Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (new From Software game)

[Vaarna_Aarne]

My body is seeking conflict.

 

[Infinitron]

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/sekiro-shadows-die-twice-is-even-more-difficult-th/1100-6459943/

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Is Even More Difficult Than Dark Souls Or Bloodborne, From Software Says
I'm not sure my gamepad can take another beating.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is From Software's latest game. After it was announced at E3--and it was revealed the game would have a resurrection mechanic--some people feared the PS4, Xbox One, and PC title would be easier than previous From Software games such as Dark Souls and Bloodborne. The developer has now reassured fans by telling GameSpot in an interview that Sekiro is "probably even more challenging than previous From games."

"We think the level of enjoyment is going to really vary and be very broad from player to player," Sekiro's director and From Software president, Hidetaka Miyazaki said. "If you are that player who likes to take their time and carefully piece things together and learn the enemies' weaknesses and positioning, and observe everything, you're going to have a great time. It's that sense of discovery as you explore the three-dimensional maps--you're going to find something, maybe a new prosthetic tool that makes you think, 'Hey, why don't I use this against that enemy?' When that clicks and when it works, that's going to be the sense of satisfaction for that player.

"Whereas the other [player] who just likes to rush in there, go katana-on-katana and feel that blade-to-blade, blow-by-blow gameplay, they're going to feel that intensity. They're going to get that really high level challenge that's probably even more challenging than previous From games. So we feel everyone's going to be able to have something to suit them."

Elsewhere in the interview, Miyazaki explained why Sekiro, Dark Souls, and Bloodborne don't have difficulty levels. He also insisted that despite the games' similarities, Shadows Die Twice is not part of the Soulsborne series. In a separate interview, From Software confirmed to GameSpot that Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice will not contain any multiplayer.

The game was revealed during Microsoft's Xbox E3 2018 press conference. It's to be published by Activision, and it's coming to PS4, Xbox One, and PC in early 2019. For more on the upcoming action title, check out our Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice gameplay impressions.

 

[Ivan]

no multiplayer, no fashion souls

thank you Miyazaki

 

[Talby]

Sure. Just like Dark Souls 3 was supposed to be the hardest in the series, and that turned out to be a total cakewalk outside of 1-2 optional bosses.

 

[sullynathan]

Sure. Just like Dark Souls 3 was supposed to be the hardest in the series, and that turned out to be a total cakewalk outside of 1-2 optional bosses.

Dark souls 3 is the hardest souls game discounting bloodborne. Even other codexers would agree

 

[Ivan]

w/instant hp estus recovery? nah

 

[Damned Registrations]

It's the only one in the entire series that puts any real limit on your healing, at least until you've upgraded your flask a ton. DS1 gives you 10 flasks right from firelink (and 20 for defeating the almighty pinwheel) along with bosses that get soloed by npcs. DS2 and DeS gave us infinite healing items and infinite magic casting by extension.

The hardest thing about DS1 and 2 are the boss fights being tedious as fuck with easily avoided patterns you can't counter attack. It's certainly very tempting to try and sneak in an extra hit somewhere in the fight that is mostly safe which might just fucking kill you. The only exceptions to this are some fights with multiple enemies that force you to position enemies and bait their attacks in a specific way to create openings, which is at least some kind of requirement beyond simply waiting for the free hit.

 

[Arnust]

How does it matter that healing is more constricted (even if being nitpicky like you are you can just use Ashen estus and pack the biggest heal spells for all the heaqlth you'll ever need), when you have to be retarded to be hit in the first place with the ridiculous new dodging ability? It' "may" also be just about how safe and reliable it is to actually heal. 3 has hyper armor, letsa you move, and is chugged very fast. 2 has a ridiculously slow estus recovery and lifegems (yes there's the bigger ones but you only have the smallest reliably) aren't even a tenth as effective, and are mostly like DS3 estus if not slower and with no HA. You seem to also forget Humanities in DS1.

The hardest thing about DS1 and 2 are the boss fights being tedious as fuck with easily avoided patterns you can't counter attack. It's certainly very tempting to try and sneak in an extra hit somewhere in the fight that is mostly safe which might just fucking kill you.

