Mogrim
Raven
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اول مقابلة تاريخ August 10, 2015http://www.gamespot.com/articles/dark-souls-3-interview-this-is-a-turning-point-for/1100-6429569/
ثاني مقابلة تاريخ November 20, 2015When did the Dark Souls 3 development project begin, and when did you become involved??
Dark Souls 3 began development when From Software was working on Dark Souls 2 DLC. Initially, I wasn’t involved in the project, I joined at the midpoint of the prototyping phase. That was the milestone where I started taking lead.
Honestly speaking, when the team was working on the prototype build overall development wasn’t in a good shape. We were at the very late stage of Bloodborne development and I had settled on a lot of the ideas for what I wanted to bring to Dark Souls 3
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Can you tell us a little more about the world of Dark Souls 3? It seems to be set during the apocalypse, as opposed to after it like in previous Souls games.
I’m not good at and I’m not a big fan of spontaneously explaining the world to players. I like for people to discover the world themselves. Having said that, I will say that the storyline is based around the Lord of Cinders, and the player acts as the dark hero who hunts them down. There was also a fire succeeded by a legendary lord from the past to the present. It’s like the grand finale of the story around the Lord of Cinders.
The original Dark Souls was about killing gods, that was one of its themes. The third game is about the kings that succeeded the power of those gods. The play is basically trying to kill those kings. That’s the basic plot of the game
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Are you familiar with something fans of Dark Souls in the west call “The Miyazaki Touch”?
Miyazaki Touch
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Yes, The Miyazaki Touch!
What? What is this? I’ve never heard of it
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It’s a line of thinking that says a Dark Souls game lacks that something special if you’re not directly involved with it. Dark Souls 2, for example, is a great game, but didn’t have the magic of the first. It lacked the Miyazaki Touch, which elevates the design of a Souls game. How does that make you feel? Knowing that your involvement in the franchise is that important to fans?
I knew that my way of designing a game had unique direction to it, but after hearing there’s an actual term called “The Miyazaki Touch,” it’s a little scary. Dark Souls 3 will be unique, it’ll have unique level design and gameplay design because of the Miyazaki Touch, but now I am a little bit worried about whether that term will still be used positively or become negative after the game’s released
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I’m surprised you haven’t heard of it, it’s a very common shorthand for describing the unique qualities of Miyazaki’s games among fans. It’s definitely used positively at the moment. It’s an imperceptible magic, kind of like Disney’s; anyone can make an animated feature, but only Disney can make a Disney film.
Wow. If that’s the case, I’ll have to work hard to make sure that “Miyazaki Touch” continues to be used in a positive way then. I’m aware that the way I give direction to the team when working on a game is a little bit different from other people. I call it “total direction,” which means I get complete control of how the game is made, not only with regards to the level design, but also the background music, sound effects, and everything else. I think that may give it a unique quality
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What lessons did you take away from Bloodborne for use in Dark Souls 3?
There’s some good things I’ve taken from Bloodborne, but at the same time there were several things that were created because they’re uniquely Dark Souls and only work in this series. From Bloodborne, I’ve taken the limit on resources, which will add additional gameplay strategy. Having certain items give certain effects is another thing that I took over from Bloodborne.
While working on Bloodborne, I realised several unique things that I can only get in Dark Souls. For example, letting players have a variety of character builds, in Bloodborne I tried to embed characteristics into certain characters and weapons, rather than letting players build their own characters.
Bloodborne was also based on gothic, cosmic horror, but I realised I missed working on dark fantasy. That brought me back to Dark Souls. I was always thinking “classic metallic knight armour is awesome,” but couldn’t use that in Bloodborne because it’s a different genre. That’s something you can only get in the Dark Souls series.
Dragons too! And magic! That actually led to me coming up with a new way to evolve the franchise
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Fans often speculate about whether the Souls framework and style of gameplay will ever extend to genres outside of dark fantasy. Have you thought about that, perhaps sci-fi Souls?
