In a recent interview with 4Gamer (translated by NeoGaf), new director Tomohiro Shibuya has revealed that the upcoming Dark Souls 2 sequel will include several new features, however the most prominent is an entirely new graphics engine. Tomohiro Shibuya revealed that with the hope of capturing a more "global market" that "we would have to improve our graphics, so the decision to implement a new engine was made".

Along with the new engine comes the shift from director Hidetaka Miyazaki to Tomohiro Shibuya, a recent change that many players felt could be devastating to the franchise, however Hidetaka Miyazaki ensures shouldn't be a problem, and that the new director is "far more experienced than me as a developer, and he understands the idea and delicate nuance of Dark Souls, so I think it’s OK to trust him". Tomohiro Shibuya's most recent experience is with the mecha-action series Another Century Episode, with the 2010 R Episode release. Hidetaka Miyazaki also ensures that players can rest easy with the change of directors, explaining in the interview that concerns are to be expected when changing directors, however the path is still set on a brutal and unforgiving title.

Other features mentioned in the interview include the possibility of dedicated servers for multi-player, an entirely new location but in the same "planet", improved exploration and an easier transition into the game for beginners (however still containing the difficult gameplay).

You can check out the full interview over at the translated NeoGaf forum post, and check out the most recent concept art screenshots below (more at our game page).

nice watch pave, cheers.
tbh I will believe these claims of keeping it just as brutal but even more accessible when I see it, as I don't really think you can benefit one without sacrificing the other.

What was wrong with the graphics engine?? It was perfect for the most part.

Every piece of news I hear about this fills me with dread.

Bah the guy in the video actually mentions that exact concept with the start of the game that you can go anywhere you want and you have to explore the areas to work out where to go (or lots of newbs go online). It's a part of what makes the game what it is, it isn't shit design it was designed to be like that and if you're good enough you can go and clear out areas and get items and shit that should be later game.

Though i am pretty sure old matey crestfallen warrior at the start tells you to go up to ring the first bell , not down.

Tbh i am torn with making the story more accessible as i never went through and read every item description and talked through every dialogue to get the whole story because heaps of that shit is interconnected and it's the only way to gef all of the lore (or you can go on youtube and look at ENB's explanation of the lore lol) it is seriously fucking complicsted and you need to remember back to other items youve picked up and all sorts of shit

last edited by paveway at 17:46:47 24/Dec/12

explore the areas to work out where to go

Yeah I have no problem with that, maybe i just wasnt paying attention to whatever the fuck that first guy was saying then, but it seemed as if a lot of stuff just wasn't explained at all for no other reason than to be obscure, maybe thats Japanese for you.
Having freedom to go anywhere is good, but not knowing where to go.. not so good. Especially when cunts are owning you left right and center and you have to work out which ones are only slightly owning you to get an idea of where you should be going.
If i were to compare it to other open worldish games something like Far Cry 3, then far cry 3 i can still go anywhere and do side quests and crap, but i still know exactly where to go. (I know how bad a comparison this is because FC3 was basically follow the waypoint and goes way too far in the other direction, but its all i can think of)

if you're good enough you can go and clear out areas and get items and shit that should be later game.

Thats all well and good, but it kind of assumes people are going to play through multiple times, or with a gamefaq open, be interesting to see gameplay stats regarding where people rage quit and never return.

But even going in the right direction kills you quickly, so that's not exactly a great indicator.

I mean once youve played for a little bit and realise what the go is, it isnt too bad, but right off the bat.. in terms of accessibility and getting people to continue to play your game, i dont know.

Graveyard -> skeleton ownage

Mobs that respawn unless you have a divine weapon isn't newbie friendly but at least you can still go there and the whole area isn't locked off until X is completed ingame. Also the graveyard has some cool items if you just blast through it picking up what you can. What I really hope for is true co-op where you can start up a game with some buddies and either start new characters or bring in old ones and reset their progress while in that game, and go from there. I'm not a fan of the way helping people is set up so in 1 and 2.

EDIT -

in terms of accessibility and getting people to continue to play your game, i dont know.

I like that it has no hand holding in where to go. It gives you a vague idea and you have to work it out from there without constant reminders and arrows what you should be doing and all that stuff.

last edited by DM at 19:36:22 24/Dec/12

As long as the PC version is good, I'm not too fussed.

Though I think we all need to lower our expectations so we don't get too disappointed with what we get (Or possibly happily surprised?).

Don't get too excited for an absolutely epic souls type game

I think you're excited enough for all of us.

Bah just mad the game beat him