From Software Elden Ring - From Software's new game with writing by GRRM

[Child of Malkav]

Lyric Suite Hm all I wanted to know is if the gameplay was the same. But apparently it is so there's that. I get you, I didn't like DS Remake either for the reasons you mentioned.

 

[REhorror]

Wonder what happened to the whole From separating from Bamco thing, since Bamco still publishes ER's SoTER.

All is good.

 

[Cryomancer]

Interview with the great master himself. With timestamps for questions.

 

[Talby]

For the price they're asking this had better be an entire new game.

 

[Skinwalker]

Daily reminder that the Resident Evil 4 remake was better than the original.

 

[Morgoth]

Amidst dire industry layoffs, FromSoftware's Miyazaki says his studio is 'very blessed' to have long-term hires now taking director roles: 'games can be directed by others, not only myself'​

By Harvey Randall
published about 1 hour ago

"I'm aware of the situation in the games industry, [it's] quite harrowing."

(Image credit: Fromsoft)

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is coming—and it's a big'un. Massive, expansion-level DLCs feel increasingly rarer in a climate flooded with live service microtransactions and seasonal passes. Personally, I'm just excited to get my grubby little mitts on another slice of FromSoftware's pedigree.
It's also potentially a function of how FromSoftware does business, focusing on their popular niche rather than bending the knee to wider trends—which also extends to the recent mass layoffs, which are currently in vogue in the name of "agile and more focused" studios, whatever that means.

In a recent interview with IGN (thanks, GamesRadar), Elden Ring's director Hidetaka Miyazaki touched on how dire things have been for game developers in 2023—a trend that is mercilessly continuing into early 2024.

"I'm aware of the situation in the games industry, [it's] quite harrowing," Miyazaki says—though despite some murmurings of underpay, FromSoftware appears to have kept cold-blooded layoffs at arm's length. "I think it's difficult for me to understand the exact circumstances there. I won't speak to those in specifics," he says.

In terms of FromSoftware's philosophy, he remarks: "I think we are very blessed in the way that we have a lot of keen up-and-coming developers, who've grown [and] developed within the studio," celebrating how some have "reached these director positions". He cites Armored Core 6 as a recent example, a game directed by Masaru Yamamura (who was also a lead game designer on Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice).

"We have several of these up-and-coming directors who we're able to delegate these projects to, and we're able to have multiple projects on the go at once." Miyazaki seems to believe in keeping, training, and promoting game developers as long-term investments. "What I foresee in this climate (at least for us) is a FromSoftware where games can be directed by others, not only myself … I do see this as a time for us to continue to grow and continue to cultivate this talent, and [release] these games for as long as we can."

That's not a rare philosophy for Japanese studios to take—although it's one backed up by law, namely far stricter conditions to justify layoffs. That's not to say Miyazaki would give a bunch of people the boot if given the chance, far from it. After all, multiple things can be true at once. Not to mention the ways in which some Japanese companies try to skirt around said laws can be pretty cruel and unusual.

According to a Forbes report from 2015, Konami was accused of relocating developers to "punishment jobs" like janitorial detail. I am willing to bet that FromSoftware probably isn't plonking mops in its underperforming employee's hands. And considering how well Armored Core 6 did, its philosophies appear to be paying off.

Loyalty, trust, training. Compare that with the exclusively utilitarian approach of Western businesses.

 

[Crayll]

For the 'DLC only level up system' I wouldn't be surprised if they just port over the prayer beads system from Sekiro rather than do any kind of true level scaling. Would give even maxed out characters the ability to hunt for upgrades and let players play through at a lower power level if they want.

 

[Child of Malkav]

I don't care what it is I'm gonna get all of it, all of the offensive power. If there's another Malenia incident (who am I kidding of course it will be) this time I'll be ready. Hoarfrost stomp, night spells, fingerprint shield, Sonaf, mohg's spear ash of war, the ash of war from the fallingstar beast weapon, sleep pots, rot pots and others. Gonna have to through my inventory and uh "recall the arts of war".

 

[Skinwalker]

I find this power offensive!

 

[Silverfish]

Daily reminder that the Resident Evil 4 remake was better than the original.

The funny thing is that Capcom's marketing department really is sending their best.

 

[Skinwalker]

Daily reminder that the Resident Evil 4 remake was better than the original.

The funny thing is that Capcom's marketing department really is sending their best.

Why, thank you! I preferred to be called a shill, though.

