Chapter 136: New Mode Launched (Sixth Update, Please Subscribe)

Chapter 136: New Mode Launched (Sixth Update, Please Subscribe)

Chen Xu hadn't announced the overseas sales figures for Dark Souls.

However, to better promote the subsequent marketing and publicity of Dark Souls, Target Software, after communicating with Chen Xu, proactively announced the game's first-week sales as a celebratory gesture.

This news naturally stirred up the domestic scene.

On the gaming industry forum:

"Dark Souls is selling extremely well overseas too! Its momentum might even be stronger than in the domestic market!"

"Well, that's to be expected—after all, media outlets like GameSpot have already given it such high scores."

"Yeah, who could've imagined that a game like Dark Souls, which breaks all conventions, would achieve such outstanding results!"

"Indeed, this is probably the best performance a domestic game has achieved overseas this year, right?"

"Not necessarily—TengHua and NetDragon's blockbusters are launching soon too."

"Although Dark Souls's mode doesn't step outside the ARPG framework, its gameplay mechanics and design philosophy are fundamentally different from half of existing ARPGs. Do you think its success is replicable?"

"Seems possible. Players with masochistic tendencies aren't exactly rare. If the difficulty isn't just arbitrary but instead fair and well-designed, I think even if a game doesn't match Dark Souls's results, it still wouldn't perform poorly."

"That's a fair point. And currently, apart from Dark Souls, there's no other game of this type on the market. This feels like a real opportunity!"

"While you're still discussing, the smart ones have already studied it and started preparing their projects!"

Compared to industry designers pondering whether Souls-like games could become a permanent genre category,

ordinary players were much simpler—purely happy that a game they loved had achieved excellent results.

Even more importantly, with such great results,

wasn't a sequel practically guaranteed?

Given the hints in Dark Souls, it was clear the sequel had huge potential!

"Did you hear? Dark Souls is selling really well overseas!"

"Yeah, and it's getting high review scores, especially popular in Europe and America!"

"Haha, go check P-site—there are tons of hilarious videos of overseas streamers getting tormented."

"It's not just funny—it's like reliving my own Dark Souls experience. Too bad on my second and third playthroughs, my overpowered character completely overshadowed the challenge. I can't feel that sense of death anymore."

"Bro upstairs, don't act all lonely-at-the-top just yet. Try clearing a few more playthroughs, then let a monster land a hit on you."

"But I'm more interested in when the sequel will come. With such great sales, why isn't Chen Xu rushing to make the sequel?"

"I'm not worried at all. Dark Souls hitting ten million sales globally is practically guaranteed. The only question is when it'll be released."

"What's there to think about? Chen Xu might already have finished the design concept drafts for the Dark Souls sequel and is leading all employees in overtime development right now!"

"Hehehe... Fire Keeper... hehehe... my Fire Keeper..."

"Bro upstairs, your vibes are way too strong!"

…………………………

At this very moment, Chen Xu was clearly not actively preparing the sequel as players imagined.

Instead, he was in a state of slacking off.

After discussing with Qin Yi, Chen Xu had handed over the development of Dark Souls's random mode to Qin Yi and his team.

Developing the new mode didn't take long—less than a week to complete.

The main workload lay in testing—specifically, the consequences of bosses randomly appearing in different scenes, and whether this would prevent players from progressing in the game.

If this were a mod on the Workshop (modding platform), such meticulousness wouldn't be necessary.

If progress got stuck, players could simply exit the game, abandon the save, and start a new one.

But since this mode was being officially released by Nebula Games, it became part of the official game content.

Thus, any situation that prevented smooth gameplay would clearly be Nebula Games' responsibility.

Therefore, thorough testing was required before launch.

As for the new mode, players could customize it.

For example, they could choose to randomize only item drops—meaning the game's overall progression remained the same.

Monsters and bosses stayed unchanged. Only the items dropped after kills were randomized. Everything else remained identical.

Alternatively, players could choose to randomize only the appearance of enemies. Except for certain specific bosses—like the Soul of Cinder at the Kiln of the First Flame, or High Lord Wolnir in the Catacombs—all enemies and bosses in the game would appear randomly.

It might happen that when you climb out of the Cemetery of Ash, instead of facing a group of Hollows, you're confronted by Black Knights, Outrider Knights, and Lothric Knights.

Of course, players could also choose to enable both options for a truly intense experience.

Testing whether they truly possessed the European Soul or were cursed with the African Soul.

………………

There wasn't much fanfare—just like a routine minor update.

Chen Xu announced on his official Weibo account that the new mode for Dark Souls had launched.

The overseas version had already been delivered to Target Software.

After passing reviews in various countries, it would launch as well.

Accounting for time differences, the gap would be at most three or four days.

Under Chen Xu and Nebula Games' official Weibo posts, the patch notes for this update were released.

Initially, players didn't pay much attention, assuming it was just a simple adjustment to certain Numerical Design values and multiplayer mode.

But after reading the patch notes, many players were Taken Aback.

This update had added a completely new mode to Dark Souls?

"Random Mode? What kind of update is this?"

"Uh, it randomizes all bosses, monsters, drops, and collectible items in the game!"

"So the items on the map and those you pick up aren't fixed—they're randomized? Does that mean I might find a Dragonslayer Greataxe in the coffin at the Cemetery of Ash right at the start?"

"This sounds kinda interesting! Starting with endgame gear—wouldn't that make me Invincible?"

"Invincible my hammer! Without sufficient stats, having such gear is worse than not having it—your stamina drains instantly, and you'll easily Deflect when attacking high-defense enemies."

"What's there to fear? Didn't you read the description? It gives you starting souls, and you can level up directly at bonfires instead of needing to go to the Fire Keeper. Clearly designed for us Lucky Kings!"

"This sounds super interesting!"

With the launch of the new mode, many players eagerly opened the patch notes to see exactly what this update brought.

After reading, many Dark Souls players felt a surge of excitement.

Recently, many Dark Souls players had been grinding high New Game+.

Especially hardcore players—most weapons, equipment, and items had already been collected.

Except for those high-level players still tirelessly exploring the world of Dark Souls,

many ordinary players who had cleared multiple playthroughs mostly replayed occasionally, or engaged in PvP for some friendly sword duels.

Or acted as Righteous Sun Knights, helping struggling rookies defeat tough bosses.

This update clearly reinvigorated many players who had started feeling bored.

The content remained the same, but the randomness introduced far more variables into gameplay.

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