Captain Pants
Killed by a goddamned Dredgeling
This isn't enough info to warrant a new thread, but I just saw this article on my google alerts for the game. It comes courtesy of Now Gamer.
Now Gamer said:Speaking with NowGamer, Hidetaka Miyazaki, game director at From Software, said how it had "no intent to make it easier for new users".
Miyazaki went on to explain, "We hope to provide a more difficult experience but a more rewarding experience, even to the newbies," said Miyazaki, who then described Dark Souls as "more satisfactory".
Part of this reward will come from online interactions: "players on the same online environment will be able to share the experiences each player has and they will be able to benefit or de-benefit from that."
Miyazaki then confirmed that Dark Souls is, in fact, not an open-world game, though exploration will still be a key element. "The concept is several more dungeons and several areas that are interconnected so the player can have more discoveries."
"The world that the player can travel in and all the interconnected dungeons have been very specifically designed so that everything you can see can be explored."