I don't have a source to fully back this up, but if they could've, I believe Dark Souls would've just been Demon's Souls II, in all honesty. Miyazaki and the new directors of Dark Souls II have stated that the games (all three) have really nothing to do with the other in terms of story, and it's a continuation mostly on mechanics (some might debate this, and you're in the right, because we don't know jack at the moment for DaS II). The name is, I think, natural because it joins the series together. The only reason why they even kept the Souls name, if this is true, is so that people associate it with Demon's Souls, otherwise they would have named it anything else.Zom-B said:I'm also highly disappointed that the best name they could come up with for the third game in the series is "Dark Souls II". Really? Why establish a pattern of unique, but similar, game titles only to immediately abandon it? One of the laziest things about sequels is the names. Just slap a number on the end of the old title so people know it's new. That's the path to creative bankruptcy.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not down on Dark Souls II. I'm still stoked for it, I'll most likely even pre-order it. I will probably enjoy it from what I've seen, but the trend that the series seems to be leaning towards with this game makes me wonder if Dark Souls III (and there will be one, mark my words) will be the steaming pile of shit that the phrase "massive, massive triple A" makes me think of.
Did I not say that language evolves?Mick P. said:A.) it's pronunciation.TAdamson said:From the French - Nicher:- to nest.Annihilist said:I should stress that "niche" is pronounced "Neeesh", not "Nitch".
Worse is 'buoy'. It's pronounced 'boy' Americans, its short for buoyancy. What the fuck is a "boowy"?
Language evolves though. I get annoyed by the way that Americans pronounce herbs, Post 19th Century RP English pronounciation aspirates the 'h' but in Colonial American English (and the original French) the 'h' is silent.
And B.) television people say "nitch" and "neesh" here. But more commonly "nitch" unless you are trying to alienate the audience with your Francophone sophistication. I am not sure about in the UK, but hats off to Jim for catching up with Americanisms if that's the case.
C.) On buoy, if this is not a cruel joke. Think about the boy on the buoy, or the buoy is out to sea. In an emergency this is a life or death distinction slash potential misunderstanding that can be grave either way. Plus "boowy" sounds much better. And its not short for buoyancy, though the etymology might be identical.
Sorry but adding extra difficuly modes is just dilluting the game directors vision of the gameplay to appeal to a wider audience. That's why Dark Souls only has one difficulty mode and plays so tight; the game director knew how he wanted the game to be played and refused to sell it short to appeal to people who cant deal with adversity.Infernal Lawyer said:Way to miss the point?bunji said:Hey Jim, I thought you allready wanted to casualize Dark Souls with some shitty ez mode. This is fucking breaking my heart, but pick a fucking side and stick to it Jim.
Jim wasn't mad about an easy mode, because it was an entirely different mode in the game rather than a change in the original formula that EVERYONE had to deal with. The old fans (back then, at least) were promised the old game that they knew and loved, yet they were bitching about how anyone who preferred their enemies lobotomized had a easy setting all to themselves, even though it would have ZERO impact on the standard game mode.
Having multiple difficulty levels is the easiest way to appeal to multiple audiences (i.e. the hardcore and those leaning on casual) without alienating anyone.
He's mad now because the developers are trying to make the CORE gameplay on EVERY difficulty level appeal to the masses by turning it into the homogenized mush that we're getting sick of.
There's a difference between making an 'ez' mode and having a 'let's waste money and resources and potentially piss off our cult fans by changing the whole game to try and attract people who don't care about our game' attitude.
Perhaps they somehow wear out?the antithesis said:Aaaaand, several users now went and looked up the Belladonna ***** Fist just to see if this is real. It is and the comment on the Amazon page is priceless, I tell you. Priceless. I also like how the Amazon page I found says it's a package of four. I don't even want to know what someone would do with four rubber fists.
The problem isn't about widening the advertising but about widening the game itself. Making it more bland, less difficult and more mainstream.I do not see the problem with widening the net with your advertising.
Maybe I misinterpreted the video, but that's not what I got out of it...MeisterKleister said:Aw man, I was already very skeptical about Dark Souls 2 because of the title alone. Dark Souls is a spiritual successor to Demon Souls, so it stands on its own and that's reflected in the title. Dark Souls doesn't require a sequel, so why does it have a sequel instead of a spiritual successor?
The problem isn't about widening the advertising but about widening the game itself. Making it more bland, less difficult and more mainstream.I do not see the problem with widening the net with your advertising.
If is the case then I would actually be more excited, but the wording used by the publisher says otherwise. Not to mention the developer's director has been replaced. Things are looking a bit shaky.Voltano said:I can understand why Sterling would be upset by this, and we won't know if "Dark Souls II" would turn down this route of trying to compete against "Skyrim" until it is launched or we see more advertising indicating this. But, I'm willing to disagree with Sterling on this as competition like this could encourage growth.
If games stuck to their niche audience by making the same game for them to enjoy, then that is what Nintendo is doing. Same Zelda game, same Mario game, and only trying to do something new with the Metroid franchise (that didn't work out so well, I know). The point here is that games can become stagnant and homogenous if they don't try something new. In laymans terms, if I heard that "Dark Souls II" provides all the content I like from "Dark Souls I", then why should I buy it?
On the other hand, if I heard that "Dark Souls II" was borrowing ideas and features from "Skyrim", like a crafting system or screwing the souls system in favor a skill-growth system, I might be interested in trying it. Sterling has a few videos here where we could try ideas of a modern shooter game set in a horror setting, or showing interest in "Silent Hill" done in a top-down action RPG similar to "Diablo" on the PS Vita. I don't see how it could be harmful for the developers of "Dark Souls II" to look at "Skyrim" and see how they can use what they learned to potentially make the game better. It would be an interesting experiment, I think.
Yeah, we shall have to see. I'm holding onto my money until I see the gameplay before making any decision.Voltano said:Though it seems like the wording here is the developers of "Dark Souls II" want to 'compete' against "Skyrim", not 'learn' from it. In that case, they might be setting themselves up for failure as Sterling talked about. But either way we won't know until we learn more about the game.