User blog:Daifukkatsu/Dark Souls II - Initial Impressions

Hello everyone. As some of you may have been aware, some of the guys at Wikia recently invited an editor of the wiki to a closed Bandai Namco press event in San Francisco, and I happened to be the only one that lived in the area that responded. It took place on the 28th, and I was fortunate enough to play the beginning of Dark Souls II for about 40 minutes.

I'd first like to thank Wikia's Jorge Albor for reaching out and offering to bring one of us along; Wikia's Miguel Lopez and Michael Grimm, who attended the event with me; J. Kartje of Bandai Namco for hosting the event; and all of the Dark Souls Wiki admins and contributors – this post is for all of you, because without the wiki, I wouldn't have had this opportunity.

I was allowed to take some notes but had a limited amount of time, so some of the following may be incomplete. And since I wasn't the only one at the event and am writing this a few days after the information embargo has been lifted, some of this information may already be known to you. I was told that the game is complete – what I played is essentially the finished product. This post will be filled with whatever information and lore I could collect, but I will start with my general impressions of the gameplay and some of the changes I noticed.

Gameplay
Those that played the first game will be very comfortable; the basic mechanics and controls appeared to be largely unchanged. I chose the Bandit class, which starts with the Hand Axe (seemingly identical to the Pyromancer's Hand Axe) and a bow, but no shield.

Weapons break significantly faster. It is definitely something that you will have to keep in mind and be prepared for ahead of time. There was no obvious way to repair weapons (at least I didn't figure it out in the time I had); however, this seemed, partly, to be a way of encouraging the player to experiment with other weapons during early game. There was also no obvious way of leveling up at a bonfire, or otherwise. A character vaguely suggests that strength can be gained by bringing her powerful souls (more on this below), but this was not possible to begin with. I should add that one can get to the main village, Majula, where many characters are accessible, very quickly and without encountering a single enemy.

Kicking has apparently been removed and replaced by what looks like a strike with the hilt of your weapon. This presumably still breaks an enemy's guard (I never actually got to try it on an enemy). It felt a bit slower than kicking and I had the impression that it would be a bit harder to pull off in a fight. There also seemed to be less invincibility frames when rolling, and possibly none when in the middle of a backstab. Similar to the previous title, when your stamina is depleted while defensive you become staggered, but this now looks almost as if you're about to fall on your back, and recovery seemed slightly longer. Firing a bow was a little different; no part of the player's head/body is visible when zooming in, and it seemed possible to lock on to targets at a greater distance.

I didn't experience PvP at all, but there is an interesting side note: there was an option in the config menu to enable/disable cross regional play.

Enemy AI seemed to be generally improved. In groups, they appear to circle behind the player and approach at different angles. There were the typical tricks of enemies coaxing you forward while another was hidden behind a corner. Unfortunately, I never got to a boss, but there were a few "mini-bosses" put in your way. One was entirely optional and only became aggressive when attacked (its helmet resembled Solaire's and its armor, cape, and movement reminded me of Artorias). There was another that looked very similar, if not identical, to the Berenike Knight. It was a bit hard to judge overall difficulty since I only played in the earlier areas, but one of the starting gifts increases enemy difficulty when used at a bonfire. All in all, the game felt like a true successor Dark Souls, and I am looking forward to the game's release with greater anticipation than before.

Starting Classes
There are some differences to the classes featured in the beta:
 * Warrior
 * Knight
 * Swordsman - High dexterity dual wielder
 * Bandit
 * Cleric
 * Sorcerer
 * Explorer - Domhnall-esque in appearance. Basically the opposite of the Deprived class – starts with mediocre stats but with various items, including a headpiece that apparently increases item discovery.
 * Deprived - Very similar to the Deprived of Dark Souls, and Barbarian of Demon's Souls

Starting Gifts
This list is incomplete: There were also various choices with vague descriptions and no obvious use, but may have been lore related. They had names like: "Petrified Something" and "Seed of a Giant" (what I remember).
 * A ring very similar to Tiny Being's Ring, but now without the misleading description.
 * A package of assorted healing items.
 * "Bonfire Ascetic" - Can be fed to a bonfire to increase enemy difficulty.

