The World of Dark Souls: A Terrible Place to Live

[NeoShinGundam]

"And is that... a huge Medusa made of lava?" Actually, it looks like a Lava Centipede; the sequel to the Fire Spider boss from Demon's Souls.

 

[SaintWaldo]

The only thing I really want from Dark Souls that Demons Souls didn't have is better music. In Demons Souls the enemies looked deadly, the environments reinforced this feeling, but the music said 'eh, you'll be fine'. Hopefully they can make the music sound feel like an extension of the demon's influence.

Music is almost always the first thing to get turned off when I play any game. Soundtracks are to many games what laugh tracks are to many sitcoms. I don't need a soundtrack telling me what I should be feeling. If it's truly a suspenseful situation, I don't need violin screeches to clue me in. I consider non-custom soundtracks to be mini-spoilers in several ways.

Besides, I prefer to catapult the propaganda for the foley guys. Some dude crunched untold stalks of celery in a glass bowl under 3 quarts of jello like FIFTY TIMES for that perfect zombie limb amputation sound. RESPECT MUST BE PAID!

 

[Gaiseric]

I am very much looking forward to this.

 

[Jazoni89]

It looks good, but i just hope its a bit different to that of demons souls.

I've just have enough of cookie cutter sequels to last me a lifetime.

 

[chinangel]

oh dear. THis is.../sighs.
They need to make a demon souls/dark souls proof controler

 

[Video Gone]

Looks pretty much the same as Demon's Souls, so it probably won't be that surprising to me the first time I take one step out of a door and a dragon kills me instantly. I love that game, and I'll probably love this one too, but I can tame this world. The first has made me into a man.

 

[Carnagath]

Just spotted this thread actually, and I just wanted to stop by and solemnly declare that DO WANT. Demon's Souls was my favorite game of the last 5 years, I cannot wait to sink my teeth in its sequel. I have absolutely no worries about the richness of the combat or the level of challenge, I am 100% certain that they will be top notch. The only thing I wish is that they also nail that bleak stench of utter malevolence that was Demon's Souls's atmosphere once again.

Also, the amount of replies in this thread is quite depressing. People are probably too busy bromancing NPC's in DA2 to care about good games. Ouch, burn, etc.

 

[Zero2000]

Haven't played the original game myself but i'm definitely planning to get this game, love the whole atmosphere of the game.

 

[Penitent]

It may look 1000 times better than it's predecessor, but I guarantee you it will still have a horrid interface, terrible combat locking system, and NO MUSIC. And people can't tell me "Oh, well the lack of music in "Demon's Souls" was purposely done to emphasize the emptiness and sorrowful tone of the world."

BULLSHIT. With a game so combat and exploration based and supposedly presenting things on an epic scale, you would NOT lack a soundtrack. That just makes the game hideously boring. And oh wait. It was. The only game the could pull off a lack of a soundtrack (minus the boss fights) was Shadow of the Colossus. And it worked brilliantly.

I don't get what you're getting at. How does Demon's Souls' fail to properly use a lack of music? You proceed to badmouth the premise immaturely, and then don't explain why - how do you expect someone to understand what you mean? The lack of music in most places is very appropriate for gameplay terms, as it lets the player think and use sound and sense of place to make judgements.

To me, having music in the game would have taken so much away from the game. It would have been telling me that I was supposed to be feeling this during a certain moment in the game, that this area of the game was about this feeling. But there isn't any regular area in the game that needs that direction. The story of Demon's Souls is the one the players carve for themselves. My encounter with the maddened prisoners of the Tower of Latria should be about what I make of it. When I tentatively descend into the shadows, or retread old ground to find my bloodstain, there's little need for the same melody to pop up. The world and the journey themselves speak volume enough.

It uses music when it does need to talk about something else - the boss themes are meant to be reflective of their character, the Nexus is a safe haven, and the end credits are celebratory of either the players' corruption to greed or their ultimate, heroic triumph and release.