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[sjm9876]

Damnnnnnn. Looks like my summer will go into beating the first then.

[Neonivek]

There is no grand trumpeting Western storyline here, with cliche princesses and guys with giant signs on their shirt that say "Bad guy." In Dark Souls

Ohh yeah TOTALLY western.

One second as I play Mario, Zelda, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy, Suikeoden, Way of the Samurai, Onimusha...

Hmmm... nevermind.

[Mini]

It's also the reason I've put 30 hours into DS and still haven't beaten my first playthrough.

Took me ~80 hours to beat the game the first time, although that's likely because I started a bunch of characters that only got about 1/3 of the way through the game.

[nenjin]

It's also the reason I've put 30 hours into DS and still haven't beaten my first playthrough.

Took me ~80 hours to beat the game the first time, although that's likely because I started a bunch of characters that only got about 1/3 of the way through the game.

My bad, I'm at 66 :X I'd almost say it's because I don't want it to end, but that's a lie. It just requires the most focus I can bring to bear on a game, and these days that's getting harder to do.

Ohh yeah TOTALLY western.

You're right, that was pretty much wrong. Then again, this isn't the 1990s anymore.

[TempAcc]

I'm ok with the whole western fantasy thing. Dark Souls implemented that in a pretty interesting way, it reminded me of Berserk, and thats basically the best example of a japanese author implementing heavy western fantasy elements in a story you can find.

Honestly I'm more worried about the online gameplay. They noticed the fiasco that windows live was and now they're going to do the same thing they did with demon souls again, which means they'll manage their own servers.
Again I'll say that I hope more japanese companies follow their example and start throwing some of their titles on the PC rather then making console exclusive games all the time with meager online gameplay.

[nenjin]

The PC has never made the inroads in Japan that it has here. Consoles are still the major gaming device over there I believe, and PC games are still viewed as a big risk. Consider Square/Enix and how poor FF Online has been for PC users. If one of the largest Japanese game makers can't confidently put out PC games....

Luckily for me, the online portion of DS is secondary to the SP experience.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

I'm ok with the whole western fantasy thing. Dark Souls implemented that in a pretty interesting way, it reminded me of Berserk, and thats basically the best example of a japanese author implementing heavy western fantasy elements in a story you can find.

Well, it should. Both Demons Souls and Dark Souls have subtle references to Berserk and are thematically related (demons invade the world because of the hubris of men, dying of the fire, adventuring in places past the point of no return). And I should certainly hope you thought the Dragon Bone Smasher looked familiar.

[CognitiveDissonance]

Continuing conversation here...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I think Dark Souls 2 is going to be a prequel (after all, if the ending is your choice then sequels are tough) and it's going to be about the start of the undead curse and the fall of the gods.

Further support for Dark Souls 2 being a prequel:
There appears to be fire magic. In one of the videos, the player casts a flame from the same wand as other magic.

Catalyst of the Witch of Izalith of long ago, when her daughters were still flame witches, before they were engulfed by the Chaos Flame. Before the birth of pyromancy, their wands were mediums for sorcery, but knowledge of this flame sorcery has long since vanished.

Hmm, I'm fairly certain that Dark Souls 2 is happening at roughly the same time. They said it will be related, but not a direct sequel. *Shrug* From are huge trolls though, for which I love them.

How could it? Dragons are still around in it, and it's been pretty well established that they're pretty close to extinct by the time Dark Souls 1 takes place.

I was under the impression that the main setting for the game is a sort of dragon retreat/crazy laboratory. That's why there are skeletons of dragons everywhere inside. In addition, there are drakes all over Dark Souls so it still doesn't rule anything out. I'll rewatch the trailers and see if I missed something...

[Jelle]

Could anyone link me a good source of theorycrafting regarding the setting of ds2? I'm truly looking forward to this game and in anticipation have been giving some thought as to how it'll relate to ds1's story, I would very much like to read up on everyones ideas.

[Mishrak]

I was under the impression that the main setting for the game is a sort of dragon retreat/crazy laboratory. That's why there are skeletons of dragons everywhere inside. In addition, there are drakes all over Dark Souls so it still doesn't rule anything out. I'll rewatch the trailers and see if I missed something...

I think we know very little about the main setting.  We've seen some areas that are being worked on, with the laboratory and that place that has a bridge that looks very similar to the one you cross going into the Painted World of Ariamis.  But no real indication that those are the main setting.

