News

The Xbox Achievements for the imminent Dark Souls II have been released, and they offer a small hint as to what will be expected of us in this next gruelling jaunt into the most hardcore RPG of all.

The good news is that even the weediest player will be able to earn some Gamerscore from the title, with 10G awards for lighting your first bonfire, learning your first spell and - rather hilariously - dying for the first time. That one is called This Is Dark Souls, just so you know what to expect.

There's a slew of awards for discovering the game's various factions - known as covenants - and yet more for inheriting cool loot from deceased characters. Magic users will also earn a healthy chunk of Gamerscore for learning all the gestures, sorceries, hexes, pyromancies and miracles. More are offered for finding certain key items, and performing specific tasks in important locations.

Naturally, given the game's infamously testing difficulty, the single biggest Achievement is held back for completing the game. You'll get a cool 100G for reaching the ending, and then another 50G on top of that for earning all the other Achievements, so while there are some concessions to less skilled players, the bragging rights are reserved for those who master the game completely. Just as it should be.

Dark Souls II is out for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on March 14th. The PC version follows soon after.