Dark Souls & Other Souls-Likes

Can find and download all of those in their original form at:



ftp://65.87.26.24 Username: general Password: 4nbgamedia

They aren't the same images, but! there are new ones :O

That suspension bridge sure looks like it's from the Painted World of Aramis.

DO YOU EVEN PRAISE THE SUN?!?! I've been asking people this all day.

EXCITEMENT!!! So excited. Gonna buy it right now!

Aww.... I made myself sad.

lol @ all the crying over there not being a demon's souls II

Been browsing seeing if any new info popped up and there is a lot of drama over this.

Sony owns the rights to Demon's Souls, so to extend their fan base they created a new universe for Dark Souls. It wasn't that dark souls was a sequel, it was the successor. That is why there are so many similarities between the two games, they wanted to make the game for more players but had to do something slightly different to be able to.

I feel that Demon's Souls was the better game, only slightly, but I'm okay with that. Dark Souls is still an amazing game and now that they have it on all 3 main platforms it's time to go bigger I think. I just wish people would realize that they can't make a sequel to demon's souls without blocking out 2 other platforms to do so. Dark souls was the best thing they could do to bring in more fans, and any fan of the souls games should be happy with that.

That's just my opinion anyways.

I, personally, feel Dark Souls is the better game. But I like the openish world and the "you have to search for the details" story as opposed to the levels and most there story details.

Demon's Souls probably have the best areas overall. Kiln of the First Flame, Lost Izalith and Ash Lake remain my favorite places in the series though. But Tower of Latria is atmospheric as hell.

Dark Souls has far more usable equipment and doesn't have the stupid overall item burden system Demon's Souls has too. Less customization as far as weapon upgrades, but also less confusion. I'm in two minds over the poise system. has both cons and negatives.

Is there a way to fight him over and over again without having to start a new game each time?

Nah, the only place with respawning Black Knights in the entire game is the very last area of the game.

I'm going to go jump off a cliff now...

You can now pre-order Dark Souls 2 on Amazon for $59.99.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006YDPU48/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B006YDPU48&linkCode=as2&tag=infatgamer-20

The official Dark Souls 2 website is now live.

http://www.darksoulsii.com/


Perhaps the most important bit of info given about the upcoming sequel so far is the change to the game’s multiplayer network. In the first Dark Souls, gamers connected in a peer-to-peer format with one player hosting the session. Dark Souls II, however will feature dedicated game servers that will host all players on a single networked system.

Dark Souls 2 'more approachable' - Series creator steps aside
Pair of newcomers to helm Namco sequel as Miyazaki takes supervisor role

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By Andy Robinson for CVG UK

Dark Souls 2 will be "more straightforward and more understandable" than its predecessor, as a pair of new directors take over the series.

That's according to the latest issue of Edge - on sale December 20 - which reveals the just-announced sequel will be the first in the Souls series not to be helmed by creator from Hidetaka Miyazaki. Instead newcomers Tomohiro Shibuya and Yui Tanimura will take the reins, with Miyazaki supervising.

"Their descriptions of how they intend to mould Dark Souls II into a more approachable form seem reasonable," Edge writes on its website. "But Shibuya admits that their approach will be influenced by their individual characters."

It adds: "We sympathise if that sort of statement concerns you, but at the same time, we can surely agree that we would all like to see Dark Souls attain as great a presence as The Elder Scrolls. How it gets there is a worthy matter for debate, but it's certainly a noble task."

Shibuya himself told Edge that he sees himself as the sort of person "who likes to be more direct than subtle" and as a consequence Dark Souls 2 will be "more straightforward and more understandable."

Dark Souls 2 is in development for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.

Despite the co-director's comments on accessibility, Namco Bandai's PR promises "the kind of unrelenting challenges that have become a hallmark of the series, while presenting devilish new obstacles for players to overcome."

The sequel will feature a revamped server based multiplayer experience "that will put a distinct Dark Souls II twist on the concept of playing and sharing with others," it says.

Shibuya says in the press release: "This new chapter in the Dark Souls saga presents opportunities for us to drive innovation in gameplay design, develop an entirely new story, and expand the scope of the world in which the player interacts with the game. We have taken these necessary steps with Dark Souls II in order to evolve the overall experience of the Dark Souls series.

"The entire development team is striving to make Dark Souls II an experience that is fresh while not forsaking its roots in presenting players with challenging gameplay. Our goal is to surprise and delight our fans with new experiences and plot twists while enticing new players to join our dark journey."

Why Dark Souls 2 has me worried (but also excited)
Written By Matt Sainsbury on Saturday, December 8, 2012 | 21:00

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One of the big announcements in the games industry in recent weeks has got to be the existence of Dark Souls II. A sequel to a game that has got to have one of the most fanatical and loyal fan bases, Dark Souls II is promising more of the same from the first game. When the first game was almost unique in its genius level design and new-age difficulty, the promise of more of the same is something to get excited about.

But.

Before I get flamed for what I’m about to write, I will just say this – I have been a fan of the Souls series before it was the Souls series. Before Dark Souls, and Demon’s Souls before it was the King’s Field games, I've played them all, and I’ve loved the entire series for its brilliant reworking of the Gothic myths and storytelling style for the games platform.

