Monthly Archives: August 2015

Sword Coast Legends Release Date Pushed Back

Sword Coast Legends Release Date Pushed Back news header

Independent developers, n-Space and Digital Extremes, announced that their upcoming Sword Coast Legends™, a party-based RPG set in the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) Forgotten Realms universe from Wizards of the Coast, will now release on Steam for PC, Mac and Linux on September 29.  The PlayStation®4 and Xbox® One versions of Sword Coast Legends are still slated to appear in late 2015.

“We’re extremely excited to show everyone what we’ve been up to with Sword Coast Legends, but it looks like our dungeon bosses need a few more hit points … Larethar needs even more of a Scottish accent … and the game itself could use a touch ‘more cowbell,'” said Dan Tudge, President of n-Space and Director for Sword Coast Legends.  “All kidding aside, our fans deserve nothing less than whatever it takes on our part to deliver the compelling roleplaying dynamic of Dungeons & Dragons tabletop to the world of cooperative multiplayer video games.  If that means the game needs a few additional weeks of balancing, tuning and general polish — so be it.”

“While it’s hard to wait a few more weeks for Sword Coast Legends to drop, I’m happy the n-Space team is dedicated to crafting a quality D&D experience. All pre-orders getting the Rage of Demons DLC for free is exciting news,” said Nathan Stewart, Brand Director of Dungeons & Dragons at Wizards of the Coast. “And for D&D fans, the Rage of Demons DLC gives them another exciting way to face the demon lords in the Underdark.”

Media attending this week’s Gamescom in Cologne, Germany can see and experience Sword Coast Legends first hand by visiting the G.A.M.E. Booth in Business Center Hall 2.1, Booth #C30.  Later this month, Sword Coast Legends will also make its first playable debut at PAX Prime in Seattle, August 28-31, at the Wizards of the Coast Rage of Demons Booth #1642.

The studios also announced that all current and future Sword Coast Legends pre-orders will receive the very first DLC, “Rage of Demons,” free.  Sword Coast Legends is currently available for pre-order from Steam and the PlayStation Store for $34.99.  In addition to the free DLC, Digital Deluxe and Collector’s Editions, which include a tome of knowledge, cloth map of the Sword Coast, the official soundtrack, numerous in-game bonuses, starter items and DM abilities, as well as a statue of the powerful demon Belaphoss (Collector’s Edition) are also available for pre-order for $59.99 and $239.99, respectively, from www.swordcoast.com  Details regarding the upcoming “Rage of Demons” DLC expansion for Sword Coast Legends will be announced at a later date.

Dark Souls III Press Event Recap

By Tyler Wood (Zelus_Craft)

Dark Souls III Early Access

“Make Napa Valley the Sun Yours”

Last week Bandai Namco invited me out to one of the more beautiful parts of California: The Napa Valley. I was one of the many press, Youtube stars, and streaming sensations invited to wine, feast, and fight to prepare for the first Dark Souls III hands-on demo. You best believe the sun was praised (thank you sun, for your gloriously incandescent 102°F weather) because it was a great time.

Dark Souls III Early Access

“After an afternoon of build up it was finally time to… fight eachother?”

The demo we played strongly resembled what was shown behind closed doors at E3 a couple of months ago, and a couple tiny bits from the announcement trailer appear in it as well.

Dark Souls III Early Access

Atop the crumbling Wall of Lodeleth I began with a familiar set of plate mail armor, a straight sword and shield, and a stock of Estus Flasks. Without any friendly faces to assist me, I was on my own. Down and to the right were two seemingly dead-end corridors populated by the resident undead soldiers, archers, and attack dogs. Down and to the left lay a withering dragon and docile, praying hollows. Once, one of these praying hollowed transformed into a large, black, aggressive gelatinous slime with thick tentacles that whipped around wildly. Beyond the deceased dragon were twisted multi-level towers branching off into small courtyards and other wall tops with yet more undead and hollowed. In the most inconvenient of locations lurked what appeared to be patrolling Balder Knights whom would repeatedly stagger and destroy all who opposed them.

