In indian tekken history this a milestone.It motivated indian player "WE CAN" play at the same level of korean players. Last day i think all indian tekkeners was watching the match between TEJAN(Abhinav tejan) and JDCR (HyunJin Kim) .
There were many things which are noticeable. All eyes were on JDCR and TEJAN because this is the match we were waiting since we know that TEJAN is going to participate in 6th e-sports world championship BAKU 2014.
This match shows the little potential of indian tekken gaming. It show what we can do.
Here is the video on youtube.
I think this video says all. Thumbs up for this video. Share, like and comment it.
We all are very excited about the upcoming tekken series installment TEKKEN 7. But before coming to us, it should be tested and the testing of this gaming is not going to held as like korea but this time it is tested in japan. On the Namco Sugamo Cup stream by Katsuhiro Harada, the location test for the new Tekken 7 will be held in Japanese arcades in October next month. On the 3rd, 4th and 5th of October, Namco Sugamo arcade in Tokyo and the Namco Nipponbashi arcade in Osaka will house Tekken 7 cabinets and allow people to play the new game on free play mode. Tekken 7 will include the ability to play against opponents locally in the arcade and also online against other players at different arcades through the internet. Players at the arcades will also be able to collect special designer banapass cards with the Tekken 7 render of Kazuya & Heihachi. You can look forward to camera video uploads and maybe a possible niconico stream of Tekken 7 in October.
I hope that you all are also waiting for this game so tune with me.
You will be thinking that i am out of my mind because writing about a film but no, i am not out of my mind. Actually i really waiting for this film because the damn teaser impressed me. I think not only me but 1.5 million people all around India. And i want to share all this to my friends readers and gamers. I have some of the famous and most liked videos from the internet. I hope you like and share it.
Straight from EVO 2014, Tekken series producer Katsuhiro Harada announces the next numbered installment of the series - Tekken 7. The announcement comes with a small teaser video featuring what is presumably Kazumi Mishima who I believe is Kazuya's mother. Additionally, an earlier leak on AOL.com showed a video with Harada saying that the engine of Tekken 7 will be powered by Unreal Engine 4 which will allow the team to develop the game for several different platforms. Minor speculation on my part but since Tekken 7 will now be using UE4, it's not farfetched to see a PC release of the title in the future. You can watch the announcement video below. More details on Tekken 7 will be coming on July 25th at the San Diego Comic-Con event.
We all know that EVOLUTION 2014 is going on in las vegas. Evolution 2014 will be commencing over the course of this weekend and thanks to the efforts of MarkMan and Bandai Namco Games, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is being included into the event and will have an added $5,000 pot bonus to the prize. The TTT2 tournament at Evo is scheduled for the entirety of Friday this week but there will be a lot more to come in terms of Tekken action withthe Tekken Casino. Among that, there's also side tournaments for Soul Calibur 2 HDO and Soul Calibur 5 happening on the Mad Catz stream and will surely be great to watch. Be sure to tune in if you can't make it to EVO 2014 this year. For competitors at the event, be sure tograb your free Devil Asuka shirt!
Microsoft is doing absolutely great work bringing new games to the modern Windows platform, and a new one has just landed on the Windows Store that goes by the name of Microsoft Jackpot.
Offering modern slot gameplay right in the Modern UI of the your Windows 8 device, the highlight of this game are the top notch visuals and sounds, zany characters, a slew of bonus games, Xbox achievements and leaderboards support, as well as daily bonuses.
A selection from the official description:
“Become a high roller with Microsoft Jackpot! Experience the excitement of modern video slots with Microsoft Jackpot! Featuring uniquely themed slot machines, huge payouts, and a wide variety of bonuses.
Microsoft Jackpot is for entertainment purposes only. Coin rewards given in-game cannot be cashed out or exchanged for real currency.”
Good to know that — of course, it is a game!
A variety of themed environments are available, each with gorgeous visuals and sounds, from ancient temples to candy factories. The game can even be paused and resumed on any Windows 8 device.
The free game works on both Windows 8 and Windows RT, and supports both touch and keyboard controls, though availability seems to be limited by region, but hopefully it becomes available on all markets soon. This is a quality game not to be missed.
Click here to check out Microsoft Jackpot on the Windows Store.
If you have played this game then you are the very awesome shooting gamer because this game can be played by the shooting game lovers. I have played and in this game you have to think conceptually for the aim. Sniper Elite III is decidedly different from the industry's most popular shooters, like Call of Duty and Battlefield. If you're in the market for a new shooter on the platform of your choice--it's available on PC and every current console that Nintendo doesn't have a hand in--it sounds as if you could do worse than Sniper Elite III. The game includes a campaign mode in addition to competitive and cooperative multiplayer modes, the latter of which lets you play through the entire campaign with another player. Have a look on the video of the game.
Game: Sniper Elite III
Developer: Rebellion
Platforms: PC, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3
Release Date: July 1
Price: $49.99 (PC, Xbox One, PS4); $39.99 (Xbox 360, PS3)
Many other sites like IGN, gameinfo and many more sites given this game good scores. If you don't played this game then play it and i hope you will be satisfied with it.
From the highs of 2013, the Nokia Lumia lineup of smartphones have had a rather low key year. Still the largest brand in its ecosystem, the wait for Windows Phone 8.1 meant that the family has suffered from an uneven release cycle.
The Nokia Lumia 630 and Lumia 930 have already been unveiled, and now attention is shifting towards other smartphones of this generation.
A leaked photo claims to show the Lumia 830, and the device appears to have a similar look to the Lumia Icon with its combination of aluminum and plastic.
If this is, indeed, the Lumia 830, then we can expect some high end hardware, keeping in mind its position in the Lumia range. The camera on the back, however, looks similar to the Lumia 1020 in more ways than one, but it is hard to imagine this being the Lumia 1030.
This phone, however, is said to be in an advanced stage of development, with models being assembled. Meaning more information about it, including hardware specifications, might not be far away.
In case this is the Lumia 830, then one can hope that Microsoft takes into account the shortcomings of the Lumia 820 including the rather small battery life, and improves upon these limitations.
While next-gen consoles struggle to hit 1080p resolution on new games, PC gamers are already stretching into 4K resolution, thanks to powerful, if expensive, new hardware.
We've already reviewed the first shipping 4K laptop, a 15-inch Toshiba Satellite model, as well as Apple's 4K-friendly Mac Pro desktop, but plenty of current PCs (with Nvidia's newest generation of 8000-series GPUs, for example) can push games to higher-than-1080p resolutions.
But to appreciate that, you'll need a 4K monitor, which are, like their TV counterparts, still new and expensive. Monoprice, known for its very reasonably priced PC and audiovisual accessories, has just announced a new model for less than some comparable versions we've seen.
Monoprice's new 28-inch ultra-high definition monitor, running at 3,840x2,160 pixels, will be available to pre-order in July and generally available sometime in the third quarter of 2014. The exact price hasn't been set yet, but we expect it to run between $550 and $600. Earlier this year, similar monitors were more than $1,000, but some recent price cuts from Dell and Samsung have started to drive prices down.
In-person, the Monoprice display is reasonably thin, with a brushed-metal bottom bezel and a sharper look than more plastic-feeling budget displays. It includes three HDMI ports, for connecting multiple devices, plus a DisplayPort. We used a 4K-ready gaming desktop from boutique PC maker Origin PC to play Battlefield 4 at full 4K resolution and "ultra" graphics settings, and it looked and played fantastic.
Mainstream PC gamers aren't going to transition to 4K anytime soon, but with hardware prices coming down, it's one area where PC games can offer a real point of differentiation from their higher-profile console counterparts.
We all that EVO a world famous tournament is started and the tekken lovers wants update direct from EVO so i am granting your wish here is the updates.
Ladies & Gentlemen,
We are very proud to announce the 2nd reveal of the largest off-tournament community event the Tekken scene has ever seen.
This EVO, Tekken Casino unearths all your expectations of hype and excitement, and delivers much more than you could ever imagine. Pulsating off the highly successful debut in Atlanta earlier this year, we bring two nights of high level Tekken action within the magical affinity and boisterous elegance of the Las Vegas strip.