So, like... The entire point? The attack pattern that is ABSOLUTELY unavoidable, takes ages and you cannot attack while it happens if well positioned, is hugely rare. I can only think of bullshit like most of all the games' dragon breaths, and that's kind of it.

 

[sullynathan]

w/instant hp estus recovery? nah

The general enemies & bosses are harder than the previous games

 

[Damned Registrations]

So, like... The entire point? The attack pattern that is ABSOLUTELY unavoidable, takes ages and you cannot attack while it happens if well positioned, is hugely rare. I can only think of bullshit like most of all the games' dragon breaths, and that's kind of it.

It's not even remotely rare. You're talking about something different. Many attacks in the game have such a short recovery from enemies that if you attack during them with anything slower than a dagger you won't be able to roll or block the next hit. I'm talking about shit like fighting Artorius and having him do a single somesault at you instead of three. You can't punish that because he can just do a second or third and murder your shit. Or better yet, watching him just fucking slowly circle you forever. The most dangerous thing bosses can do is stand there and wait for you to get bored. And they do it all the time.

DS3's fights are better because the attacks are more difficult to avoid, but are easier to punish. There's no waiting around while an enemy stares at you forever or repeatedly uses it's safe attacks.

And lifegems being slow hardly matters when you can just sprint across the arena (or level, for regular enemies) and use them from a safe distance. Not to mention you can pop like 5 in a row and then just face tank anything while you regen 250 hp/sec. Again, this just reinforces the DS2 philosophy of making the player wait around instead of actively fighting. Maybe in Sekiro they're just take away healing items entirely and give you like 1% hp regen/sec, so every time you get hit you have to just run around in circles for a minute. Sounds like exactly what you want.

 

[Suicidal]

I personally found DS 2 to be the hardest. That snowy area with the endlessly respawning deer made me seriously consider ragequitting. And Fume Knight was the boss I needed the most attempts to defeat in the entire series. Also some of the levels were quite difficult to get through, like the water area with nearly invisible narrow passageways and casters sniping you from across the map.

 

[cvv]

From's DLCs are always tougher than the base games. I'd say DS3 is the toughest even then, the DLCs bosses (except Gravetender) are tougher than anything in DS2 DLCs (although the Iron Passage is probably the toughest area of all Soulsbornes).

 

[Martius]

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/sekiro-shadows-die-twice-is-even-more-difficult-th/1100-6459943/

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Is Even More Difficult Than Dark Souls Or Bloodborne, From Software Says
I'm not sure my gamepad can take another beating.

Huh, maybe this time it will be bit closer to Ninja Gaiden.

 

[toro]

And now let's all masturbate with Vaati's voice:

 

[Matador]

And now let's all masturbate with Vaati's voice:

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

Intradesting.

I didn't know the girl was a prince.

 

[Wunderbar]

I didn't know the girl was a prince.

it's Arya Stark.

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/...es-a-thrilling-evolution-of-the-souls-formula

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice promises a thrilling evolution of the Souls formula
“The intention is the player will die a lot...”

Aoife Wilson

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice isn't exactly Dark Souls with a ninja reskin. For starters, Sekiro's protagonist is a set character, not a customisable avatar as per previous From Software titles. This titular playable character is a ninja sworn to protect a young lord - the ten-year-old boy seen in Sekiro's announcement trailer. There's something special about this boy and his bloodline that makes him a target to outside influences, and a clan called the Ashina send a samurai to capture him. In trying to protect his charge, the ninja hero has his arm cut off and is left for dead, and the young lord is taken. When the hero wakes up, he's got a strange contraption where his arm used to be that From is calling the Shinobi Prosthetic, and it's put there possibly care of the ambiguous character currently referred to as The Sculptor, who does most of the talking in the games's E3 trailer.

"With this ninja protagonist, he is the central character to the story, and that's how Sekiro differs from previous From Software titles, in that we have that core character to focus on," From Software president and Dark Souls director Hidetaka Miyazaki told me at E3. "That's not to say it'll be a story-driven game, but we do have these core characters like the Shinobi and his charge, the young lord seen in the trailer. We want to depict, at least initially, the relationship between the lord and retainer. That's a very Japanese concept, the shinobi and his master, and we're hopefully going to see how that relationship develops. We can't speak to a lot of it right now for fear of spoilers, but there is that dynamic there between these two characters, and this Shinobi who is extremely loyal to that cause. That's his primary motivation."