Above a parallel set of walls rested a live dragon, breathing fire into corridors toward wherever it detected movement. Down below, in a large courtyard where all the paths eventually converged, stood a pair of hall doors protected by a nearby hulking beast suited in shimmering golden armor. Along the way down to this courtyard and beast were occasional gravesites that could be lit. Once illuminated in a blue flame, the epitaphs would reveal some tidbits of the world – hardly substantial, but interesting nonetheless. Inside the hall doors skulked the boss – the Dancer of the Frigid Valley. Further still, beyond the hall and under the Wall was yet another boss – a hidden one.

Dark Souls III Early Access

“’Dancing’ probably means something different where she’s from.”

Depending on how the descent to the inner courtyard fared, different weapons such as a greatsword and dual scimitars could be acquired, alongside an overabundance of green blossoms, throwing knives, charcoal pine resin, and firebombs. Each weapon set differed in their utilization – this is called Weapon Arts. The scimitars had a spinning attack while the greatsword had a launching attack that could send enemies upward. Depending on the shield equipped in the offhand, or if no shield is equipped at all, different stances could be entered which enabled greater damaging blows and other benefits.

Dark Souls III Early Access

“The new weapon arts are both flashy and extremely deadly.”

Aside from the additions of Weapon Arts, very little in Dark Souls III is much different from Dark Souls I and II with the exception of the movement speed. Movement within Dark Souls III is much faster paced than before but it’s quite as fast as in Bloodborne. The demo build I played lacked any inventory and leveling menus, so I couldn’t test exactly how equipment weight and endurance/dexterity/agility points affected movement speed, but the overall base movement speed is certainly higher than before. Weapon Arts spice up the combat a little, and it’s refreshing to have new attack options available without making the combat itself much more complex. Beware of Weapon Arts with regards to shields though – not all shields can parry; some have stance mechanics instead.

Dark Souls III Early Access

“The ready stance has a tight window of usage – be careful.”

The demo build was generally stable, but the framerate varied wildly in some parts. The framerate typically stayed put at a nice 60 on the provided computer (some model of Razer Blade), but near an elevator and in between some rooms it tanked below 30 and would hitch every once in a while mid-fight. Textures throughout the demo seemed muddy, but were somewhat saved by the specular mapping. There was also a distinct lack of any options menu and any form of anti-aliasing. Blood and other effects like sparks and fire looked completely unchanged from the previous titles too. In its current state Dark Souls III is not much to look at up close, but the overall openness and design of Wall of Lodeleth was great.

Dark Souls III Early Access

“Muddy, jaggy, and flat texturework made better by specular mapping and ambient lighting.”

There was a lack of multiplayer in the demo build, too. Though this is not too much of a surprise because something like that is usually left until the later stages of development, but it would have been nice to see if the multiplayer was changed from the other Souls games.

From Software is still not big on upfront story telling so if you’re interested in the lore then you’ll need to comb over every aspect of the game as you play through it or wait until the community drafts up some presentations and summaries. In the demo, all of the story elements I experienced through short gravestone epitaphs and a 15-second cutscene introducing the Dancer of the Frigid Valley fight.

Dark Souls III Early Access

“Sadly, you could not actually reach this dragon in the hands-on demo. :c”

My time with the demo was short-lived – less than 90 minutes if I recall correctly, but a more seasoned player wise to From Software’s way of hiding shortcuts could probably complete the demo in 25 minutes. Visual nitpicks aside, it was a very enjoyable experience and exactly what I expect from a Souls game. I sincerely hope that From Software will take the time to polish the graphics and steady the framerate before releasing the game early next year.

Full Gameplay Image Gallery:

Napa Valley Event Gallery:

Questions or comments? Post them below!