In a post on Dark Souls’ official Twitter account, the developers confirmed that the online servers for all three Dark Souls games are going offline temporarily so that an exploit found in the game can be fixed. The issue was pointed out first by a member of the SpeedSouls discord, where an exploit in the game can potentially let people take over a person’s PC and steal their private information, or even brick someone’s system. The person in question did contact the developer to no success, and only after demonstrating the exploit on a Twitch streamer’s stream was the issue brought into the knowledge of both Bandai Namco and FromSoftware.

As of right now, the servers for the three games on PC are down indefinitely as the developers fix the exploit. This issue does not affect the Xbox and PlayStation versions of the game, so online services on those two platforms are running as they should. Hopefully, the developers can fix the issue, and players on PC can continue their jolly co-operations soon.

PvP servers for Dark Souls 3, Dark Souls 2, and Dark Souls: Remastered have been temporarily deactivated to allow the team to investigate recent reports of an issue with online services.
Servers for Dark Souls: PtDE will join them shortly.

We apologize for this inconvenience.

— Dark Souls (@DarkSoulsGame) January 23, 2022

pic.twitter.com/Uan5wHInir

— ale (@kamekache) January 22, 2022

Victor Navarro – True Crime: New York City

Utilizing a Good Cop/Bad Cop system, True Crime: New York City had two key endings depending on the player’s performance. If you were a good cop, then the game saw Victor Navarro being arrested with millions of dollars at the Grand Central Station locker. However, Higgins re-emerges and the player must apprehend him to get a good ending. Pursue the bad cop route and not only will there be a proper boss fight with Navarro but our hero will meet Higgins, kill him and steal the cash offered before contemplating his dark path.

Bandai Namco took us by surprise when it announced that the previously Japan-exclusive Dark Souls Trilogy would be releasing on October 19th. We assumed this was for Western audiences, and we’re right. But only partially. A Bandai Namco spokesperson recently confirmed in a press release that the trilogy will not be releasing in Europe.

“To clarify, the Dark Souls Trilogy release date announcement yesterday (August 21st) was a US and Asia announcement only and was not a Gamescom announcement in Europe. Dark Souls fans in Europe can still get their fix on October 19th–with the release of Dark Souls: Remastered for the Nintendo Switch console.”

Dark Souls Trilogy will be heading to Xbox One and PS4, retailing for $80. Along with this year’s Dark Souls Remastered, it will feature Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin and Dark Souls 3: The Fire Fades Edition. All the DLC for each game will be included, thus ensuring the most complete experience possible, and physical retail copies will even have a steelbook case.

If you haven’t experienced Dark Souls before, then this is probably the best way to do it. Sadly, there’s still no information on a potential PC release for the trilogy. At least From Software’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is coming to PC along with Xbox One and PS4 in March 2019. Check out some new gameplay here.

Out of nowhere, Bandai Namco Games has announced that Dark Souls Trilogy will be coming to the Xbox One and PS4 on October 19th. Yes, you read that right. The definitive versions of all three Dark Souls titles – namely Dark Souls Remastered, Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin, and Dark Souls 3: The Fire Fades Edition – will be available in a three-disc package. All DLC will be included as well.

This year saw Dark Souls Remastered make its way to Xbox One, PS4, and PC, containing a graphically enhanced version of the first game with its DLC. It will also launch on October 19th for the Nintendo Switch. So while it may be particularly annoying for anyone who already owns the remaster, Dark Souls Trilogy still represents incredible value for first-time players. It was originally released in Japan exclusively for PS4, so it’s good to see it coming West as well.

Will it arrive on PC though? That’s the real question, and hopefully, Bandai Namco will have more information on that soon. If you want something new out of From Software, then Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice will be coming in March 2019.

Most Alternative Control Methods – Bearzly

Bearzly holds the Guinness World Record for the most alternative control methods used to complete Dark Souls. Along with a Rock Band guitar, drum kit and piano, Bearzly has also used a microphone (with voice only controls), a Wiimote, dance mat and a steering wheel. He did use an Xbox 360 controller for one run but that was with a single finger. A single finger.

