Dark Souls & Other Souls-Likes

Underrated: From Software mends and destroys worlds on an epic scale
by Matt FernandezJune 23, 2013

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In the gaming world, there is a lot of talk from gamers about game studios being “overrated.” Fans and haters of different critically acclaimed studios battle it out on forums all across the internet in a never-ending flame war over which studio is overrated or why another studio isn't.

What about the other guys, though--the game developers that bring us great titles but don't necessarily get the appreciation or attention they deserve? There are some that bring up how underrated a developer may be, but for every one of those, there are thousands of gamers saying a developer is overrated. Well, in these “Underrated" articles, we are going to take the time to name developers that could be considered underrated and tell you why they deserve your time.

From Software (Armored Core, Dark Souls)

Japan has been the birth place of many great game studios, with big names like Square Enix, Capcom, and Team ICO being just a small sample of Japan's wealth of talented developers. The Japanese game industry has given us many great gaming experiences throughout its history and continues to deliver them year after year. Unfortunately, due to the incredible wealth of talented studios in Japan, it is quite easy to skip over a deserving studio here and there--even if it has been there all along.


In 1986, From Software was born and has since remained a constant industry presence on the global stage. From Software released King's Field in 1994 on the original PlayStation as a Japan exclusive. This marked the studio's first game launch and it was the first RPG to launch on a PlayStation console. From Software continued to develop within the King's Field franchise until 1997, when the studio decided to branch out and try new things--something From Software has continued to show it is unafraid to do ever since.

In 1997, the beginning of one of From Software's greatest accomplishments was released to the world. It was called Armored Core--a third-person mech game set in the distant future. Unlike mecha games before it that chose to give us a more weighty mech experience, Armored Core had a new, incredibly fast-paced approach to mech warfare. Gone were the days of being forced to deal with the realism of gravity effects on your colossal, mechanized death machine. From Software proved that it was unafraid to go against the grain and deliver a risky new gaming experience to the world.

The Armored Core franchise has continued to evolve throughout the years. From Software is currently developing Armored Core: Verdict Day, the 15th entry in the Armored Core franchise, and a release date is set for September of this year. The multiplayer component is the focus of Verdict Day and From Software looks to raise the bar for mech-based online multiplayer. Verdict Day will allow players to form massive 20-person squads and fight for control of the Armored Core world, but worry not, all you lone wolves out there! You will be able to hire AI-controlled mechs to assist in your lone-wolf rampage.


From Software has created many great games, and as shown with prior ventures, is unafraid to develop in radically different genres. Which brings us to Demon's Souls and Dark Souls, two action-RPG that were designed to torture gamers with incredibly difficult enemies and level design. Dark Souls had simple controls and complex enemies, which meant that you were almost always the underdog. Only through persistent trial and error could you proceed through its menacing world.

The narratives within Demon's Souls and Dark Souls were very simple, which would normally be an issue for an RPG, as narrative tends to be what drives the role-playing experience, but From Software managed to successfully create games that allowed the player to create their own narrative through their actions. From Software had once again delivered new gaming experiences within an old genre and both remain two of the most difficult games to come out this console generation. Indeed, Dark Souls is From Software's most critically acclaimed game to date, and PSU's very own Steven Williamson gave it a well-deserved 9.5 out of 10.

From Software has proven to be an incredibly versatile studio and its games continue to evolve with every iteration. Compared to last generation, the presence of Japanese game studios on consoles has unfortunately diminished, but there is one studio that has remained as much a presence on PlayStation as it did 15 years ago. With Dark Souls II and Armored Core: Verdict Day on the horizon, we have much to look forward to from... well, From Software.

Dark Souls II
Dark Souls II's New Director Talks Accessibility And Broken Controllers
by Kyle HilliardJune 24, 2013

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Dark Souls II has a new director in Yui Tanimura. We were only able to spend a few minutes Tanimura after seeing Dark Souls II in action at E3, and decided to ask him broad questions about difficulty in games. We also wanted to know what kind of games he's playing outside of Dark Souls II, and why we won't be seeing Dark Souls II on next-gen systems.

