Here's a 43 min video of a guy talking about the mechanics and the lore in second half:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fbl-DC9LMno
He explains more in depth how the easier co-op and voice chat ring work, how invading priorities work and sin levels. There's some pretty cool information.
Guess you could just avoid the second part if you want to avoid spoilers.
Yeah, I just watched this video as well. To be honest, the last 15 minutes or so pretty much confirm that this game series might indeed be headed in the wrong direction for me personally.
Just as for Mr. Lees, for me the Souls games are about game mechanics on the one hand and a world that feels bigger / more important than "just" being a video game world on the other. One without the other would not work for me: the reason I want to master the game mechanics is to be able to press on and explore that world and uncover its lore. To hear him say that it is precisely this much needed sense of place which is now lessened greatly due to a weaker art direction (as far as the areas seen up till now go), worries me quite a bit. I fear we might end up with a mechanically more competent game with a better UI that has lost its soul (no pun intended) in the process due to being set in a game world that is only designed around the mechanics and not around spatial storytelling / world building as well. I agree with Matt that this last aspect is quite intangible and difficult to describe, but that doesn't make it less important or present in many a player's enjoyment of the previous two Souls games including myself.
I also might be the only Souls fan like this, but I played and completed both games completely on my own in offline or hollow mode because I can't stand my immersive, slow threading single player experience being interupted by other players that pretty much always manage to kill me. For me, the invasion aspect (since I do like the messages and the summoning of helpers), apart perhaps from its use in boss encounters, stands as much at odds with the pacing and careful playstyle of these games as four player co-op does in the latest Mario games. It works, sure, but the result is a very different game in my opinion (i.e. by injecting everlasting unpredictability into games that are essentially about control and planning). I get why some people like these PvP elements, but I don't and for me the news that invasions will even occur in hollow mode was not well received. Yes I can still play in offline mode of course, but then I lose out on the messages as well which certainly isn't ideal either.
I do have hope the game will manage to surprise me in the end. At the same time I can't overlook the fact that it is rarely the case that going for a more mass market appeal and target demographic - which seems to be what is happening here - has yielded a better game. This is especially true in a word-of-mouth series liked for its need to figure things out on your own and its world that feels like a magical place you want to explore despite its dangers. Please disagree with me if you feel the need to, but this is how I currently feel about Dark Souls 2.
