Austin and I got some hands on time with Namco Bandai’s upcoming death simulator Dark Souls II and I for one couldn’t get enough of it. This new entry in the Souls series looks to have everything people loved about both Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls combined, along with a few new tricks up its sleeve.
I decided to play my demo using the Warrior class that’s been prominent in the games’ advertising this far, think the Knight from Dark Souls and you have an idea of how he feels. The demo I played, which was the same one available at TGS, started me off in what appeared to be a dank dungeon and it wasn’t long before I had my finger firmly placed on the Block button just like old times. It has been quite a few months since my time with Dark Souls so right after my first encounter with an enemy I accidentally wasted most of my live giving Estus Flasks and what a mistake that was. It wasn’t long before I was just another corpse in an area already littered with them.
Those worried that Dark Souls II was going to be an easy affair, fret not because From Software has brought back one of the most challenging aspects of Demon’s Souls. When you die you don’t come back with full health but with a 25% decrease in your health bar, this percentage will actually double each time you die so if your not careful and don’t recover your soul, you’ll be in a heap of trouble before you can blink.
After playing through the demo I was able to snag an interview with J. Kartje, Community Manager for Namco Bandai America and overall cool dude, where we got to talk about the upcoming release. Check out the video below!