Dark Souls 2's open world may let players tackle tasks in any order

Dark Souls 2 director Yui Tanimura has explained why the games open world approach will present even more freedom than the original game, with a view to letting players tackle areas and tasks way above their level if they feel brave enough.

Here's an example: Remember how in Dark Souls you had to ring two bells to open the entrance to Sen's Fortress? In Dark Souls 2, Tanimura hopes to do away with those requirements, meaning you can walk right into hard areas without having to approach easier areas first. You'll probably be murdered in moments, but it's nice to have a choice.

Speaking with Digital Spy, he said, "Freedom of exploration is something we want to prioritise for Dark Souls 2, even more so than Dark Souls 1. In Dark Souls 1, you were able to travel to several areas, but hopefully for Dark Souls 2, there you have more freedom to explore throughout the game.

"We realise in Dark Souls 1 there were some certain orders, like ringing the bells or going to Anor Londo, which is not necessarily a bad thing. In Dark Souls 2, we're hoping we can provide more freedom so things don't have to necessarily be done in a certain order. We're hoping that if the player tries hard enough, or are willing enough, they could even start halfway through the game, depending on how willing or how brave they are."

He added that the ultimate goal is to life a curse off the player, but added, "You won't have to follow a certain line, it will be unique for all players, I think. It might be an interesting aspect that players will be able to enjoy a little bit more than Dark Souls 1."

So it seems those rumours of Dark Souls 2 being linear were bollocks then. Praise the sun!

Also, Brenna played Dark Souls 2 last week and confirmed that yes, it's bloody hard. Get the details here.

Thanks OXM.