm ET beta codes will be sent randomly to people on PSN, and also posted on the Dark Souls facebook page. It's apparently all just going to be one code, and the first 30,000 people to use it will have access to download the beta client for the last scheduled network test which, for some reason beyond my capacity for understanding, takes place this Saturday (Oct 26th) night (technically Sunday AM) between 2am-5am ET.

If being wrong's a crime I'm serving forever

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Pokey
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October 24, 2013 - 7:55 pm
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I got an invite to the Dark Souls 2 network test. Not sure what this means, but am downloading it.

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xtal
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October 25, 2013 - 9:45 am
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Nice! Apparently those who received private messages on PSN were given opportunity to download the network test client a bit earlier than most, but in general there were quite a few problems. I tried and eventually got it as well.

Here is the schedule: http://beta.darksoulsii.com/us.....edule.html

And here is the FAQ: http://beta.darksoulsii.com/us/faq.html

This last (seems to be last, maybe they'll have more later though) network test takes place, for some ungodly reason, in the middle of this coming Saturday night (so really Sunday AM) from 02:00 - 05:00 Eastern Time. I guess I'm just so used to ET being Center of the Universe Time ... it's the Japanese trolling us. Anyway, I'll probably have to nap on Saturday to stay awake from 2-5am, but god knows I'll do it because ... Dark Souls.

I'm contemplating buying a recording device - not so I can post it on YouTube (which, I believe, would be violating the terms of agreement that Namco lays out..but I didn't read that crap), but moreso for myself. As comfort watching for the cold, Dark Souls 2-less months ahead.

Truth be told, I'm really excited and giddy. Unless it was a typo on their facebook page it seems they've allowed 90,000 people into the network test rather than the initially reported 30,000. Who knows, maybe there aren't 90,000 hardcore fans and some of you can still download the client? Give it a try.. there were so many errors I actually memorized the download code in minutes because I'd typed it in so many damn times.

38QQ 8DNE 97AA (caSe dOEsn'T mATTer)

Pretty easy code to remember - 38 quick questions, 8 duke nukem enemas, 97 anonymous alcoholics.

If being wrong's a crime I'm serving forever

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Synonamess Botch
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October 25, 2013 - 9:59 am
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I got invited as well.  Actually, I got invited to the first one but never noticed it in my inbox.  Downloading now.  Not sure I really want to do this though...

 

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Pokey
California
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October 25, 2013 - 12:58 pm
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I got invited to the first one as well but didn't see it till weeks later. It will be 11PM for me, which is fine. I wonder why I have two copies of the test on my PS3. I thought it was done and then started downloading again.

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xtal
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October 26, 2013 - 9:06 pm
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And not a single invite for me. Unjust!

Well, I'm playing Demon's Souls to kill time before the beta. I'm going to need a lot of coffee.

If being wrong's a crime I'm serving forever

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Synonamess Botch
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February 6, 2014 - 2:52 pm
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Sooo close now!

 

Vaati has some nice impressions on the early stages of the full game.  Nothing spoilery.

 

 

 

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Synonamess Botch
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February 7, 2014 - 1:22 pm
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Amazon screwed up my pre-order - it wouldn't have arrived until the 31st.  So I went with Gamestop.  Amazon, why do you fail me at this most important hour?!

 

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Steerpike
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February 9, 2014 - 5:30 pm
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Normally I'm so lazy I allow Amazon to take the lead in things like this, but I'm going to need Strangling Power for this one - which is to say, the ability to physically strangle an actual human should anything go wrong. A GameStop employee, to be specific. Dark Souls 2 Day, which is so near, will see me at GameStop, credit card in my Strangling Hand.

I wonder if the guy who sold me Dark Souls is still there. He was the first character in the Diaries! It would be very full-circle if he failed to sell me a strategy guide again for the sequel.

Life is the misery we endure between disappointments.

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Toger
Somewhere, out there...
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February 10, 2014 - 11:09 am
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For the hard core Dark Souls 2 aficionado... but only in Japan.

And it's sold out. :sad panda:

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xtal
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February 10, 2014 - 10:21 pm
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I saw that video over the weekend, Botch; was meaning to post it here. It was excellent. My excitement has reached its peak!

If being wrong's a crime I'm serving forever

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Synonamess Botch
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February 14, 2014 - 4:51 pm
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For the hard core Dark Souls 2 aficionado… but only in Japan.

And it's sold out. :sad panda:

I'm not nearly that hard core.

 

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