So long as the release date being pushed back is about quality and not about marketing, I don't mind in the least. I'd much prefer they take an extra month working out bugs and polishing things up to release a better game than to skip that month and release a sub-par product.

 

I am rather skeptical, as I've become rather accustomed to seeing shoddy done ports, from consoles to PC.

Granted, From Software had been honest about the first Dark Souls, saying they had little to no experience in porting stuff to PC (I do believe I recall they did release one of their King's Field games on PC quite a while back) and I respected that, they didn't try to bullshit their way around it and eventually the fans with their own stuff made the game bearable in both terms of visuals and controls - for when it released you couldn't even properly lock onto an enemy as with every movement of the mouse the lock on would move on to a different enemy should there be more than one or two present.

Now, I'll be giving them some benefit of the doubt about what they're going to make the game look like and/or perform, but I'm not honestly expecting to see anything more than the following when entering the options/visuals/graphics menu: Vsync, AA, resolution and brightness.

 

Huh, that's really far off. I wonder if that's actually a real date, it could be a placeholder.

 

Nah, they announced it via Namco Bandai's twitter and From Software's Dark Souls page.

It's very rare that release dates placed on Steam store pages are placeholders.

 

That's really interesting, considering the console versions come out next week.

 

They claim that the delay is due to making sure that the port is up to high standards. Apparently, the texture resolution will be four times that of consoles, which isn't that hard of a feat, and the game itself will apparently be capable of 60fps, but even that was achieved with the first Dark Souls port via some fan-made stuff.

'They claim' being the key words here. Best to wait and see.

 

Oh gosh I am so keen for this game. I have a Dark Souls banner hanging in my room, beat the game with like 8 characters and PvP was such a blast. So much random funny stuff happened all the time. I'm hoping 2 will retain that element of co-operativeness and humour.

Its a shame I have to wait a month for PC release but it will be oh so worth it. When it comes out we should organise a DLP tournament or fight club and work out who the true Chosen Undead (or whatever its called in this game) is.

 

Alright, so now that I've completed my Demon's Souls and Dark Souls replay, I feel like I am adequately prepared for Dark Souls 2 on Tuesday. I hope the improvements outweigh the questionable decisions that I've heard about.

 

Questionable decisions such as...?

 

You know how in Demon's Souls and Dark Souls you can stay in soul/hollowed form to avoid invasions?

Yeah, that's gone. They also apparently got rid of the ragdolls, which is one of the best fucking parts of the games, if not THE best part.

 

I'm pretty excited about the chance to invade/ get invaded all the time, especially with the changes they've made to the invade system.
Twinks are pretty much a non-entity due to the invasion gradient being based now on total souls earned instead of current level, and being completely hollow lowers your invasion priority so if you're stuck somewhere it most likely won't be because you're getting camped.

 

Yeah, I don't agree. If I wanted to have the chance to be invaded all the time I'd just reverse hollowing or use one of the million fucking Stone of Ephemeral Eyes they gave you. Taking away the option to NOT be invaded is a bad move.

 

Well, you could always sign out of the PS Network or Xbox Live. It's not really a bad move since it'll mean that the wait to invade/summon someone won't be as long as it was Dark Souls.

 

Yes, and that would mean losing out on bloodstains and player messages. That would make my gameplay experience worse.

Do you see the conundrum here, and how by not making this choice they could have easily avoided this?

 

There are items in the game which would block out invaders, but also helpful phantoms, from entering your world. No idea on how rare they are though.

Hmm, I believe I read something about the ragdoll stuff, which was cut out for two reasons: the first and most obvious was that it lessened the memory load on consoles and the second was because of some new necromancy spells which apparently could revive certain enemies to fight for you.

 

Hopefully they're extremely common or reusable. Whatever it takes to have an online experience that isn't hindered by invasions.

The ragdoll thing isn't a huge deal, and if they have good reasons (like making a huge game for the PS3/360 this far into their life cycles), it's not the end of the world. It's just a shame. Playing with ragdolls is incredible fun.

 

Lol, why would you want to avoid invasions. The game is way too easy when you are just doing PvE (or at least it was in Dark Souls). Once you know the enemies its just a matter of time, PvP is where the real Dark Souls begins. I can understand not wanting to be able to be invaded at any time, but as I understand it your likelihood of invasion decreases as you become more hollow and vice versa, not even counting the covenants and items to reduce your chances of invasion.

Still, avoiding PvP means you're missing out on a big part of what makes this game so good.

 

Because I don't like the way the Souls games handle PvP very much and would like to actually progress through the game?

I'm not suggesting removing PvP from the game entirely or anything. Hell, I even choose to run around as a human instead of immediately committing suicide when I kindle a bonfire (or kill a boss in Demon's Souls), because PvP is fine in small doses.

EDIT: vvv I can't get behind this, though. Player messages are so silly and incredible, the game wouldn't be half as interesting or fun without them. Plus, they can actually be helpful from time to time. vvv

 

Speak for yourself. I played Dark Souls offline, and I certainly didn't miss any of the online aspects. Frankly I thought I had an improved experience without it.

 

To each his own I suppose, but If youre buying 2 I would really recommend at least giving PvP a serious try, just make a character with the moxt broken weapon you can think of and try to go nuts on some guys in the forest (or whatever easy PvP spot there is). Even if you lose a lot, and I lost more than I won in 1, its a really rewarding experience seeing all the different builds and people, and testing yourself against them.

Alright, I'm done harping on about PvP.