Dark Souls II - Review Roundup

Indeed that is what I meant by "easy" mode.

I am not sure about this still. I just hope the reporting on the bonfire items is accurate and they are not super rare so the option is there for the player. I never died 10 times in a row in a single spot not even in my first go in #1 but I assume the counter does not reset after you leave the area (or else it would be easy to game the restriction) and only via said items so 10 times in a 60-80 hour game does seem a bit tight of a number…

Its as you said. We need to see what "area" means…

You needed to die, right. Not just rest there. That's good.

I guess we'll see.

Hoping to get this later today. I don't care about difficulty, but running through the same areas over and over gets boring. Sounds like the bonfire teleporting might help break up the monotony if you get stuck in an area (New Londo archers)

Will there be a demo at some point? I'd love to see what all the fuss is about. I suspect I won't like it, since its sounds like its almost all about combat, but you never know.

Never had any doubt, especially after I heard some hardcore fan video bloggers talk about playing the final game extensively and loving it to bits. Has a very strong Demon's Souls vibe, plenty more NPC interaction (encouraged by rewards if you talk and follow their quests), more open world than the first game (also like Demon's Souls), and about 1.5 times as many bosses, which is always a great thing.

As for the despawning, it's not so much 'despawning' as 'not respawning' after being killed 10 times. Makes it easier for them casuls to bypass mobs when going at a boss for the n-th time, and limits soul farming, which is great imho (no more Darkroot Garden easy souls).

Certainly my 40+ deaths in Sen's Fortress would have been less frustrating if the serpent men had stopped respawning (especially since they were rarely what killed me).

Soulbane said:

As for the despawning, it's not so much 'despawning' as 'not respawning' after being killed 10 times. Makes it easier for them casuls to bypass mobs when going at a boss for the n-th time, and limits soul farming, which is great imho (no more Darkroot Garden easy souls).

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Is it both though? i.e if it is triggered by how many times the player dies then it is the "easy" mode we were saying. But that doesn't necessarily hamper farming for the experienced player. If it is counted by how many times you have killed an enemy then it is kinda like the other way around. Or is it something in between ?

But I am not sure its that simple. i.e. in case #1 what is stopping a player just committing suicide 10 times to pass a difficult spot (that would be kinda horrible and ruin tha game a bit). I am sure they have thought this through better than that…

Edit: Erm never mind. I was just confused a bit by the gamespot review I skimmed over. The enemies stop spawning after being killed a number of times it seems, so it does put a damper to excessive grinding (as we were actually discussing a few days ago iirc) but may also make the game a bit easier in the end by slowly thinning the opposition too I guess (so something in between).

As far as I know, it is only triggered by how many times a certain monster dies. It has nothing to do with player death.

Yep see above. My confusion totally

JonNik said:

There are items that you will be able to burn in a bonfire that will not only restart respawns but will make the enemies on the area harder. And not by just a simple HP/DMG adjustment apparently but with alternative AI routines and move sets it is said….

So there it is your "easy" and "hard" mode implemented ingame

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I'm extremely pleased about this aspect!

The first thing to know is that NG+ is now actually worth playing because it apparently has NEW enemy spawns, new enemy types and new items just like Icewind Dale 2 Heart of Fury mode! Most boss fights will have extra surprises too.

Not only this, but if you you're especially knowledgeable you can use these burn items to make an area into NG+ temporarily and get these items while still in normal game!

Yeah this is great stuff.

But new enemy types: I believe I've heard that before but are we talking simple reskins (or red phantom types i.e. ) or actual different enemies not seen in the standard game ?

Yeah, I'm confused...

What you say about NG+ sounds great SirJames. I can't wait to play it!

I don't understand how any self-respecting fan can play this on console..

Paul said:

I don't understand how any self-respecting fan can play this on console..

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Available: 25 April 2014
This game will unlock in approximately 1 month, 2 weeks, 2 days and 8 hours

Beginning to understand?

Anyone else playing on X360 until PC comes out?

Paul said:

I don't understand how any self-respecting fan can play this on console..

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It's a troll! Kill it with fire!

Paul said:

I don't understand how any self-respecting fan can play this on console..

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I'm playing it on my Atari 5200

Lemonhead said:

I'm playing it on my Atari 5200

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Nice. I'm sure that 2KB RAM is gonna kill it.

Are you gonna play it with a trackball?

Steinawarjar said:

Yeah, I'm confused…

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If you mean my mindfart I amended above but others seem to be confused (and confusing me ) too i.e. this guy from Forbes

Also he brings up something that I feared and wondered about when hearing about the early warping (i.e. how it would affect the world design). He makes it sound that the overall meshing of areas is less intricate and overarching design of the world flatter than #1. And I am afraid it makes sense given that they didn't have to design a world that would devilishly revolve back in itself to allow various paths and avenues of traversal…
(Others have said that the game feels less than a world and more like a collection of maps like Demon Souls but I hoped that showing some self restraint and avoiding warp early one would amend that)

Given that this was one of the things that I admired in #1 and did strike me early on (and started me gushing about it) I am more than a bit disappointed to hear this

Ofcourse I will have to play the game and see for myself how much it matters in the grand scheme of things and if the tradeoff (much more location variety and overall content) is indeed worth it…

P.S And another confused reviewer claiming that "the game now reduces the number of enemies in a location if you repeatedly die there". This is probably a case of erroneous perception of the mechanic perhaps ? (most likely)

Paul said:

I don't understand how any self-respecting fan can play this on console..

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Well I played Demon Souls on the PS3 as it wasn't available any other way. I then played Dark Souls on the PS3 because I don't have an XBOX and it wasn't available for the PC on release day. So, as a self respecting fan, I can think of no better way to play Dark Souls 2 other than on my PS3.

The last place I'd want to play the game is on a PC.