‘Dark Souls’To Be 1.5 Times Larger, Probably 1500 Times Harder» MTV Multiplayer

People seem to be unimaginably excited for From Software's"Demon's Souls"not-sequel,"Dark Souls."Have we collectively forgotten the indescribable frustration of being killed over and over again by powerful monsters and wicked in-game player notes? There are new details to share on the game, compliments of a developer interview, from which we can take away one important point:"Dark Souls"is bigger.

"For simplicity of explanation, as compared to Demon's Souls, the map will be approximately 1.5 times the size. It may feel even bigger to the players,"director Hitaka Miyazaki told1UP."To clearly pose a sense of achievement to the players, we will most likely maintain the 'one map plus boss' format. However, the game will not completely be structured in this way."

He also explained how"side quests won't be stated as specific quests,"but rather as"small events to encourage players to create their own mini-objectives."There won't be"hidden"areas, but players will be encouraged to explore each of the more open maps thoroughly in order to discover their secrets.

Miyazaki steered clear of revealing any specific gameplay details. Weapon customization will be back, but there are going to be some changes. The same goes for the game's class-based structure. He did drop one hint in that regard."For 'Dark Souls,' we will most likely not call the initial character settings and equipping 'classes.'"

It's mostly big-picture talk overall. Like"Demon's Souls,"a heavy narrative focus will be downplayed in favor of letting players' actions create a story of their own as they progress through the game. Miyazaki also spoke a little bit about how the online functionality in"Dark Souls"might work now that the game is coming to Xbox 360, with it's subscription-based online features, as well as PlayStation 3.

"We will make sure we create the game to be enjoyable offline as well, and so even if players can not play online, this should not be an issue,"he said."This game will use a new network system which does not utilize a specific server. We plan to provide a new online experience using this new method."

More details will have to wait, at least until GDC next week but probably until E3 this summer. Of course, the game is set for release later this year which means we'll all find out ourselves soon enough.

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