In addition to the most elite Tekken action under an 1100 Sq. ft suite, the enchanting charm of Vegas grants us sole sponsorship for this event by the one and only, Madcatz and additional partners are other great community contributors such as Gutsy Geek, KiT, and more.
Those attending the Casino can expect less wait time, with no less than 8 Tekken setups. There will be food, drinks, plus prizes given, anyone who attended Tekken Casino in Atlanta knows the unpredictability of the events that could happen. In the spirit of Las Vegas and for the players who want a little extra, we offer the VIP package- includes entry to VIP section, and access to special prize giveaways, plus much more exciting perks.
As promised, the year’s most thrilling event is not complete without electrifying challenges:
The Casino's headliner event is the ‘Tekken Casino Invitational’ This would be 8 players, single elimination with random seeding featuring America’s BEST Tekken players in war for high stakes:
Anakin KOR NYC FAB Inkognito Mr. Naps Lil Majin Just Frame James Mateogalvan
Also, tune into the exclusive and unique, Tekken Casino ‘Challenge Matches’ - Tekken challenges with an added twist assigned.
If you are unable to attend, don’t stress! The action will be streamed by your beloved community streamers, NYC FAB and Anakin. [www.twitch.tv/tekken]
More details of Tekken Casino, an event made for the players by the players:
>When? July 11th & 12th 2014 - Friday & Saturday (time TBD - dependent upon Evo Tekken schedule) >How Much? General admission $15 for the weekend VIP $40 for the weekend [lots of crazy benefits :3) >General Rules There will be no casual matches, Tekken Casino is purely for exhibition matches only
So there you have it folks- Tekken Casino is going to be the one event you do not want to miss this tournament season. A community resource event, pooled in with everything we all have gained and desired for an off-tournament competition.
We ask your support to help us make sure Tekken Casino runs smoothly, without a hitch.
Before Facebook i think all most everyone used Orkut. Now on Monday google finally going to shut down Orkut. At the month of september it will be over for orkut.
The service launched in 2004, the same year as Facebook, and is a hub for online interactions and photo sharing. The site never quite won over users in the US, but found success in countries like India and Brazil.
The social-networking world is starkly different from when the site launched a decade ago. Facebook, with more than 1.2 billion users, is now the clear king of social. Mobile social networks like Instagram -- owned by Facebook -- and Snapchat, which specializes in photos that disappear after a few seconds, also have become popular among young people.
Google has tried its hand at social a number of other times. In February 2010, the company launched Google Buzz, a social network built into Gmail that pulled together contacts from a user's email account. In October 2010, the company announced it would shutter the Buzz service.
Google's most formidable attempt came with Google+,launched in June 2011, a few months before the company pulled the plug on Buzz. Google said in October that 300 million users visit the Google+ homepage every month. While it has not found the kind of traction that would make it a true Facebook rival, Google has used the service more as a way of tying together the company's catalog of different services.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for Orkut's user numbers. We'll update this post when we hear back.
Google touted the growth of Google+, as well as YouTube and Blogger, as a reason it decided to shutter Orkut. "Because the growth of these communities has outpaced Orkut's growth, we've decided to bid Orkut farewell," Paulo Golgher, Orkut's engineering director, wrote in a blog post.
The site will officially go dark on September 30. Existing users can export their photos and profile information using a service called Google Takeout, but new users are no longer able to set up accounts.
Now days mostly all over the globe we uses smartphone with android as an OS. And when the kitkat or K update came for the android devices many users thing the interface will be different from the jellybean or J update but No, it doesn't have much difference in the interface. Google's Sundar Pichai noted at the very beginning of the Google I/O keynote, Android L is one of the most comprehensive Android updates in the mobile platform's history. Having refused to take our eyes off the scene for even a split second, we have to agree that the update, at least so far, appears to be quite extensive, and there's a whole bunch of goodies we'll be talking about now, and in the coming months.
New Interface
In simple words every thing is redesign from the scratch. Even the software navigation keys have gone through a redesign. What's more, the new look, apart from being seamless across all Google platforms, has also been simplified down to the basics, and is now flatter, more colorful, and quite a bit more likable.
