Dark Souls 2 will have key moments in the game which will challenge players, and not just at the start of a venue, according to Namco Bandai.

Speaking with VG247’s Dave Cook in an interview to be published Tuesday next week, developer Takeshi Miyazoe said the team is still balancing the game, and while players can expect challenging bosses similar to Ornstein and Smough, these brutes may not appear at the very start of a venue.

“As much as the development team is still balancing the game, I think there will be key moments in the game – not just challenges by story or difficulty – but there will be key enemies and bosses in the game that will challenge the players enough,” said Miyazoe. “There will be areas where we’re revisiting some of the boss battles as well, where you’ll be able to encounter boss battles part-way through the stage.

“You won’t have to start from one venue, go through to the end, beat the boss and then start from a new venue. There will be be areas where you can meet the boss halfway. If you’re good enough or paying enough attention, you might be able to defeat them early.

“We’re trying to create a more interactive gameplay flow so that we sort of break a little bit in terms of the traditional ‘start point, boss and then new start point’.”

Dark Souls 2 beta registration is now open on PSN, and the beta is expected to start in North America, Europe and Australasia on October 12 with a second round starting October 27.

The beta was previously announced for October 5.

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Dark Souls 2 is coming to PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2014.