Dark Souls II will be 'more understandable'

I would like to see more of what Demon's Souls was good at...more difficulty...more complex and mysterious yet logical and accurate stats, abilities, and items to decipher. I like realizing they had stats for everything, even stats you don't see, like poise. I would like the combat to likewise follow suit with these new abilities, new attacks, and new stats and become increasingly more complex. More mysterious atmosphere with top tier voice acting for every NPC. That was Dark Souls biggest weakness in comparison to demon's souls and the weakness of many successful games, they don't improve on what they were good at. There were so few new moves or attacks between the two. The mechanics were virtually the same. It was great that they gave a larger world to explore which was one aspect of an improvement of demon's souls, but also give more spells, more complexity, kind of like how castlevania improved in castlevania 3, there was a huge change in the battle mechanics of the three new characters you could play, while retaining the old stuff too or how WoW constantly adds new moves to its basic classes. I don't want them to lose what is already good. Just be more creative and add to it.

also they should get rid of cheats, like the one where you can make those guys fall off the cliff and harvest souls. I don't know why but having these cheats is tempting, and once I take that cheat, it kind of kills the game for me. Is that true for anyone else?

Hidetaka Miyazaki said "WTF?. You want to do WHAT?" And he left. Easy mode will kill the Souls franchise and... everyone knows it. WHY From Software doesn't. $$$$$ oh right.

The ONLY thing that needs changed is the online system.

Make it so I can TALK to my allies and invite my friends.....

Does Shibuya not realize making Diablo 3 "more accessible"  with BS like auction houses and what not ruined the beloved diablo series for many. Making the first few levels easier? I thought the first few levels WERE easier. Just like in Demon's Souls, the first few shrines and bosses were way easy...then you get to level 4 and yourealize you actually have to watch your step...it actually feels perilous and you can fall to your death as you go through the goblin catacombs, so you play seriously and walk and tread slowly because you respect the game. not like other games where you can run full speed most of the time. I'm so annoyed at this Shibuya guy, his terrible comments and the art is not that impressive either. a mummy and a skeleton on a chariot. The regular mob in Demon's souls were crazy...like the flayer (squid face wizard) and the ball of hands and feet. i don't know why those weren't in DS 2? plus the bosses were awesome ornstein, smough, spider chick, the moth both etc...

 For Christmas I want a better more invested story worthy of the best RPG combat game ever, with more humans, and human themes and philosophy involved (compassion, honor, love, vengeance) and more story choices with multiple endings including the choice of a heroic not so sad ending as well as an evil ending and a love story, that could alone (w/o the excellent combat) motivate DS2 players to play through again to see the alternate endings based on these various choices. These endings should be based on complex choices and not at all like the awful cheesy endings in Fallout based on single actions in the game.

As long as they fix the way it tells the story i'm in, i mean i'm all for open lores and stuff, but there is a difference between mystery and just not wanting to tell the full story just for the sake of it.

The only thing that needed to be more understandable in Dark Souls was the upgrading.  Titanite and Embers and such were needlessly confusing.

Tomohiro Shibuya. please fire this guy. Not only does he make inconsiderate stupid remarks about our beloved game, his only experience is Resident Evil Outbreak. That's bad!! Lets get a petition going. We can't let a guy with no credibility handle dark souls 2. Why is Hidetaka Miyazaki stepping down? We need to find someone who's designed some really good games. or make him feel the pressure of how good and great this game is and how many people will be cranky if he screws this up...he seems so clueless about RPG and fantasy lore in his interview. Why is he "learning" everything from Miyazaki? this game needs like the top experienced designers who know a lot about this stuff. Please come back and be the director Hidetaka Miyazaki!!

And the big shitting of a great game comes!!! How the ffff he can do this? there are so many people out there, including me, who are still thinking about stuff in the game, connections,creatures and so many more things!!!! The story, that made you really think through the lines.build logical schemes was one of the main advanteges of Demo's and Dark Souls. Maybe someone will even write a book about this incredible world. But nooo, new director - and let's shit everything up! let us be like all the other dumb devs that put everything up on the front. You just walk and pick it up. No need to work on it hard'as Demon's and Dark souls did. I DON'T WANT THAT !!!! You hear,Shibuya? Do you f***ing hear me????????????!!!!!!

The one thing I hope they do is re-vamp dual-wielding.  I run with lightweight, high dex build characters and lean more towards dagger usage.  It would be nice to have some kind of bonus to dual-wielding because at the moment there is none except the fact that daggers are lighter than shields.  You can't hit any faster than you normally would with just one dagger, and parrying is at most (with a parrying dagger) on par with a small shield.  For now only the gold tracer offers any decent alternative offensive options when placed in the off hand but you also lose the ability to parry.  For going ballsy and choosing to lose more on the defensive side of things by dropping the shield, I would like to see some type of reward in offense and/or maneuvering.

Maybe he means it will have a story to something of a dragon age or final fantasy?