And you can still adjust your facial features and body type, which appeared to be more expansive than the first, but I didn't spend much time with it.

Opening Story & Lore
Firstly, the way the game's story is revealed to the player is very similar to the first title. There was an early director interview which suggested that the game will be more direct in story telling, but this was not at all my impression. For those willing to search for it, item descriptions and character dialogue reveal much, but leave you wanting more. While the game's story is apart from Lordran, everything still feels like it is within one World. There are pieces of lore that, while vague, clearly reference characters and themes from the first game.

* SPOILERS* – Fair warning. There will be spoilers to the story ahead, but most of everything here can be learned within the first hour of gameplay.

Like the first Dark Souls, the game starts off with a cinematic, some of which is featured in the Cursed trailer, but unlike the previous title, you do not yet create your character. After the cinematic ends, you assume control and start in a dreamlike area called "Things Betwixt", which is described as a kind of limbo. Soon you enter a house with the sage-like Old Ladies and their servant, Milibeth. In a cut-scene, they explain, among other things, some of the familiar themes of Dark Souls: the cursed Undead, hollowing, etc. They ask you to recall your name and this leads to the character creation screen. You are also given a Human Effigy and are then free to explore. Talking to Milibith reveals that the three old ladies are sisters and were once Fire Keepers (last remaining?), and she alludes to a fourth sister.

After leaving the house, you pass many fog doors (which have a thicker, smokier, more three-dimensional appearance). I simply ran past them all but have since read that there is an optional tutorial that I now assume is what these lead to. Majula is soon reached, a small town that appears to function in the same way as Firelink Shrine or The Nexus. It's filled with various characters, many of which have already been revealed, but there were a few exceptions.

Characters
These are only a few of the more interesting characters:
 * Sweet Shalquire - A talking cat, but looks very different from Alvina and has more of a regular house cat appearance. She appears to fill the role of Oswald, pardoning sins, and is seemingly invincible.
 * Benhart - I witnessed his interaction over someone's shoulder. He may (I stress the word may) be able to follow the character around as a kind of phantom (but not via summoning, in this location at least) that aids the player in the general area. He carries around a sword that looks very much like the Moonlight Greatsword, which he drops if killed by the player. It's called the "Blue Moon Greatsword" and its description mentions that it came from a "great white being" (obvious Seath reference). However, the description goes on to imply that there may be some kind of "mistake" in the swords identification, as the sword is "lifeless" (someone mentioned that it lacked any kind of scaling). Further contradiction is in the leaked achievements; the "Moonlight Greatsword" trophy is acquired when you "Inherit Benhart of Jugo's equipment". Perhaps it is possible to restore the sword? I can only guess.
 * Emerald Herald - She tells you about some of the lore of Drangleic and there are allusions to more concrete objectives. She speaks cryptically and asks if you are the new monarch and tells you to see King Vendrick (final boss?). She gives you one Estus Flask and tells you to bring powerful souls to her so that you may (presumably) gain strength. She drops (yes, I killed her) the "Aged Feather" item, which is a kind of reusable Homeward Bone that transports you to the bonfire last rested at. It's not consumed upon use, and its description reveals some interesting things about her: she is the child of a dragon and was "sequestered away" to a separate world, though she bears no resemblance to Priscilla and is obviously a separate character.

A covenant can be joined in Majula, which was called something like the Champion's Covenant, whose purpose was not entirely clear but that its users took on a difficult path. The immediate area beyond Majula is the "Forest of Giants." It eventually lead upwards to more of an urban area, like the Undead Burg.

This is about everything I have to share, but will add anything that I may not have remembered. Feel free to ask any questions.