Dark Souls is my life’s work. Everything I came up with for Dark Souls 3 is based on my personal preferences. However, Dark Souls 3 is also actually the turning point for the franchise. This project was launched by the previous From Software management, before I was appointed president. In that sense, Dark Souls 3 is the turning point for the series.
As president of From Software, I am planning to launch several new projects. I can’t quite specify exactly what they are. Those could be something sci-fi, but you’ll have to stay tuned for more about that in the future
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You regularly mention Berserk as a big source of inspiration for Dark Souls, I always think about what you could do if you moved to a grounded sci-fi dystopia like in Akira. Of course. Then there’s mechs, which you’re familiar with thanks to Armored Core.
I definitely want to bring the Miyazaki Touch to those genres [laughs], both sci-fi and Japanese mechs.
With regards to Armored Core, there are several barriers that From Software as a whole needs to overcome in order to give new games to the fans. If the fans out there really want that, I suggest contacting Bandai Namco.
But yes, I do want to work on something new, and I’m please to hear people are interested in seeing that
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One of the big features in Bloodborne was the Chalice Dungeons. Will we be seeing something like that in Dark Souls 3?
In the case of Dark Souls 3, there’s no specific plan to reproduce Chalice Dungeons. The approach is to ask players to complete the game and then create new characters and builds then play the game. As always, there will be additional value and challenge in new game plus. We can’t go into details, but the online multiplayer in Dark Souls 3 will give additional values to players of the game. Those are the basic elements that will provide replay value in Dark Souls 3
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You’ve said your approach is to give full direction on games. But there is the matter of Bloodborne DLC, which many fans have hoped you’ll be involved with heavily. Can you clarify the level of commitment you’re giving to that?
The bottom line is, I think I can do it. I believe I can do both the Bloodborne DLC and Dark Souls 3. The reason is because this isn’t the first time I’ve had to work on two projects at the same time. When I was doing Demon’s Souls, I was also working on Armored Core: For Answer. Even for the original Dark Souls, I acted as producer and director.
In the case of Bloodborne, although I was the lead game director, there was another director level person that also contributed. This is the same for Dark Souls 3. Actually, [Yui] Tanimura-san, the director of Dark Souls 2, has already joined the [Dark Souls 3] team, which will allow me to work on core gameplay design while other things are taken care of.
As long as I am listed as game director on the end credits, there’s a certain level of quality the game needs to meet. I can guarantee that the game quality will reach that
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Both Dark Souls 3 and the Bloodborne DLC will reach that quality bar?
[In English] Yes!
Even though you’re also president of From Software now too?
Yes. Even though I am super busy. Working as a president and also director of Dark Souls is keeping me busy, I’m getting a lot of stimulation, which motivates me to work hard
[Laughs] As a last resort, I can always skip my duties as a president to focus on Dark Souls 3
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I’m glad your priorities are in order.
[Laughs] Yes.
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/dark-souls-3-interview-it-wouldnt-be-right-to-cont/1100-6432425/
Dark Souls 3’s network test beta drew a mixed response. How representative of the overall gameplay do you think it was?
So from a design perspective there's a lot of different aspects you could mean. It was primarily used to test multiplayer and obviously it was designed so corrections and adjustments could be made based on feedback.
As far as the map, the enemies, and number of choices you have for playing characters, fighting styles, and that kind of thing, it's only a very small slice of the entire game. In that sense it doesn't represent the total experience
I ask because I played it quite a bit and felt that there weren't very many surprises in there for veterans of the series. I felt quite comfortable in it, which is not what I'd usually get from a Souls game. The worry is that it may have become a bit too familiar, and the game overall may be more of the same.
Actually, the slice of the game shown in the beta is one of the most standard parts. The creation of the game began by working on the very standard elements and achieving a balance there so we can all be at the same starting point. It certainly won't be the case where the feeling you had with the beta will continue into the entirety of the game. You don't have to worry about that
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Over the last few years we've had a lot of Souls games: Dark Souls 2, Scholar of the First Sin, Bloodborne. Is there a worry that people may be over-exposed to the franchise?
