For players who love challenges in their games, FromSoftware games have been their top picks for several years now. Especially when it comes to hitless runs, many even today consider FromSoftware games to be the pinnacle of difficult challenges in gaming.
For the uninitiated, a no-hit run in a game is when a player completes a game from start to finish without taking any hits. A loss of health or a stagger caused by an enemy or trap is considered to be a hit. Hits could include attacks from enemies that do not deal damage as well as status effects, such as poison.
To complete such no-hit runs, players often indulge in quitouts, major skips, or glitches. Completing such no-hit runs in FromSoftware games is no ordinary feat. Given that the games are generally challenging and difficult, no-hit runs in these games are no cakewalk.
Hidetaka Miyazaki was surprised by fan’s Dark Souls’ no-hit run
Back in 2016, a player on Twitch named, ‘The_Happy_Hobbit,’ completed a no-hit run of the first Dark Souls game, and they even streamed it on the platform. However, it was so difficult for the creator of the game, Hidetaka Miyazaki, to believe the player’s unbelievable feat. The series director even chalked that playthrough up to an “elaborate rumor.”
Talking to Wired UK in an interview, Miyazaki said,
“That’s been a real surprise. When I was working on the first Dark Souls — as far back as Demon’s Souls, actually — I didn’t expect the player community to come up with speedrun contests or any of the strange new ways to play the games. But I started considering ways to give the players space to do special things like that after the games were launched, so in that sense, my expectations started to meet the fans. I don’t believe the player who says he completed the original Dark Souls without taking a hit — it would be amazing but I think it’s just an elaborate rumour!”
The 2016 feat of the player in contention wasn’t the only time a player completed a no-hit run. There were several instances after this one wherein several other fans went on to complete a no-hit run of the game.
Miyazaki feels he has succeeded in making his games social
Although Hidetaka Miyazaki expressed his disbelief, he did appreciate the creativity of the fans. Players often use unconventional control methods to complete their Dark Souls run and have also uploaded videos of the same. These unconventional means include beating them with Guitar Hero or Rock Band controllers and, even crowdsourced commands sent over Twitch.
He said,
“Some of the stuff the community has done, collaborating on Twitch, or playing with Guitar Hero controllers, is incredible though. I’ve been very happy to see that kind of creativity. I don’t think I’d ever put in trophies or anything to instigate a particularly strange play style though.”
Miyazaki admitted that these types of methods adopted by fans truly surprised him. He also revealed back then that future FromSoftware games would not be built around allowing players to have at it with a bevy of controllers and control schemes. He added that he wanted to make his games feel more social, and the collaborative nature of these Twitch-streamed runs makes the director feel that he’s succeeded on that front.
