Project Dark Gets a Name Change - And Now A Trailer!
Back in 2009, we awarded Demons Souls our coveted Game of the Year award for its amazing gameplay, unforgiveable mechanics, and memorable atmosphere. During the Tokyo Game Show 2010, From Software, the developers of Demons Souls, announced that they were working on a new game that was tentatively titled Project Dark. It had a lot of the same traits as their previous title, so much so that gamers just rolled their eyes -- as if this game could be called anything other than a sequel.
What we now know today is that From Software has finally announced the real name, and that is Dark Souls. Though the game does not have any actual connections whatsoever to Demons Souls in terms of story or place, it still looks and plays very much like the original. However, the world is much larger this time around. Instead of a single base of operations where you can take on different missions, the story takes place in one giant, seamless area, and you will find many different smaller safezones where you'll be tasked to eradicate the many different monsters you will come across.
One thing of note is that you will no longer have the ability to choose different jobs, not that the system was used that much anyway - expert players tended to make hybrid classes to stay on top of the competition regardless. In its place are more weapons, items, and magical abilities to better suit your fighting style. Character creation will also be deeper by offering more customization options, which hopefully translates to your guy or gal not looking all fugly as hell.
Online gameplay will also make a return, although dedicated servers will not be a part of it (may be due to the fact that this will also be on the Xbox 360 and the developers probably want cross-platform play). Features like Soul Tendency (which moved the world to blacker or whiter, changing the difficulty of the monsters) will not be making the cut, but players will still be able to partake in cooperative and competitive gameplay so they won't feel entirely alone during their journeys. You will also still be able to leave blood messages for people to read and see the ghosts of your comrades.
Of course, with this spiritual successor comes a higher degree of difficulty. From Software has promised that players will have an even harder time navigating the more complex terrain, and bosses will be far cheaper than ever before. Based on the number of people that winded up destroying their controllers before they even finished the tutorial boss fight, it will be interesting to see the types of reactions we will see in the first hour of this game.
Namco Bandai Games will be handling the publishing duties in place of Atlus this time around, and wants to get the game out on store shelves for both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in Europe, America, and Japan by the end of the year. If you would like to check out some screenshots of the game in action, please visit the source link below for Famitsu's exclusive coverage of Dark Souls.
UPDATE: We also now have for you the very first trailer for this exciting game, and a gallery of images to peruse. Have a look below!
