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[SlickShoes]

I've seen a huge amount of the game by now and I am sadly extremely disappointed by everything I have seen.

Enemies, environments and especially bosses left me completely cold. Sad, cause I was hoping FROM could top the great work they did in DS1.

Edit: I thought this was the OT,sorry. The lighting downgrade and general graphical downgrade is sad though.

I think this is something many people will experience, Dark Souls was many peoples first souls game, they didn't know what to expect the bosses seemed crushingly hard at first.

DS2 is going to be an extension of that, once you know to play the game carefully and read the bosses for basic startegy it's never going to have the WOW factor of your first souls game.

It's like first MMO syndrome, you constantly try other MMO's trying to recreate the high and wonder of your first virtual world.

 

[pupcoffee]

stop quoting that image. it's a stupid comparision, since in one the char has a lit torch and in the second he hasn't. Also, I suspect gamma is way too high on the second pic.

in any case, colors are doctored in both images (even the one I'm re-posting now). I think someone wants to demonstrate something with doctored images. personally, I'll wait to see the game for myself when I'm buying it. Because I'm buying it in any case.

This is a better comparison (as i said, i don't trust colors in neither - there's no white in the lower image and there's too much of it in the upper).
Reflections are off in the second image and it's likely that this is the only real change that's happened between versions. again, we'll see.

edit: it's also an entirely different spot. this comparision is useles once again.

I've seen both videos, they are the same spot. You might be mistaken about that because they sure as hell look different, what with the retail having seriously downgraded textures and a lower poly count in the environment, noticeably around the door. The different enemy placement might throw you off too. But I just double checked the videos to make sure, and they are definitely the same spot. And one definitely looks superior to the other - lighting wise, but where it really blows the retail version away is the amount of polys and extra detail in the environment. It's not just this one hallway - the difference widespread over the entire level and is so staggering that it makes Ground Zeroes's cross-generational differences look small time.

 

[dark10x]

How? None of this makes any sense if that's true.

It is true. The version from last August was definitely running on ps3 with the lighting effects you see in the superior shots. No PCs in sight.

 

[cascardian]

I really hope the PC version still has the obviously missing specular highlights shader. The game's environments look strangely flat without it.

 

[Vitor711]

I really hope they the PC version still has the obviously missing specular highlights shader. The game's environments looks strangely flat without them.

I know. Keeping fingers crossed that they didn't just throw away the lighting engine completely.

Either that or put it on hold until the inevitable next gen re-release. Here's hoping this is why the PC version is out in a month's time...

 

[Dwight Schrute]

Do you think any media outlet will call out FROM over this ?

 

[akira28]

I'm cised. I don't even care. I just want hi resolutions, on my PC, hurry up dammit!!

 

[zkylon]

DkS and DeS were never good looking games. They also had terrible performance issues in spots, so if the focus shifted a bit more to fixing that, good.

That said, here we go again with another developer pulling a bait and switch.

Why do they think they can get away with it? Why has it become so common place?

most cases are probably the mix of developers overextending during development and failing to accomplish what they set themselves to do and bullshots just rubbing salt in the wound

i find that hands off gameplay playthroughs nowadays are more or less proof of concepts rather than actual demos.

 

[jacksepticeye]

He doesn't have a torch in the second screenshot, it's a silly comparison.

The bump mapping and textures.

 

[sirap]

Why did they remove all the specularity out of the walls?

 

[jacksepticeye]

Why did they remove all the specularity out of the walls?

Likely for performance, yet still having problems

 

[Forkball]

Everyone's saying, "But the PC version will be better!" when in all likelihood the PC version will look the same if not worse. The PC version is not going to be some magical upgrade. SAVE US DURANTE.

 

[Klyka]

Everyone's saying, "But the PC version will be better!" when in all likelihood the PC version will look the same if not worse. The PC version is not going to be some magical upgrade. SAVE US DURANTE.

