‘Dark Souls 3’ director talks influences in game development and the beauty of chaos and gloom

There’s a reason why “Dark Souls 3” is considered to be one of the most hyped and most awaited for fans of the franchise. And given how director and creator Hidetaka Miyazaki had been very precise about the details without losing the edge of what makes the series tick, the latest installment may very well live up to its hype.

In an interview with VG 247, the director had touched on the creation of the game, particularly the narrative and how the team had managed to take bits and pieces of experience in developing the game and its predecessors to make the latest installment in the series the best one yet.

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According to Miyazaki, “Dark Souls 3” has a narrative at the heart of it, and one that is only fully realised in him. However, when it comes to the complexities of laying it out as a game, he and the development team have opted to go avoid the spoon-feeding approach for fans. This has created a narrative that becomes open to players’ interpretations, but also detailed enough to follow a lore that has had fans hooked since the first title in the series, “Demon’s Souls.”

“I feel enabling the player to find something new within the game and its world or storyline—or even other things, such as a shortcut or a boss weakness—gives very high value to the product thanks to the feeling that it creates among players when they make those discoveries,” said Miyazaki to VG 247.

The narrative is also not the only thing that makes the Souls series, and presumably the upcoming “Dark Souls 3.” Known for its difficulty, “Dark Souls 3” will also get a taste of the infamous difficulty level as supervised by Miyazaki himself. However, according to him, the team has been continually trying to strive for a balance in difficulty and in all aspects of the game. Apart from ensuring that the difficulty never crosses what he has termed as “unreasonable” in the game, the team also tries to strike a balance for players in terms of skills and weapons.

Even with the new weapon system, it appears that Miyazaki and the team did not try to go for any novel moves or branches in the overall fights and scenes. According to Vice, the game instead builds up on what its predecessors have already established. As such, the game delivers a familiar note for those who have been with the franchise even before.

Still, that’s not to say that fans who have been following the franchise will no longer encounter new features in the series. If anything, there will be a mix of new and old enemies highlighted by the fact that it has now progressed to a gloomier sad world that pushes the cycle of the Souls game.

There is a lot to expect and a lot of anticipation surrounding “Dark Souls 3.” It’s slated to launch on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC on April 12. However, it will debut first in Japan a few weeks before on March 24.

"Dark Souls 3" gameplay trailer (Credit: YouTube/Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe)