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[Feindflug]

LOL just no.



Strange i could say the exact same thing for you.

Thankfully Youtube exists and everyone can compare footage of the 2 games.Hell even some very low res comparison gifs that were posted before show how much better the lighting in DS1 was.

You didn't asnwer so have you even played the game? and yeah let's watch youtube vids or streams to compare the two games...lol indeed.

You calling me biased is funny though considering you said in another thread that Demon's looks better than DSII, I shouldn't try to have an actual conversation with someone as biased as you in the first place I guess.

 

[test_account]

Gameplay designer has nothing to do with art.
The list above is not complete and does not include 3Dgraphics and animations team.

As i said before only 3 environment artists worked on both games and these weren't From Soft employees.

I just mean since they seemed to have something to do with the enemy design (?) in DS1, maybe they also had some saying regarding the enemy design in DS2 =)

Ok, i understand (regarding not being the full credit list, i thought the lists looked a bit short, wondering if not more people worked on these games).

Sure, i know that you said that, i was wondering if you knew why they were outsourced.

Damn my media blackout.

I feel like my only exposure to this game has been all the negative stuff surrounding the downgradeaton floating around, my hype is almost close to 0.

Seeing that staff comparison just killed me completely. Oh well, my Steam preorder is still there I suppose.

Graphics wasnt exactly the selling point of the previous games, so even with less graphics compared to what that was shown previously, if you enjoy the lore and the exploration in these games, i think you will enjoy Dark Souls 2 as well

Being different people working on it doesnt necessarily mean that its worse. I've played quite much of Demon's Souls and Dark Souls 1, but Dark Souls 2 is my most played Souls game. I cant really compare which games i think its the best one because its been quite a while since i played Demon's Souls and Dark Souls 1, but i can say that i enjoyed all 3 games a lot.

This is just my opinion though, so you (or anyone else for that matter) might have a completely different opinion. But i mostly wanted to say that if you enjoy the exploration and the lore of the Souls games, i think you will enjoy Dark Souls 2 as well


(Generally speaking, why are people concerned about the graphics? I love great detailed graphics and i can fully understand the disappointment regarding the downgrade in graphics (at leas ton the console versions, the PC version is still unknown), but i cant see people enjoying the game a lot less because of this, especially if they enjoyed Demon's Souls and/or Dark Souls 1).

 

[test_account]

EDIT: Double post, sorry.

 

[Psycho_Mantis]

Dark Souls 2 brought back the branching world structure, HP penalty (with a cling ring equivalent), consumable items, near nonexistant poise, and even the armor isn't that useful like in Demon's Souls.

Speed isn't the only thing that matters, and even then Demon's Souls isn't ridiculously faster than the Dark Souls games either.

How do you know Dark Souls PvP is tighter? You don't even own DkS2 right?

1) The structure is nothing like DeS. Its Dark Souls with a lot more bonfires and less interconnectivity.

2) HP penalty is nowhere near as brutal. Just lloking people play I can see that. In Demons Souls the vast majority had the cling ring on and that was back when you only had 2 ring slots so you could see how much more deadly the impairment was.

3) Poise being non existent is great but sadly the stun locking is there which results in nearly every weapon stunlocking you resulting in r1 spam pvp. Demons Souls was far superior. No stunlock from weapons even greatswords.

4) Armour is useful in DS2. People naively are comparing one set to another but what they should do is compare fully upgraded sets. I range from doing 450 dmg to 200 dmg so its clear there is value there.

Oh and DeS is considerably faster. In absolute terms its not much but during gameplay its very apparent.

 

[Garcia]

Damn my media blackout.

I feel like my only exposure to this game has been all the negative stuff surrounding the downgradeaton floating around, my hype is almost close to 0.

Seeing that staff comparison just killed me completely. Oh well, my Steam preorder is still there I suppose.

I have played the game and I can honestly tell you it is truly entertaining. Once you get past the 20 hour mark you tend to ignore the ugliness of some areas to a certain degree (as sad as it sounds).

The multiplayer is sublime. Co-op alone drove me past the whole game; it feels like a genuine cooperative effort every single time you summon others or get summoned. Thanks to others I was able to rush my way through the most hideous locations in the game (

Spoiler

Black Gulch, Shaded Woods, Tseldora

just to mention a few). Summoning worked 95% of the time for me. The whole world feels "alive" in the sense that you will stumble upon dozens of signs in every location. People are willing to help you and you feel obligued to pay it forward.