Search is Google's bread & butter, so none should be surprised to find out that Android L will bring some additions and improvements in that field.
For example, Google has put an emphasis on 'rediscovery', meaning that Google Search will now be better aware of what you were doing immediately before looking for something online. One primer Google demo'd is Search's knowledge of a user's previous Google Earth search for a location. This query, which was performed in an app separate from Search, is then incorporated in the results you get for the same or similar searches, and you'll be able to jump right into a given app and start right where you left off. What's more, this new API will be made available to developers, so third-party apps will also be in a position to take advantage of this new functionality -- it doesn't have to be a Google app. This opens up a number of possible use case scenarios, and hopefully devs will utilize this new-found power well.
Another area Android L will touch on are notifications. Here, Google is improving the existing notifications functionality in two ways.
First, notifications are now even more interactive, and this holds true even when looking at those from your lockscreen. In Android L, you can expand or discard those (and more), and Google promised that algorithms will try and curate what you get served, in an attempt to keep it relevant. What's more, double-tapping a notification from your lockscreen will immediately redirect you to the app that triggered it.
Second, Android L will introduce what the community has come to recognize as heads-up notifications. This means that notifications can now be displayed in a much larger box, and will go beyond just notifying you through the tiny status bar strip. If you have an LG or Samsung phone, these are very much alike to their respective 'floating caller' functionality, which introduces a small box when a call is patched through, allowing you to continue whatever it is you're doing, instead of forcibly hijacking your experience. Finally!
I think that interface is like nokia X and XL lock screen.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I hope that it will fulfill the expectation of the new and "always want something different" users.
I am using an android which is not fully android those who understand and those who don't its Nokia XL. When i started it many apps are present in the app store made by Nokia but some apps like candycrush, instagrame, whatsapp, etc are not available in the nokia app store. Instead of the they show us some other free android market from which we can download it. So the best of them now i am going to tell you.
1.Google Play Store.
The most famous and very reliable store for android apps is GPS. But some phones or windows and asha platform phones doesn't support it, but don't worry you can root you phone and the you can use it. Then you will be amazed after using it.
2. 1MobileMarket
This is the app store which give you most of the apps which are mainly supported by your device. This app store is more likely the google play store. Its interface is little bit similar too.So I recommend you this because it app are same and compatible.
3.Mobogenie
This app store have the apps but it have some pirated or damaged apps because a month ago i just download candy-crush and when i stared it my screen get blurred until i just uninstalled the dam app after that i normally not recommend it you guys.
4.Aptoide
It is a nice mobile app market.It is the largest independent Android app store and allows one to setup and manage your own Android Market. Upload, test and approve your apps. So it is pretty much safe.
5.Appland This is one of the best growing android app market.It contain nice and safe apps. You can use it. This app store got four stars by google app users. NOTE :- All these are the third party store so the apps have not guaranteed to work and they also have harmful virus so be aware.
We all always wished that our PC games will be more attractive if we can play them with a console gaming remote and now your wish is granted. The wizardry comes courtesy of new Windows drivers that support the Xbox One controller on a Windows PC, Microsoft's Larry Hryb, aka Major Nelson, revealed Thursday. The drivers are now available for both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows and also will be packaged as part of a future Windows update.
Xbox One gamers had apparently been clamoring for PC support, according to Major Nelson. Xbox 360 owners have long been able to use their controller on a PC. But the Xbox One controller offers a few advantages over its predecessor, most notably an improved D-pad that allows for greater movement.
To enable the support on your PC, download and install the necessary drivers for your version of Windows. You can then connect your Xbox One controller to your PC through a microUSB cable.
So does this mean you can play just any game on your PC using the Xbox One controller? No, not quite. The new PC drivers will allow the Xbox One controller to talk to any game that features gamepad support for the Xbox 360 controller.
And here i the list of game which can be played.Click Here.
Have fun and comment like and share it with your friends.