Well,it IS a magical upgrade in that we get higher res, texture filtering and 60fps at all times, so....

 

[LiK]

Do you think any media outlet will call out FROM over this ?

Maybe but I doubt it.

 

[jacksepticeye]

Everyone's saying, "But the PC version will be better!" when in all likelihood the PC version will look the same if not worse. The PC version is not going to be some magical upgrade. SAVE US DURANTE.

The sad part is you're probably right.

I'd love if they added all those lovely lights,specular,bump mapping etc. In the gap between releases but they're likely trying hard to hit the 60fps

Well,it IS a magical upgrade in that we get higher res, texture filtering and 60fps at all times, so....

Nothing magic with that stuff in a 2014 game. Should be standard

 

[YianGaruga]

Everyone's saying, "But the PC version will be better!" when in all likelihood the PC version will look the same if not worse. The PC version is not going to be some magical upgrade. SAVE US DURANTE.

This is based on what? Why would it look worse?

 

[Necromanti]

Everyone's saying, "But the PC version will be better!" when in all likelihood the PC version will look the same if not worse. The PC version is not going to be some magical upgrade. SAVE US DURANTE.

They've acknowledged their past shortcomings and claimed they were actively working on not repeating the same mistake by putting in additional effort in the PC version, so if it somehow ends up worse (which even the original PC port of Dark Souls didn't do, compared to the console versions), then something must have gone catastrophically wrong.

 

[Stone Ocean]

This is based on what? Why would it look worse?

They said the PC version of the first game would be "finely tuned to cater the PC gaming audience" and look how that turned out.

I mean I'll still buy it day one and play it even if it's a shit port, but pardon me for being cynical.

 

[rogerroger22]

Everyone's saying, "But the PC version will be better!" when in all likelihood the PC version will look the same if not worse. The PC version is not going to be some magical upgrade. SAVE US DURANTE.

Actually, it was only a minor technical tweak that unlocked how good Dark Souls looked on the PC - those textures/assets existed there from the beginning, just the resolution they were rendered at got changed.

So even if the only thing that changed between the console and PC version was the rendering of textures - that would still account for a huge graphical boost. Now, if the PC version gets more polygons, better lighting, etc - and considering that the PC was the lead development platform this time around, I don't think it's that unreasonable to think that the PC version will be looking better.

 

[big_z]

Do you think any media outlet will call out FROM over this ?

I very much doubt it. maybe if enough people ask Patrick klepek he might dig into it.

 

[YianGaruga]

They said the PC version of the first game would be "finely tuned to cater the PC gaming audience" and look how that turned out.

I mean I'll still buy it day one and play it even if it's a shit port, but pardon me for being cynical.

It still didn't look worse and in the end became the definitive version of the game.

 

[rogerroger22]

Some of the inconsistency in quality from earlier promotional videos / shots / etc had me wondering 'which of these are console, which are PC? - there are images from early trailers/screen shots that do look kind of crappy/muddy - and some that looked really great.

Either way, graphics were not the main reason why I play this game - and even the console versions did take a step down from the promotional videos, so what, I'm still hyped as hell. People bitch that games focus on graphics over gameplay all the time.

 

[Stone Ocean]

It still didn't look worse and in the end became the definitive version of the game.

It looked and ran the same, and considering some areas - hello Blighttown - that was unnaceptable.

And FROM/Namco didn't move a finger to actually make it the best version of the game. If Durante wasn't around we would've been completely fucked.

 

[TrantaLocked]

That isn't a downgrade in my opinion. The before images were really harsh looking. I think they wanted to keep the lighting style similar to Dark Souls with the change, but the dynamics look just as realistic.

 

[Stone Ocean]

That isn't a downgrade in my opinion. The before images were really harsh looking. I think they wanted to keep the lighting style similar to Dark Souls with the change, but the dynamics look just as realistic.

The lighting is the least of the issues.