 

[Silva]

Something wonky in the setting is the role of the runes that compose the Elden Ring.

With the exception of Death, the others lack any meaning to the world. One would expect concepts like Life, Death, Time, Space, Order, Chaos, etc. But nope.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

Is it that weird that I enjoy the combat/interactivity of these games rather than the level design?

No
After all it's the aspect that most people nowadays consider being the best thing about these games
It's just that it's objectively not the best thing about them

Dark Souls 2 ... has a lot of ghetto design

Such as?

Bosses were very well designed

lol
Some bosses are nice, but most are just rollslop r1 spam galore

Sure it would hurt DD2 sales - though perhaps not by much, as I don't see much overlap between audiences

What makes you think that?

Soulsborne
>originated in the heyday of the 7th gen
>established a specific and lauded reputation from the get go
>steadily increased it's popularity and success through regular game releases over the past decade
>each game tries to cater to the expectations of their growing audience

>aesthetics and tone are a mishmash of various fantasy ips beloved by the game's director
>unconventional storytelling and vague worldbuilding
>world map is essentially a collection of "dungeons" and level design is built primarly for combat encounters
>greater emphasis on equipment over character building (stats, skills, etc.)
>simplistic, yet adequate, combat mechanics and enemy design


DD
>released at the tail end of the 7th gen
>said hardware could barely run the game
>the game itself was half finished at best
>disregarded by most as Capcom's poor Skyrim clone
>aside from ports and a japan only mmo that was shitcanned after 3 years, it got no other releases to establish the IP outside it's cult following
>2 years ago almost everyone thought the IP was dead and buried
>both the original game and the sequel are essentially the game's director dream DnD game, not trying to cater to fan expectations much but rather trying to fullfill a very specific vision

>aesthetics and tone are straight out of classic DnD, minor inspirations from other fantasy ips
>traditional storytelling and worldbuilding
>world map and level design like classic jRPG's and Zelda, built to echo a sense of adventure
>greater emphasis on character building (stats, skills, etc.) over equipment
>intricate and multilayered combat mechanics and enemy design


Really the only similarities between the two is that they're both open-world, jARPG's
Sure there's players from both audiences that might play both game
But the differences in game experience are too great for these two audiences to "mix" that easily

 

[H. P. Lovecraft's Cat]

Really the only similarities between the two is that they're both open-world, jARPG's
Sure there's players from both audiences that might play both game
But the differences in game experience are too great for these two audiences to "mix" that easily

I think there's a bit more similarity than that. Great combat, great boss fights, challenging gameplay, dark atmosphere, a real sense of adventure. That's why I love both. If you're a Soulsborne fan but can't into Dragon's Dogma I would think you're a weirdo.

 

[Skinwalker]

Something wonky in the setting is the role of the runes that compose the Elden Ring.

With the exception of Death, the others lack any meaning to the world. One would expect concepts like Life, Death, Time, Space, Order, Chaos, etc. But nope.

Also, you should be getting Great Runes from some of the Tarnished you slay. Like Vyke, who had two of them.

 

[Bendu]

Spoiler

 

[Deflowerer]

Amidst dire industry layoffs, FromSoftware's Miyazaki says his studio is 'very blessed' to have long-term hires now taking director roles: 'games can be directed by others, not only myself'​

By Harvey Randall
published about 1 hour ago

"I'm aware of the situation in the games industry, [it's] quite harrowing."

(Image credit: Fromsoft)

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is coming—and it's a big'un. Massive, expansion-level DLCs feel increasingly rarer in a climate flooded with live service microtransactions and seasonal passes. Personally, I'm just excited to get my grubby little mitts on another slice of FromSoftware's pedigree.
It's also potentially a function of how FromSoftware does business, focusing on their popular niche rather than bending the knee to wider trends—which also extends to the recent mass layoffs, which are currently in vogue in the name of "agile and more focused" studios, whatever that means.

In a recent interview with IGN (thanks, GamesRadar), Elden Ring's director Hidetaka Miyazaki touched on how dire things have been for game developers in 2023—a trend that is mercilessly continuing into early 2024.

"I'm aware of the situation in the games industry, [it's] quite harrowing," Miyazaki says—though despite some murmurings of underpay, FromSoftware appears to have kept cold-blooded layoffs at arm's length. "I think it's difficult for me to understand the exact circumstances there. I won't speak to those in specifics," he says.