One of thing a lot of fans loved about the Souls series, however, was its almost archaeological approach to storytelling, the way the games didn't rely on cutscenes to dish out chunks of exposition but instead left clues hidden throughout the world for the most diligent players to piece together. Will a more character-driven story mean a more straightforward narrative? "It's a character-driven story this time, but it's not a story-driven game," Miyazaki said. "The player isn't going to be led down one linear path and have the story spoon-fed to them by many many cutscenes or anything like that. That aspect of From Software's previous games, of gradually picking the pieces up of a fragmented story and building those layers, building that depth, figuring things out for yourself, that's still very much intact in this game." The same goes for its physical layout - Miyazaki says Sekiro will be like Dark Souls 1 in the way that it interconnects, with multiple paths between each area - "with some exceptions." Players will also have choice in the order they complete the game in, From confirmed.

At the beginning of our live E3 demo, Sekiro is introduced as a third-person action adventure game "with RPG elements," set in late-1500s Japan, in the age known as the Sengoku or "Warring States" period. That said, as you would have gathered from the trailers featuring giant snakes and grotesque monsters, this is not a historical game - it's an original world created by From Software and Miyazaki that pulls on themes from that historical era. Miyazaki emphasised that the setting played a big part in shaping the game's creation. "This was actually a big impetus for the original early discussions for this game and what it was going to be," he explained. "We wanted to make a game based around ninja, in a Japanese setting. The reasons for that are twofold; one is that we can use things like the ninja's ability to jump - we can use it to freely traverse the map in a very three dimensional space and use that for our mobility and in combat and in exploration as well. The second is how you fight. We feel that samurai are a lot more grounded; they [hold their] weapon in two hands, they fight on the ground, there's just one way - that's their aesthetic. The Shinobi aesthetic is to use everything in their arsenal - use a multitude of tools, use their mobility. They can go toe-to-toe with their katana, but this guy can also use his Shinobi prosthetic. He can get the drop on enemies, he can ambush, he can use stealth. There's a multitude of ways that we can let the player express themselves in combat."

As the demo begins, we see the ninja protagonist perched on a high wall overlooking a courtyard, a large castle looming far in the distance. The goal of the demo, we're told, is to reach that castle, and our first objective will be to get down from this wall - an opportune moment to try out our character's Shinobi Prosthetic, specifically its grappling hook capability. Unsurprisingly, the inclusion of a grappling hook completely changes the traversal of Sekiro compared to previous From Software games - within seconds we're skimming over rooftops and rappelling over obstacles at surprising speed. It'll be interesting to see how the option of propelling rapidly through environments this way will change From's meticulously approach to map design; there are new layers of verticality where there simply wasn't before. That verticality, we discover as soon as we reach the ground and spot a procession of figures patrolling a path up ahead, also extends to combat. In perhaps the most radical departure of all from the Souls template, Sekiro features a dedicated jump button, and according to a producer, "it is crucial to success to use it well." As our protagonist approaches his enemies, we're told that another thing From wants to introduce in this game is what it's calling 'light' stealth mechanics. We're assured the focus with combat is, first and foremost, action - but stealth is an option that can allow you to thin the herd before engaging a mob or to turn the odds in your favour with encounters that are otherwise giving you trouble. For Miyazaki, the key concept of Sekiro is capturing that feeling of going sword to sword with an enemy, and how intense that can be.

