The Creators of Dark Souls II Want to Make The Series More "Understandable." What Should They Do?

In an interview in the December issue of Edge Magazine, one of the new directors for Dark Souls II says that the sequel will be more “understandable.” In Edge’s comments section, initial reaction to that word has not been kind.

Here’s one commenter:

Ugh. No, we do not want to see Dark Souls become The Elder Scrolls. Having new directors who want to bring “direct, not subtle” to Dark Souls is already worrisome enough (and I hope Miyazaki has the power to rein them in if they get too stupid), but adding journalism like this to the situation is just nauseating. It’s quite possibly inevitable that Dark Souls sequels are going to become diluted un-FromSoft AAA shitgame fare as the series gains popularity, as is the way of all videogames once great, but I am disgusted with Edge’s sycophantic propping up of bad ideas right now. If you’re looking, From/Bamco: keep Dark Souls obscure!!

And another concerned fan:

Please for the love of fudge don’t make stuff too obvious. The obscurity brings depth, it makes you get your hands dirty like some sort of gaming archaeologist. An archaeologist who finds red herrings and clues in equal measure, but the red herrings are the clues and the clues are the red herrings, or are they?
Dark Souls is probably the greatest game ever made, don’t break the legacy by diverging -too- much.

For a series like the Souls games, such an uttering is tantamount to blasphemy. These titles are renown for being ridiculously tough games to beat and that bare-knuckle difficulty has won it a hardcore fanbase. You die a lot. Other players invade your games to either help or hurt your quest. Players need to suck down a lot of pain to snatch victory. And those acolytes don’t want anything about their sacred journeys to change. Edge says:

An eternal battle rages at the heart of Dark Souls II. On one side stands the stern force of challenge, the very soul of the Souls series. It has inspired thousands of fans to hack their way through two of the most demanding and rewarding games of an era, fans who expect at least the same test on the next go around. On the other side is the bright promise of accessibility. And why not? Why shouldn’t FromSoftware and Namco Bandai open Souls up to a wider audience when it could otherwise be in danger of becoming stuck in a cult cul-de-sac?

Despite the fan reaction, the possibility of changes in Dark Souls II could be a useful thought exercise for even the most hardcore fans of the series. Something in Dark Souls II will likely be different from Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls. If change has to come, what aspect of the Souls franchise do you think could benefit from a re-think?

Originally written and published by Evan Narcisse at Kotaku. Click here to read the original story.