What’s the difference between a hard game, and an unnecessarily frustrating game that you just want to abandon?

It’s a tough question to answer. Obviously, we implement the difficulty and challenge for that sense of satisfaction when you overcome the hurdles. When designing a game – when you start to take away all of the reasons for not playing, so if people say this is too hard, so I’m going to take away the difficulty, or this is a nuisance to do, or a pain to do, so I am going to take away that aspect of the game so that you don’t have to face that nuisance – you no longer really have a game anymore. I think the important part to do, is to implement the difficulty and implement the challenges so you have that added amount of satisfaction when you overcome it. Hopefully, when you implement difficulty to a game, when you overcome it, you can feel the sense of difficulty was worth it. I think that type of reward is important.

Something like Dark Souls, though, we try to implement this difficulty for that added level of satisfaction and happiness when you are able to overcome. But there will be aspects of the game where there are some areas that will be more of a pain to get through than others. I think that balance is something important. It’s hard to answer directly, but we took a lot of care in terms of tuning each instance of the so-called challenges so that we reached an overall good balance throughout the game.

Do you think the word “accessible” automatically translates to “easy”?

No, we don’t actually. The reason why we used the word accessible was not to say that the game is going to be easier by any means. We’re maintaining the difficulty and we think the challenges are required. What we meant was, there are certain aspects of the game where it didn’t really have a direct connection to the sense of satisfaction of overcoming. There were things that were a little bit time consuming or a little bit tedious that we wanted to streamline – sort of carve away all the fat so we could really deliver the lean pure expression of what Dark Souls tries to communicate, which is the sense of satisfaction of overcoming. In terms of accessibility, what we meant was a more streamlined experience to deliver the more pure essence of Dark Souls.

What are some of your favorite current games?

A couple of the games I really was hooked on was Diablo, and recently Skyrim.

Are you playing any mobile games or have any mobile recommendations?

I play mobile games more for, I guess research. I’m not sure if it’s available in North America, but we often play a Japanese game called Puzzle & Dragons.

Have you ever broken a controller in frustration?

I have been frustrated a lot, but I haven’t really broken a controller yet.

You’re a new director for Dark Souls. What are you going to do to make it your game? What will define Dark Souls II as a Yui Tanimura game?

Throughout the game, there are going to be a lot of different small things that I will direct and will be implemented due to my personality or direction, but the biggest part I feel that will characterize this game as the game that I directed will probably be the game balancing. I take care of a lot of the balancing of the game – with the difficulty, the trickiness, of the frustration that you feel. I intend to spend a lot of my time trying to balance placements of the enemies, the parameters of the enemies so that players can face that difficulty, face those challenges, but also conquer enough to sense that satisfaction. Balance is probably the most important part of this game and I feel responsible in balancing the game, and tuning it to the finest details so that Dark Souls II will be the best experience so far in the series that we’ve created.

Any Xbox One or PlayStation 4 plans?

Currently we’re only planning for Dark Souls II to be on the current consoles. At the very initial stages, there were discussions about bringing it on next-gen, but we felt that the current consoles still had a lot of potential to deliver Dark Souls II, and we wanted to get Dark Souls II out as soon as possible to the fans.

Dark Souls II Fact Sheet Revealed
by ManPacJune 24, 2013

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Following a successful outing at this month’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), Namco Bandai Games Europe has revealed an updated fact sheet for the forthcoming Dark Souls II. The third title in the critically acclaimed series from FromSoftware, Dark Souls II is currently expected to launch in early 2014.

Dark Souls was famed for its deep and punishing combat system, and the team behind Dark Souls II promise this sequel will be no different. The official fact sheet for Dark Souls II follows below, verbatim from Namco Bandai Games Europe, and Electronic Theatre will keep you updated with all the latest details on this highly anticipated title.