 

[Sgt.Pepper]

It still didn't look worse and in the end became the definitive version of the game.

Because of the unaffiliated work of Durante. Not FROM or Namco effort(s)

 

[Griss]

I've seen both videos, they are the same spot. You might be mistaken about that because they sure as hell look different, what with the retail having seriously downgraded textures and a lower poly count in the environment, noticeably around the door. The different enemy placement might throw you off too. But I just double checked the videos to make sure, and they are definitely the same spot. And one definitely looks superior to the other - lighting wise, but where it really blows the retail version away is the amount of polys and extra detail in the environment. It's not just this one hallway - the difference widespread over the entire level and is so staggering that it makes Ground Zeroes's cross-generational differences look small time.

I had that exact same thought earlier. I'm finding it easier to tell the difference between pre and post-downgrade DS2 than I was with the cross-gen versions of Ground Zeroes. That's crazy.

 

[Kuro]

Demon's was a lot worse looking than Dark, though. Textures, animations, etc.

BUT HEY, I guess that means that when the graphics are worse, the performance is better!

Right?

I actually preferred Demon's Souls art style more and got better performance for it too so the lower graphics didn't bother me at all.

 

[-SD-]

Popcorn.gif

 

[Vitor711]

It looked and ran the same, and considering some areas - hello Blighttown - that was unnaceptable.

And FROM/Namco didn't move a finger to actually make it the best version of the game. If Durante wasn't around we would've been completely fucked.

It did not run 'the same'. It didn't take much of a PC to beat the consoles in terms of performance. The port didn't look great originally but it wasn't anywhere near as poorly optimised as you're insinuating. In fact, the only main issues were the lack of resolution options and the 30FPS cap. Big issues to be fair but it hardly ran poorly.

 

[CadetMahoney]

I've seen a huge amount of the game and am sadly extremely disappointed by everything I have seen.

The lighting downgrade and general graphical downgrade is sad.

After all the hype, trailers and general praising of the sun all that is left is ashes of the hopes I had for this game.

I'll either get this super cheap or not at all tbqh.

Do you think any media outlet will call out FROM over this ?

Nope. All silent.

 

[Minsc]

They said the PC version of the first game would be "finely tuned to cater the PC gaming audience" and look how that turned out.

I mean I'll still buy it day one and play it even if it's a shit port, but pardon me for being cynical.

I don't know, I followed the pre-release discussion over the first DS's PC port fairly actively, and that's the last impression I had from the PR.

From what little I've followed of the sequel, my general impression is they admit the first port sucked, and this one will not be handled in the same manner.

 

[Seance]

It is actually despicable how they handled this. Pushing on about how great the graphics are, having people play the build with great lighting and releasing the build as a demo for thousands to play. Then at the last minute switch that shit out and act like its no big deal. Some of the scummiest shit i have ever seen. Dark Souls 1 PC was awful but this shit is fucking sinister. EA would be impressed.

 

[Fallout-NL]

After all the hype, trailers and general praising of the sun all that is left is ashes of the hopes I had for this game.

Have faith, even if it's not as amazing an achievement as DS1, it'll still be a heck of a lot better than most other games.

 

[Servbot24]

Do you think any media outlet will call out FROM over this ?

"Latest scandal: As FROM developed their latest game, they adjusted some of the assets!"

Not really a hot scoop.

 

[double jump]

I hope someone with the resources brings this up to From or Namco Bandai.

Even if there's nothing they can do to fix it I at least want them to acknowledge the issue.

They've been very upfront about the frame rate and pc issues in the past.

or hopefully a mega patch comes that makes us all look ridiculous.

 

[ClearData]

While disappointing, I'm not really playing Dark Souls for the graphics.

As long as the gameplay is as superb as I am used to I'll be content.

 

[Dwight Schrute]

Is it possible that the disk version was pressed a long time ago / with an older build, and a patch is incoming ? I remerber Demon souls had the shadows patched in later on.

