Namco Bandai has released a whopping 27 screenshots of From Software's Dark Souls 2. There they are in a nice grid gallery, below, for your viewing pleasure.

Perhaps the Japanese publisher read Tom Bramwell's Dark Souls Games of the Generation piece published this morning and was inspired to release new assets for the sequel. Or perhaps it's something to do with Halloween. Whatever.

EG-contributor Simon Parkin called the Dark Souls 2 beta "endlessly reassuring" when he had a go of it earlier this month. "From Software's approach has always been to focus on the foundations of play, ensuring that the basic effect of pressing a button is meaningful and specific. Then they build flamboyance and embellishment upon that core. For that reason this series has the best combat system of any video game. That is an accolade that, on this demo's evidence, appears yet further unassailable," he concluded.

Dark Souls 2 launches on 14th March 2014 on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.