According to a press release, Dark Souls II won't just feature a new story, new hero, and new world. It will also have a new director. The upcoming sequel, a surprise announcement at the 2012 Video Game Awards, will no longer have series creator Hidateki Miyazaki as the helm, instead putting the game under the direction of his From Software colleague Tomohiro Shibuya. Miyazaki, will remain as a supervisor on the project, says of the game:
"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."
In addition to these fresh features, the multiplayer will also see some changes, though to what extent is unclear; "a revamped server-based multiplayer mode", one that will no doubt retain Dark Soul's unique characteristics, is all that's been revealed. The game is expected on Xbox 360, PC, and PS3 though as Kotaku points out, no next generation consoles have been mentioned.
Dark Souls II's publisher Namco, for their part, agrees that Dark Souls will retain its roots. In two words: "unrelenting challenge".
