Dark Souls 2 TGS details reveal new Covenant, spells & Humanity system

Dark Souls 2 is playable at Tokyo Games Show this week, and new details of From Software's moody RPG have emerged online. Information on a new Covenant, spells and more have slipped through the cracks.

OXM has collated snippets from both Polygon and Gamespot, starting with the alarming news that every time you die and resurrect as an undead adventurer, you lose some of your total health. It's capped at 50% but still, it sounds like royal pain in the arse. Reviving no longer requires Humanity, but instead an item called 'Human Effigy,' which means you don't have to revive at bonfires any longer. Human players can still be summoned to aid you while in human form.

New Covenant 'Way of the Blue' has also been spotted, and it rewards you with a Blue Sentinel guard whenever a Black Phantom invades your world. Summoning is still engaged by White Soapstone but now there are two varieties. Small stones can only be used in certain areas, while the larger variety gives the player helping you a special token or fidelity reward whenever they lend you a hand. Summon duration also decreases each time you use a soapstone however.

The inventory has also changed, as players can equip three items per hand - which will be handy when using the flaming torch to light up dark areas - and there are now ten quick item slots on the down d-pad button. New items include the bomb-like Witching Urn, and a War spell that increases your ally's attacking and defence stats.

I recently spoke with the developer about Dark Souls 2 balancing and certain new mechanics. Check out what they told me here.

Dark Souls 2 hits PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on March 11 in North America and March 14 in Europe.