It'd be a lie if I said I have no concerns about that. I don't think it'd be the right choice to continue indefinitely creating Souls and Bloodborne games. I'm considering Dark Souls 3 to be the big closure on the series. That's not just limited to me, but From Software and myself together want to aggressively make new things in the future. Dark Souls 3 will mark the last game where the development project began before I became president. The next title will be a game that was conceived while I was president. I believe that From Software has to create new things. There will be new types of games coming from us, and Dark Souls 3 is an important marker in the evolution of From Software
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Would it be fair to say that you don’t want From Software, and your time as president of the studio, to be defined by the Souls series ?.
I don't care about what type of president I will be in the future or how I'll be remembered, I just believe that [moving on] is necessary in order for players to continue enjoying our games. We have to keep creating quality games and be aggressive about doing new things
How do you feel about the legacy of Souls, then? The landscape of the action RPG genre has shifted somewhat in response to your games. There's games such as Lords of the Fallen and Titan Souls, among many others, that draw inspiration from From Software's titles
We don't really feel our games have created a standard. I have no concern over others making similar games, it just shows that players wanted games that were like this, that are difficult, and wanted other studios to make challenging games that achieve the same level of satisfaction. We enjoy those games and their approach to creating them are never the same, anyway. We enjoy seeing the differences. We're totally fine with seeing more games come out that borrow aspects. Our main focus is keeping game creation fresh for ourselves
What elements of the action or RPG genres stand out to you as needing attention? What do you feel players would respond to, that isn't out there at the moment
I don't find it fun or productive to envision what the direction should be for the genres or the industry as a whole. I don't believe in a top-down approach to that sort of thing. On a personal level, however, I certainly have ideas for what might be interesting to do and what would be cool. [Laughs] But those ideas can be linked to concepts for our upcoming games, so I won't give you too many details on that
How beholden to the previous two games will Dark Souls 3 be? There are references to Lords of Cinder, but is it going to be ambiguous in the same way previous games have, or are you going to be clear and direct, given you want it to be the final chapter?
You know I wouldn't make everything completely clear about a story. But there is the conclusion to a large theme that has continued through the entire series, something that will leave you with the impression of what Dark Souls was really about, tell you about the overarching theme
You draw quite heavily on Berserk and have said repeatedly that you're a big fan of it. What else is in your well of inspiration?
The roots of my fantasy ideas are in Sorcery, by Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson, the adventure game books
Anything more recent that has caught your attention?.
When I play games, I have a director's perspective, so it's half work and it's hard for me to have a pure experience, to just enjoy something on the same level as others may. However, the thing that I can enjoy right now on a pure level is Hearthstone. That's not connected to Dark Souls 3, but I love Hearthstone. There are some board games too, like Eclipse. The design of Eclipse is amazing, it's really fun
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If you could take over any game franchise and had unlimited budget, which would you pick?
[Laughs] Ohhhhhhhh...
Past or present. You can revive a property if you want. It could be Call of Duty, do you want to make that?
[Laughs] That is a hard question, I don't think I've thought about it. What do you think?
What would I like you to do? The Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver.
Really?
Yes. A vampire kingdom in ruins which the player explores many, many years after its downfall, learning of what happened. It's perfect for you
[Laughs] I understand!
I haven't thought about this at all, it's a really hard question. I see some things and I like the direction they're going and try and bring in some of the elements to do something inspired by those. A lot of the times that's the level I end up thinking on. Do I get the development team?
You can build your own team, using your own people, or existing ones. Remember, you have unlimited budget
Wow. Ultima Online or EverQuest.
That'd be great. But seriously, The Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. Please get to work on that.
[Laughs] Ok. Ok.
Oh actually, I really look up to The Elder Scrolls, I find it very inspiring.
Are you playing Fallout 4?
As a game, I found Fallout 3 to be very interesting, but I like fantasy. I tend to gravitate towards Oblivion more.