Dark Souls

The set-piece on show took place in a large stone chamber. A narrow stone walkway ran down the middle with perilously long drops visible on either side. Giant scythes swung like pendulums from the ceiling, right across the path of the walkway. The objective, of course, was to make it to the other end of the room without being sliced or shoved into oblivion.

"One of my favourite things to do is to create situations where the player sort of has no chance," said Miyazaki. He then neatly demonstrated his own point by mistiming a dash past one of the scythes and plunging into the abyss.

Of course, these environments aren't just populated by oversized farming implements. There's a wide variety of super-hard – or as Miyazaki would have it, cute – monsters to batter. Though it's more likely they'll be battering you most of the time, and it's worth noting Miyazaki's definition of cute seems to be giant mutant rats and axe-wielding two-legged snake people.

During the press conference Miyazaki also introduced us to what he described as a "mid-boss" – a troll-like creature boasting huge horns, a lumbering gait and an enormously powerful club. His towering stature and immense power suggested he'd probably be known as a plain old "boss" in most other games.

Miyazaki used this part of the presentation to demonstrate weapon switching in Dark Souls. He swapped the playable character's longsword for a great sword picked up earlier in the level, and explained how you can not only swap weapons but equip one in each hand.

According to Miyazaki there are over a hundred types of weapon in the game, each one complete with different specs and capabilities. It's all about "highly strategic tactical swordplay", apparently – learning what each weapon can do, then using this knowledge to develop your own unique plans of attack.

However, he explains during our interview, there's actually less of an emphasis on combat in Dark Souls than there was in the previous game. "There are several concepts at work. There's roleplaying, there's the action swordplay and there's the exploration," Miyazaki says.

"Demon's Souls was leaning more towards the swordplay, but now we're putting a little bit more weight on the exploration. It's about allowing the player to experience discovery."

This shift in focus isn't the only element set to change for this semi-sequel, despite all the similarities with Demon's Souls. "One of the big conceptual differences is seamlessness," says Miyazaki. Put simply, "We've attached all the environments together."

No loading times, then? "No. In Demon's Souls, the design was based around individual levels so exploration was only within particular environments. Now we're allowing users to explore the entire world, without interruption. That's an important step up for Dark Souls."

Important perhaps, but it's a step which once again represents an enhancement of the existing experience rather than a radical departure. In fact, the biggest differentiator between Demon's and Dark Souls revealed so far seems to be that ramped up difficulty level.

The problem is, if this already tough game gets any tougher, won't it become inaccessible to all but the most dedicated of players?

No, promises Miyazaki. "We want to make the game more difficult, but at the same time the game has to be completable and accessible. We'll provide higher achievements, but players have to be able to reach those higher achievements. The entire balance will be stepped up.

"The analogy I constantly use is, if we compare it to food, we're trying to create something that's very spicy – as spicy as possible – but edible. It has to taste good so people will continue coming back to it, eat more, and really enjoy it."

A bit like a vindaloo, then? As in, you have to be pretty hardcore to consume it, but it's not as hot as a faal, and won't actually kill you?