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[DemWalls]

The latest issue of Edge has a cover story about this game. This is shamelessly taken from another site (I hope it's not an issue), but I think this is shaping up to be very interesting. The potential is there.

- When they started developing the game, Hexworks set out to create 'Dark Souls 4.5'; while they "braced for impact" when Elden Ring came out, they didn't try to course-correct on the game they always wanted to make

- This is a dream project for many of the developers; said they "stopped their successful careers to work on it"

- The connections with the first game will be tenuous

- The game is much larger than its predecessor, and completely interconnected: "Every level branches out into other levels, like a T-shaped intersection, and every three levels loop back into each other. It's like a chain of pretzels"
- The art direction is conceived as a mix of European gothic horror, medieval fantasy and cosmic horror

- The cosmic horror elements are related to the Umbral, the limbo between death and the afterlife that can be seen in the trailers. From an art perspective its inspirations are, among others, HR Giger, Zdzisław Beksiński and surrealist sculptor and performance artist Olivier de Sagazan

- The lantern the player character is equipped with allows to stare into the Umbral from the living world, as well as to escape from it should you enter it.

- You can accept death and reset the world like in a traditional Souls game, leaving the currency you lost at the point you fell and returning to the rest site visited most recently, or decide to descend into the Umbral as a sort of second chance, searching for unique treasure and then seeking out a 'totem' that slides you back to reality. In this world, however, healing items are less effective and an insanity meter fills if you stay in too long.

- The Umbral can also be accessed through a 'deathwish' ritual that induces a kind of penalty-free demise, since there are items and loot that can only be found there

- The architecture of the real world and the Umbral interact with each other; for example, a chasm in the real world may be bridged in the Umbral, and even when living you could raise the lantern, which shows the Umbral overlaid on the real world as a kind of portal, and as long as the lantern shows the way, you could cross that bridge

- TLotF is a game about "observation and detective work", in which gaps and dead ends should encourage further investigation. As in games such as Soul Reaver, changes in a world may open new paths in the other

- While smaller Umbral denizens cower from the lamp, larger ones may actually reach through the light and drag you to the other side

- There are 9 starting classes to choose from at the moment (the number may change in the final release), and this choice may have an effect on how deeply you need to become acquainted with the Umbral - a necromancer can hardly avoid it
- The game's equivalent of the bonfires, called 'anchors', appear only sparsely at fixed locations, but their number can be increased by crafting them and placing them as you see fit. Their crafting materials can only be looted from Umbral enemies, however, and they wear out with use and can also be destroyed if found by enemies

- During the first playthrough, there will be fast travel between anchors and the hub area, but in New Game+ there will be no permanent anchors, and the warping functionality will be restricted

- Co-op play will be untethered and seamless, so partners will stay connected as long as they want: if you die, you switch to a spectator mode until a companion resurrects you

- There are three factions in the game, and depending on your alignment you will receive a specific currency that can be exchanged at shrines for items and equipment, but the most precious gear will remain out of reach until the combined playerbase donates enough currency to unlock the higher tiers - "We're looking for players to organize themselves, and start all grinding together as a community"

- There will be crossplay between PC and consoles

 

[Kurotri]

Yeah...I'm in. Sounds super exciting. Normally I'm not really a fan of other studios' attempts at recreating From's games, but Lies of P and this have me interested.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

Hopefully we can turn off crossplay and have console only...

 

[Mr Hyde]

First game was rough but it had its moments. This new game seems to build off on the good parts of it while adding a whole new flavor to it. It really sounds good when you read all those tidbits. Very excited to see more. I hope it delivers and not stumble through the gate.

 

[R6Rider]

Never finished the first one, but this one has me very interested.

 

[Ghost of Caelid]

Into my viens. Post Elden Ring straight steal from the game. Remove most directional elements and just let me exist.

 

[FoxMcChief]

I enjoyed my time with the first game. I will give this a chance when it inevitably hits game pass.

 

[Aion002]

"Co-op play will be untethered and seamless, so partners will stay connected as long as they want: if you die, you switch to a spectator mode until a companion resurrects you"

 

[Rendered Tangent]

Could never really get into the original.

It was very clunky and quite difficult, if memory serves.

 

[spawn]

I didn't like the 1st one. I've beaten every dark souls and bloodborne, but could not beat Lords of the Fallen

 

[nikos]

I'm in for the co-op.

 

[Dynasty8]

I have a good feeling about this one.

 

[Isa]

I'm just glad its longer and more fleshed out. I also dig the cosmic horror stuff and noticed the design straight away in the trailer. I might bite on this one.

 

[remember_spinal]

lets see the actual game though, i dont care about this.

I feel like we got months of just people talking about how ambitious and big callisto was and the actual game was a let down

 

[fart town usa]

I'm so down for some Soulslike coop. This one has recently entered my radar, hope they nail it.

 

[Myths]

Umbral, Limbo, Living world, Souls, same stuff different name. Somewhat interesting concept to actually make the meaning of these things tie-in mechanically with game design.

 

[abstract alien]

Having an interconnected world is one of the fastest ways to get money out of my pocket.

 

[Hot5pur]

Really liked the first game.
This sounds quite interesting. Elden Ring was a nice change of pace after the souls games started getting stale, but even it was limited in how much it mixed up the formula (notably open world + horse). I don't feel the souls formula has evolved yet, perhaps this game will do it.

 

[semiconscious]

This is a dream project for many of the developers; said they "stopped their successful careers to work on it"...

why did i suddenly start hearing dark, ominous music when i read this?...

 

[March Climber]

"Co-op play will be untethered and seamless, so partners will stay connected as long as they want: if you die, you switch to a spectator mode until a companion resurrects you"

That detail reminds me of Remnant and I liked the resurrect mechanics in that game. This all sounds promising.

 

[VeganElduderino]

I really like the Bloodborne style of graphics , just for that i'm interested

 

[j0hnnix]

After the announcement , I went back to lotf and oh boy... damn the trailer was so bad ass. It has my attention but I'll wait to see how it turns out before dipping in.