In terms of FromSoftware's philosophy, he remarks: "I think we are very blessed in the way that we have a lot of keen up-and-coming developers, who've grown [and] developed within the studio," celebrating how some have "reached these director positions". He cites Armored Core 6 as a recent example, a game directed by Masaru Yamamura (who was also a lead game designer on Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice).

"We have several of these up-and-coming directors who we're able to delegate these projects to, and we're able to have multiple projects on the go at once." Miyazaki seems to believe in keeping, training, and promoting game developers as long-term investments. "What I foresee in this climate (at least for us) is a FromSoftware where games can be directed by others, not only myself … I do see this as a time for us to continue to grow and continue to cultivate this talent, and [release] these games for as long as we can."

That's not a rare philosophy for Japanese studios to take—although it's one backed up by law, namely far stricter conditions to justify layoffs. That's not to say Miyazaki would give a bunch of people the boot if given the chance, far from it. After all, multiple things can be true at once. Not to mention the ways in which some Japanese companies try to skirt around said laws can be pretty cruel and unusual.

According to a Forbes report from 2015, Konami was accused of relocating developers to "punishment jobs" like janitorial detail. I am willing to bet that FromSoftware probably isn't plonking mops in its underperforming employee's hands. And considering how well Armored Core 6 did, its philosophies appear to be paying off.

Loyalty, trust, training. Compare that with the exclusively utilitarian approach of Western businesses.

It's called Japanese labor market. Also means that people have shittier pay (particularly in junior ranks the tech pay is absolutely miserable there and coders are considered almost blue collar tier) and when looking at the overall labor market, there's a much stronger bifurcation between people who have full-time jobs and those who slave away at "part-time" jobs because only way you can counter rigid labor laws as a company is to be more conservative with recruiting full-time positions. The stability comes at a price.

 

[Child of Malkav]

Spoiler

That shit is disgusting.

 

[Skinwalker]

Spoiler

Be thankful that most of Liurnia wasn't a swamp. They probably had to lock Myazaki in the janitor's closet and undo all the poison effects and movement speed reductions he had added to the flooded middle.

 

[Caim]

Spoiler

Be thankful that most of Liurnia wasn't a swamp. They probably had to lock Myazaki in the janitor's closet and undo all the poison effects and movement speed reductions he had added to the flooded middle.

To make up for it they had to let Miyazaki turn the lava in Volcano Manor from something that slaps 25% of your health off the moment you dip your toe in it into a spicy swamp.

 

[Puukko]

I'm hoping the expansion comes with a death blight swamp.

 

[Caim]

I'm hoping the expansion comes with a death blight swamp.

Nah, sleep swamp. Stand in there too long and you fall asleep, which lets the otherwise non-threatening enemies catch up to you. It's even more annoying that a one-hit kill swamp.

 

[H. P. Lovecraft's Cat]

Amidst dire industry layoffs, FromSoftware's Miyazaki says his studio is 'very blessed' to have long-term hires now taking director roles: 'games can be directed by others, not only myself'​

By Harvey Randall
published about 1 hour ago

"I'm aware of the situation in the games industry, [it's] quite harrowing."

(Image credit: Fromsoft)

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is coming—and it's a big'un. Massive, expansion-level DLCs feel increasingly rarer in a climate flooded with live service microtransactions and seasonal passes. Personally, I'm just excited to get my grubby little mitts on another slice of FromSoftware's pedigree.
It's also potentially a function of how FromSoftware does business, focusing on their popular niche rather than bending the knee to wider trends—which also extends to the recent mass layoffs, which are currently in vogue in the name of "agile and more focused" studios, whatever that means.

In a recent interview with IGN (thanks, GamesRadar), Elden Ring's director Hidetaka Miyazaki touched on how dire things have been for game developers in 2023—a trend that is mercilessly continuing into early 2024.

"I'm aware of the situation in the games industry, [it's] quite harrowing," Miyazaki says—though despite some murmurings of underpay, FromSoftware appears to have kept cold-blooded layoffs at arm's length. "I think it's difficult for me to understand the exact circumstances there. I won't speak to those in specifics," he says.

In terms of FromSoftware's philosophy, he remarks: "I think we are very blessed in the way that we have a lot of keen up-and-coming developers, who've grown [and] developed within the studio," celebrating how some have "reached these director positions". He cites Armored Core 6 as a recent example, a game directed by Masaru Yamamura (who was also a lead game designer on Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice).

