Dark Souls 2: Some Thoughts

     The announcement of Dark Souls 2 a while back had me super giddy.  The game is an utter pain to slog through, but the rewards for completing it's notoriously difficult landscape are hard to equal.  The Capra Demon plagued me for days, but once I beat him the first time, mostly sheer luck in the small corridor of a battleground, I had to pause to enjoy that moment.  What a relief. 
     There were plenty of times I was so tense from playing that I had to pause the game and compose myself because it got to be so intense knowing that even the most piddly of enemies can cause a swift death if you aren't careful.

     My first question about this sequel is why "Dark Souls 2" and not Darker Souls or Lost Souls?  Regardless- I am super stoked to return to this world, even if it's supposedly on another continent.

     Here's a couple quotes that struck me as interesting from an Edge Magazine article:

"...the story will once again revolve around a character who is cursed and seeking to find the cure for his affliction."
“The concept of time and the existence of time is something that will be key to Dark Souls II,” replies Shibuya. When we press for more detail, he simply rephrases the word ‘time’ with ‘eras’ and leaves it there.

     Hhhmmm...  are we to possibly infer that there will be time constraints in the game?  Perhaps things must be done within certain limitations of chronological order.  Let's say, for instance, you kill something off and are put under the strain of withstanding the repercussions of that choice.  Maybe you have to hide, maybe some things can only be done at certain times.  Could there be characters that are only available for a short window?  Only on specific dates or times?  Could time be used and warped like the game Braid?  Maybe you die, but rewind the clock to get another go at it?
     Good lord, think of the amazing possibilities if you were to be playing a character that had their soul split across the centuries- things you might have to do for your future self.  Carve a path to follow or hiding things in caves to retrieve in a later era.  The potential here is unlimited.
     Or, what if the character's curse is akin to needing to refuel or constantly need to watch specific levels from raising or lowering in their person.  Think of being infected- you would need to maintain a flow of something to keep it from being too potent in the blood.  Or if it works like a symbiosis, you then couldn't have too little either. 

     Well, whatever they have been creating I'm sure I'll thoroughly enjoy it again.  I absolutely love the way the Dark Souls story was given, or rather hinted at.  The basic elements are there, but all the finer points have to be sought after.  With small hints given in weapon descriptions and items, we are free to fill in the blanks- such as the possibility that Solaire may be a son that was stripped of deity like powers.  The story of Dark Souls has all the proper parts, they just  need to be pieced together.  And that is something I feel is just as rewarding as playing the game itself.

     Hopefully I may dust off my beloved Winged Spear and Velka's Rapier to revisit this world and slay my way through the next inhumanely difficult land.

PS:  I actually saw something about a patch for the difficulty level in Dark Souls some time ago.  You know, that wouldn't be a bad idea.  While I fully enjoyed the game, I could've dealt with a bit less stress in game during the time I was searching for just story.  It was a Platinum Trophy that took months to get.  And 10,000 in-game deaths.  So if the challenge came on my 2nd playthrough I wouldn't mind.