Souls fans rejoice, the Lord Hidetaka Miyazaki has spoken. The creator of the cult fantasy action RPG series has laid out a number of new and returning features that fans can expect to see in Dark Souls 3.
There are a few systems that return from the Miyazaki-less development of Dark Souls 2; fast travel will return, available from the start of the game, and players will be able to respec their character in some way, though the details on that haven’t been entirely worked out yet.
Thankfully, New Game Plus mode will take after Dark Souls 2, by adding new encounters, switching enemies around and otherwise mixing things up for the player, rather than the more straightforward approach of the original game, which simply bumped up enemy stats.
Weapon durability is still being discussed; “Still tuning the balance, but I personally think that the weapons in Dark Souls II break a little too easily,” says Miyazaki. ”This was implemented intending for the players to try out many types of weapons, but even so, I felt they broke too quickly. However, in Dark Souls I, they didn’t break enough, and so I’m hoping to find a good balance for Dark Souls III. “
As for summoning and invasions, they will follow the same template laid out in previous Souls games. The big change here is that you no longer need items to perform invasions - you’ll be able to attack the worlds of other players as often as you wish.
Sounds like a nice compromise between the more player-friendly features of DS2, and the original’s more unforgiving approach. Dark Souls 3 is expected to release on PC and consoles early next year.