A new reported leak advertising the games Sony will be offering as part of the PS Plus service in February seems to indicate that next month will be a big one- in fact, it may well be the biggest month PS4 owners have had with PS Plus, ever.

Apparently, PS4 PS Plus subscribers can expect Ubisoft’s Far Cry 4; the fourth numbered entry in their open world action adventure shooter series took players to a fictional nation in the Himalayas, where they took on a local tyrant. It’ll be the perfect chance to catch up with the game ahead of the launch of Far Cry 5 in March.

PS4 owners can apparently also expect Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin, the PS4 remixed version of From Software’s follow up to their classic RPG. If you haven’t played a Dark Souls game yet, Scholar of the First Sin is as good a time as any to jump in.

Of course, remember that this is still an unsubstantiated rumor, so take it with a pinch of salt- hopefully, this leak turns out to be true, though.

[Reddit]

From Software, the developer of the game, seemingly wanted me to die early and often and I obliged right out of the gate. When strolling around the very first scene, I actually managed to walk right off a cliff and fall to my death. I wasn’t fighting anything, I wasn’t running from anything, I wasn’t dodging anything, I was simply checking out the scenery and didn’t realize that the ground ended.

"Dark Souls 2 does indeed weaves the same kind of bleak world I was used to seeing in these games, though it should be pointed out that there are sections of the game that aren't nearly as dark as what I’ve grown accustomed to in the original Dark Souls and Bloodborne."

My second time dying was no less ignominious, though at least this time I was actually killed by an enemy. Early on in the game, I found myself in what can only be described as a witch’s hut, talking to some old crones who were laying out the point of my being in the game world at all. After the initial talk I was sent on my way. Because it’s always my goal to try out as much as I possibly can, I decided to make sure From Software had included a feature in Dark Souls 2 I always found entertaining.

Could I kill anyone I ran across? So I took my weapon and begin swinging it at one of the ladies, who were basically bystanders. I hit her once and she cried out in alarm. I hit her twice and she cried out in anger. The third time I hit her, she started hitting back and her swings took off way more energy than my blows were taking. She killed me. A character I was never supposed to fight ended up taking me down.

My third death made quite a bit more sense, but I’ll get to that in a minute. Dark Souls 2 does indeed weaves the same kind of bleak world I was used to seeing in these games, though it should be pointed out that there are sections of the game that aren’t nearly as dark as what I’ve grown accustomed to in the original Dark Souls and Bloodborne. Those games are clearly laid out to crush your actual soul by bringing nothing but shadows and night. If you run into a room that’s well lighted it’s almost by accident.

"In Dark Souls 2, the world you are traversing feels to me as though there are more outdoors and I even ran into areas that were lush and green."

In Dark Souls 2, the world you are traversing feels to me as though there are more outdoors and I even ran into areas that were lush and green. In fact, it was here that I met my third death and finally realized that this game is indeed as hard as all the others in the series, even though From Software had famously said they had stepped back the difficulty for those who were getting frustrated in the original Dark Souls. In the forest, not far into the game I ran into one eyed behemoth that was happy to ignore me if I decided to leave him alone. I have to say I liked this particular feature because he truly seemed so big, there was no need to worry about it unless I chose to annoy it.

I did indeed choose to annoy him and while I was able to maneuver around him and blast him with arrows and then hack and slash my way for a while, two blows and I was toast. Enemies that were apparently drawn by the ruckus didn’t help. All of this is to say that everything you would expect from a Souls game is here only done up quite a bit better than I’d ever seen on a console.

The mechanics work well and aren’t hard to figure out. I’ve always felt as though games like Dark Souls 2 were best when I had to work to figure out what did what, as long as I could actually figure it out. It takes some trial and error to get all the controls down, especially if it’s been a while since you played any Souls game at all, but this wasn’t like a game I played recently where throwing a grenade was something hidden so deep, I had to look it up online in order to get the answer.