Tekken: Revenge Of Kazuya is a new live action Tekken movie which is a prequel to the 2010 movie of TEKKEN. This latest movie was once formally known as 'TEKKEN - A Man Called X' and starred Kane Kosugi in the lead role with Prachya Pinkaew (Ong Bak) directing. The recent Amazon listing (which has now pulled pre-order links) for 'Tekken: Revenge Of Kazuya' shared the poster you can see above, a new change of directors (Wych Kaosayananda) and some of the actors who will join Kane Kosugi in the film such as; Kelly Wenham, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Gary Daniels, Biljana Misic, Charlotte Kirk and Ron Smoorenburg. Tekken: Revenge Of Kazuya is set for release on Blu-Rays and DVDs on the 12th of August this year. A trailer for the film should be appearing online shortly. Get READY FOR THE NEXT BATTLE
We all know that Nokia Lumia Series comes with wireless charging but now you can also use it for your samsung phones and don't want to buy a new one just use this.
Taiwan -- Luxa2, the lesser-known division of Thermaltake, is likely to have slipped under the radar. That's not to say there aren't any noteworthy products being released by the company, as was made abundantly clear while walking past the Thermaltake booth at Computex 2014, adorned as it was with high-end PC towers and cooling equipment.
What piqued my interest though, was a new range of wireless portable charging banks that run on the Qi standard. The 10,000mAh TX-P2 looks like a metallic brick, and a pretty hefty one at that, supporting both wireless and wired charging.
However, apart from the Nokia Lumia devices, there aren't really a lot of phones that come with wireless charging as default. But that isn't stopping Luxa2. A spokesperson from the company showed me some of Luxa2's wireless charging receivers, costing just $10 (£6, AU$10.8), that you can attach to four of the high-end Samsung phones. These are already available in online stores such as Newegg.
This power bank can also charge your phone wireless.
The Samsung Galaxy S3, S4, Note 2 and Note 3 are supported, but you'll have to make sure to purchase the correct version for it to work on your phone. There's no soldering involved, you just stick the kit over your battery at a specific point and your phone can now be charged wirelessly.
The reason this works is because wireless charging capabilities were already built into the phones, but Samsung did not ship the devices with wireless charging covers (these are sold separately).
One thing to note when using these stickers on your Samsung phone, and as pointed out by my colleague Nic Healy who has tried something similar before, is that it blocks your NFC. According to Luxa2, of the four supported phones, only the Note 2's NFC isn't blocked.
The very famous series of First Person Shooting game. Call of Duty is going to launch it new installment Advance warfare in which we can see our future but with the concepts not like some fantasy. As a part of GameInformer's ongoing coverage ofCall of Duty: Advanced Warfare, the outlet hasgone into detailon the weapons and technology that will feature in this November's instalment of the first-person shooter series.
The new setting of 2054 allows developer Sledgehammer games to bring into the game's reality concepts that aren't even prototypes today. One of those is a 3D Printer Rifle. Note that this is not a gun which has been created through 3D printing, which is possible today, but a gun that 3D prints its ammunition on-the-fly in the weapon's chamber.
Other technology detailed includes a plasma rifle, a hoverbike, vertical takeoff aircraft, and an exo suit that will increase your speed, strength and jump height.
Check out the gallery below for more, originally found on GameInformer. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare launches November 4.
Intel is very famous name in the processor world after the I- series by Intel, it get even more in headlines. Intel is now very serious about getting both its processors and LTE into tablets. And its latest 64-bit chip, codenamed Moorefield, is expected to make a high-profile appearance at the upcoming Computex conference.
Moorefield, aka the quad-core Atom Z3560/Z3580, is designed for smaller devices of 8 inches and smaller (including smartphones) and will show up in products at Computex Taipei conference starting on June 4, an Intel spokeswoman told CNET.
What makes it different than previous "Bay Trail" tablet processors that power tablets like the Lenovo ThinkPad 8? Moorefield comes in a smaller chip package (making it easier to use in small tablets and phablets) and has better "thermals" (meaning it runs cooler), the spokeswoman said.
Maybe more importantly, it is LTE "optimized," the spokeswoman said. That means it includes support for Intel's XMM 7260 LTE siliconn (see graphic at bottom), which is CAT 6 capable (300 Mbps theoretical peak downlink speeds).
