Dark Souls II - Now Available on Steam

Couchpotato

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Steam announces that Dark Souls II is now available for download, or purchase. Here is a new launch trailer that comes with a spoiler warning.



Now Available on Steam - Dark Souls II

Developed by FROM SOFTWARE, Dark Souls™ II is the highly anticipated sequel to the gruelling 2011 breakout hit Dark Souls. The unique old-school action RPG experience captivated imaginations of gamers worldwide with incredible challenge and intense emotional reward.

Dark Souls II brings the franchise’s renowned obscurity & gripping gameplay innovations to both single and multiplayer experiences.

Join the dark journey and experience overwhelming enemy encounters, diabolical hazards, and the unrelenting challenge that only FROM SOFTWARE can deliver.
More information.
 
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so much death )

i gave up the bandit and went for a mage. the kinda game u play with a wiki opened ))

controls are annoying at start because its hard to figure out the ones from the menu, and tutorials are for consoles
 
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That hurts my feelings :(

It plays fine. Strides beyond #1 controls ;)

But they have messed up the input at some points i.e if you keep some keyboard keys pressed it seems to cut off mouse input etc. I also would remap/opt out of, most of the elaborate combinations in favor of a single key or click…

Thankfully it allows you to :) I do hope they polish them a bit more though...
 
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Sounds like a better PC port than the first game, but I'm still not sure which version I want to buy. I'm pretty sure I'll be using a gamepad though even if I end up getting it on PC.
 
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I only had an hour to play but in that limited time I'd say the default controls for K&M are terrible. They aren't as bad as the default controls on DS1 but are miles behind Dsfix.

Just figuring out how to use menus and change the controls was a chore thanks to Xbox icons. Finally had to open the manual on my ipad.

This is compounded by the fact that you cant remap all keys for example for the mouse you have a drop down menu to select what you can do for the different buttons. Also you can't ( or I haven't figured out how to) map the side buttons of your mouse to keys or mouse controls. I may have to download the Logitech software to change them that way but Logitech software can often cause more problems than it fixes.

Now you throw in the gameplay quirks, such as the split second delay when using a weapon. There are many threads on the internet about this. What happen is a lite attack is 1 mouse press and a heavy attack is 2. So the game has to wait that split second to see if your going to press twice.

The second thing is you now need to wait for animations to end before doing anything else. This cause other small delays such as a slight pause between an attack and then trying to roll away. You can actually que commands during that time which is also annoying if you press twice because it didn't work right away the first time the you'll roll twice or cancel everything and stand there doing nothing. Not sure if these mechanics were in the first game but I sure didn't notice it if they were.

I will spend more time tonight trying to fine tune the controls, it seems it works for some people but it's not working for me.

I played 240 hrs of DS1 and beat it with K&M so this type of game can easily be mastered with K&M if you can configure the controls properly. 3rd person action in no way requires a controller.
 
I will spend more time tonight trying to fine tune the controls, it seems it works for some people but it's not working for me.

I played 240 hrs of DS1 and beat it with K&M so this type of game can easily be mastered with K&M if you can configure the controls properly. 3rd person action in no way requires a controller.

Definitely don't use the defaults. IMO you need to put some things in the keyboard for this to work comfortably. You will also notice that the input lag (still less than Witcher 2 on release i.e.) is gone when using keyboard keys… When raising the shield i.e.

I agree that DSMfix was actually better than the defaults (and they need to work on them a bit) but #1 was unplayable out of the box for me, while I do ok with these up to this point (a few hours in, defeated the last Giant etc…)

P.S. They have certainly turned the combat system on tis head though and that is intended I believe and less a matter of controls. I have no problem with timing and animations though.
 
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I had a pretty negative reaction to the controls in DS1 after the first few hours then I found a setup that worked and it became a non issue. I'm hoping that will be the case again.

The sad thing is I don't think this is the result of rushed or poor porting. I think they actually think what they put together is a good system.

They really need to either hire some pc guys or at least a consultant. Maybe Durante since he fixes there games post release anyhow.

Your right about changing the combat completely though, I thought having played DS1 so long that I'd be able to jump in and be good right away, but it will be a whole new learning experience again.

I will persevere as I'm sure there's a great game as a reward.
 
Two things bug me about both DS games. One is movability. I an slay a gigantic demon, but I cannot move over a small block of stone on the ground, need to jump and roll over it. This adds to an artificial difficulty especially considering how timing is everything. Not saying it should be tomb raider style, but the "platforming" is clunky.

Second is the huger black box that appears when you find something or someone is talking. You can get attacked with this giant black box covering the enemy and have to fumble pushing a button while some NPC is still laughing or you checked on some worthless loot.
 
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Second is the huger black box that appears when you find something or someone is talking. You can get attacked with this giant black box covering the enemy and have to fumble pushing a button while some NPC is still laughing or you checked on some worthless loot.

Common sense should dictate that you clear the immediate area before trying to open a chest or have a conversation. ;)
 
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Second is the huger black box that appears when you find something or someone is talking. You can get attacked with this giant black box covering the enemy and have to fumble pushing a button while some NPC is still laughing or you checked on some worthless loot.

The movability thing is a common "issue" in many RPGs that I guess I learn to live with. But I couldn't agree more with the one above. Yes it can be avoided but it is a nuisance. At the very least it should go away with any button pressed not a specific one.
 
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The sad thing is I don't think this is the result of rushed or poor porting. I think they actually think what they put together is a good system.

Your right about changing the combat completely though, I thought having played DS1 so long that I'd be able to jump in and be good right away, but it will be a whole new learning experience again.

Yeah, other than the weird bug I pointed above and the inconsistency in latency between mouse and keyboard I am afraid this is the system they intended and I believe it was obviously made to throw people off (*)and maintain the aspect of challenge. I am not against in principle as long as what replaces it is at least close to the quality of the original. I am not seeing it thus far though.

Generally speaking and while pleased by the technical aspects of the game (IQ, performance and up to a point the way it plays) I have to say I kinda agree with the detractors a bit. Definitely a lesser beast that its predecessor in many aspects. Still boatloads of fun though and (way too early to judge and all that) seemingly a worthy successor to my best Arpg since G2+NOTR, especially if the game actually improves in the later parts as most people are saying...

And now back to the fray, but dinner first (can't stop playing the damn thing :D )


(* And some kids out there have put multiple times the 170+ I put in my 3 runs, literally hundreds of hours!)
 
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