Crucial to this and a central component to Sekiro's combat is the Posture system. In Sekiro, both the player character and enemies have something called Posture, which regenerates while not in battle. As the player, if you are hit by enemy attacks, your Posture is reduced, and if you don't block an incoming attack perfectly, you'll lose Posture as well. So if you hold the block button and an enemy keeps hitting you, you'll still block those attacks, but every time you do so, your Posture gauge will diminish. However, by pressing the block button right as an enemy hits you, you'll knock their sword back, there'll be a bunch of sparks, and you'll actually reduce your opponent's Posture instead. It's a struggle for the upper hand on both sides as each tries to force their opponent into running out of Posture, and when that happens to an enemy, you can initiate a Shinobi Death Blow - incredibly stylish and incredibly violent finishing moves. That's combat at its most basic level, but on top of that there's the Shinobi Prosthetic, which has multiple functions aside from acting as a grappling hook. When you're up against an enemy with a shield, for example, a tool called the Loaded Axe can break them. "There are some tools that let you directly attack enemies, ones that function as weapons like the Loaded Axe, and then there are other weapons of 'accentuated taste,' and utility-based tools like the Iron-Gripped Fan that is primarily used for defence," Miyazaki told us. There are also Shuriken, which can strike enemies from afar. You can follow that particular move up with a sword dash combo, which can allow you to close gaps very quickly. All this adds up to what looks like a satisfyingly complex system, exactly the kind you'd expect from Miyazaki and the Souls team. And yet, it is definitely different. It's akin to Bloodborne's more overtly offensive Trick Weapon and gun combo, with players using primarily a katana ("and there are several sword styles associated with that," Miyazaki says) and the Shinobi Prosthetic plus the wide variety of tools that come with it.

The enemies you'll use these skills against seem suitably varied and, most importantly, challenging. There are heavily armoured samurai generals, hard-hitting giants, snipers, and creepy old ladies who will alert other enemies in the area unless you take them out first. One particular mob of enemies caused the From Software developer playing to die and restart several times - Sekiro is punishing to those that make mistakes. "The intention is the player will die a lot," Miyazaki confirmed. "That is because of the concept of the ninja protagonist at its core; as a ninja you're a little less equipped than the average samurai or knight, you're always at death's door. We want every battle to feel intense - we want players to feel that risk and trepidation associated with battle and fighting toe to toe with these enemies. And in order to do that, the player has to die a lot. But when they die and respawn and die again, and then retry, that doesn't feel good. So, we needed something to address that, and that became the resurrection system."

After a couple of deaths that resulted in restarting the battle from scratch, the From developer fell to a manacled giant once more but, instead of going back to a checkpoint, he suddenly got back up from where he fell and recommenced the fight from where it had left off. As hinted at in the trailer, resurrection is an option in Sekiro but, From was keen to emphasise, it's not something you're going to be doing all the time. It's limited and there is a resource involved, and though the From developers didn't want to go into detail on the exact process just yet, they did say that the intent is for it to be a facet of potential strategy that you can use "to make death an opportunity to turn the tables." So, for example, you can wait for enemies to walk away, get back up, and use the element of surprise to try again. "We feel that as we integrated that and experimented with it, it became a part of the Shinobi protagonist's character," Miyazaki said. "It linked in nicely with that ninja 'anything goes' concept in that he can even use his own death as a strategic element in battle. One thing we want everyone to understand is we don't intend to make the game easier as a result or make the challenge any less effective. This was not created in order to make the player feel numb to death or make the player unafraid of death. We want them to still have 'the stench of death' present in every single encounter, if you will, so this is something that will be tuned and tweaked as we go forward. It's going to have its own restrictions and limitations, and we're going to have our own death penalty that fits this concept." From wouldn't go into more detail on what Sekiro's death penalty might look like, but it did say that "something different is planned." And, on the subject of healing, From would only say that though the build we saw is still in progress and pretty much everything is open to change, the way healing currently works in Sekiro is similar to Dark Souls' Estus in that "you have a set amount of charges that you can regain, and you can upgrade the amount of charges that you have."

By this point, we've crept steadily closer to the castle, but upon arriving at a cliff face we discover that the bridge is out - meaning we'll have to find another path forward using our Shinobi Prosthetic. Instead of heading up or over the chasm, however, we head down into its depths, where a gigantic snake (glimpsed briefly at the very end of the announcement trailer) is on the hunt. We need to get by it but don't want to be seen, so what follows is a very short sequence with the player sneaking from one path to another as the snake flits in and around corners overhead, attempting to hunt us down. In the final stretch, the snake saw us just as we reached a path leading out, lunging to take a bite and destroying part of the cliff face in the process. We clashed, sword to glistening fang, and it was beaten back for the time being. Apparently in the final game, that entire interaction will be 'significantly more involved.' A producer said, "One thing we're really excited for players to experience are these really tense cat and mouse sequences with these larger than life enemies."

