DiscoJason said: For those talking about how level design for DS1 is far superior to DS2, can you explain this a little? I've played both and DS2 seems like more of the same to me in that regard. People are saying there is no interconnection, but you can run from the starting area to later areas if you wanted to, though with bonfire travel, not sure why you'd do it. Even DS1 eventually had bonfire travel in the game. I personally like it because it makes moving from area to area much quicker. But anyway, what was so great about level design in DS1 that isn't around in DS2? Click to expand...

Spoiler The Lost Bastille connects to both No Mans Warf and Forest of Fallen Giants

Spoiler Shrine of Amana

Spoiler No Mans Warf

Spoiler Forest of Fallen Giants

Spoiler The Lost Bastille

Spoiler Sinners Rise and Belfy Luna

Spoiler No Mans Warf

Spoiler the water level during the boss fight rising and falling the longer you take

Spoiler Iron Keep, Drangelic Castle, Shine of Amana, Undead Crypt, Dragon Aerie, Dragon Shrine

Spoiler The Gutter and The Black Gulch

Spoiler Heide's Tower of Flame, Forest of Fallen Giants

Spoiler The Shrine of Winter

I don't think it's superior - it's a different approach to world design / level design. I think you need to consider the two as separate (but related) things.Demon's Souls - World design is hub & spoke - you have the nexus, you have branches - and each individual branch is well designed. Most of them twist and turn upon themselves, opening up short cuts/etc. The 'world design' doesn't exist as much in Demon's Souls as each arch stone feels like it's own little fragment and you don't get too much of a sense of the world it is in. There is some - but not much.Dark Souls - Interlocking world design - especially for the first 2/3rds of the game. Not only do the levels have twists/short cuts/etc within them, but the world itself is laid out in this way and there are many ways to navigate around it. Use the master key - and quite a bit opens up.The flow of Undead Burg->Parish->Lower Burg->Depths->Blight Town is pretty fantastic, toss in things like Darkroot Garden/Baisen, how things link up with Valley of the Drakes, New Londo Ruins, etc. It is a much tighter world-design.However, once you get the lord vessel - this starts to falter a bit, feels like a bit of a slog to get through - and you end up with the 'linear branch with a bonfire at the end'. Even though individually some of those levels are great - I like dukes, catacombs/tomb of the giants, etc (although Demon's Ruins/Lost Izalith lacks)When I think of 'Level Design' - it's more of segment of an area, and not how it interlocks with others. Undead Burg as a level, The Depths, Blight Town, Sens Fortress, etc.Dark Souls II - World design falls back more towards Demon's Souls Hub & Spoke - you do get one or two loop-back type things -- but generally speaking the paths leading out from Majula are pretty linear - they branch and split off, but don't really loop back on themselves in 'clever and interesting ways'.It's not likehas a creative way of linking back toor anything like that - and given how far away Heides Tower of Flame looks from Majula - your run there seems awfully short.Even within a branch - instead of a neat way of connecting segment 1 to segment 2 - it tends to be more 'long elevator ride'.That said, for- as in individual areas as stand-alone bits, not how they all interconnect with each-other - I think as a whole, DKSII is on par with, if not better than DKSI.There are a few areas that I did find a little lackluster -is kind of neat, but pales to say Boletarian Palace or Undead Burg.is actually pretty neat - and quite a bit to poke around and explore, but it did leave me wishing thatwere more fully realized levels.is actually a pretty cool level - needing to ring the bell to call in the ship, and even the touch ofis kind of spiffy.Some of the later game levels though - I really, really like -- and to me, the strength/quality are good enough to be 'ok.... so there are a few weak ones' - not like ever area in Dark Souls was a winner either (looking at you Lost Izalith). There is also something I rather like aboutOne thing I do wish that the levels did more often was 'explore around, open up a short-cut that loops back to the same bonfire' - this only happens once or twice in the game and more of the levels feel a bit like a linear-line with one bonfire not that far away from the previous one and not needing to have to 'explore' that much to find it.It was pretty rare that I got that sense of bonfire tension and thinking "Damn, I have 50k souls on me - I just cleared an area, and no idea where the next bonfire is - do I retreat to safety and spend, or push forward?" (this only happened twice really) - where as I found that feeling happening frequently in Dark Souls, or in Demon's Souls once you opened up the shortcut. Instead it was more 'oh hey, another bonfire...', not 'oh thank god! finally a bonfire'.In some ways - Dark Souls II is a bit of an inverse of Dark Souls I. Assuming you didn't start with the master key - there is a pretty linear path to follow (minor tweaks depending on what you want to do,...) but it was pretty much: - Burg, Parish, Lower Burg, Depths, Blight Town, Sense (maybe a stop-by the Catacombs before hand), Anor Londo - then branching out into a few different paths (Dukes, Tomb of the Giants, New Londo, Demon's Ruins/Lost Izalith).Dark Souls II flips this around - your early game has a few branches. Well, there are two main branches at the start -. Then shortly after - many more branches start to open up until you get funneled into a little bit more of a linear progression.All around I think this works a little better - as it makes the game feel a little more purposeful and a bit of brisker pace. Instead of getting The Lord Vessel and (for me) - feeling like all of the momentum starts to taper off mid/late game - despite having some great areas to go through. It really feels like woot! I unlockedand things start to pick up with some of the best levels that the series has to offer.I love all 3 games, and Demon's Souls is probably my favorite (and maybe why I'm a bit more receptive to the hub & spoke design and sort of 'fast warping' from the start - as that's pretty much what arch-stones are) - and I think that DKSII tried to bridge some of the design ideas from Demon's Souls and Dark Souls - some elements worked better than others, but all around I'd say it's a different approach than Dark Souls - and I'd have a hard time saying it's better or worse.