"The same fight mechanics seem to be copied over from the original game, and that will certainly make Dark Souls 2 players happy who are actually looking at Scholar of the First Sin as a continuation of the first game."

The same fight mechanics seem to be copied over from the original game, and that will certainly make Dark Souls 2 players happy who are actually looking at Scholar of the First Sin as a continuation of the first game. Dodging and rolling and getting a hit in when your opponent has his back to you is just as important as it ever was.

In the end, the big difference in Dark Souls 2 is that there seems to be more of a quest of redemption in this game. There are still moments that will taunt even the best players because they won’t be able to figure out what they’re supposed to do in one spot or another. Or they won’t be able to get past a particular boss, but there seems to be less killing for the sake of killing. I was attempting to avoid becoming hollow and because of that, I had something to fight for more than simply to draw as much blood as I possibly could.

As with most of the From Software games, Dark Souls 2 is a huge game. Not only because I had to put a ton of time to play very deep into it, but because there are always spots I realized I wanted to go back and check out. I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss anything. Even knowing this, I’m sure I missed something here or there. The good thing about the Dark Souls 2 is that I wanted to keep going back and figure out what I left behind. I’ll be going back, and then back some more.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 4.

From Software’s Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin has finally reached Japanese shores and according to the latest Media Create charts, it managed to sell 20,494 units on the PlayStation 4. That doesn’t seem like a very large total but this is a remaster that doesn’t really offer a plethora of new content.

Interestingly, Minecraft: PS Vita Edition is doing decently with 11,842 units sold and 84,942 units sold in its lifetime. Both the Vita and PS3 are doing fairly well with 3rd Super Robot Wars Z: Tengoku Hen selling 15,394 units on PS Vita and 14,582 units on PS3(lifetime sales at 136,613 units and 123,783 respectively). Bloodborne appears to be slowing down, selling 9,780 units on the PS4 (lifetime units at 184,957).

Sales for the New Nintendo 3DS title Xenoblade Chronicles 3D are at 65,837 units over its lifetime with 8,905 units sold in the past week. What are your thoughts on the past week’s sales? Let us know in the comments below.

Looking back on the history of Dark Souls 2, it’s clear that some odd decisions were made. Hidetaka Miyazaki, who is the director for Demon’s Souls and the first Dark Souls, took on a supervisor role for Dark Souls 2. Tomohiro Shibuya and Yui Tanimura were the directors for the sequel which resulted in some different decisions, particularly with the PvP. The major issue for Dark Souls 2 came with its appearance – when it eventually released last year, the overall build had been graphically downgraded compared to footage shown in 2013. The PC version didn’t fare much better, running at 720p resolution and 30 frames per second.

Head to head PS4 versus Xbox One comparison. Please select 1080p and 60fps for best possible video quality.

Some of the other graphical decisions seen in Dark Souls 2 were…interesting, to say the least. While the resolution for the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions was at 1280×720, the MSAA 2x of the first game was replaced with a post process edge filter. This is also where LOD scaling was employed for distant objects, leading to elements like shadows loading into the player’s view before the rest of the environment did. That’s not including issues with the frame rate that came up, especially with the Xbox 360 version. To say that a re-launch of the game for Xbox One and PS4 would happen is an understatement.

With Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin, From Software have modified the engine to support DirectX 11 and which looks to take advantage of the power that the PS4 and Xbox One present. When creating the technology, a From Software engineer stated that, “We always had in mind the next generation, such as DirectX11 and next generation hardware when creating our technology, and also challenged ourselves as programmers to simultaneously create for the new generation.”

There’s more to this enhanced edition than just improved graphics though. From Software has also included new placements for enemies and items along with improving the performance and audio, increasing the total number of online players in a session, and even adding a new end boss to the proceedings. How well did the developer take advantage of the PS4 and Xbox One though, along with finally catering to the more powerful hardware of PC players?

