With the dawn of Dark Souls' new "I Am Undone" trailer, it's clear that fans have grown a lot of different theories and expectations from the excitement.
The first thing we noticed is that the area shown at the beginning of the trailer appears to be the same as the one shown in the gameplay demo. This includes the environment and enemies. In this area, a very turtle-like enemy appears and executes what we believe to be a backstab animation on the player, which specifically targets the player's knee – a mace is a bit bigger than an 'arrow'…
Next, we noticed that a bonfire in the demo appeared to have something falling onto it. Whether this is a good or a bad thing we don't know, but something tells us that its related to covenants. We were going to say magic, but honestly, that's just insurmountably broad. This is one aspect of the trailer that could be the subject of speculation for many weeks to come.
Another interesting aspect of the trailer came in the form of a "Crystal Knight." His armor is broken, giving viewers a short glimpse inside. This reveals that the knight is wielding what we believe to be the Elite Knight set. He's also got some sort of spear, as well as a greatshield. That said, we can't put a name to either the shield or the spear.
One small thing we picked up on is that the player's character now sprints with his head down. It looks a bit more realistic, and while we can't say that this is the result of a ring or power, it's probably just a new animation added by the team at From Software. We don't think you should look into this much past its aesthetic value.
Another cool screenshot shows the player taking a literal stab at his opponent. While this isn't that amazing in and of itself, the blood efects and sparks created by the blow are. The blood looks more realistic, though the sparks may simply be floating ashes created by the nearby fire.
This was probably the coolest screenshot we uncovered, though. It depicts what may be a new mechanic in the world of Dark Souls – dismemberment. While the original Demons Souls trailer showed this same feature, it was in a CGI format. This trailer was almost assuredly made in-game. While we can't say for sure if this is something that will be in Dark Souls 2, it is certainly a welcome prospect.
Dark Souls 2 releases in March of 2014.
Via DarkTruth159 and Geoffrey44