At the end of the tunnel we find ourselves in front of what From is "tentatively" calling a Shinobi Door. "It's opened in a special way, and it represents the fact that there will be secret paths that lead you to unexpected places and secret areas." Passing through this door we find ourselves standing in a beautiful traditional Japanese courtyard at sunset, where almost every surface is glowing red, orange and pink as cherry blossoms fall delicately from the trees. In addition to the gritty, bloody aspect of 1500s Japan, From is keen to represent the country's ancient, natural beauty. Before we can really drink it in, we step forward and initiate a boss fight. A swirling, towering, but undeniably elegant figure called the Corrupted Monk lunges forwards, laughing, grabbing, and clashing swords at a frightening rate - it's immediately clear that timing is crucial to gaining the upper hand here. Once enough damage has been exacted, however, the music becomes frenzied and the entire area becomes bathed in a blinding white light that more or less renders the entire fight in silhouette. It's an unexpected and extremely stylish touch that brings to an end an expectedly stylish demo. The Corrupted Monk was an unmistakably Miyazaki boss fight with a difference, but can we still expect that 'melancholic beauty' and reams of unspoken backstory that the director so loved to bring to the iconic boss battles of Dark Souls? "Of course!" he laughed, "But we hope this will be somewhat different from the Dark Souls approach, you won't just be going up against the big tough enemies - it does depend on the boss room and on the type of boss. There will be certain boss fights and certain larger than life enemies where you can use stealth as a tactical advantage."

It is of course difficult to look at any element of Sekiro without some degree of Dark Souls filter, but it's good to see that what was shown exhibits a healthy balance of both the familiar and new. "We didn't want to ignore our past experiences completely or ignore the previous games," Miyazaki said. "We wanted to take that know-how and apply that to this new franchise, this new package."

One of the things From is resolute about not borrowing from Dark Souls, however, is any kind of asynchronous multiplayer system - Sekiro will be a purely single-player experience. "We aren't considering a system similar to the messages or any asynchronous system," confirms Miyazaki when asked whether they were ever tempted to put something like that in the game. "That goes back to wanting to do something new; we don't want it to just be a repeat of what we've done before. And also it links nicely to the ninja protagonist - you can explore the map and you can find certain NPCs with certain intel and you can eavesdrop on them. You can find this info about the map, about the world, about the other enemies, about what's going on, about the lore, and you can use that to your advantage or you can use it to piece together various aspects of the story." To be clear, this lack of multiplayer also extends to summoning friends and non-NPC help, too. In previous titles you could summon other players to help you defeat a boss, and you don't have that in Sekiro - you are all by yourself. But, to counter this, there are other options that weren't there before, like stealth and special attacks that you've chosen to upgrade, and by doing so you may be able to figure out a way to defeat something that you weren't able to before. From confirms that Sekiro's progression system has moved away from using stats, saying that "something totally different will be in place," but "that feeling of getting stronger and the fact that you kill enemies to make you stronger is still going to be there." It's not really about finding and equipping armour any more, either - Sekiro will be more focused on how you upgrade, and how you'll find and gain new abilities that make you more powerful.

The move away from multiple classes is perhaps an unexpected one, but it makes sense in the context of From wanting to give players a strictly single-player focused experience. From spoke briefly about how it wanted to see "how far" it could take single player, and when you incorporate multiplayer and in particular multiple classes, it puts some limitations on the design. If you create a Dark Souls boss in a multiplayer, multi-class situation, it has to be designed in such a way that it can be taken down by a magic user, by a knight, or any combination of many different builds. So, From has made a decision in Sekiro to have just one class - ninja - and focus its enemy design to test that class specifically. In doing so, From says, it can increase the breadth of options that players have and experiment with how bosses can present new challenges. "It relates back to what we were saying about the ninja, and how they have a lot of things at their disposal and they have to master every part of their arsenal in order to confront these different situations," explained Miyazaki. "So we feel that this time, there are a lot of tools that we have prepared for the player, of various skill levels, so that if they want to run in there head-on, they can do that and clash sword-to-sword. If they want to use the Shinobi Prosthetic to outsmart their opponents and find that one weakness, they can do that. If they want to use stealth to circumnavigate an encounter and get the drop on the enemy and then engage, they can do that too, so there are a lot of ways they can approach battle - it's not just about being this high-reaction, twitch-based gamer."