Intel has struggled to match LTE with its processors in tablets to date. For example, on the Windows 8.1side of the ledger, very few tablets from top-tier device makers are offered in the US with built-in LTE.
Moorefield could change that as the KDDI MeMO Pad attests -- one of the first devices to tap Moorefield. That Android product packs the Z3580 Moorefield Atom processor and has built-in LTE.
How much of your humanity are you willing to give up for even the slightest chance of victory?
Dark Souls II asks this question of you at every turn, encouraging you to press onward in spite of imminent death. And with each death, you lose a little of your humanity and become more hollow. Your maximum health slightly diminishes each time as well, eventually sinking to 50 percent of its full value, and yet as each sliver of humanity is sliced away, you heed the call to move onward. Eventually, you overcome the obstacle that stood between you and victory--that quartet of gargoyles swarming you on a rooftop, that arachnoid demon plunging poisonous pincers into your flesh, that disgusting mound of meat that defies description. You have triumphed! But your gain does not come without sacrifice. You have sworn, you have gasped, and you have sweated. You have forfeited your own humanity so you might collect the souls of the damned.
Like Dark Souls and Demon's Souls before it, Dark Souls II is not just a fantasy role-playing adventure, but a cloud that hangs heavy over your head whenever you so much as think about it. These modern classics developed by From Software have rightfully earned a reputation for being brutally difficult, but their beauty is derived not solely from difficulty, but also from dread. Dark Souls II is not a survival horror game in the normal sense, but few games can make you this afraid to peer around the corner, while simultaneously curious as to what awaits you there. Death is so very beautiful in this game, for it comes at the hands of amazing beasts and warmongers: hulking armored knights, shimmering otherworldly invaders, and tendrils that rise out of black pools of poison. Sure, each death punctures your heart, but one of Dark Souls II's many gruesome pleasures is discovering new ways to die.
The eerie blackness is front and center as you start up the game and enter the mysterious abode in front of you. Three old crones await you inside and ask you to customize your character and choose a class before venturing into the unknown. Like most of Dark Souls II's characters, these women offer vague advice and refer to events and concepts without filling in the details. The anxiety mounts as you weave in and out of the nearby caverns that fill you in on the basics of movement and combat. This area may teach you the fundamentals, but it also raises a number of questions. What are those odd voices you hear when you stand near the bird's nest that rests on a narrow ledge? What is the significance of the flame sconces scattered about that you are meant to set alight? How do you survive encounters with the monstrous ogres on the beach below that squish you like a measly bug when you draw near?
Welcome to Drangleic, a world that is not quick to whisper its secrets to you, in a game that trusts you to find the answers for yourself.
This introduction is not as soul crushing as the original Dark Souls' opening, but that's just fine, for Dark Souls II offers you an early taste of hope, a feeling that was quite rare in its predecessors. That hope arrives by way of Majula, a gorgeous oasis that's as close to a home as you will find in the game. My first glimpse of Majula was a revelation. As I emerged from the nearby shadows, the glowing sun blinded me, and I stood in awe of the world opening up before me. Whenever the bleakness of Drangleic at large overwhelmed me, I was glad to return to this hub for an emotional refresh.
Majula is more akin to Demon's Souls' Nexus than to Dark Souls' Firelink Shrine. It is your central hub of operations, and while it's mostly devoid of life when you first come upon it, it slowly fills out with the vendors you meet upon your travels, many of whom set up shop there. Your most important contact there, however, is the cloaked woman who allows you to level up in exchange for souls, the game's currency. But even Majula is not immune to mystery. There's an impossibly deep hole in the ground here, one that spells certain death if you fall into it. (Don't let it fool you; the boards that crisscross this passage may look high enough to provide a safe landing, but you will not survive that fall.) What's down there? Surely something valuable must lurk down there. Or something horrifying. You eventually make your way down, but Dark Souls II doesn't tell you when or how that may happen.
