The man who invented Dark Souls. Hidetaka Miyazaki

28.08.2019

The game development process is, first and foremost, a team effort. However, above the whole team there is always a person who guides the others and gives shape to the game. Only he knows in what order the puzzle pieces need to be collected.

For Metal Gear Hideo Kojima became such a person, for Resident Evil- Shinji Mikami, and for the series Souls- Hidetaka Miyazaki. Before his release, no one had heard anything about him, but even now, having become one of the icons of the gaming industry, he is in no hurry to become a public person.

And yet this is a very, very interesting person. And his approach to game development is in many ways unique.

Space and sky are one

A well designed world could tell its story in silence.
April 25, 2013

“Done right, a world can tell its story in silence.”

Miyazaki had the dream of making a fantasy role-playing game for many years. He began to be interested in Western works in the fantasy genre and Western mythology as a child and even tried to read books in English. But due to the language barrier, I understood only a few words and was forced to rely more on pictures and come up with stories on my own.

It was these childhood hobbies that shaped his view of presenting stories in games. Miyazaki is convinced that the world and all its components, by their very appearance, must tell the player a story. Words are either completely unnecessary, or should only guide the player’s thoughts and give him hints.

Having suffered as a child, Miyazaki now makes us suffer. He deliberately makes the descriptions of objects in his games extremely abstract, so that players puzzle over where this or that thing can be useful and whether it is of any use at all.

Creative freedom

If you think about it, a skeleton is chewing all your food.
— Hidetaka Miyazaki (@HidetakaMiyazak) August 7, 2014

“If you think about it, the skeleton chews all your food.”

Miyazaki has an equally unique view on the organization of the creative process. The team, as a rule, does not receive precise instructions from him. He simply describes the desired result with a couple of leading words or even poses a task in the spirit of “draw me a spear that you would trust with your life.” And after that - no creative restrictions and pressure. Designers, artists and animators create whatever they want, and when they think they are happy with the result, they send it to Miyazaki for approval.

He evaluates the work personally and, having outlined the edits, goes to discuss them with the author. His own views and the author’s vision may differ markedly, and therefore during the discussion it is important to tune in to the same wavelength.

That is why the conversation is not so much about specific edits, but about completely abstract things - in the spirit of philosophical discussions about space and the meaning of life. Thanks to this approach, the design, despite the complete creative freedom of the artist, ultimately turns out to be original, but harmonious. This can only be achieved in a small, close-knit team, so Miyazaki assembles a relatively small team to work on each project.

Above all, Miyazaki values simplicity and elegance. A design replete with unnecessary details, it cuts at the root. This applies to both the characters and the environment, as well as the story.

Another equally important parameter for him is insanity. He especially likes things that look like something a normal person would not be able to create.

Of course, sometimes Miyazaki develops a clear vision for a certain element of the game. In this case, the task is set quite specifically, but it is still brought up for general discussion and adjusted in accordance with the creative ideas of the entire team.

Video games should be themselves

Video Games and Hollywood need to start acting more like themselves and less like each other.
— Hidetaka Miyazaki (@HidetakaMiyazak) March 5, 2013

“Video games and Hollywood need to be more like themselves and less like each other.”

Miyazaki is especially sensitive to the characters inhabiting his worlds. When asked about a particular hero, he literally falls out of reality, launching into stories about the character’s past, the events associated with him, the emotions he experiences, and the thoughts that gnaw at him. And all this should also be read by the hero’s appearance. The character's clothing, colors, and even posture should reflect his mood and give the player an idea of who he is dealing with.

Miyazaki calls symbolism another very important element in the image of heroes. It must be fairly easy to read, but not too obvious, so as not to impose on the player the view of the developers themselves. In this case, the characters will become more alive and the world more believable.

Dark Souls. According to him, he simply wanted to create a “big woman.” A kind of image of a caring and protective mother from childhood.");" border="0" alt="" src="https://cdn.igromania.ru/mnt/articles/8/1/f/d/0/2/26403/html/img/b1f84691011b677a.jpg" width= "647" height="364">

Miyazaki comes up with many characters personally, and one example of this is Guinevere in . According to him, he simply wanted to create a “big woman.” A kind of image of a caring and protective mother from childhood.

Making the game world believable is generally one of Miyazaki's main tasks. That is why all his games turn out to be dark and teeter on the edge of the horror genre. “Our world is rude and cruel, no one will believe in the “caramel” universe,” he says.

According to Miyazaki, the player must be categorically pulled out of his comfort zone and made to feel uncomfortable. The environment should be oppressive and frightening. Only in this way will every step and even the smallest achievement in the gaming world be perceived as a victory. And according to Miyazaki, the feeling of victory and achievement is generally the main thing in games.