A revamped lighting system, enhanced post processing and alpha effects, and limited physical based rendering specially for cloth materials are an integral part of this remaster. [PS4 left, Xbox One right]

Firstly, the Xbox One and PS4 versions run at a native 1080p resolution. The game targets 60 frames per second but isn’t locked. And while both versions suffer frame drops, it’s ultimately the Xbox One version which sees more drops than the PS4 version. The PS4 was able to almost a deliver a locked 60fps experience in several areas such as Things Betwixt, Majula, Forest of Fallen Giants but we did observed some minor drops in No-Man’s Wharf and Lost Bastille. The Xbox One version on the other hand was trailing behind the PS4 by 3-4fps in Things Betwixt, Majula and No-Man’s Wharf. In No-Man’s Wharf and Forest of Fallen Giants, the gap increased by 6-10fps.

The engine this time around now sports deferred rendering and limited physical-based rendering. Natural Motion’s Morpheme is also supported, which delivers more complex in-game animations than before with higher fidelity. Havok Cloth technology is present, leading to more complex cloth simulation (not unlike, say, Bloodborne). Other new features include specular highlighting and tessellation. Depth of field and blur effects were present in the previous gen and look even better here. Upon observing scenes with multiple NPCs, it was noted that the overall count of characters had been raised.

Impressive 16x anisotropic filtering results into extremely sharp textures on surfaces and walls. [PS4 left, Xbox One right]

Draw distances have been improved compared to original game on the PS3 and Xbox 360. [PS4 left, Xbox One right]

The post process edge filter is out and FXAA is in with regards to the anti-aliasing. Again, it’s not like the MSAA 2x of the first game – which led to crisp details even with a lower resolution – but at least it’s something, especially when the more recent Bloodborne didn’t have any anti-aliasing solution to speak. For its purpose, FXAA does the job well here. It’s also important to note that texture filtering across both the PS4 and Xbox One is excellent with 16x anisotropic filtering being applied. Yes, even the PS4 has received the benefits of premium-grade anisotropic filtering and it looks great.

How well did DirectX 11 contribute to the game’s visuals, especially on the PC version? As it turns, it helped provide better looking terrains and better parallax occlusion mapping along with better volumetric and particle effects. However areas with less light are much darker now compared to the original build. We are not sure why this is happening but despite these small niggles, the DX11 version is heads and shoulders above the original build. We tested the DX 11 PC version with a Radeon R290 and an FX 8350 and noted no performance issues at all, even when running the game on max settings.

Head to head PS4 versus PC DX11 comparison. Please select 1080p and 60fps for best possible video quality.

Should you play Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin, especially if you’ve played the original game? We commend From Software for providing more than just a graphical revamp with its gameplay changes. Some players may take issue with the revamped lighting engine which gives the surroundings a more white-ish look compared to the original’s gold drenched settings. It should also be noted that Scholar of the First Sin still doesn’t approach the visual quality of the initial reveal build.

Some effects have been improved thanks to DirectX 11 and admittedly, it looks better than the base game – there’s just nothing overwhelmingly improved here. However, with better frame rates and resolutions all around, it’s worth it for both new and old players to give Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin a go. If you have a decent PC, then obviously that is the place to play. If you are console gamer our recommendation is PS4 version due to its better performance.

Note: Console and PC analysis was conducted by Bill Smith. Additional reporting by Ravi Sinha and contributor Andrew Scott.

From Software’s Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin is upon us, bringing the hardcore dungeon-crawling RPG to the Xbox One and PS4 along with offering a DirectX 11 upgrade for PC owners. Check it out above.

Scholar of the First Sin already released for the Xbox 360 and PS3, offering new content, a higher number of players for PvP, a new NPC, new bosses and much more. Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin for the Xbox One, PS4 and PC will serve as a standalone release with all of this new content along with the previously released DLC packs.

Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin is already out on PS4, Xbox One and PC in Europe while releasing on April 7th in North America and April 9th in Japan. Will it tempt gamers away from Bloodborne, another From Software hit available exclusively on PS4? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.