But I am concerned by Dark Souls II. I don’t doubt that it’s going to be a good game, but I worry market pressures and From Software’s own track record with sequels means that Dark Souls II is the first sign that the creativity of the series is slipping.

The first concern I have is with the title itself. Dark Souls II implies that this is not going to be a break from the previous game. Sequels (aside from the oddballs like Final Fantasy) aim for a consistency across the experience – or to put it another way once you’ve won over the fans, you don’t want to upset them with the sequels. One of the great wins for Kings Field to Demon’s Souls to Dark Souls is that, despite belonging to the same franchise, the naming conventions meant the developers were not tied down as much; they could be freer in terms of creativity because they did not have the same perceived legacy to live up to. And so King’s Field games were fundamentally different to Demon’s Souls, which was a different game by comparison to Dark Souls. Dark Souls II is going to be more constrained by its very name, and I worry that’s going to inhibit the franchise’s main advantage – its unique mythologies and creativity with them.

But more than that, the name of the game worries me in the sense of the commercial realities behind it. Demon’s Souls was a sleeper hit. Dark Souls was a genuine commercial success, and so the money behind Dark Souls II is going to be significant. On the one hand this is good, as it gives the developers greater resources to make things bigger and more spectacular. On the other, the commercial pressure on this game to sell a bucketload to turn a profit could lead to some concessions, and concessions has never been what the Souls franchise has been about. Do the developers tone down the game’s themes? Already Dark Souls was thematically “lighter” than Demon’s Souls, so does Dark Souls II take another step towards a generic fantasy setting, rather than a claustrophobic Gothic horror? Do the developers make the game easier – more accessible, to draw more players in?

Perhaps not, but I would not be surprised if there are some significant compromises made with this game. It’s almost impossible for a cult classic franchise to become a mainstream one without compromises, and the sales expectations for Dark Souls II are likely to be similar to the sales expectations for a mainstream major release.

I also worry that From Software has a tradition of driving its franchises into the dirt, and this might be what’s happening with the Souls games. The Armored Core games are the Tony Hawk Pro Skater of the Mech games. The predecessors to the Souls games, the King’s Field games, suffered from a gradual erosion of creativity which coincided with the series’ increasingly weak commercial and critical performance.

One has to wonder – what else can be added to Dark Souls? The game was perfectly self-contained, and I would argue that From Software does not need to add anything to the game's mythology. Revisiting it is nice in theory, but again, creativity has always been the key to the success of these games, and I question whether “more of the same” is the kind of creativity we actually want from From Software.

I really hope I’m proven wrong with these concerns, as the Souls games have almost singlehandedly maintained my faith that the games industry is still capable of producing original, brilliant games beyond the indie developers. I’m going to be following the development of this game very closely indeed.

I can relate to his personal story about ceaseless discharge in ENB's podcast. The way the story/lore is presented is one of the main reasons why im such a big fan of the game/series. If they follow through with this straight forward concept of presenting the story im afraid it would lose the self gratification that is unraveling the story for ourselves.

Alas, im still a fan of it though. Im totally getting that ***lol!

I completely agree, ENB nailed it perfectly.

It is a huge reason why the game is such a success, and huge reason why people keep playing it over and over again. I don't think the game would of been the same if you were told where to go and had the story told to you.

I hope these quotes are just to gain more interest, then have everyone buy the magazine for some silly sales. I really wouldn't mind if they tricked us to do that, they tricked us before on things.

I dunno. I don't mind the completely open and figuring things out on your own. But some times it got a little confusing.

I wouldn't mind a hint more linear story progression I guess.

LOL wtf

please sign this petation to help bring Dark Souls II to the Wii U.

http://www.change.org/petitions/dark-souls-ii-for-the-nintendo-wiiu#

I share all these concerns with everyone else. But Miyazaki is still in the mix, even though he's not the lead design. That guy is the same guy who decided it was a good idea to put the Silver Knight Archers in Anor Londo. The same guy who decided you had to curse yourself in one way or another to deal any damage, or protect yourself, from the ghosts of New Londo. The same guy who gave Capra Demon the smallest boss arena in the game. The same guy who designed ALL the environments of Demon's Souls. Who created Maneaters. Fromsoftware invented ganking.

Those reasons still lead me to have hope. Maybe I'm optimistic. I just don't think they'll change the formula so much that it'd break the game. I am still concerned, but I think they'll make it a good game.

I had my worst Dark Souls experiences (but the most rewarding once I overcame their challenge) with the Capra demon, the Bed of Chaos, and the Anor Londo Archers.

When I fought the Capra Demon for the first time, it was clear that I had to run upstairs to give myself some room for getting rid of the adds. But...I had no idea how poise worked, lol. The damn hounds kept staggering me, I couldn't even make it to the steps sometimes.....went 1/9 or something lol...

And I don't wanna talk about my Bed of Chaos experience. At all.

The art of trolling:
I liked the bridge tricks lol.

hilarious