This is why his works are so complex - a simple game will not give that intoxicating feeling of overcoming. So the overwhelming complexity and torment of the player is not the goal, but only the means.

sources of inspiration

A sense of achievement is worth more than points from unlocking an achievement or trophy.
— Hidetaka Miyazaki (@HidetakaMiyazak)

The creator of the Souls role-playing series, Hidetaka Miyazaki, has repeatedly stated that Dark Souls will be limited to a trilogy. In a recent interview with the Taiwanese resource GNN Gamer (partially translated by a user of the NeoGAF forum), the game designer explained that Dark Souls 3 will be the final part of the entire Souls saga - at least those of which he was personally involved in the creation.

According to Miyazaki, the possibility of a new Souls "not equal to zero", but From Software currently has no plans to create "sequels, spin-offs, or any other series-related projects." You shouldn’t wait for a re-release of Demon’s Souls for PlayStation 4. The game designer himself, according to him, wants to move on and create games based on new intellectual property.

“But I can say with confidence that for me personally, Dark Souls is over, he continued. — So instead of taking on the next part, I'll go in a new direction. Development of my next project under the new license has already begun.” Miyazaki also made it clear that the game is unlikely to be similar to Souls or Bloodborne: “We want to try something completely new.” In early March, speaking with Eurogamer employees, he hinted that his new project would not be in the dark fantasy genre.

“If someone from From Software came to me in five years and asked if I could lead the development of a new Dark Souls, I wouldn’t stand in the way.”, he explained. Once, Miyazaki had already given up his position as development director to other specialists: Dark Souls 2 was created under the leadership of Tomohiro Shibuya and Yui Tanimura.

At the same time, Miyazaki admitted that he would like to continue the Armored Core series of robot shooters. Under his leadership, Armored Core 4 and Armored Core: For Answer were created; he also participated in the development of Armored Core: Last Raven. The game designer noted that this series remains one of the key ones in From Software's portfolio, but he cannot say anything about its future. The last part of the series, Armored Core: Mobile 4, was released in 2008.

In the same conversation, the developer confirmed that Dark Souls 3 will receive three major additions. The first of them will be released this fall, the second - in early 2017, and the release date of the third has not yet been determined. The description of the $24.99 subscription, however, says that there will only be two add-ons.

Dark Souls 3 was released in Japan on March 24, and in all other countries it was released on April 12. Based on first day sales, it became the most successful entry in the series and the leader among all games released by Bandai Namco Entertainment America. With a score of 90 points out of 100 possible, the PC version of the game ranks second among the most highly rated projects of 2016 on

2016 can without a doubt be called the year of Dark Souls. Thanks to the previous two parts, the exclusive Bloodborne, and the fact that the founder of the series, Hidetaka Miyazaki, was again at the helm of the project, the release of Dark Souls 3 finally received as much attention as it deserved. The game has finally broken into the mainstream, but, judging by Miyazaki, this is the moment he considers ideal to end the Souls series. Thus, the game designer put an end to the direction for which he began to lay the foundation in childhood.

Unlike most teenagers in Japan, Hidetaka did not stand out with ambitions, did not dream of anything far away and did not make plans. But what he really loved was reading. The Miyazaki family lived poorly and could not afford luxuries in the form of buying books or manga. Therefore, he spent days on end in the library, immersing himself in literature that often went beyond the limits of his understanding.

“I preferred books that were more complex and, although I did not understand everything, my imagination came to my aid and filled in the gaps. Combine that with my love of sociology and psychology and you get Dark Souls.”

However, the lack of any plans led Miyazaki to the Faculty of Social Sciences, and later to the IT company Oracle Corporation. While in Japan most university graduates immediately connect their entire lives with a specific company, Miyazaki, after working for several years at Oracle, decided to switch to video games. The trigger for this decision was the mystical game Ico from Fumito Ueda.

Surprisingly, as a child, the future game maker almost never picked up a gamepad. Up until university, video games were banned in Miyazaki’s house, and he had to develop his imagination by playing the imperishable board games Sorcery and Dungeons and Dragons.

Demon's Souls

As a result, at the age of 29, Hidetaka decided to completely change his type of activity, and even the prospect of lower earnings did not stop him. True, despite his ambitions, not a single studio was in a hurry to hire Miyazaki. In the end, with grief in half, he got a job at From Software as a coder.

Having gained experience developing the action game Armored Core: Last Raven, Miyazaki was entrusted with directing two sequels, namely Armored Core 4 and Armored Core: For Answer. Around this time, he heard about the Demon's Souls project, which, by the way, was on the verge of being sent to the trash can. Hidetaka was delighted to learn that the game was conceived in the spirit of fantasy and realized that this was a great opportunity for him to prove himself properly.

