The designer that I have chosen is Hidetaka Miyazaki. Miyazaki is a Japanese video game designer most known for his Souls series, which includes: Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls, Dark Souls II, Bloodborne, and Dark Souls III. He grew up in a small town called Shizouka, which is around 100 miles from Tokyo. He is notorious for his refusal to talk about his personal life, instead focusing on his projects or team. What we do know, however, is that growing up, Miyazaki was very poor, and his parents couldn’t afford much, so he had to borrow any reading materials he could get his hands on, either from others or the library. He attended Keio University for a social sciences degree, but eventually drifted into game design at the company From Software. He
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The games are a dark fantasy, and always feature a main character of the player’s creation who does not talk. The player is tasked with several objectives throughout the series, most notably being rekindling the “first flame”. The lore behind this is very complex, so I won’t go into detail, but basically the world is fading, and as the first flame continues to fade, the world deteriorates more and more, bringing along with it the “undead curse” which the player is usually marked with. Miyazaki was very inspired by gothic architecture and history, so this theme is very present throughout the series, both in level design and soundtrack, which features ominous orchestras and traditional choirs. Rather than being an anime or manga inspired design, though, the game has its roots in medieval Europe (sprawling, corrupted cathedrals, towering, crumbling castles, etc.). Books could be written about the level of detail that goes into each part of the in-game world. Many of the areas have an almost oppressive feel to them. They are corrupted, decaying, empty, or all three. If you have time to research the lore, you’ll find the story to be very depressing, and some have called the game itself an allegory for real-life …show more content…
The combat is very deliberate and places emphasis on patience and well timed attacks and dodges. As noted, the game is punishingly difficult. One sweep of a boss’s weapon could send you back to the last bonfire (the checkpoints and respawn points for the player), and even the normal in-game enemies can prove surprisingly fatal to the player, if he/she becomes even a bit careless. This creates something else the series is known for, though: a true sense of accomplishment. When a player has died over 20 to 30 times on one boss (as I have), it is truly a remarkable feeling to finally best what you once thought you could not. There is just so much that makes these games unique and special, and pages upon pages could be written just about each aspect of each game. Suffice it to say, however, that the games are wonderfully made, and can truly only be fully experienced by playing them yourself. If anyone has time and you hasn’t already heard about them, I would highly encourage them to look into these games, as they are
The games are a dark fantasy, and always feature a main character of the player’s creation who does not talk. The player is tasked with several objectives throughout the series, most notably being rekindling the “first flame”. The lore behind this is very complex, so I won’t go into detail, but basically the world is fading, and as the first flame continues to fade, the world deteriorates more and more, bringing along with it the “undead curse” which the player is usually marked with. Miyazaki was very inspired by gothic architecture and history, so this theme is very present throughout the series, both in level design and soundtrack, which features ominous orchestras and traditional choirs. Rather than being an anime or manga inspired design, though, the game has its roots in medieval Europe (sprawling, corrupted cathedrals, towering, crumbling castles, etc.). Books could be written about the level of detail that goes into each part of the in-game world. Many of the areas have an almost oppressive feel to them. They are corrupted, decaying, empty, or all three. If you have time to research the lore, you’ll find the story to be very depressing, and some have called the game itself an allegory for real-life …show more content…
The combat is very deliberate and places emphasis on patience and well timed attacks and dodges. As noted, the game is punishingly difficult. One sweep of a boss’s weapon could send you back to the last bonfire (the checkpoints and respawn points for the player), and even the normal in-game enemies can prove surprisingly fatal to the player, if he/she becomes even a bit careless. This creates something else the series is known for, though: a true sense of accomplishment. When a player has died over 20 to 30 times on one boss (as I have), it is truly a remarkable feeling to finally best what you once thought you could not. There is just so much that makes these games unique and special, and pages upon pages could be written just about each aspect of each game. Suffice it to say, however, that the games are wonderfully made, and can truly only be fully experienced by playing them yourself. If anyone has time and you hasn’t already heard about them, I would highly encourage them to look into these games, as they are