I think everyone's worried because it seems like this next installment in the series was announced so quickly.  Take a look at that announcement trailer. It still feels like Demons/Dark Souls.  The 2 Soul games have a certain feel to them.  I'm not too concerned, the trailer filled me with dread...which is what this series is supposed to do.

We need an exclusive interview with Miyazaki to tell us why he isn't directing. If it is his decision I'm sure we will be fine as he most likely has a good reason for this... but if it's a decision ultimately from the higher ups, this is DEFINITELY concerning and could spell the end of the soul series altogether.? I've seen great games like starcraft and diablo die out so please for the love of god I hope they don't destroy this series!

I'm a huge fan of Fromsoftware's "Souls" series and am excited, but also a little nervous about the next installment. It would have been nice if they called it something other than Dark Souls 2 (Dead Souls seems to have been on a lot of people's minds). I'm a bit sceptical of the lead director turning over the reigns and a lot of new people having imput. I'm afraid they may remove some of the "weirdness" (which is what I love most because it is so unusual) and try to make it a more "easily accessible" title that anyone can just "pick up and play" (which makes no sense for an rpg).

At the same time, I'm under the impression that Fromsoftware pays attention to their fans' opinions. For example, they didn't nickel and dime us like the terrible crap we saw with Mass Effect  (kill yourself, EA & Bioware or whoever is responsible for that Scrooge McDuck move). Demon's Souls was one of the more strange titles that I enjoyed and Dark Souls kept much of that same feel. The first was brutally difficult, while Dark Souls was slightly more forgiving. I think the slight ease in difficulty was understandable, but I don't want each installment to experience increments of ease. This series is all about the challenge.

If they simply take Dark Souls and revamp it with a few tweeks and easier online linking, then it can easily become the number one rpg series of the gaming industry in my opinion.  I already feel it's better than Elder Scrolls, Mass Effect, and Final Fantasy has long since died to me because they insist on being one of the few rpg's remaining that offer zero character creation and customization of your appearance. This series has the gameplay, the cusomization, a unique look, and best of all, you can play with other players. How can an rpg get better than that?

Some people say the stats are a bit confusing and should be simplified...but I thought it was perfect and should be even MORE complex next time. I found it a bit too easy to look up what each stat was and what it did on the internet. Stats while essential, should be mysterious and not the core of the game. Every game provides this complete instruction manual that explains their stats and every weapon tells what it does, but a subject related to Stats is that DS brings back the mystery of finding  a magic weapon that was lost with D&D. Magic Weapons affect stats. Now when people find weapons they can instantly identify it in games by looking at the stats. There is no mystery. I wouldn't mind a few mystery statistics either. that you can never directly calculate. The stats should more for "the game master" or game designer than the player if you understand my meaning, whereas "the game" is for the player. They should add something that throws a wrench in to the mix so that you don't know everything about your character. And maybe some extra random "hidden abilities" that you discover midgame?

Some people say a narrative isn't required. Is that the majority opinion? I feel an excellent narrative is REQUIRED (that's the strength of skyrim and fallout which DS can add)...otherwise go play a sport or shooter (which i get bored or unless it has a great story...like fallout). I love being part of an epic well told story, which DS feels like. This is like a fix for D&D players, but also give them real suspense and danger sense based on skill and the realism from the beautiful melancholy atmosphere and graphics...feels like your actually there

As long as DS II stays true to its roots, it'll be fine. 

Well, since being insanely hard is Dark Souls' trademark, I highly doubt they are "dumbing it down". I have no problem with making the game more understandable, some stats got me confused in the first title. I just hope there aren't as many cheap moments like some boss fights and the "curse" status ailment were.  But Dark Souls is more about the feeling of accomplishment than anything else. For people who like to suffer, there is always New Game +

This sums it up perfectly: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/6601-Dumbing-Down-for-the-Filthy-Casuals

Cry more haters.

Why?!?   They just found success, and they're dumbing it down already?!?

I'm okay with this. Dark Souls was amazing, but there wasn't enough structure to what quests were there, and it often lead to some of them being broken. I'm looking at you, onion man

So did they fire the old director or just move him to a different project?

They want you to think you are understanding the game and then :

Game Over

When they say "Dark Souls II will feature a new hero, a fresh storyline, and an "unfamiliar" setting" I really hope their ?new hero? it is not a character set in stone. Like you just get to play as one character set in stone no customization. For example level 5 you learn heal. Everything is laid out for you.  I would not like that at all.

As for storyline I had no problem with the storyline.  I pieced together enough to understand what I needed to know. I would just make Dark Souls II add to the Dark Souls Lore.

As for ?unfamiliar setting?  I am ok with that but it would be nice to visit some familiar places or at least make the levels comparable for example Demon Souls has Valley Of Defilement where  Dark Souls has Blight Town it was close  but a change up.

Granted I am taking a worst case scenario look at this. Because I have seen some of my favorite franchises destroyed or complete changed because they geared the audience towards everyone. By doing this they threw away the fan base they had and ultimately ticked off a lot of people who believed and supported the franchise.  Please do not do this with Demon Souls

the big question is  explain understandable?