To me, it was a completely different experience than that which I had with Dark Souls.

That being said, the performance of the console version (PS3) is a complete disaster and it is the reason why I'm never, ever going to put that disc on the tray again. I rushed my way through it and probably missed more than half of the collectibles. The sound delay pissed me off the whole time. It was always present.

As a standalone game, judged as an independent online Action RPG it delivers great fun.
As a Sequel to Dark Souls however, it falls flat on its face.

Having fun with a game and criticizing all of its faults and issues aren't mutually exclusive at all.

 

[Neon_Icarus]

If almost no one in the DS2 staff worked on the original, then I have to applaud them. The game is IMO a worthy successor to Dark Souls/Demon's Souls (both of which I've completed several times), even if it isn't quite as good overall. It has its own identity too, not just an expertly made carbon copy of its predecessors, which I really appreciate.

I feel sad for people who are just concentrating on the graphical issues instead of enjoying the game. And I just know knowing about the difference in staff is only going to make people nitpick more furiously, as if out of some weird loyalty to Myazaki's team or something.

 

[Soriku]

1) The structure is nothing like DeS. Its Dark Souls with a lot more bonfires and less interconnectivity.

2) HP penalty is nowhere near as brutal. Just lloking people play I can see that. In Demons Souls the vast majority had the cling ring on and that was back when you only had 2 ring slots so you could see how much more deadly the impairment was.

3) Poise being non existent is great but sadly the stun locking is there which results in nearly every weapon stunlocking you resulting in r1 spam pvp. Demons Souls was far superior. No stunlock from weapons even greatswords.

4) Armour is useful in DS2. People naively are comparing one set to another but what they should do is compare fully upgraded sets. I range from doing 450 dmg to 200 dmg so its clear there is value there.

Oh and DeS is considerably faster. In absolute terms its not much but during gameplay its very apparent.

1. It's a mix of both, but closer to Demon's. You pick a path and it's usually linear from one area to the next. The only difference is that you have different types of areas in each path compared to just an extension of the same area like in Demon's. Dark Souls had a more interwoven world.

2. Brutality doesn't matter. Point is there's a penalty. Dark Souls had nothing of the sort.

3. Stunlock varies and some weapons will stunlock you shorter or longer than anything else. You act like there's no stunlock in Demon's either when that's not true.

4. Maybe if you fully upgrade something like Vengarl's or Havel's it'll make some difference, but I'd rather take the extra HP the Life Ring (+2) gives me. Right now many of the best sets require Twinkling Titanite to upgrade, which you can't buy infinite of like in Dark Souls 1 (yet?), so personally I don't have a reason to upgrade my armor either...

I wear lighter armor and still and do well in PvP. I win most of my fights. Defense (or lack thereof) isn't the biggest detractor.

In Demon's Souls attack speed may have been slightly faster, but movement speed is pretty similar. The combat isn't drastically different between the three games.

In the end Dark Souls 2 takes aspects from both Demon's and Dark Souls 1, but it seems more heavily influenced from Demon's than just Dark.

 

[sublimit]

You didn't asnwer so have you even played the game? and yeah let's watch youtube vids or streams to compare the two games...lol indeed.

You calling me biased is funny though considering you said in another thread that Demon's looks better than DSII, I shouldn't try to have an actual conversation with someone as biased as you in the first place I guess.

Jesus man of course i have played the game (i got it a few days after release) do you think that i would criticize the game so much if i hadn't played it?I'm a huge fan of the Souls games (ever since i imported Demon's in 2009) and as a fan i was extremely dissapointed by the graphics and most importantly (for me) by the animations downgrade (when compared to the first game).

Sure i'm far from beating DS2 yet (i'm currently in Lost Bastille) because my initial dissapointment put me off to continue playing it for a while but i have put more than 1000 hours on Demon's and Dark (PS3) so when i compare the games graphics and animations you bet i know what i'm talking about.

I was also recently replaying DS1 for over a month (just to get in the mood for DS2) so my impressions of the games are very recent.I even replayed a bit of Demon's to see how it compares graphically with DS2 and the lighting looked much better in Demon's.Animations looked much better too (on par with Dark).

