A patch for Dark Souls 2 that included some new story elements and gameplay tweaks was released yesterday, but if you’re interested in the additional improvements that will come to the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and the new DX11-based PC versions, which are being released with the subtitle: Scholar of the First Sin, you might want to read the coverage that we have rounded up.
First of all, Bandai Namco has pushed out a trailer, titled “Forlorn Hope”, narrated by the titular Scholar:
“We revised the enemy placement completely for all maps in the game,” Yoshimura says. “This new enemy placement completely changes the gameplay experience. All those safe zones that players remember from the original Dark Souls 2 are no longer safe. Players need to come up with a new battle strategy.”
In addition to different enemies in different locations and enemies from the DLC making their way into the core game’s zones, Yoshimura says that enemy AI has been improved across the board. More dense packs of enemies have been placed in some areas, and they’ll now track players for much longer, effectively ending the strategy of just running past less bad guys.
If that doesn’t sound challenging enough, From Software has also come up with a new enemy named “The Forlorn.” Like some other non-player characters in Dark Souls 2, the Forlorn is an “invasion NPC” a computer-controlled opponent that pops into your game in the same terrifying way as a real-life PvP opponent. Unlike other invasion NPCs, though, the Forlorn can and will show up at multiple points throughout the game, hunting the player mercilessly.
Yoshimura credits the fan patch that came out just after the original game’s release as inspiration for their graphical update work.
(I know that some players online have released an unofficial patch,) he said. (That was an awesome patch! Even guys from From Software like one week after we released the game the patch was already available we were so surprised. We really considered letting those guys online do our official patch.)
DirectX 11 also enables the increase of online players as well as new enemy placements. While less visible than graphical updates, new placements bring a freshness and more challenges for those that have already played the original.
Yoshimura says that the team at From Software approached this rerelease from a director’s cut perspective. Going back in allowed them to optimize enemy placement and AI, though their work made for some pretty big changes in the end. He says that this alone makes Scholar of the First Sin a completely new gameplay experience.
The team’s gone back to tweak multiplayer, increasing the number of players in a group from four to six, but From Software purposfully left out one feature that some fans have been asking for: messaging and direct communication. Yoshimura explains why. “Although we will let players easily match up with friends, we’re not going to let players directly communicate with other players. It’s hard to come up with specific examples, but we’re doing our best and we want to reflect all of the feedback from fans so long as it’s not against the philosophy of the Dark Souls franchise that makes it so unique.”
While it’s clear that From Software listens to its fans, judging by the recent update and other changes coming in Scholar of the First Sin, that doesn’t mean the developers are willing to sacrifice their vision for the game just to please everyone. According to Yoshimura, it’s a habit that jeopardizes the quality of some games, although he wouldn’t mention which he had in mind. “I’m not going to list specific titles, but I’ve seen a lot of titles that tried to reflect all of the feedback from fans and the actual product they come up with is like trash.”
Of course, Scholar of the First Sin also packs in the visual improvements you’d expect from a new-gen port: The PS4, Xbox One, and DirectX 11 PC versions will all look noticeably better than the original, with the console editions running at a promised 60 frames per second in 1080p. (Markov said that the DirectX 11 version will also look better than the player-created graphics mods currently available.) Playing on PS4, the new, prettier lighting and particle effects are immediately striking, with the former sending warm-looking, dusky rays of sunlight filtering through the forest’s Scaffolding and Cardinal Tower areas. It’s not a big jump the characters and familiar environments don’t look any different but it’s a clear one.
Traversing around a dilapidated castle, I came across a skeleton with light armor that was just sitting there harmlessly, so I decided to smack him awake. I could hear someone behind me whispering, (He shouldn’t have done that,) and within a minute I watched my first death transpire. The (harmless) skeleton came at me with such rage that I could only wonder what I did to him in a previous life. The developer that was standing there let me go for a little while longer in this same area, but finally led me to an easier part of the level to get a better feel for the game, and I gladly thanked him.
GameSpot and IGN have also published their graphic comparisons. Overall, it’s clear that the improvements are pretty minor from the perspective of a player of the original PC version:
YouTube Dave “DaveControlLive” Klein interviewed global producer Atsuo Yoshimura, who confirmed that Bandai Namco intends to offer a discount to owners of the current version of the game on PC, though pricing strategy are still being worked out:
Klein also offered some impressions via another video:
Finally, we conclude with another YouTuber, “VaatiVidya”, who offers some impressions on the updated enemy and item placement and improved graphics based on a generous amount of time spent with the re-release:
Overall, the impression I’m getting is that this re-release mostly targets new players and the small segment of hardcore fans who hasn’t had enough of Dark Souls II. The updated enemy placement looks interesting (though I’m not thrilled at the idea of enemies chasing me through fog gates), but it seems unlikely to drastically alter the game’s balance and flow.
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