At the 2012 Spike VGAs this past weekend, Namco Bandai dropped a reveal trailer for Dark Souls 2 , the sequel to the devilishly difficult action RPG from developer From Software.
Details were scant at the time, but Namco has since revealed that Dark Souls 2 will be coming to the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. This time around, From Software’s Tomohiro Shibuya will be directing alongside Yui Tanimura.
Dark Souls and the game’s spiritual predecessor, Demon’s Souls , were known for being brutally difficult and, admittedly, not entirely easy to grasp without putting in some effort to learn the game’s mechanics.
In an interview with Edge , director Shibuya said that the studio is looking to make Dark Souls 2 a tad more approachable than its predecessor. However, Shibuya is quick to point out that the game will be any easier as a result.
“I personally am the sort of person who likes to be more direct than subtle,” Shibuya said in an interview with Edge. “[Dark Souls 2] will be more straightforward and more understandable.”
Despite Shibuya’s assurance that the game wouldn’t be made more easy to appeal to a wider audience, some gamers didn’t take the news too well. To a degree, that’s understandable– Dark Souls ‘ unapologetic difficulty set it apart in an industry that is prone to churning out games that hold your hand the whole way through.
Still, it’s a bit too early to judge Dark Souls 2 as being dumbed down for the masses, seeing as we haven’t seen any gameplay yet. For that, we’ll likely have to wait until next year.