As i said before in DS2 the lighting is very flat making the game look very drab.Even if the textures are of a higher quality they don't look as good as in the previous games thanks to the light.

 

[Soriku]

That being said, the performance of the console version (PS3) is a complete disaster and it is the reason why I'm never, ever going to put that disc on the tray again. I rushed my way through it and probably missed more than half of the collectibles. The sound delay pissed me off the whole time. It was always present.

Your copy sounds broken if you had sound delay throughout. The delays I've had were rare.

Framerate is definitely better than in Dark Souls 1 and I've seen most people say the same too.

 

[Garcia]

Your copy sounds broken if you had sound delay throughout. The delays I've had were rare.

Framerate is definitely better than in Dark Souls 1 and I've seen most people say the same too.

Or maybe you just weren't paying attention until it was extremely obvious? The sound delay is present throughout the whole game.

As for the unlocked framerate of Dark Souls 2, it's far too distracting. The original was fixed and only went bonkers at very specific locations.

 

[test_account]

Or maybe you just weren't paying attention until it was extremely obvious? The sound delay is present throughout the whole game.

As for the unlocked framerate of Dark Souls 2, it's far too distracting. The original was fixed and only went bonkers at very specific locations.

I put about 175 hours into Dark Souls 2 and the sound delay has also been rare to me. It happends from time to time, but overall its been quite rare in my experience (i played the PS3 version).

 

[Soriku]

Or maybe you just weren't paying attention until it was extremely obvious? The sound delay is present throughout the whole game.

As for the unlocked framerate of Dark Souls 2, it's far too distracting. The original was fixed and only went bonkers at very specific locations.

It's pretty obvious when it happens. It's not persistent at all for me.

Dark Souls 1 had parts of areas where the game would suddenly slow down drastically for a few seconds. Dark Souls 2 is unlocked, sure, but the game doesn't have drastic dips like Dark Souls 1, and no times when it'd just slow to a complete crawl. You'll probably say your experience was different and it does.

I'll just say, in my experience, "complete disaster" couldn't be farther from the truth.

 

[Metroid-Squadron]

Especially since that level of detail was never possible on last gen platforms.

There's nothing in there that isn't possible on PS3/XB360.

Be wary of the fact that the second screen is probably captured from a shitty bitrate stream and the area actually looks better in the game. That part in the game has a lot of bright daylight coming through the broken ceiling, which partly explains style of lighting changing compared to the reveal trailer. If you watch that reveal gameplay you notice that the daylight in that build has more yellow-ish tint to it and they went with more natural tone in the final game. Many things seen were redesigned overall.

Still the reveal with older build running on high-end PC obviously looks better.

Another thing that GIF doesn't capture is the how horribly low resolution the player's shadow is.

 

[See You Next Wednesday]

How do you know Dark Souls PvP is tighter? You don't even own DkS2 right?

But he & the majority of the people complaining here have pictures & .gif evidence of random screengrabs of low bitrates streams.

I just came back from playing & tested out the walking animation & tilted the camera on the feet. They do make contact with the ground on slopes & on flat surfaces. If any thing there is some clipping & their feet sink into stuff.


This thread went from general curiosity to full blown crazy tain hyperbole. LOL at this being called ugly & a "B game".
I can't think of one single game released the past 2 years that even comes close to topping this & parts of this game look rough, PARTS.

 

[DrROBschiz]

There's nothing in there that isn't possible on PS3/XB360.


Another thing that GIF doesn't capture is the how horribly low resolution the player's shadow is.

If it was possible within the scope, time, and experience they had/were given then it would have happened

Im not dealing in hypotheticals here.

 

[Crab Milk Mickey]

Surely this is an isolated incidence within the game, right?

The difference is pretty jarring. How did most, if not all,

Spoiler

(didn't read many but none of the ones I read pointed this shit out)

of the reviews simply brush this issue aside?

Not an isolated case. Nearly everything from the original gameplay reveal looks different. Here's a Mirror Knight comparison and some old screenshots (#1 + #2) show a darker Forest of the Giants. What was called the Mansion of the Dragons in the gameplay reveal took the biggest hit overall graphically, not just with the .gif you quoted. That big hallway with all the paintings and such? Practically empty in comparison.

