Dark Souls 4 Release Date

In a 2016 interview with Kotaku, the creator of Dark Souls, Hidetaka Miyazaki, said: “For me Dark Souls 3 is the end, but that doesn’t mean the end of Dark Souls.”  Miyazaki has been vocal about his plans to pursue other projects, yet he did leave an opening for fans of the series.  While FromSoftware hasn’t mentioned anything about a current Souls project, it is possible that a team could work on one in the future.  Miyazaki’s opening has encouraged fans of the series to hold out some sense of hope, and although his involvement with a new game is unlikely, the potential remains for Souls development.  It is with that potential in mind that, we ask the question:

What do we want in Dark Souls 4? 

Well, we have comprised a list, and in no particular order, here are 10 things we’d like to see in DS4.

10. The Return of Poise

Let’s face it; the Dark Souls 3 poise system is completely broken.  No matter how much of the stat you add to your character, you still have your attacks interrupted by the weakest of enemies.  In previous Souls games, we added poise to our character so as not to stagger during longer attack animations.  Lack of poise in DS3 has created the need to spam the R1 or RB buttons.  If there is to be a Dark Souls 4, then let there be a poise system similar to Dark Souls.   

9. Freedom of Movement

Ever wonder why the Ashen One can slay the world’s most ferocious bosses, yet can’t seem to figure out how to step over a 9-inch-tall object?  Even though our characters can jump, there are often invisible walls that block our passage over those objects.  The new Sekiro game by FromSoft seeks to remedy that issue, and it’s also something we would like to see in Dark Souls 4.

8. Consistent PVP

PVP has always been a staple of the franchise, yet it’s had its problems too.  In Dark Souls 1 players constantly dealt with the roll-backstab spam, Dark Souls 2 was gank city, and Dark Souls 3 suffers from ghosting issues.  In truth, every multiplayer experience struggles a bit, but if ghosting could be fixed, and a more reliable netcode was added, then Dark Souls PVP would be much improved.

7. A New Story

There are several ways to approach the lore and storytelling of a new Souls game.  Perhaps a prequel or an offshoot is a smart move. In the case of the former, we could visit Astora before it was destroyed, and finally have the opportunity to learn about Andre and the Elite Knights of Astora.  As an offshoot, why not go to Catarina and learn all about onion-bro, or check out Thorolund and see what the heck is going on with The Way of White.  There are so many stories to be told in the Dark Souls universe, that it’s truly hard to believe the franchise is finished.

6. New Boss Styles

Alright, this one is obvious, but what is not are the ways new fights could play out.  We have now seen the concept of the multi-phase fight, however we have yet to see the concept of the all-phase fight.  In other words, why not take all three phases and put them together, then program the AI to react accordingly to the player.  Such a fight would be insanely difficult, which is exactly why we want to see it in a new Souls game.

5.  Open Spaces

Imagine large open spaces in a Souls game; something akin to Hyrule Field, or an over-world. Dark Souls is somewhat of an open-world game, in that the player has some agency regarding where they go, and how they get there.  But, if there were large open areas to explore, perhaps even on horseback, the Medieval mythos would be taken a step further.  Hmmm… call it Witchsouls 4 and the Ocarina of Blood. 

4. Day/Night Cycles

We can see this one being somewhat controversial.  Current Souls games have a unique art style that communicates a certain mood or tone to an area.  Yet after visiting the area on multiple occasions, things can start to feel a little same-y.  Day/Night cycles would add some much-needed variety to the environments in Souls.

3. Improved Ranged Combat

Dark Souls 3 has a superb combat system, yet it still could be improved.  Ranged weapons in Souls games use poor mechanics, and you often find yourself shooting arrows into walls, nowhere near where your sight was aimed.  Not to mention, many times your arrow flies into some sort of invisible wall, and seeing an arrow sticking out of an invisible wall, is immersion-breaking to say the least. 

2. Improved Melee Combat

This is another area that DS3 greatly improved upon relative to DS2, but the issues with R1/RB spam need to be resolved.  Players are often forced into two quick R1 presses rather than any combination of R1 and R2, due to the time it takes those animations, as well the chance of having their attack interrupted.  What we’d like to see is a melee system that is a mix of DS1 and DS3; high-speed omnidirectional movement, with the ability to combine weak and strong attacks. 

1. More Music

Alright, this a request more than anything else.  The composers of Dark Souls 3 did a superb job in their scores of the game, often integrating the timing of the music to the movement of the bosses, and the game takes on a beautiful somber tone, yet it can also feel very welcoming at times.  All that we ask is for more of that incredible music; give the composers a chance to really explore their space.  Perhaps, all that is needed in Dark Souls 4, is a little more cowbell.

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