KEY FACTS

Publisher NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe

Developper FROMSOFTWARE

Platform X360, PS3, PC

Genre Action RPG

Players 1 (offline) / 1-4 (online)

Rating 16+ (Expected)

Release TBA

Developed by From Software, DARK SOULS II is the highly anticipated sequel to the punishing 2011 breakout hit Dark Souls (9.5/10 Gamespot, 9.0/10 IGN). The unique old-school action RPG experience captivated imaginations of gamers worldwide with incredible challenge and intense emotional reward. DARK SOULS II brings the franchise’s renowned difficulty & gripping gameplay innovations to both single and multiplayer experiences.


FEATURES

• Prepare to die . . . Again: dare yourself to engage against intense gameplay in a vast world powered by an all new engine that leaps graphics, sound & fx forward like never before
  

• A labyrinth of monsters & bosses: immerse yourself into mind-bending environments filled with new twisted monsters and deadly bosses that could only come from the imagination of from software
  

• Sensory assault: a wide range of threats will prey on human senses & phobias - auditory hallucinations, vertigo, acrophobia, etc
  

• Deeper and darker: more intricate customization options provide weapons and armor tailoring to player style
  

• Evolved multiplayer: updated multiplayer system enables improved online interaction to bring forward cooperative & competitive play
  

• Go beyond death: dark souls ii features fluid motion-capture animations, upgraded combat system, a vastly expanded suite of characters, deeper customization options, new weapons, armor abilities, and balanced player progression system

"Dark Souls II" Clips Showcase Different Classes
Punishing sequel is set to arrive in March 2014
by Joseph LusterJune 25, 2013

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Famitsu.com posted a handful of new Dark Souls II videos, showcasing different classes such as Warrior, Temple Knight, Sorcerer, and Dual Swordsman. Some of the footage will be familiar, but check the clips out below to see some of the different styles of play available.

:D

:D

Should have been a next gen game.

Why?

If they're going to aim for a larger audience, then PS3/Xbox360 & PC would of been the smartest move.

If their goal was to make the game look pretty and fancy, then they could of used PS4/XboxOne, but Dark Souls has never been about that. If you do want that, then PC will have it whether through graphic controls or mods.

It will still be available to the people who played Dark Souls before, and will eventually get ported to the next gen consoles, I'm sure.

Aiming for a larger audience is exactly what Dark Souls isn't known for...

It is compared to Demon's Souls.

Platform exclusivity outside of technological necessity (See: PC) isn't really the issue I was trying to poke fun at.

I just think in general the D-Souls games are barking up the wrong tree. (AAA expectations)

I'm sure the AAA expectation was part of namco bandai trying to get more money. They've released previews of what the game will be like, and it still feels like Dark Souls.

The only thing I have a complaint about is the undead feel like zombies. To me, the undead weren't zombies, and they did a great job of making them act unique in Dark Souls. Maybe I just watching the preview wrong.

732 online!

So in the catacombs, the skeletons dont die :< Can i ask why :<

The resurrecting skeletons were nothing compared to those *** zergwheeling *** right outside the secret smith's spot.

gargoyles hurt ;A;

think im about 39 now 29 ( i was farming VIT >_>)

Reading up on the dragon sword....wondering if its suicide to try to get it >_>; I had died to the gargoyles about 3 times now and dont want to lose my 7K souls :<

I havent quite gotten to solaire i think. I have a rossbow with a few bolts :<

im on XBOX :(

Thanks for that, im gunna grab that now after i make the loop for more souls.

oh cool :<:<:<:<

after looking for him forever on the wrong side of the bridge, foundem :<

Is there a trick for making the dragon come back >_>

Bought all these bolts and...no dragon...

The drake flies away after you reach the sunlight altar room. If you set your current bonfire there it won't come back, you'll need to set it in undead burg (where you opened the shortcut to the beginning area) and it should come back after you log out and log back in.

Also keep in mind that it does not respawn after you kill it with bolts/arrows. If you want to kill off everything before you beat the game, you might want to consider saving it as a worthy enemy (very low HP though, probably to counter the high attack spike damage).

Completely up to you though, the rewards for killing it aren't even worth it, it just depends on what you want to do.

I personally fought it head on, and healed with estus without seeking shelter down the stairs. I died a few times but managed to kill it in the end.

I chopped his feet up because he'd always heal if I used a bow, he couldn't be killed that way lol