Well you can't argue that it is harder than the rest of RPGs currently out there. Not only is it harder to play but also it is harder to get into because almost nothing is explained at start. I heard they built a better tutorial in DSII though. But the difficulty is 90% of what you hear about this game. I played it and it has more to offer than that.

It's less silly to make a game more accessible than it is to artificially make it hard and then gloat about it.

Well you said it. What does DS have if you take away the difficulty? That makes it a marketing tool rather than an important game mechanic.

As far as I'm concerned let it be the hardes RPG ever but just don't promote it that way because that doesn't do right to the game which is a solid RPG game even without the difficulty aspect. Making it more accessible is not changing the formular(especially if it is optional). The only thing it changes is the perception in the 12 year old's eyes. It's not rad enough if it is not all modes make you die.

I heard the development costs are quite low. If they made COD cash I'd fear for their lives with all the profit burying them. They don't have those giant money chambers Activision has^^

As long as back dimples are present, I can fap to that!

Aww no more demons with exposed chests? Preorder canceled.

Keep this up and back dimples will soon be M rated^^

I have the game on pre-order and this won't change the experience i'm expecting so it's all good.

I was afraid they tune down the difficulty, but that hasn't happened so all is good.

While Namco really focused on the challenge of the first Dark Souls for its marketing campaign, the reality is that the game isn't that difficult.  While the game can be challenging depending on the player, the game is more about not holding the player's hand, rather than it being overly difficult.  Dark Souls forces everyone, both beginners and veterans, to learn the gameplay mechanics, enemy attacks, boss strategies, and so on, and its that sense of discovery and accomplishment that has attracted fans.  I just can't see new players appreciating the game if they played on an easier setting, because it could potentially diminish the magnitude of accomplishment when progressing through the content.

It's also important to consider that there are multiplayer aspects of the game and how they can be affected by different difficulty settings.  Obviously From Software would want to separate players playing with different difficulty settings for both PvE and PvP (e.g., you wouldn't want to summon a player playing on easy to help defeat a boss on hard), and in turn, that may fracture the online community for the game, which is actually my biggest concern if From Software employed difficulty settings.

Back on topic, I don't really care about whether Dark Souls 2 is Teen or Mature rated, as long as it doesn't drastically change the atmosphere of the game.  The brutal, medieval horror-like setting is part of what gives the series its appeal, and that can certainly still be done with a teen rating, although I'm admittedly ignorant about just exactly what determines a game's rating.

No boobs, no buy. While the worst offence for me as a gamer are dumbed-down games, next come bigoted-down ones. Censors must DIE!!!!!

(No, I wouldn't ask to add boobs in every game, but successful games that have boobs must keep them in their sequels and never regret anything).

Was Dark Souls already T rated ? I mean its a dark atmosphere and all but its not specialy gory or has any sexual content I dont see why it should be T rated. Based on mood and theme Id say its M but the ratings system is kinda retarded and normaly dont take theme into consideration nearly as much as they do graphical things.