The recent announcement of Dark Souls II has been a mixture of emotions. A sequel to the famously difficult RPG that stole our hearts only last year? Amazing. A new creative direction that might threaten its careful balance of tantilizing allure? Not so much. Fans are understandably wary as Hidetaka Miyazaki, the series mastermind, steps down to make way for Tomohiro Shibuya to take the series on a new path.
In a new interview with 4Gamer, the two touch briefly on this development, confirming their mutual dedication to keep the game focused on its roots. Citing Shibuya's prior experience, Miyazaki asserts that Dark Souls II is in good hands, saying:
“As far as being a developing games, Mr. Shibuya has far more experience than I do…He understands exactly what it takes to do a great job and we’re on the same page regarding where we’d like to take the Dark Souls franchise. I fully trust him and his judgment.”
Shibuya also affirms his dedication to making much-needed updates to the graphics of Dark Souls, and how he will approach the improvements, saying, :
“Rather than focusing on shading and lighting technologies, I believe that having a more realistic atmosphere while showing better details of the monsters and their expressions would definitely have a bigger impact.”
The rest of the interview is a mixture of details new and old: Dark Souls II will rely on the same style of map, and will not be open world. It will not be a direct sequel, but it will be take place in the same world (though in a new area with different characters). It will be "slightly larger" than its predecessor but Shibuya aims to have completion time around the same as the original. As previously reported, the game will have its own server, a decision made by Miyazaki (who has taken on a supervisor-like role) during the creative process. He also has nixed DLC, likely an effort to stay true to the original, a goal that Shibuya seems on board with:
“My concept is to get Dark Souls and what made it great, and give it a major upgrade.”
