IGN has received an exclusive interview with the game developers of Dark Souls 2 as they show off 12 minutes of the game in a first ever gameplay reveal video! This is indeed an exciting moment for Dark Souls fans as it definitely seems like a lot has been improved and worked on for Dark Souls 2, without sacrificing what made Dark Souls such a great unique title.

In summary of the video, these are the key points shown and discussed in the gameplay reveal:

• Dark Souls 2 will feature better graphics, one of the things they really focused on here is how realistic the graphics are
• The combat system from Dark Souls makes a return in the sequel and will follow the design principles of simple controls that require trial and error from the players and a high level of strategic planning
• Dark Souls 2 will take the three-dimensional level design even further to allow each player to explore and discover the levels more than in the previous title
• A new mechanic in Dark Souls 2 will be dark environments that require the player to find a torch and light it to be able to see the enemies before they attack in that environment
• Enemies will be prepared to react to what the player tries to attempt to kill them, for example in the video the player tried to attack the enemy from behind and in reaction to this the enemy tossed his back onto the player, slamming him into the ground
• Additionally, the player then tried to escape and found himself forced to replace the torch with his shield and then found himself trapped in the dark
• These unique reactions that the enemies will each have to the player actions will lead to players finding their own unique way of dealing with each enemy type
• Giant axes to the face hurt... a lot...
• One of the areas that is currently named The Mansion of the Dragons, this is an area where experiments have been done on Dragons in the past, so mysterious enemies lurk here that will catch you by surprise
• Dragon Mansion is also a great example of how the developers are trying to build a strong emotional tension for the players as they explore the game's levels
• The player will find magical stones in the levels that can then be placed in special stone mouth, it will trigger special events throughout the game. The magical stone itself can be used in various parts in the level and each player will have to decide when they want to use their magical stone
• Enemies will be able to break through walls in Dark Souls 2, thus it is really possible to shoot an enemy behind a gate and thus make him angry and then burst through the wall to attack the player
• In addition to these key features, they also discussed and showed some of the tough challenges that the player will face:
• The player has to be extra cautious in Dark Souls 2 due to the level of destructive environments in the game now, even a key bridge can be taken out by flying Wyverns now
• Fast moving enemies in moving carriages such as a chariot can also come along and instantly kill the player if he is not careful
• The player can be thrown off of ledges in the environments

The developers spent a lot of time and effort working on a large variety of ways in which the player can die. This was done to give a greater sense of achievement to the player when he or she finally does overcome the challenges within each level.

Overall, a lot of amazing and exciting new features that will be making its way to Dark Souls 2. It definitely is starting out with some already impressive new features and gameplay mechanics and we cannot wait to see what more they have in store for us!

Dark Souls 2 is confirmed for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and will likely be coming to next-gen consoles as well but this is yet unconfirmed. The current release is set for some time in 2014.