From Software on Dark Souls II’s Graphics Downgrade

There’s been a lot of talk concerning the graphical quality difference before Dark Souls II’s pre-release materials (which, aside from an overall different atmosphere and larger emphasis on the torch mechanics, showcased a title with significantly higher quality lighting and post-processing effects) and the retail version, enough to convince From Software to issue a brief, non-commital statement on the situation:

“Throughout the game development process, a game is constantly being balanced not only in game playability, but also in the realm of resource management,) From told MCV.

(A developer is always challenged with creating the most rewarding gaming experience while delivering continuity in graphical quality, gameplay dynamics, and balance within the game. The final version of Dark Souls II displays the culmination of this delicate balance and we’re very proud of the positive media and fan reception for the game.)

That’s not exactly forthcoming, but according to an undisclosed source close to development cited by Forbes’ contributor Erik Kain, the real reason the title has downgraded visuals in the final release is because of the difficulty the developers had getting their new engine running at an acceptable framerate on consoles:

(This is what it comes down to: a playable framerate. The early builds that the screenshots came from were playable but only just so. The game was not in a state where it could be sold at that point. I strongly suspect that they were focusing heavily on delivering a top-notch experience on PC and underestimated the challenges the new systems would pose on PS3 / Xbox360. That’s my analysis, anyway. But, factually, the early builds played like Blighttown the entire game.

(I sincerely don’t think they intended to deceive, but in the end they sacrificed a huge amount of graphical fidelity at the very end of development because they couldn’t resolve the framerate in any other way. They had to promote the game with screens and trailers, but at that time even they had no idea they were going to have to drop the settings so much, I suspect.

(I want people to know the truth. I know a lot of people just feel lied to, but I think the reality is a bit different. It doesn’t mean they handled it properly, but I think they made the only decision they COULD make in the end. The game would have been much worse without the change (as in, many would call it unplayable and broken.))

As far as I know this is the only publication (although I suppose “blog” would be more correct) that cites this source directly, and Kain doesn’t really have much of a history concerning rumors and insider scoops (that’s not to say he’s intentionally deceiving here, but there’s no track record to check against), so I wouldn’t really take it as gospel, but it certainly makes some sense, especially considering the rather erratic (but playable) framerate in the final title.