That said though, dynamic lighting is still in the console version through torches, bonfires (but not all strangely) and other light sources like various magic spells. Don't understand why people are spreading misinformation about this. Same with those remembering Dark Souls 1 looking and running better on consoles than it did: aesthetically far more consistent in terms of quality with greater texture detail as evidenced by the PC port, yes, but it even had framerate drops in non-eventful places (including Firelink Shrine sporadically) and not just extremes like Blighttown. Shadows are weird in Dark Souls II however: your character's shadow looks relatively crisp in some places, and then it looks completely pixelated inside the retail Mansion of the Dragons.

 

[Lalalandia]

Sigh this thread has two arguments in it now

"DS2 looks is crap compared to DS1" and "DS2 looks like crap compared to what they told us it looked like". The former I can't comment on thanks to the fact I haven't played DS2 or DS1 enough to compare and contrast but the latter I can attest to without having played the game. It is blindingly obvious that most of the things people were impressed by in the preview and marketing materials are no longer there. The overall flat bland lighting of DS2 is also inarguable with only a few areas offering half decent contrast (without crushing blacks to all hell via the system menu that is) and thats by relying on a fair few LP videos. Given that I've seen the same YT hideousness on streams from both games I feel confident in saying that the lighting in DS2 is overall nowhere near as attractive as in DS1.

 

[Rodolink]

CLEARLY they have a working next gen engine, it wouldn't surprise me if they announce DK2 for PS4

 

[See You Next Wednesday]

Sigh this thread has two arguments in it now

"DS2 looks is crap compared to DS1" and "DS2 looks like crap compared to what they told us it looked like". The former I can't comment on thanks to the fact I haven't played DS2 or DS1 enough to compare and contrast but the latter I can attest to without having played the game. It is blindingly obvious that most of the things people were impressed by in the preview and marketing materials are no longer there. The overall flat bland lighting of DS2 is also inarguable with only a few areas offering half decent contrast (without crushing blacks to all hell via the system menu that is) and thats by relying on a fair few LP videos. Given that I've seen the same YT hideousness on streams from both games I feel confident in saying that the lighting in DS2 is overall nowhere near as attractive as in DS1.

Maybe you & the rest of the people complaining non-stop throughout this thread should actual buy the game, the actual game looks amazing
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=106356191&postcount=1827

Aldia's Keep (Dragon Mansion) & Drangleic Castle (the two areas people keep posting about, on & on) are the only two areas that have this washed out lighting palette.
The rest of the game (90%) doesn't not look like that. It retains the high contrast, deep shadows people expected of the game.

There are some inconsistency in the graphics, like the Shaded Woods is easily the worst looking part of the game & looks like it was separately made compared to some of the other areas.

 

[Calamari41]

I really want to thank this thread, or one of it's predecessors, for convincing me that From removed the dragons from the skies of the Dragon Aerie. It was quite an impressive shock when I walked through the opening of the cave to find that they had remained untouched. It was almost as good as erasing the spoiler of the initial reveal from my memory.

 

[Sullichin]

Seems like some have early access to the Steam version. It's only a matter of time before we hear about it now.

 

[zephervack]

I just mean since they seemed to have something to do with the enemy design (?) in DS1, maybe they also had some saying regarding the enemy design in DS2 =)

Ok, i understand (regarding not being the full credit list, i thought the lists looked a bit short, wondering if not more people worked on these games).

Sure, i know that you said that, i was wondering if you knew why they were outsourced.



Graphics wasnt exactly the selling point of the previous games, so even with less graphics compared to what that was shown previously, if you enjoy the lore and the exploration in these games, i think you will enjoy Dark Souls 2 as well

Being different people working on it doesnt necessarily mean that its worse. I've played quite much of Demon's Souls and Dark Souls 1, but Dark Souls 2 is my most played Souls game. I cant really compare which games i think its the best one because its been quite a while since i played Demon's Souls and Dark Souls 1, but i can say that i enjoyed all 3 games a lot.

This is just my opinion though, so you (or anyone else for that matter) might have a completely different opinion. But i mostly wanted to say that if you enjoy the exploration and the lore of the Souls games, i think you will enjoy Dark Souls 2 as well


(Generally speaking, why are people concerned about the graphics? I love great detailed graphics and i can fully understand the disappointment regarding the downgrade in graphics (at leas ton the console versions, the PC version is still unknown), but i cant see people enjoying the game a lot less because of this, especially if they enjoyed Demon's Souls and/or Dark Souls 1).