Miyazaki also speaks positively about From's collaboration with Activision and adapting to the publisher's culture. He had broached this subject before with Japanese media, speaking briefly about adopting the publisher's 'onboarding process,' and calling it and the need for 'comfort' a weakness of From Software. We asked him for clarification, did he mean player comfort here? Does this mean Sekiro will take more time to explain its systems to players? "Yes, the tutorial is one aspect of that, which we are getting some much-needed support with," he said. "And it also depends on that level of comfort and playability that comes with the rest of the game. These things generally aren't our forte, but we do need some support, and Activision is providing that. One reason we're working with Activision is they hold our creative vision in the highest regard. From has editorial and directive control over the game and the game's contents; after you press the start button, it's all up to the From team. That said, we do need help with some things and we are getting advice from Activision, but they do 100 percent respect our vision and they do not want to mess with that core fanbase and that core gameplay concept."

Well, quite - messing with the Dark Souls fanbase would be an act akin to poking a hellkite dragon in the eye, but it will be interesting to see how this dedication to 'player comfort' will look as the game develops. It's hard to truly get the measure of something of this scope in such a short timeframe and without any kind of hands-on, but even in these early stages Sekiro does seem to exhibit all the style and substance we've come to expect of From.

 

[Talby]

Nioh 2 will be better.

 

[Ventidius]

I personally found DS 2 to be the hardest. That snowy area with the endlessly respawning deer made me seriously consider ragequitting. And Fume Knight was the boss I needed the most attempts to defeat in the entire series. Also some of the levels were quite difficult to get through, like the water area with nearly invisible narrow passageways and casters sniping you from across the map.

Pretty much this. The level and encounter design in 2 was simply more brutal, and there were many areas that heavily discouraged rushing like Shrine of Amana and Earthen Peak, while most of Dark Souls 3's world can easily be rushed through from bonfire to bonfire, due to how relatively plain, safe and spacious most areas are, and how close to each other and common bonfires were. There was very little creativity in synergizing the engine's many tools for screwing the player, unlike in 2.

Take for example Shrine of Amana, which you mention, in that one you have: pitfalls that are difficult to detect without a torch, water slowing you down, sniping mages, tanky knights, fast and stealthy Amana Aberrations that BTW will rush you if you use a torch to check for pitfalls, somewhat tanky infantry guys to protect the mages, at least one Ogre, and a bunch of enemies with equipment degradation gas near the bonfire, though by that point you are out of the woods. The remarkable thing is not the individual elements but how tightly interlaced they are with each other in accordance with a tactical plan that implements contingencies and preemptive responses to the player's methods. There are many other such cases like the area after the Prowling Magus, the Earthen Peak, pretty much the whole Iron Keep ("lol wanna get to the boss? Here, get through these turtle knights in cramped spaces, spikes, and flamethrowers, trolololo"), not to mention the massive incline brought by the DLC. I've said before that tactical puzzles are one of the best elements in this series, and no other game in the franchise arguably did them as well as 2, only 1 can compare. Also, for the record, Alonne > Fume.

 

[Multidirectional]

Are we even differentiating between a tutorial and a starting area anymore?

This is just idiotic. It's a piss easy area littered with tutorial messages that ends with a piss easy boss fight. Difficulty jump after leaving that area is huge. How the fuck is that not a tutorial area?

 

[CrunchyHemorrhoids]

One of the biggest changes will be to difficulty. Sekiro is published by Activision, who has requested that FromSoftware tone down their famously gruelling approach to challenge. Miyazaki told Japanese site Game’s Talk that his team has taken on the publisher’s principles for “appropriate onboarding.”

Damn, this is worrying. From Software's games were never particularly difficult. Tone down the challenge even further and you risk making one of those "press X to win" games. From has accumulated a very rabid fanbase over the years and making a move like that can make them really mad and destroy the goodwill they have towards the company.

Most souls players rely entirely on multiplayer help to carry them through these games.

As for the vocal fans, they bitched and moaned when fromsoft were going to include an easy mode for DS2 yet were none the wiser when it got rebadged as NG.