“The project progressed with difficulty - the team did not even have a completed prototype. I realized that if I could lead the project, I could turn it into whatever I wanted. And even if I fail, it won’t matter, because the project was already hanging by a thread.”

Once Miyazaki succeeded in his plan, the original idea was unrecognizable. However, when it was released in Japan in 2009, Demon’s Souls justified its management’s mistrust. The game was panned at the Tokyo Game Show and only managed to sell 20,000 copies in its first week. Nobody welcomed the wild complexity of the passage, which was unusual for the relaxed audience. It was only a few months later that players began to warm up to the concept of Demon’s Souls and spread the good word about the mysterious and hardcore RPG online.

“I had no intention of deliberately making the game more difficult than others. This was required by the specifics of the idea.”

As soon as sales exceeded 100 thousand, a Western publisher was found, and the first portion of fame for the series was ensured.

Dark Souls

The circumstances that forced Miyazaki to begin developing Dark Souls while he was planning to work on a direct sequel to the previous title are not fully known. But on the other hand, this gave him another opportunity to refresh the concept of the series.

This time, the game's release was well received. Having trained on Demon’s Souls, the gaming community immediately appreciated all the subtleties of the game and gave it the highest score.

At the same time, an increasing number of PC owners began to understand what they were deprived of. A petition was immediately created to develop a version for Windows, which received more than 90 thousand signatures. The Japanese decided not to ignore such demand in the Western market and began to build a port. It’s worth considering that the PC market in Japan is several times smaller than in the West, and the From Software team has not worked with this platform at all, with the exception of Ninja Blade in 2009.

In 2012, with grief in half, the studio released a version for PC called Dark Souls: Prepare to Die. The port was deemed unusable, and the gaming community immediately created mods to fix graphical and technical problems. In their defense, From Software stated that they were aware of all the problems, but it would have taken too much time to rework, and the developers decided to compensate for the problems with additional content, which is only available in the Prepare to Die version.

Be that as it may, once again Miyazaki has successfully immersed the player in his detailed vision, which is amazingly conveyed in the game.

“I communicate directly with absolutely every designer. We made sure that the player felt the changes when moving between locations. The higher the place, the more beautiful and fantastic the surroundings look. And vice versa, as you descend lower and lower into the ground, you notice how everything around you becomes dirty and disgusting. The transition to Plague City is a great example of this.”

Another reason for such careful development of the environment was the decision to shift the interpretation of the world onto the shoulders of the player.

“First of all, contrary to popular belief, I don’t hate straightforward plots. It just seems to me that the player gets a lot more emotions when he unravels the plot threads on his own, carefully studying the descriptions of objects or listening to the few lines of minor characters.”

Bloodborne

Once Miyazaki's talent was recognized, he began looking for opportunities to work at the next level, which he saw in the eighth generation of consoles. Having signed a contract with Sony for an exclusive for the PlayStation 4, the game designer entrusted the development of Dark Souls 2 to his colleagues, and he himself set about creating a completely new setting.

"The game mechanics, the gothic theme - I've been developing the concept for Bloodborne for a long time, and finally the moment has come."

Despite the fact that Bloodborne seems like a departure from the theme of Dark Souls, fans immediately found similarities with another of Miyazaki's creations, Demon's Souls.

“Bloodborne definitely has the DNA of Demon's Souls. This is especially expressed in the specific design of locations.”

Also, fans noted a more aggressive combat system, again close to that presented in Demon’s Souls.

“Firstly, I wanted to separate the game from Souls, and secondly, to convey the spirit of nightmare - the main theme of Bloodborne. I thought that by giving the fights speed, I would achieve greater satisfaction from victories.”

In addition to the release of Dark Souls 2, in the development of which Miyazaki took part as a supervisor, 2014 was also significant because the game designer was made president of the company. In just 10 years, he has risen in the industry from newbie to president of a company that is attracting more and more eyes. However, success did not go to the head of the newly-minted boss.

“First of all, I am a game designer performing the duties of the president, and not vice versa. Luckily, everyone in the studio understands this. What's more important is that From Software is all about creating a unique product, and fortunately, my new role doesn't require me to sacrifice time at the expense of development."

“Since I became president, I have met quite a few heads of companies. They are all very strange. Some became prototypes for monsters in our games."

Dark Souls 3

Development of Dark Souls 3 began in mid-2013, almost a year before the release of the second part. And although Miyazaki had to be distracted by the development of Bloodborne, in 2016 fans made sure that this did not in any way affect the quality of the game. Partly because both titles were developed by different teams.