"We have several of these up-and-coming directors who we're able to delegate these projects to, and we're able to have multiple projects on the go at once." Miyazaki seems to believe in keeping, training, and promoting game developers as long-term investments. "What I foresee in this climate (at least for us) is a FromSoftware where games can be directed by others, not only myself … I do see this as a time for us to continue to grow and continue to cultivate this talent, and [release] these games for as long as we can."

That's not a rare philosophy for Japanese studios to take—although it's one backed up by law, namely far stricter conditions to justify layoffs. That's not to say Miyazaki would give a bunch of people the boot if given the chance, far from it. After all, multiple things can be true at once. Not to mention the ways in which some Japanese companies try to skirt around said laws can be pretty cruel and unusual.

According to a Forbes report from 2015, Konami was accused of relocating developers to "punishment jobs" like janitorial detail. I am willing to bet that FromSoftware probably isn't plonking mops in its underperforming employee's hands. And considering how well Armored Core 6 did, its philosophies appear to be paying off.

Loyalty, trust, training. Compare that with the exclusively utilitarian approach of Western businesses.

They don't diversity hire, and they don't bring in a bunch of talentless dangerhair assholes and perverted faggots. Their culture is superior I'm afraid to say.

 

[Morgoth]

Amidst dire industry layoffs, FromSoftware's Miyazaki says his studio is 'very blessed' to have long-term hires now taking director roles: 'games can be directed by others, not only myself'​

By Harvey Randall
published about 1 hour ago

"I'm aware of the situation in the games industry, [it's] quite harrowing."

(Image credit: Fromsoft)

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is coming—and it's a big'un. Massive, expansion-level DLCs feel increasingly rarer in a climate flooded with live service microtransactions and seasonal passes. Personally, I'm just excited to get my grubby little mitts on another slice of FromSoftware's pedigree.
It's also potentially a function of how FromSoftware does business, focusing on their popular niche rather than bending the knee to wider trends—which also extends to the recent mass layoffs, which are currently in vogue in the name of "agile and more focused" studios, whatever that means.

In a recent interview with IGN (thanks, GamesRadar), Elden Ring's director Hidetaka Miyazaki touched on how dire things have been for game developers in 2023—a trend that is mercilessly continuing into early 2024.

"I'm aware of the situation in the games industry, [it's] quite harrowing," Miyazaki says—though despite some murmurings of underpay, FromSoftware appears to have kept cold-blooded layoffs at arm's length. "I think it's difficult for me to understand the exact circumstances there. I won't speak to those in specifics," he says.

In terms of FromSoftware's philosophy, he remarks: "I think we are very blessed in the way that we have a lot of keen up-and-coming developers, who've grown [and] developed within the studio," celebrating how some have "reached these director positions". He cites Armored Core 6 as a recent example, a game directed by Masaru Yamamura (who was also a lead game designer on Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice).

"We have several of these up-and-coming directors who we're able to delegate these projects to, and we're able to have multiple projects on the go at once." Miyazaki seems to believe in keeping, training, and promoting game developers as long-term investments. "What I foresee in this climate (at least for us) is a FromSoftware where games can be directed by others, not only myself … I do see this as a time for us to continue to grow and continue to cultivate this talent, and [release] these games for as long as we can."

That's not a rare philosophy for Japanese studios to take—although it's one backed up by law, namely far stricter conditions to justify layoffs. That's not to say Miyazaki would give a bunch of people the boot if given the chance, far from it. After all, multiple things can be true at once. Not to mention the ways in which some Japanese companies try to skirt around said laws can be pretty cruel and unusual.

According to a Forbes report from 2015, Konami was accused of relocating developers to "punishment jobs" like janitorial detail. I am willing to bet that FromSoftware probably isn't plonking mops in its underperforming employee's hands. And considering how well Armored Core 6 did, its philosophies appear to be paying off.

Loyalty, trust, training. Compare that with the exclusively utilitarian approach of Western businesses.

It's called Japanese labor market. Also means that people have shittier pay (particularly in junior ranks the tech pay is absolutely miserable there and coders are considered almost blue collar tier) and when looking at the overall labor market, there's a much stronger bifurcation between people who have full-time jobs and those who slave away at "part-time" jobs because only way you can counter rigid labor laws as a company is to be more conservative with recruiting full-time positions. The stability comes at a price.

The longterm instability you get from firing thousands of people willy-nilly is a bigger price to pay.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

That is the ABCs of business management -- managers are just usually too high on cockaine to realize it. Capitalism ho!