Dark Souls 2: From Software explains how it made the game slightly more accessible

One of the biggest criticisms against the Dark Souls series is its low accessibility and high skill ceiling. Producer Takeshi Miyazoe explains how the developer is changing this a bit for the sequel and much more in an interview.

Speaking to Totalxbox, Miyazoe commented about the work they did to streamline some mechanics saying, "It's a lot of things that happen behind the scenes, like the motion capture.

"In the previous game, the player motions were hand-animated, whereas this time they're motion-captured by stunt artists," he added.

The game will also feature better tutorials than its predecessor according to Miyazoe. "In terms of tutorials it will be a little more than in Dark Souls I, but we're not going to explain all the tools you'll have. We want players to be creative," he said.

Though the mechanics did receive a touch of improvement, the story will retain its openness and rely heavily on each player's playthrough of the game.
"The 'true story' isn't as important to us as the story each player creates based on his or her own roleplay. We want you to explore or get items and read the descriptions to find out more, so that you are able to fill in the gaps as you explore.

"We feel that having enough space for people to be creative is as approachable as you can get," he added. Citing wind as a subtle indication of story events, "You can feel the wind in certain areas of the game, and the wind itself is going to be a hint, if you see a breeze coming in and you see the grass moving, I hope players will catch on that there must be something coming from that side," he explained.