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Hidetaka Miyazaki sees death as a feature, not a bug

newyorker.com

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Re: Hidetaka Miyazaki sees death as a feature, not a bug

#2

Post by vsareto »

>I do feel apologetic toward anyone who feels there’s just too much to overcome in my games

Psh, I ain't buying it. I think they found a niche and like sticking to it, and maybe like making folks salty. They make a ton of people happy with the difficulty, but nothing about these games are apologetic.

Re: Hidetaka Miyazaki sees death as a feature, not a bug

#3

Post by wly_cdgr »

It's funny how far the conversation has swung in the trash direction compared to 8-10 years ago. Used to be Proteus was controversial for having the nerve to call itself a game while having no gameplay...these days it's real games that have to defend themselves for having...real gameplay

Re: Hidetaka Miyazaki sees death as a feature, not a bug

#6

Post by cdev_gl »

cato_the_elder wrote: post #4

I love Miyazaki, and I hope the words in the headline are something they've put in his mouth. That's just banal deathist copium.

“Death and rebirth, trying and overcoming—we want that cycle to be enjoyable. In life, death is a horrible thing. In play, it can be something else.”

Re: Hidetaka Miyazaki sees death as a feature, not a bug

#7

Post by Trasmatta »

The popular discourse seems to focus on the difficulty of From's games, but that's just one part of the entire experience. FromSoft has a holistic approach to game design that very few other studios manage to match. There's just an incredible amount of depth to their world building, and the gameplay, difficulty level, online mechanics, level design, characters, music, story, and themes all work to reinforce and complement each other.

I think FromSoft's games (and specifically the ones directed by Miyazaki) will be among a small set of games released in the past 20 years that will still be played and studied in 50 or 100 years (or more).

Also, this statement from the article:

> Miyazaki has created the most difficult games of the century.

This is absolutely not true. There are many games that are much, much harder than Miyazaki's games. And it was definitely never his goal to make "the hardest games". The goal, from everything I've read about him, was to make difficult games where the difficulty reinforces the themes he wants to convey, and evokes the emotions he wants you to feel. I could name a bunch of games that are harder -- including Nioh, a game that's partially inspired by Dark Souls, and has a similar combat system (but with a lot more complexity). The difficulty is an important aspect of their design, but it's just one piece of the puzzle.

There's a quote from one of the characters in Dark Souls that I think gives a hint as to why Miyazaki makes hard games:

> The dragons shall never be forgotten… We knights fought valiantly, but for every one of them, we lost three score of our own. Exhilaration, pride, hatred, rage… The dragons teased out our dearest emotions… Thou will understand, one day. At thy twilight, old thoughts return, in great waves of nostalgia.

Re: Hidetaka Miyazaki sees death as a feature, not a bug

#8

Post by Trasmatta »

vsareto wrote: post #2

>I do feel apologetic toward anyone who feels there’s just too much to overcome in my games Psh, I ain't buying it. I think they found a niche and like sticking to it, and maybe like making folks salty. They make a ton of people happy with the difficulty, but nothing about these games are apologetic.

I imagine him with his characteristic smirk as he says that. He's apologetic -- but also fully enjoying it. Miyazaki is a pretty brilliant troll.

Re: Hidetaka Miyazaki sees death as a feature, not a bug

#9

Post by xeromal »

Trasmatta wrote: post #7

The popular discourse seems to focus on the difficulty of From's games, but that's just one part of the entire experience. FromSoft has a holistic approach to game design that very few other studios manage to match. There's just an incredible amount of depth to their world building, and the gameplay, difficulty level, online mechanics, level design, characters, music, story, and themes all work to reinforce and compl…

100%. There is a lot of love and care that goes into the balance of their games. It's not unfair.
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