Let me be clear, when Dark Souls 1 was coming to Steam, the last thing on my mind was the graphics, I was incredibly hype for the gameplay/lore/atmosphere/etc, the game delivered in spades.

The only reason I ever got hyped with graphics regarding DS2 was because of the videos Namco themselves revealed, they look like actual gameplay, HUD and all.

Seems like some have early access to the Steam version. It's only a matter of time before we hear about it now.

Source???

For some weird reason, up until today there was a "Count of players playing this game" in Steam for this game and today its gone.

 

[falconbox]

ITT: People nitpicking the smallest stuff that doesn't really matter at all.

 

[Nethaniah]

ITT: People nitpicking the smallest stuff that doesn't really matter at all.

*nitpicks post*

Edit: seriously though, posting in a thread on page 44 with a responce that amounts to "you're all idiots" should be ban worthy.

 

[falconbox]

*nitpicks post*

Edit: seriously though, posting in a thread on page 44 with a responce that amounts to "you're all idiots" should be ban worthy.

I didn't just jump to this page. I actually read the majority of it over the last week or so. I agreed at the beginning, but I side with From on this one. I'd rather have lower graphic fidelity and smoother framerate than a game that would play like Blighttown the entire time.

 

[Nethaniah]

I didn't just jump to this page. I actually read the majority of it over the last week or so. I agreed at the beginning, but I side with From on this one. I'd rather have lower graphic fidelity and smoother framerate than a game that would play like Blighttown the entire time.

I never claimed you just jumped into this thread.

Also with the ps3 version in particular you get lower graphical fidelity AND lower framerate so they fucked up somewhere.

 

[Metroid-Squadron]

If it was possible within the scope, time, and experience they had/were given then it would have happened

Im not dealing in hypotheticals here.

From being incapable to achieve those results != PS3/XB360 incapable of achieving those results.

 

[Totobeni]

I didn't just jump to this page. I actually read the majority of it over the last week or so. I agreed at the beginning, but I side with From on this one. I'd rather have lower graphic fidelity and smoother framerate than a game that would play like Blighttown the entire time.

you are siding with false advertising and misleading? the major point was why they kept promoting the game using the reveal build till few weeks before the release. that what people upset about.

and on the excuse, if From showed what the game actually looked like months before and said the huge downgrade has to be done because frame rate and that they can't code on PS360 like other devs doing then no one will be mad, but they lied and kept selling the game as a thing they know it was not gonna be anything like the final version of the game.

 

[Poetic.Injustice]

Seems like some have early access to the Steam version. It's only a matter of time before we hear about it now.

We already know it's gonna be thee same as the console game.

 

[Lalalandia]

Maybe you & the rest of the people complaining non-stop throughout this thread should actual buy the game, the actual game looks amazing
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=106356191&postcount=1827

Aldia's Keep (Dragon Mansion) & Drangleic Castle (the two areas people keep posting about, on & on) are the only two areas that have this washed out lighting palette.
The rest of the game (90%) doesn't not look like that. It retains the high contrast, deep shadows people expected of the game.

There are some inconsistency in the graphics, like the Shaded Woods is easily the worst looking part of the game & looks like it was separately made compared to some of the other areas.

I feel no need to spend €60 to once again affirm that the game is not what was in the trailers, it disappoints the hell out of me as frankly light/shadow mechanics are something I was hoping would be a major part of games since Thief 1. I'm not relying on just this thread, I must have watched a dozen or more hours from various streamers and the game is clearly not on the level of the promotional material.

Aesthetically I agree that much of the game is very well designed but that's not what the thread is about, it's about the failure to honestly communicate that change prior to release. For me the best analogue is Watch_Dogs which also had a target render or PC build used to build hype on launch (and possibly again at a later E3). They also found that what they showed was unachievable on one or more of their target platforms and pulled the 'downgrade' lever. The difference is that they have released multiple videos showing that difference, I'm still going to buy that game as the gameplay sounds interesting to me (much as you love the DS2 gameplay). I'm not dissuaded from buying the game by the various gifs showing the downgrade in the worst light because what the hell they're honest about it. That attitude would probably have been shared by 90+% of all potential DS2 buyers if FROM/Namco had been as honest as Ubisoft are being (and goddam you FROM/Namco for putting me in a position to write that).