Instead, Dark Souls II trusts you. As in its predecessors, there are no waypoints, and there is no quest log. Instead, you simply head out into Drangleic seeking to light primal bonfires and thus restore some dignity to this decrepit land. The only way to defeat the defiant creatures that guard the bonfires, however, is to grow stronger by murdering enemies and collecting their souls, which you then spend on new levels, new armor, and other trinkets that strengthen your resolve in battle. If you've played the earlier Souls games, you should take to the combat quickly. You feel each swing of your axe, each stab with your spear, and each fireball you lob. Timing is key: every action leaves you vulnerable, so you must pay close attention to the rhythm of your enemies' attacks and strike at the opportune moment. Managing your stamina is also vital to success. Every attack you launch uses up stamina, as does successfully blocking an attack. You can't simply flail about with abandon; this is not that kind of game, and not taking care during every encounter will get you killed.
Not that you shouldn't expect death. Dark Souls II is built around your repeated demise. When that inevitable moment comes, you drop all the souls you were carrying and must retrieve them if you don't want to lose them permanently. You get only one chance to get them back, for dying before you reach them eliminates them from the world forever. Of course, this mechanic is nothing new: it's the same concept that powered both Demon's Souls and Dark Souls, after all. But just as Dark Souls represented a structural change over Demon's Souls, so too does Dark Souls II over its predecessor.
Some of the differences are noticeable early on, though their benefits aren't always immediately clear. I was not sure how I felt about one such change: the limited enemy respawns. Each time you die or rest at a bonfire, the world is refreshed and the standard defeated foes respawn. Or at least, that's how it used to happen. In Dark Souls II, there comes a point when many local enemies don't respawn anymore, allowing you freedom to progress with fewer obstacles in your way. It's true that infinite respawns encouraged grinding, particularly when the enemies you faced dropped important items. But that repetition also instilled a bizarre connection between player and game. I can still clearly remember, for instance, exactly how to progress through Dark Souls' Undead Parish--where each enemy is, what attacks it will use, and what precarious drop-offs I must keep a lookout for. When I first encountered the limited respawn system, I worried that the sequel had lost a vital element that would keep Dark Souls II from commandeering my waking and sleeping thoughts.
As it turns out, I shouldn't have worried. The grinding opportunities are still there, and there are in-game items that force enemies in a given region to begin respawning again (and make them more powerful, to boot). Dark Souls II's hook isn't the endless cycle of enemy death and resurrection, however, but the promise of new and exciting places to explore, and new and exciting foes to face. And that hook is supported by any number of subtle changes to the formula. For example, once you activate a bonfire, you can warp to it from any other bonfire without having to pass through perilous places over and over again. Again, I didn't immediately take to this change, but once I discovered just how vast Drangleic was--it's decidedly bigger than Dark Souls' Lordran--I embraced the structural tweaks.
These changes might not have worked had Dark Souls II not made discovery such a thrill, but with each new area comes a new wondrous vista and a new challenge to overcome. The early forests and ruins are very Dark Souls, but the intricate architecture and carefully planned enemy locations make even familiar-looking environments fresh and unique. The more progress you make, however, the more unusual the settings become, and the more you need to consider new methods of approach. Suddenly, undead freaks are flinging themselves to the ground and exploding, and so you must hasten your rhythm. You walk through an archway and into the thickest fog imaginable, where you cannot lock on to the ghostly shimmers that attack you. Poison rains from the sky, bedeviled urns curse you when you linger near, and anthropomorphic tortoises stop, drop, and roll all over your puny body. Dark Souls II wants to kill you, but the cycle of death and rebirth is worth it if it means finding the royal ring that lets you open that giant door and discover what new and wonderful lands lie beyond it.
Those lands are incredibly striking. Given reports of Dark Souls II's new engine, I was disappointed by the game's lighting, which was flatter than I had hoped, thus rendering my torch less vital for providing dynamic light than it might have otherwise been. But to fixate for too long on this single visual element sells the fantastic art design short. Make your way past Harvest Valley's poisonous pools--and the fantastic monstrosities that fire orbs of darkness at you--and you can only marvel at all of the windmills that lie before you. Of course, this is Drangleic and not the Netherlands; those windmills are not quaint landmarks, but harbingers of disease and death. Then there's Iron Keep, which takes lava levels to a whole new height of fiery doom. There are very occasional frame rate issues that intrude on the grim elegance, but nothing on par with Dark Souls' Blighttown struggles.
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