The release of the third part was accompanied by rave reviews and even greater numbers. The game sold 3 million copies in its first month, bringing total sales of the series to 13 million.

When asked if we should expect a continuation of the Souls series, Hidetaka answers without hesitation.

“I don't think it's right to continue the Souls and Bloodborne games. So I perceive the third part as a loud ending. We tried to make sure that after finishing Dark Souls 3, the player would have an idea of what the whole series was about.”

According to Miyazaki, this is not just his decision. The entire From Software studio can't wait to show players a completely different game, the development of which, by the way, has already begun. However, he notes that under certain circumstances the situation may change.

“If someone from From Software came to me in five years and begged for a sequel, then most likely I would let the staff work on a new game. One thing should be clear - for me personally, I am done with Dark Souls."

As for the HD remakes of Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls, it all depends on the decision of the publishers: Sony and Bandai Namco, respectively.

Miyazaki also does not exclude the possibility of releasing a game of another genre in the Souls universe. The main thing is that the key recipe is followed - first the game mechanics are invented and only then the developers must evaluate whether it is possible to implement it in the world of Dark Souls or not.

***

We don’t know what exactly the next brainchild of Hidetaka Miyazaki will be, but it’s quite possible that a big surprise awaits us.

“Actually, I have been wanting to do something warm and colorful for a long time, but no one believes me. Of course, dark games like Bloodborne are my forte, and I'll probably do something like that again. But now, I’m haunted by the thought that I should try to look into completely unfamiliar territory.”

Demon's Souls

“I had no intention of deliberately making the game more difficult than others. This was required by the specifics of the idea.”

As soon as sales exceeded 100 thousand, a Western publisher was found, and the first portion of fame for the series was ensured.

Dark Souls

This time, the game's release was well received. Having trained on Demon’s Souls, the gaming community immediately appreciated all the subtleties of the game and gave it the highest score.

Be that as it may, once again Miyazaki has successfully immersed the player in his detailed vision, which is amazingly conveyed in the game.

Another reason for such careful development of the environment was the decision to shift the interpretation of the world onto the shoulders of the player.

Bloodborne

"The game mechanics, the gothic theme - I've been developing the concept for Bloodborne for a long time, and finally the moment has come."

Despite the fact that Bloodborne seems like a departure from the theme of Dark Souls, fans immediately found similarities with another of Miyazaki's creations, Demon's Souls.

“Bloodborne definitely has the DNA of Demon's Souls. This is especially expressed in the specific design of locations.”

Also, fans noted a more aggressive combat system, again close to that presented in Demon’s Souls.

“Since I became president, I have met quite a few heads of companies. They are all very strange. Some became prototypes for monsters in our games."

Dark Souls 3

The release of the third part was accompanied by rave reviews and even greater numbers. The game sold 3 million copies in its first month, bringing total sales of the series to 13 million.

When asked if we should expect a continuation of the Souls series, Hidetaka answers without hesitation.

As for the HD remakes of Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls, it all depends on the decision of the publishers: Sony and Bandai Namco, respectively.

***

We don’t know what exactly the next brainchild of Hidetaka Miyazaki will be, but it’s quite possible that a big surprise awaits us.

Crib

What is Dark Souls?

A third-person fantasy game about dragons and knights. Dark Souls is centered around thoughtful, slow-paced mechanics. This is a very difficult game that forces you to memorize space, enemies and your own capabilities. In addition, Dark Souls differs from other games in its approach to plot and world development. There is no end-to-end story or talkative characters: their place is taken by hints and slips about the past and present of a mysterious world in which the dead cannot die. Formally, there are three games in the Dark Souls series, but other games by Hidetaka Miyazaki are usually included in them: Demon's Souls (2009) and Bloodborne (2015).

Who made it?

Japanese studio From Software, for which Dark Souls and its spiritual sister Bloodborne are the main success. Before this, From was primarily known for the Armored Core series about walking combat robots (which includes a dozen and a half games). The history of From Software is more than thirty years old.

Is Hidetaka Miyazaki related to Hayao Miyazaki?

The city where Hidetaka Miyazaki was born and raised

Miyazaki is not an open person. He does not like to talk about himself. He does not allow himself to be filmed: one of those small eccentricities that ultimately captivate the imagination. What is he hiding? What will I see? At the same time, Hidetaka Miyazaki does not put himself above everyday entertainment: for example, a couple of years ago he pranked all the Dark Souls players. In an interview, he said that he always keeps one of the useless game items in his inventory. The players searched for possible secrets for a year, after which Miyazaki simply replied that he had played a prank on everyone and there were no secrets related to this subject.