They weren't though, that sucks and releasing a non-apology is a terrible response to that. If they had just said 'Hey we stuffed up, will do better next time' I wouldn't be making garlands and singing but I'd feel I could trust tem whenever the much mooted Demons' Souls 2 rolls around.

 

[Polioliolio]

I don't understand how getting a bigger budget and a huge publisher behind their game results in a clearly rushed direct sequel.

What ever happened to delaying games? I swear they did that a lot more back in the day. Now just about everything is rushed out the door.

 

[sublimit]

They weren't though, that sucks and releasing a non-apology is a terrible response to that. If they had just said 'Hey we stuffed up, will do better next time' I wouldn't be making garlands and singing but I'd feel I could trust tem whenever the much mooted Demons' Souls 2 rolls around.

Demon's Souls 2 (or something similar) would be a much different case though since it will be published by Sony.And Sony has the money to eat the loss from delaying a game if they are going to deliver a much more polished final product.

 

[CountAntonius]

They weren't though, that sucks and releasing a non-apology is a terrible response to that. If they had just said 'Hey we stuffed up, will do better next time' I wouldn't be making garlands and singing but I'd feel I could trust tem whenever the much mooted Demons' Souls 2 rolls around.

When I asked the PR guy on the stream which of the Steam pics were from the PC version he had to go check for himself and said "I've been meaning to ask someone to update that." then a week later the other shots were removed. He was completely oblivious to the graphical changes and sounded confused. There is probably one dude at Namco in charge of all this stuff and this is probably not the only game he's covering. The trailers are usually made by an outside company. All the previews use footage and screenshots from a press site which I can confirm hasn't been updated in months. the games don't even have a release date beyond March 2014. It's a clusterfuck of miscommunication and poorly handled marketing but Id hesitate to call it an elaborate act of deceit. That's how I feel at least. Hopefully they learn from the backlash.

But now this thread has turned into a "Let's find absolutely everything wrong with this game to prove they used a B team and screwed us all with lies." It's gone off the deep end.

 

[Metroid-Squadron]

When I asked the PR guy on the stream which of the Steam pics were from the PC version he had to go check for himself and said "I've been meaning to ask someone to update that." then a week later the other shots were removed. He was completely oblivious to the graphical changes and sounded confused. There is probably one dude at Namco in charge of all this stuff and this is probably not the only game he's covering. The trailers are usually made by an outside company. All the previews use footage and screenshots from a press site which I can confirm hasn't been updated in months. the games don't even have a release date beyond March 2014. It's a clusterfuck of miscommunication and poorly handled marketing but Id hesitate to call it an elaborate act of deceit. That's how I feel at least. Hopefully they learn from the backlash.

But now this thread has turned into a "Let's find absolutely everything wrong with this game to prove they used a B team and screwed us all with lies." It's gone off the deep end.

That one guy didn't decide to create a tech demo to show off at all press events before the release of the game.

 

[CountAntonius]

That one guy didn't decide to create a tech demo to show off at all press events before the release of the game.

The retail footage has been around since Late January and it was all over the place.

Example

This footage was used for pretty much every preview used at the time.



The great looking footage below that was clearly not retail looked like some guys talking over old stock footage cause they said themselves they did not play the game but watched From. This was released on the same day. If they were trying to mislead people why show the retail build everywhere then this footage right next to it? Just doesn't make sense to me and sounds like previewers grabbing whatever they could from an outdated press site that had a mix of old and newer footage.

5 Things we learned

 

[wickfut]

The retail footage has been around since Late January and it was all over the place.

Example

This footage was used for pretty much every preview used at the time.



The great looking footage below that was clearly not retail looked like some guys talking over old stock footage cause they said themselves they did not play the game but watched From. This was released on the same day. If they were trying to mislead people why show the retail build everywhere then this footage right next to it? Just doesn't make sense to me and sounds like previewers grabbing whatever they could from an outdated press site that had a mix of old and newer footage.

5 Things we learned

Playstation Access went to Namco and played the good version in January and came back with two gameplay videos showing this. It isn't a site pulling old footage.

