Namco talks Dark Souls 2 marketing: "we're treating this as a massive, massive triple-A title"

Would like to attract Skyrim players, but series fans are the focus

[Sandmano]

Skyrim players? hmmm

[Heavenly King]

It is an RPG after all right?

[yeahokchief]

It's still a Souls game. They want to get Skyrim players to give it a shot, but it'll still be designed with us longtime players in mind is the way I interpreted it.

[RedSoakedSponge]

...and it deserves to be treated that way.

[Bimkoblerutso]

Personally...I kinda thought Dark Souls was massively more epic than Skyrim in the first place.

Sure Skyrim is technically BIGGER (and I love the game to death, to be clear), but as big as it was, everything felt pretty empty and lifeless 99% of the time. I mean, not even the dragon fights were all that epic or engaging after a few hours of leveling.

Dark Souls is a world inhabited by hulking deities and drakes and wyrms that can kill you in a couple of swipes...and you have to DESTROY THEM. You can't get much more epic than that.

[Kenshin_BATT0USAI]

This is very arguable. Like you I loved both games but I feel like they are two completely different animals.

In Skyrim, I honestly didn't enjoy the gameplay(although fighting dragons was VERY enjoyable) as much as I enjoyed the world I was in. I recall many times I would just stop playing and look around at my surroundings, and WOW, it was a beautiful world.

Whereas with Dark Souls. I loved every single fight. Especially when I encountered something new, trying to figure out weakness, habits, etc. It was really enjoyable. Sure it did have those moments where I would be in awe. But they didn't hit me nearly as hard as skyrim did.

That being said, it would just be the colour pallet used. Skyrim was far more colourful than Dark Souls. Both were beautiful games though IMO.

[Sideras]

I liked Skyrim too, but nowhere near as much as I liked Morrowind. Skyrim just felt too generic in it's style, no questline was interesting and the ones that had potiential were half-hearted not to mention boring. It didn't feel organic just plastic.
Sure they are different games it's just that Dark Souls was a million times more enjoyable and rewarding and there was no fucking arrow mindlessly pointing to my next objective all the time.

[Bigpappy]

The strength of these 'Dark' games is in the tacticle fighting. It focus much more on the fighting puzzles than it does on exploration and believable world -which is where Skyrim shines-.

The witcher has a much better chance of attracting Skyrim players.

But the 'Elder scrolls' games are way more complex in dialog, stats, side quest, freedom, character development... There is just so much more to them, that they have become the bench mark for other developers who are looking to make an opened world RPG.

These developers all mention Skyrim for good reason. I don't hear developers mentioning Dark souls as inspiration. Not saying that the challenging fighting in Dark Souls is undesirable, but that it needs more than that to be mentioned with the same relevance as Skyrim.

[xXxSeTTriPxXx]

All casualed up for mass consumption?...god I hope not.

[Merrill]

They better fucking remove backstabbing or I am debating picking this up.

It basically ruined all PVP in Dark Souls.

[I_LOVE_MYSELF]

If someone is circling, hold back on your stick and circle round them and stab them in the back. If they are charging for the BS walk backwards and you can hit the same move I previously described, or unlock, pivot, parry. If all else fails try and put your back on a wall. I hate backstabbing too, but I can deal with it a lot better now. If they are roll BSing it is hard to avoid when it's a good player.

[SolidDuck]

Backstabbing was in demons and dark. Why would they remove it. They are going back to dedicated servers like demons. So there will be less lag.

[RedSoakedSponge]

i agree with you to a point. i think it should be in there to some extent, but when a game mechanic such as the backstab is so OP compared to normal fighting that some people ONLY backstab, there is obviously a problem with balancing.

damnit i need bubbles :'(

[I_LOVE_MYSELF]

Dark Souls = my fave game this generation. I'm sure Dark Souls 2 will turn me hollow. I can't wait for this game and it is going to save me money because I will feel no need to get a PS4 at launch now :D

[Linsolv]

Oh, dear Lord no.

The reason that DS1 managed to get a sequel is that they treated it as something OTHER than a AAA title. They spent relatively little money, and therefor a moderate return on a miniscule investment means a huge profit margin.

Spending more money means that a much higher return is needed to break even. I'm not pleased to hear this--not as a hipster, since I'm glad they're taking it seriously and the more players are buying the game, the more active the community will be--but as a fan of the series, because I want this to be viewed as a viable series going into the future.

[cleft5]

Treating this game like any other massive AAA title means that they are expecting a much greater return on their investment and they are investing a great deal more money.

I love Demon's Souls and Dark Souls is a great game that did a lot for the Soul's series, fan base wise, but this is a bad move on their part. If they invest to much money it is going to become close to impossible to see a return on their investment and that means this move could kill the Soul's franchise and greatly hurt Namco.

I really hope these guys learn from the Square Enix debacle. They expected Tomb Raider to sell around 5 to 6 million copies, that is just delusional. Say what you will about Tomb Raider, it is still a bigger franchise than Dark Souls/Demon's Soul's. This is a huge mistake on Namco's part and I hope they don't invest to much in this mad endeavor.

[SolidDuck]

Completely agree. Keep it niche, and if it takes off in popularity let it do it on its own. In other words keep it profitable so fans can keep enjoying it, and from software continues to make money.

[DemonSlayer420]

I'm picking this game up day one at midnight and taking the next day off from work, can't wait.

[RankFTW]

They have my money.