On October 12th, 5000 testers logged in for the Dark Souls II

There were six character classes available to choose from for the test; soldier, warrior, dual swordsman, sorcerer, temple knight and hunter. I initially chose temple knight, a heavily-armoured cleric type. The test opened in an area called Huntsman's Copse, an ill-lit woodland that immediately brought to mind a dessicated version of the Darkmoon Forest from the first Dark Souls.

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To the left of the starting bonfire, one of Dark Souls II's sparse checkpoints, there was a rag-draped merchant woman carrying a scaffold-like pack so large and layered it crippled her back with the weight. She spoke with the idiosyncratic British inflections that will be familiar to Souls players; the translation work here is reminiscent of the heavily-written style of Alexander O. Smith, whose translations of games such as Final Fantasy XII and Vagrant Story employ similar idiomatic oddities.

'Lonely times, these are,' she chuckles.

“ Unfortunately, in my two hours with the game, only a single summon transpired properly.

She couldn't be more correct. A large part of the Souls series' appeal lies in its co-operative play and PvP, and Dark Souls II claims to make huge strides in this area, but in my two hours with the game only a single summon transpired properly, and then only for a minute or two. The two biggest changes to the summoning system that I noticed are that players can now heal themselves while summoned, and are also on a timer, which is indicated by a slowly trickling hourglass above the players' heads. I was briefly invaded by a black phantom at one point, but he was quickly slain by the Soldiers of the Server Strain, so I continued on my merry way, able to enjoy the environment in relative peace from then on.

Graphical flourishes like the cloth animations on the temple knight's fur cloak are impressive. Ambient lighting and texture work have both been improved, lending the visuals a pleasing depth, though the framerate still falters slightly in some areas. There’s time for this to be ironed out though, and nothing in the beta ever approached the flick-book stuttering of Dark Souls' Blighttown or New Londo Ruins areas. The magic spells look fantastic and are flashier than before, while larger enemies and newly-lit bonfires erupt in showers of immensely satisfying particle effects.

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One notable change to the physics engine which may split opinion is that the game no longer has ragdoll effects on corpses. Although some people may miss this, I am personally glad it has been removed. I don’t necessarily want to play a comical game of keepie-uppie with every flailing corpse I happen to toe-kick.

The UI in Dark Souls II is much slicker than its predecessor too, with clearer menus which hint at the increased accessibility the game's director Yui Tanimura has implied he will implement. Outside of combat, the on-screen display will now minimise to offer a less obscured view of the game's impressive vistas.

“ Dark Souls II's combat is paced differently.

The combat mechanics have changed, lending Dark Souls II's fighting a different pace and feel from its predecessor. The temple knight now has offensive faith magic in addition to his more familiar buff and healing spells. His Dark Orb spell allowed him to attack enemies over distance with the use of a magic sceptre. The sorcerer class employed a mix of pyromancy and soul magic, since the pyromancer class has now been retired. The most impressive of the new spells was his Soul Greatsword, a huge blade of light that proved particularly useful when attacking the Copse's assassin mobs.

The other class I tried, the warrior seen so prominently in the game's advertising, made use of a sword-and shield and a zweihander. There are now three weapon slots for the left and right arm, as opposed to Dark Souls' two, which will allow for more variety in builds than before. Of the three classes I played, this was the one I used the most. Before I preferred magic classes, but there are subtle changes to the melee combat that make it more enjoyable for me.

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The finicky lock-on system has been improved, for instance. When retreating from an opponent, you can now turn heel rather than slowly backpedal, keeping an eye on your opponent. Trees and foliage in the way now become transparent. The warrior's zweihander, while difficult to get used to, is extremely satisfying to use, particularly on the Copse's disgustingly bloated, sickle-wielding butchers.

“ Their unnerving staccato dance and pale masks give them the appearance of demonic bunraku puppets.

There is great satisfaction in dodging their attacks correctly, as their corpulent bodies inelegantly chase the swing of their crescent blades. They even get the tips of these weapons stuck in the dirt and struggle to pull them out, allowing a couple of sneaky hits - they’re both imposing and ungainly at the same time. There are also cave-dwelling skeletons and the skittish necromancers who summon them; their unnerving staccato dance and pale masks give them the appearance of demonic bunraku puppets.

Backstabs make a return, and are now more cinematic. The satisfaction of landing a correctly timed attack is now amplified by a slight camera zoom; they are also harder to land, as even the basic zombies will now make more of an effort to keep their backs away from a locked-on player, turning their heads as you try to flank them.

A large change to the mechanics of this heavy weapon is that the sword will swing in the direction you are facing regardless of the lock-on - in other words, there is no homing. This increases the tension, as the trade-off for high damage is now dearer than before. Parrying is different, too. I noticed my sorcerer couldn't parry at all, perhaps suggesting the ability may now be linked to stats. The riposte has also changed, at least on the humanoid characters faced in the test, who now fall over following a successful parry, allowing for a devastating attack that requires precise timing.

Keeping an eye on the stamina bar is as important as ever, and the penalty for trying to defend with no stamina appears to have increased, incurring a long stagger animation. The estus flask returns, and this too has a longer animation attached, meaning that you really must make a concerted effort to find a safe spot to heal, especially since the enemy AI is now more aggressive and adaptable.

Torches can now be lit at bonfires. They’re useful for traversing the beta's pitch-black cave areas, though like Dark Souls' lantern this does sacrifice the ability to use a shield. Penalties for dying track closer to Demon's Souls than Dark here. There are several healing items this time round in addition to the Estus flask, including lifegems that heal over time. When you die, your health bar drops by 25% for the first death and a further 25% subsequently, meaning that if you die twice in succession you’ll lose souls and be at half health until you regain humanity, which is restored through use of an item called a human effigy.

“ Penalties for dying track closer to Demon's Souls than Dark here.

Unlike Dark Souls however, restoring humanity does not restore hit points. I discovered this to my dismay while fighting in a tomb nestled behind a waterfall against three Skeleton Lords and their warrior guard, perched atop thrones built from bones.

Overall, my time with the Dark Souls II network test was extremely positive, despite some co-op hiccups. It looks like it will retain its trademark challenge and measured pace, while bringing significant tweaks to the mechanics by hand-picking elements from Demon's Souls and Dark Souls both. Visually it’s looking impressive on PS3, particularly in its use of lighting and particle effects, and I am excited to see how it runs on PC given the developers' promises of better optimisation this time round. The changes to the combat and use of dedicated servers seem like they will benefit the PvP community overall, though I didn’t get to test that out. There’s a chance, based on this beta, that Dark Souls II will be one of the last great games of the current console generation.

Ewen Hosie really likes the word freelancer, as it makes him sound like a starfaring sci-fi hero. He hails from Parts Unknown, and by Parts Unknown we mean Scotland. He is known to skulk around on Twitter and IGN.