Listen to the video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3MdOBH-jDc

"I went to play it last week at Namco"

"This might be the bit with me playing it, that's why it's so bad.."

The youtube video header says "Rob chats to Nath about his first hands-on with Dark Souls II on PS3. Turns out it's quite difficult."

So it's either Namco pulling a fast one by showing Playstation Access the wrong version of the game or Playstation Access covering up for From by not mentioning the downgrade in graphics and performance differences between the version they played and the footage they returned with.
My money is on Namco.

 

[CountAntonius]

So it's either Namco pulling a fast one by showing Playstation Access the wrong version of the game or Playstation Access covering up for From by not mentioning the downgrade in graphics and performance differences between the version they played and the footage they returned with.
My money is on Namco.

I posted that video. I'm looking through everything I can find. The video below was a community event posted September 4th.

Community Event Trailer

I guess this was the demo they were showing on that 5 things we learned from video? Is there any video around late January time frame using the older build cause I have only been able to find that one.

Whatever the case it's fucked up and I'm not defending the end result but I'm trying to figure out if it was sloppiness or intended false advertising.

Previews Using only Retail Footage
Gamepsot
Gameriot
Outside Xbox
Eurogamer

Previews Retail and old footage mixed
Retr0J
GamesRader

Seems like the hands on everyone got was the retail footage if these videos were any indication. What i'm wondering is how the hell did nobody notice? Or did Namco preview them an old build and give them retail footage?

 

[wickfut]

Whatever the case it's fucked up and I'm not defending the end result but I'm trying to figure out if it was sloppiness or intended false advertising.

Imagine if all the promo videos showed the actual ugly console release version, but just before launch they managed to improve the graphics engine to look like the promo version. Do you think From/Namco PR would have forgot to mention their new graphics quality or do you think they'd have images of it plastered on the front page of every gaming website within minutes?
Namco/From are in this to make money, not showing the downgraded footage until right on top of release was in their best interest to make the most money.

IMO I they planned to have the game looking like the promo vids right up to the end, but nearing release they realised they'd spent too much on gimmicky marketing videos and so couldn't implement the lighting across all the levels. They took the cheap way out and turned up the ambient lighting levels across the whole game while turning off the dynamic shadows and speculars.
It wouldn't surprise me if in the future when they release some DLC , they add a "harder mode" which adds the correct darker shadows etc and brings the game closer to the promo footage.

 

[Metroid-Squadron]

This has already been said before but the footage we got in February wasn't from the same areas that had been shown in previous demos so all we could gather from that was that the game was uneven.

It was only when the game leaked and some people started doing streams that we finally found out about the truth.

 

[tengiants]

So it's either Namco pulling a fast one by showing Playstation Access the wrong version of the game or Playstation Access covering up for From by not mentioning the downgrade in graphics and performance differences between the version they played and the footage they returned with.
My money is on Namco.

What about the option where they just didn't notice because you have to be really, really, really trying to not enjoy yourself to spot these differences on your own?

 

[soldat7]

Check this out.



The names in red correspond to the cast that worked on previous Souls projects as well. That's why Dark Souls 2 feels way, way off.

Dark Souls 2 does not feel "way, way off."

I don't understand how getting a bigger budget and a huge publisher behind their game results in a clearly rushed direct sequel.

What ever happened to delaying games? I swear they did that a lot more back in the day. Now just about everything is rushed out the door.

Rushed? It's less broken than Dark Souls was upon release. It's a patch away from eternal glory.

 

[B-Genius]

If almost no one in the DS2 staff worked on the original, then I have to applaud them. The game is IMO a worthy successor to Dark Souls/Demon's Souls (both of which I've completed several times), even if it isn't quite as good overall. It has its own identity too, not just an expertly made carbon copy of its predecessors, which I really appreciate.

I feel sad for people who are just concentrating on the graphical issues instead of enjoying the game. And I just know knowing about the difference in staff is only going to make people nitpick more furiously, as if out of some weird loyalty to Myazaki's team or something.

I agree. So it's a different team, and it shows in various areas for better or worse. This is an important part of game development; allocating resources and keeping franchises fresh as they tick over. Would people rather this series was handled by one team that was forced to pump out a soulless (ahem) annual sequel? Or would you rather they try to mix up the formula by letting others with new ideas and fresh eyes have a crack at it?

