Ben-DutkaThe two new directors for Dark Souls 2 may be getting under the skin of hardcore gamers, especially those who adored the first title.
While it certainly makes sense from a business standpoint, making the upcoming sequel more "accessible" sounds suspiciously like a "catering to the mainstream" approach, which is precisely the opposite of the appeal of Dark Souls .
But let's see what the fans have to say. Maybe it's not an issue at all. In speaking to Edge , Dark Souls 2 director Tomohiro Shibuya said he wants the new production to be a "good introduction" to newcomers:
"Accessibility to players who haven’t picked up Dark Souls is definitely a key topic. Right in the beginning when players first pick up the game is something that I will definitely focus on. To not immediately throw them into Dark Souls but provide a good introduction in terms of what the game’s about and how the game should be played.
Hopefully that adjustment at the very beginning of the game will help draw in players and get them addicted right away without immediately making players feel rejected [by] the game system itself."
Okay, so maybe it's just more about informing players via tutorials and hints, which doesn't necessarily mean the core difficulty will be easier. Basically, he's just saying it was too hard to get really involved in Dark Souls and that he wants to make things a bit more clear, as he stated here-
"Making it more accessible to players is something that I want to express… I will follow the same concept as Dark Souls, but there were a lot of hidden story elements that some players may not have caught before and I’m hoping to make some of that a little bit more clear or directly expressed to the player as well."
The word "accessible" is definitely being used a lot in describing Dark Souls 2 , but maybe it's all in how you interpret it, and what the team means by it. What do you say? Do you have a problem with "accessible?"
Related Game(s): Dark Souls II