I wasn’t quite certain on what to expect from Dark Souls, the spiritual successor to Demon’s Souls. Often, ‘spiritual successors’ tend to devour the charms of their predecessors. Demon’s Souls beat the living hell out of dudes and dudettes around the globe, including myself. Each step was both enthralling and terrifying in a self-punishing, yet ultimately rewarding kind of way. The tagline at the end of the Dark Souls trailer made it painfully obvious: Prepare to Die. Dying was a big part of Demon’s Souls, and Namco Bandai (who is handling publishing duties outside of Japan) isn’t sidestepping the issue of difficulty in Dark Souls – we are all going to die and we are all going to love it.
A constantly embedded sense of dread was the heart of Demon’s Souls, and its successor is not making any concessions. Dark Souls spits in the face of the age of focus groups and dumbed down accessibility concessions. It will likely deliver even more of what Demon’s Souls veterans want. During a brief E3 demonstration, I was assured that I was going to die twice as much as I did in Demon’s Souls. Clearly, the developers at From Software are not forgetting what gave the original installment its unique ‘charm’ (read: you die a lot). Dark Souls is double the scale, double the challenge, and double the items and equipment.
The demonstrator was careful to note that although the game will be more difficult than its predecessor, there will be multiple ways to tackle each challenge, although specifics were not mentioned. As the demonstrator was approaching a giant armored boar, I quickly noted that the only way to even damage the beast was to sneak around his back and stab him in the rear. For now, running away was the best option. Even as the boar’s head jarred to and fro, the beautifully animated sparks that were generated from the collision of tusk and stone were proof that Dark Souls has made some visual improvements.
Of particular interest was the inclusion of the new bonfire system. In Demon’s Souls, players were forced to navigate through an entire level without dying. Death sent you straight back to the hub world from whence you came. Dark Souls is introducing a system that allows players to rest at checkpoints from which they can return upon an unforeseen (and inevitable) death. Since Dark Souls will be a single continuous journey, there were will be no warping between checkpoints – the last bonfire you rested at will be your only checkpoint. This will go a long way in making Dark Souls feel like a consistent trek across the high-fantasy deathtrap it lays before you. You’ll also be able to ‘share’ your bonfires with friends. What exactly this means isn’t clear, but a renewed and revamped focus on multiplayer is exciting.
The departure from a disjointed hub world into a single continuous journey isn’t the only exciting change. Namco Bandai teased a revamped multiplayer system that allows players to pledge to a certain cause. Specifics weren’t discussed, but after the demonstration I observed some of the more interesting multiplayer mechanics at the show floor’s multiplayer demo. Players at different stations appeared to be pledged to different alignments by default. From time to time, one would have the option of invading another player’s game as a phantom. From what I could tell, those that were aligned on the opposite side existed in the other player’s game until one of them was dead. This isn’t much different than Demon’s Souls, except for the fact that the invading player seemed to be allied with the monsters as well. We don’t know more than this, but the prospect of opposing oaths is intriguing.
After the demonstration, I took some time to see how the game felt hands-on. With a steadier framerate, slightly more realistic collision effects, and wider color palette, Dark Souls is less clunky and less chunky than the original. The menu interface seems to be improved, but I still can’t quite get a firm grasp on the targeting system, which still requires an awkward click of the analog stick. Granted, all of the shoulder buttons are already bound to other actions, but an improved targeting system could have gone a long way in garnering a more fluid approach to combat. Nonetheless, Dark Souls is coming together much better than I expected and looks to be one of the biggest RPGs of the year.