A few things we do know:
- With the existences of the bonfires, Gwyn has obviously linked the flames, so it certainly can't be before that happened.  However, one of the more recent trailers shows the player actually extinguishing a bonfire.  What in the world could that mean?
- The setting seems to be much darker and foreboding than Dark Souls was.  It's like they've taken a throwback to some of the more stressful areas of Demon's Souls and added those horrifyingly awesome elements to Dark Souls 2.
- Dragons (Wyverns / Drakes?) everywhere.  This certainly puts us at an earlier time frame than Dark Souls, as they're nearly extinct at that point in time.  Only the Everlasting Dragon in Ash Lake, the Hellkite Drake (and the lesser drakes), and (technically) Kalameet are left in a respectable form.  Everything else is insane (Seath) dead, decaying, or really malformed. 
- Having said that, I suppose it is possible that since the game exists in another part of the world (essentially polar opposite location from Dark Souls, according to Fromsoft), that it wouldn't be so far fetched as to imagine there still being a remnant of a lesser dragon population.  Or perhaps someone figured out a way to create them?

I should probably go back and re-watch everything, but I think we're looking at a prequel, or at a minimum a concurrent storyline that interacts little with the events in Dark Souls.  Honestly we don't know enough.  They've released enough to make us all go absolutely crazy but not enough to tell us anything.  I guess that's about par for Fromsoft!


re: Jelle - I would point you to youtube actually.  EpicNameBro, VaatiVidya specifically.  Maybe someone else has a more lore oriented forum that I'm not aware of.  The wiki forum is pretty crowded and it can be hard to find good stuff there amidst some of the spurging.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Some of Fromsoft's statements suggest a time travel element (which is hardly new to Dark Souls after the DLC). I think at least one of the settings may be during or right before the First Age of Fire, due to the continued existence of dragons. That said, I'm not sure how many of the dragons in the trailers are actually dragons. Drakes are not dragons, but their mortal progeny. Actual capital-D Dragons are completely immortal, and not just because of their stone scales. The bodies of Dragons are just vessels for their immortal, primal spirits. Even if destroyed (no easy task, as Everlasting Dragon shows), the Dragon is still alive, it just needs to inhabit a new body (which apparently takes some time indeed, given that they did not return in any great number during the thousands of years since they were originally eradicated).

A good example of the nature of Dragons is probably being exhibited by the dragon skeleton we see in the trailer. The thing is down to a brittle skeleton but is still able to try to attack the player.

[CognitiveDissonance]

Some of Fromsoft's statements suggest a time travel element (which is hardly new to Dark Souls after the DLC). I think at least one of the settings may be during or right before the First Age of Fire, due to the continued existence of dragons. That said, I'm not sure how many of the dragons in the trailers are actually dragons. Drakes are not dragons, but their mortal progeny. Actual capital-D Dragons are completely immortal, and not just because of their stone scales. The bodies of Dragons are just vessels for their immortal, primal spirits. Even if destroyed (no easy task, as Everlasting Dragon shows), the Dragon is still alive, it just needs to inhabit a new body (which apparently takes some time indeed, given that they did not return in any great number during the thousands of years since they were originally eradicated).

A good example of the nature of Dragons is probably being exhibited by the dragon skeleton we see in the trailer. The thing is down to a brittle skeleton but is still able to try to attack the player.

That's fascinating! Where are you drawing this info from? Also, this makes me wonder as to why Seath is mortal, given he only lacks the scales.

[PrimusRibbus]

Some of Fromsoft's statements suggest a time travel element (which is hardly new to Dark Souls after the DLC).

Time travel, or rather the notion that the setting of Dark Souls has nonlinear time, was common in the base game. Solaire and Dusk of Oolaice talked about it extensively.

There are also very blatant examples of nonlinear time/time travel in the base game. A good example: When you free Dusk of Oolaice from her eternal imprisonment in the golden golem, her body with her equipment on it appears in the cave you freed her from. You have changed the timeline by freeing her, and have ensured her eventual death. Because time in DS is non-linear, you can see the longterm effect of your action immediately and, using summon signs to summon Dusk, interact with two parts of the timeline simultaneously.

[Cthulhu]

While we're on the subject of dragons, did you ever notice that the Dragon Crest Shield protects against fire but none of the game's three true dragons (Seath, Kalameet, and Sleepy Dragon) breathe fire?

[CognitiveDissonance]

While we're on the subject of dragons, did you ever notice that the Dragon Crest Shield protects against fire but none of the game's three true dragons (Seath, Kalameet, and Sleepy Dragon) breathe fire?

...sleepy dragon? o.O