Eye candy: Blur Studio’s gritty Dark Souls II trailer

This one passed us by when it was released last week, but if you’re in the same boat, it’s worth catching up on.

Blur Studio has created a bleakly atmospheric new teaser for Dark Souls II, the upcoming sequel to From Software’s masochistically difficult action RPG.

You don’t get to see a lot of facial animation (cloaks, helmets, masks; other strategic fantasy garb), but you do get some crisp action scenes and some excellent CG environments – mainly windswept and/or dripping wet.

Less bleak – but still pretty bleak
Fans are already up in arms at the news that the developers intend to make Dark Souls II “more accessible” than its predecessors – but the teaser suggests that this is still a title in which death is not only not an obstacle to progress, but positively encouraged.

And is is just us, or does that dragon look infinitely creepier than your standard hack-and-slash fodder?

Either way, it’s a reminder of how good Blur is at this kind of thing, and probably all we’ll get to see of Dark Souls II for a while: the game itself isn’t due out for at least another year.