It's exciting to imagine Miyazaki working on a title with most of his original DS team and Sony, but who's to say that "DS3" is not in the works in some form already? If it was, you can bet that once again it'll be comprised mostly of a different team, with a handful of people coming over to assist from previous entries.

If you can pinpoint the imperfections and rushed areas of DS2, then good for you. You must have a very keen eye and high standards. If you can enjoy it at the same time, then all the better. You must have good taste and an affinity towards challenging/interesting games. If you can extend your reach to enjoying it solely for what it is without comparing it to its predecessors or would/could haves, then I say you win outright.

 

[See You Next Wednesday]

I feel no need to spend €60 to once again affirm that the game is not what was in the trailers, it disappoints the hell out of me as frankly light/shadow mechanics are something I was hoping would be a major part of games since Thief 1. I'm not relying on just this thread, I must have watched a dozen or more hours from various streamers and the game is clearly not on the level of the promotional material.

Thing is, the light & shadow mechanics are still in the game & are still emphasized in a lot of areas.
The reused .gifs & pictures people are posting are the very worst examples of the game.

This game does have real time shadows from torches/lighting, something that DS1 didn't have at all.
That & the cloth physics on your character put it over the top from Dark Souls 1 for me.

 

[AyraSutoraifu]

More disappointed in the connection problems. I never see a summon sign.

 

[Persona7]

More disappointed in the connection problems. I never see a summon sign.

You won't see summon signs if you joined the Champions Covenent. Are you also using human effigies?

A lot of people joined that covenent at first and then complained about the game being broken but that covenent disables online play. I've also seen complaints about enemies in certain areas not attacking the character but there is a reason for that as well.

 

[_machine]

Seems like the hands on everyone got was the retail footage if these videos were any indication. What i'm wondering is how the hell did nobody notice? Or did Namco preview them an old build and give them retail footage?

I'd like to add that the Finnish Pelaaja-magazine had their preview event in mid-January on the retail-like build and only used screenshots of what looked like the retail version. So the "just weeks before launch" is not completely true, aside from the Playstation Access, which is actually very weird as it's done with footage from a build that wasn't used in any of the other previews.

said the huge downgrade has to be done because frame rate and that they can't code on PS360 like other devs doing then no one will be mad

Why on earth would anybody diminish themselves or the game publicly like that? That's just stupid, because it would have larger repercussions than any of what they've done so far has had.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

http://i.imgur.com/oPlbonG.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/6kfRNmJ.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/6ghcdDq.jpg

Looks like a PS2 game with N64 textures. Look at that flat lighting and geometry. From are liars, pre-order cancelled.

Spoiler

Am I doing this right

Here you go:

Dark Souls 2:

Dark Souls 1:

Shoutouts to boutdown!

HUGE DIFFERENCE!!... not really?

It stands out immediately: In Dark Souls your character's feet respect their relative position on the ground while in Dark Souls 2 the movement is totally independent of the surface.

It's a flat surface in one case and not the other...

I miss the original Zweihander moveset. The 2nd. hit is completely awkward now and really unpractical for most situations. It also feels lighter than DS1's Zwei.

I thought the zweihander was garbage compared to the Dragon Bone Smasher/greatsword moveset in Demon's, myself... never understood why people loved the zwei so much to be honest.

 

[Laughing Banana]

Hopefully those of you who disparage FROM at the basis of they were doing false advertising will not buy *any* version of this game, even if someday FROM releases a version that's complete with all the bells and whistles.

 

[Dahaka]

Hopefully those of you who disparage FROM at the basis of they were doing false advertising will not buy *any* version of this game, even if someday FROM releases a version that's complete with all the bells and whistles.

Most likely it'll be just another Modern Warfare situation.

http://techcrunch.com/2009/11/13/so-much-for-that-pc-version-modern-warfare-2-boycott/

 

[Laughing Banana]

Most likely it'll be just another Modern Warfare situation.

http://techcrunch.com/2009/11/13/so-much-for-that-pc-version-modern-warfare-2-boycott/

Because in my eyes, anyone that does that is a complete hypocrite.

Hopefully those who are lambasting FROM at the basis of they're doing false advertising can stay true to their words.