It would be a mild understatement to say I was a fan of From Software’s critically acclaimed RPG Demon’s Souls. While From Software isn’t exactly creating a sequel it’s apparent that Dark Souls is Demon’s Souls with a slightly new skin. Hit the break to view our first impressions of Dark Souls.
At first glance it wouldn’t be far-fetched to assume Dark Souls is a minor upgrade, however there’s a ton of nice adjustments I was able to pick out from the short demo. First, while the user interface in general has the same structure, it happens to blend with the overall art style. I think this is a great alternative rather than just removing the entire heads-up display. Other improvements include more life-like animations and a decent graphical upgrade; the improvement to lighting and shadows is also worth mentioning.
At its core, much from Demon’s Souls remains unchanged from a gameplay standpoint. Parrying is the key to staying alive, along with well-timed rolls. One of the new additions I saw from the demo was the ability to do a long jump in the middle of a sprint. At first, I didn’t really understand this mechanic, however I soon learned it’s invaluable for catapulting yourself past troublesome foes, and it’s also not a bad way to give you a bit more speed around the environment. I also noticed the blocking is much more effective with a two-handed sword then it was in Demon’s Souls.
It’s really hard to find a ton of differences between both products, however to be fair a demo can’t properly demonstrate that. Whether it’s a bigger emphasis on more punishing enemies, or verticality in the environments; Dark Soul’s looks to be a solid improvement, to an already stellar experience. Dark Souls is set to release later this year for Xbox 360 and PS3.