 

[explodet]

I keep skimming past the title, misreading lighting as lightning and keep thinking "They nerfed lightning weapons in DS2? What a shame."

 

[double jump]

While disappointing, I'm not really playing Dark Souls for the graphics.

As long as the gameplay is as superb as I am used to I'll be content.

I mean that's cool but are you seriously ok with false advertising ?

I keep skimming past the title, misreading lighting as lightning and keep thinking "They nerfed lightning weapons in DS2? What a shame."

they did in the first game and I still beat gwyns punk ass sl1.

 

[epmode]

So this is a downgrade even from the multiplayer beta? Incredible.

 

[Stone Ocean]

I don't know, I followed the pre-release discussion over the first DS's PC port fairly actively, and that's the last impression I had from the PR.

From what little I've followed of the sequel, my general impression is they admit the first port sucked, and this one will not be handled in the same manner.

I still want to believe the PC version will look like the initial reveal - or at least the beta - but I've been hurt too many times to love again

 

[archos]

Fucking bullshit. Kinda regretting my preorder now.

This is why you never pre-order games. It's bad for you and the industry as a whole.

 

[Servbot24]

I mean that's a cool but are you seriously ok with false advertising ?

He's probably just not new to gaming.

 

[Facism]

It is actually despicable how they handled this. Pushing on about how great the graphics are, having people play the build with great lighting and releasing the build as a demo for thousands to play. Then at the last minute switch that shit out and act like its no big deal. Some of the scummiest shit i have ever seen. Dark Souls 1 PC was awful but this shit is fucking sinister. EA would be impressed.

Yeh it's pretty slimy.

 

[pupcoffee]

Is it possible that the disk version was pressed a long time ago / with an older build, and a patch is incoming ? I remerber Demon souls had the shadows patched in later on.

Who knows. I've read reports that the good visuals are still present during real time cutscenes like the boss intros, but honestly have no clue what that really means. Maybe the lighting will still be salvageable by PC modders.

 

[EvilKatarn]

Is it possible that the disk version was pressed a long time ago / with an older build, and a patch is incoming ? I remerber Demon souls had the shadows patched in later on.

The current version seems too deliberate for that to be viable. It could happen but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Also I'm enjoying seeing all the "pre-order cancelled" posts. Not because I want this game to sell bad, but because I really don't think you should be playing FROM games if you care that deeply about graphics and performance. I could hear my 360 wanting to die over barely managing to render the mess that is Armored Core V onto the screen, but it absolutely is a game unlike any other.
As someone said earlier, this was not a decision to spit in players' faces. It's either because of technical reasons we are not aware about or because Bandai Namco really wants you to buy some next gen version of this game.

 

[Lulubop]

I don't know, I followed the pre-release discussion over the first DS's PC port fairly actively, and that's the last impression I had from the PR.

From what little I've followed of the sequel, my general impression is they admit the first port sucked, and this one will not be handled in the same manner.

Pretty much,

 

[ittoryu]

While disappointing, I'm not really playing Dark Souls for the graphics.

As long as the gameplay is as superb as I am used to I'll be content.

Agreed, this is what I was looking for in the game and (until now, after about 6-8 hours) I'm not disappointed.

 

[Shinjica]

The current version seems too deliberate for that to be viable. It could happen but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Also I'm enjoying seeing all the "pre-order cancelled" posts. Not because I want this game to sell bad, but because I really don't think you should be playing FROM games if you care that deeply about graphics and performance. I could hear my 360 wanting to die over barely managing to render the mess that is Armored Core V onto the screen, but it absolutely is a game unlike any other.
As someone said earlier, this was not a decision to spit in players' faces. It's either because of technical reasons we are not aware about or because Bandai Namco really wants you to buy some next gen version of this game.

No one has blocked them for telling us that the final version will not have the lighting shown in the beta/E3