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

https://blog.us.playstation.com/201...e-limbs-and-lore-of-sekiro-shadows-die-twice/

Interview: Miyazaki on the Limbs and Lore of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
The director of Dark Souls and Bloodborne opens the curtain on FromSoftware's mysterious new project.




A few weeks ago, I was granted an opportunity one does not pass up: a one-on-one interview with Hidetaka Miyazaki. The famed director of Dark Souls and Bloodborne set aside an hour on the final day of E3 to answer my questions about Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, the mysterious new PS4 project currently in development.

We discussed the game’s setting, Miyazaki-san’s reoccurring theme of death, and his philosophy on “lore” vs “story.”



PSB: Sekiro is set during the late 1500’s in Sengoku-era Japan. What led you in that direction?

HM: If we’re going to do something with ninjas, there are two key areas that are relevant: the Edo period and the Sengoku period. For context, the Sengoku period was a bit earlier than the Edo period.

We ended landing on the Sengoku period [because it] was dirtier — it was grittier and bloodier. It had more of a feel of the type of world we’d want to create…

PSB: A good fit for a FromSoftware game!

HM: The other reason we landed on this period is because [it still seems] “medieval,” vs the Edo period, which feels more modern. In my mind, it felt more believable to see something mystical or having to do with the presence of gods in the Sengoku period.

Another thing is that it’s set at the end of the Sengoku period. The reason for that is, in my opinion, there’s a nuance — a beauty — in the finality of something coming to an end. That fits our artistic sense, and we wanted to express that.

PSB: On that note, your games often deal with death as a theme. What impact will death have on the story and gameplay of Sekiro?

HM: Probably the best way to cover that question is to directly address the fact that there is resurrection in the game.

My idea of a ninja fighting rather than, say, a knight fighting, is that ninjas can’t take a lot of damage. They’re taking a huge risk, they’re very vulnerable while they’re fighting. It’s this idea of fighting on the edge, it’s a risky situation where if you screw up by a hair’s breadth, it’s over. With a knight, there’s more back and forth, there’s armor and all that. The idea of that type of fighting is where the idea for resurrection came from.

With that image for the combat, that it’s risky, a slight mistake and you’re dead, if you had to go back every time you die and walk back to where you were, the tempo of the game would not feel very good. The idea of resurrection is that it helps the flow of the game. Yes, you have this battle, but you don’t necessarily need to go back every time you die, this helps to balance that out and allows for that riskier “edge of the knife” type gameplay.

“Just because you have this resurrection mechanic, it doesn’t mean the player won’t be afraid of death.”
It’s also related to the game’s story. It’s related to the mystery surrounding the main character as well as the young lord. Resurrection will have something to do with them.

One of the general concepts for the game is that you can kill ingeniously — a ninja is so resourceful that he can even make use of his own death to gain an advantage. That’s kind of the idea we had.

So, to answer your question, there are three ways death influences Sekiro: for the gameplay purposes of keeping the flow good and being able to have this risky situation, to be able to use it creatively, and also that the story centers around the concept of resurrection.

There’s one thing I’d like to make sure isn’t misunderstood: the resurrection system was not introduced to make the game easier. If anything, it actually can make the game harder because it allows us to push the edge of risky combat where the player can die at any moment.

PSB: So the game’s difficulty was balanced around the idea of knowing the player can die and resurrect?

HM: Yeah, exactly.



PSB: Can you speak more about what resurrection entails in Sekiro? How exactly does the mechanic work?

HM: The system itself is not yet 100% final, so we don’t want to say anything that might end up changing. What we can say is that it’s in place to maintain the tempo of the game, and the difficulty of the game will be based around it. Just because you have this resurrection mechanic, it doesn’t mean the player won’t be afraid of death.

PSB: Can we talk about the main character’s missing arm, and how it will affect gameplay?

HM: There were two things we really liked about using a ninja, in terms of game design. We’ve always designed stages with verticality in mind, we consider it one of our strengths. What really appealed to us was being able to explore that dynamically — not relying on ladders and other ways to move around these stages, but being able to just boom, I’m there.