And he still appears on video: for example, in 2014 at PSX he gave a presentation of Bloodborne in front of a crowd of applauding people. Hidetaka is clearly more interested in the world around him than his namesake Hayao, the Studio Ghibli director. There is a sense of strangeness in it, but not cynicism. And he is very interesting: of all the voices in the video game format, Miyazaki is one of the loudest, although he speaks only in a whisper. How did he turn out like this?

Perhaps it's a difficult childhood. Miyazaki was born and raised in the city of Shizuoka on the east coast of Japan. Games were prohibited in my parents' house: first I had to finish school and go to university. The parents had little money. Miyazaki did not have the opportunity to buy books and comics, so he bought them from the library. But the library contained literature for older adults: as a result, he had to invent the meaning of entire paragraphs himself. There he first encountered the fiction and mythology of the West. "The Legend of King Arthur", "Beowulf", "The Song of the Nibelungs". Subsequently, it was Western works that pushed him to create the gothic style of Dark Souls.

This is a detail that fits surprisingly easily into game analysis. Miyazaki enjoyed getting lost in imaginary worlds so much as a child that, as an adult, he made a game about it. It's not hard to think that Miyazaki deliberately develops his image and likes to keep everything under control.

However, he failed to keep his career under control. In Japan, it is commendable to have a plan of action from childhood: school, university, such and such a specialty, such and such a company, for which you will probably work all your life. Miyazaki was not very interested in school. Then he entered the university to study sociology, but went to work as a programmer at a branch of the American IT company Oracle. He spent the next few years searching for a way to escape.

His ruined youth occurred in the 90s: there were a lot of wires in the sky, there was haze over the mountains, and the world froze in anticipation of change.

Changes for Miyazaki himself did not come immediately. It took him a few more years to decide to change careers and try to enter the gaming industry. He was 29 when he quit. Little did he know, but over the next ten years he would change the world.

Only for this it was necessary, in fact, to find a job. There were no queues of employers lining up for the eccentric Miyazaki. Eventually, he found a job as a programmer at From Software. At that time, she was working on the Armored Core series about combat robots. It was the era of the PlayStation 2, and it was 2004 outside the window. Miyazaki was paid less in his new place, but he liked it.

Moreover: he fiercely clung to his work. Recently he was shown Ico: he liked the game so much that he could not help but try to make something just as powerful. His colleagues recall that Miyazaki actively pulled the management blanket over himself from the very beginning. While working on Armored Core, he constantly strove to change or add something, and constantly tried to convince everyone else that he was right. They began to listen to him.

In the mid-2000s, From Software worked on several projects. One of them was the fantasy game Demon's Souls. Development was delayed, there were problems in the team. But Miyazaki became interested. In the problematic project, he saw an opportunity to make the game that he had wanted to make all his life.

He asked to transfer to the Demon's Souls project and became the team leader there. Within a few months, Miyazaki completely changed the game. However, the mysterious, complex Demon's Souls failed in the first week of sales.

But she attracted attention and gathered a handful of fans. For the next few months, fans told everyone about the unexpected game. It was a cult. As a result, Demon's Souls made back its budget and Miyazaki was given the green light for the next game.

Dark Souls was released in 2011 directly on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 (which is why the name had to be changed; the trademark was retained by Sony). With it, the world finally changed: the game became an event, a topic of conversation, a cultural phenomenon. Two years later, the second part was released, which Miyazaki no longer worked on manually. Miyazaki worked on the “spiritual sister” of Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and at the same time on the third part of the main series. In 2014, he was appointed director of From Software

Over the past five years, fans of the series have coined the term "Miyazaki ingredient". This is the special atmosphere and polish that is characteristic of the games that Miyazaki worked on directly. When Miyazaki himself learned about the term, he laughed: “I didn’t even think about it before, but now, to be honest, I’m even a little scared.”

This, of course, is all Hidetaka Miyazaki. He is modest and does not like to give interviews, but if you catch him, he is not shy to laugh and joke. At any given moment he is doing several things at once. At the same time he manages the company and makes decisions about some small details in his next game. When asked questions about his personal life, he always turns the topic to his games.

Now Miyazaki is perhaps at the peak of his career. He has a big studio behind his vision, several big successes behind him, and he just finished his latest game, which he considers the “massive finale” of the entire series. And at the same time, his most difficult days are probably ahead. From Software needs to do something new if they don't want creative stagnation.

Miyazaki understands this. But even in the face of this difficult task, he maintains his modesty. According to him, he doesn’t care whether he will be considered successful: the main thing is that he can make games that players like.