The other thing is that when you’re designing gameplay around a ninja, it’s not like a samurai. With a samurai, you’d go right in with a sword, with a ninja you can sneak around, you can do things that are considered unfair — you can blind guys, you can do stuff that’s not honorable. It was really exciting from a gameplay perspective because it opened up so many options.

So, the two key aspects of this shinobi prosthetic are that you can explore with verticality, and you have a variety of moves that you can use in combat.

There was a desire to have a symbol for the idea that you have a wide variety of things at your disposal. That’s how we came up with the arm, it was a way to put that in a single place. This arm can let you do so many things, you can see that there are wires on it, there are tools on it, it kind of gives you the idea that you have this multi-use feature.



PSB: Sekiro feels much faster than, say, a Dark Souls or Bloodborne. Is this more of an action game, or will fans of those series feel at home here?

HM: There are two key things about battle in Sekiro. In combat, one of the key aspects that’s important in this game is the violence of the clashing of swords. The other thing is the verticality and dynamic movement that you’re allowed.

That dynamism is in the combat, as well. There are lots of different ways to approach a battle, such as stealth, or using your arm tools. Attacking from above, for example. Some of your ninja tools can take advantage of an enemy’s weakness, as well. Or, if you want, you can just go straight in with your sword.

There are lots of different things you can do that will help you in battle. The game is designed in such a way that even if you’re not insanely good at the game, you can figure out how to get through it if you think about it and play it smart.

“The game is designed in such a way that even if you’re not insanely good at the game, you can figure out how to get through it if you think about it and play it smart.”
PSB: Changing gears, what’s your philosophy when it comes to the idea of “lore” versus “story”? The former being focused on world-building within the game, the other the act of actually telling a story.

HM: There are some aspects of Sekiro that will be different than our previous games, and others that will be similar.

In Sekiro, the story is actually centered around the main character. He’s a character in the story, who exists in this world. Previously we had nameless characters who weren’t as involved. Thanks to making the main character part of the story, the beginning of the game is probably easier to understand than our previous games.

Aside from that, not too much is different. This isn’t a game where you go through one area, kill a boss, watch a cutscene, then the game tells you where to go next. The story trickles in as you’re playing the game, you’ll find things that will give you more information on the world — the lore, if you will — along with actual story information as well. In that way, it’s similar to our previous games.



PSB: Is there a particular reason you choose to tell your stories this way? Do you find that it’s a more effective way of storytelling?

HM: I’m a fan of stories that require you to use a little bit of your imagination in order to really understand the whole thing.

When I was young, I used to enjoy reading books that were too hard for me, where I could only read maybe half the kanji, and using my imagination to fill in the gaps. I wanted to see if I could bring that kind of experience to a video game, where you use your imagination to bridge those gaps.

PSB: FromSoftware announced two games at E3: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, as well as Déraciné for PS VR. Has it been challenging to work on both simultaneously?

“Actually, I’m used to directing multiple titles at once. It’s easier to find inspiration… I enjoy that.”
HM: Actually, I’m very used to directing multiple titles at once. Armored Core 4 and Demon’s Souls were at the same time, while Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3 were at the same time. This is a pretty normal situation for me, but what wasn’t normal was announcing two games at the same time.

I actually prefer “parallel direction” — directing multiple projects at once. As a creative, if you’re focused on a singular thing all the time it’s easy to get stuck in that mentality. It’s easier to find inspiration when you’re working on multiple things than it is when you’re totally focused on one. I enjoy that.

PSB: Any final thoughts?

HM: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is a different kind of game. Our previous titles have been action RPGs, this time it’s an action adventure.

There are lots of cool new things that I’m looking forward to fans enjoying. Particularly the new story format, or at least the fact that the main character is a big deal in the story. The new ways to explore the world, and the new way that you’re going to become more and more powerful.

There are lots of aspects from our previous titles that I feel we’ve been able to iterate upon. The dynamic exploration, the violent swordfighting, and the huge number of strategic options. I feel that these are all major steps forward for these mechanics, and I’m really looking forward to fans playing it.

PSB: So are we.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

The Blade of the Immortal resurrection mechanic really should make for a pretty interesting experience gameplay-wise. I feel there's not really any reason NOT to use it liberally and build the game heavily around it, it'd be a neat twist on how things usually work in games.