Games directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki have distinctive elements that make his work stand out from the rest of the competition. One of these aspects is the way the FromSoftware President approaches the combat in his titles, which often stays consistent with each subsequent release, giving a sense of uniformity to the games.
But even the greatest ideas, like the ones implemented in Bloodborne and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, are inspired by something that came long ago, and Miyazaki reveals which PlayStation classic was responsible for the inclusion of a fighting move in the aforementioned titles.
Hidetaka Miyazaki Reveals the Inspiration Behind Critical Combat Attacks
A couple of months before FromSoftware was set to launch Sekiro, Hidetaka Miyazaki was asked about the similarities that the critical attacks from his games share with one another, as the 2019 title also included a Shinobi death blow, which was reminiscent of moves from the studio’s older games. Originally introduced as backstab attacks in Dark Souls, the move took the form of visceral attacks in Bloodborne, leading to the critical attack in Sekiro.
“It’s not like we just love to do these critical attacks on everything,” answered Miyazaki, calling it “an evolution of the elements.”
Miyazaki continued by giving credit to a classic video game series that made its debut more than two decades ago, exclusively on the first PlayStation in 1998.
The death blow, the idea itself, is one of the things we got a hint of from Tenchu, from the original publications of that series.
The FromSoftware boss then proceeded to differentiate the death blows in Sekiro from the critical attacks in Bloodborne and Dark Souls, stating that the former “is something that can be initiated from stealth.”
The Bloodborne Developer Has a Shared History With the Tenchu Games
Perhaps the most interesting aspect about Hidetaka Miyazaki‘s Tenchu inspiration is that FromSoftware became the Japanese publisher for every game in the series, starting with the third entry, which was released in 2006. The Bloodborne studio has also developed several Tenchu installments, including the Xbox 360-exclusive Shadow Assault.
It is a genuine shame that a series of games that inspired some of the greatest titles of modern times has not seen the light of day for nearly sixteen years, with no hopes of getting another installment.
Without the existence of Tenchu, who knows if Miyazaki would have been able to perfect the concept of critical attacks in his games, which he describes as “something that is a result of trying to find or trying to make a momentary weakness in your opponent.” The long-dead series may never come back to life, but its influence still remains strong.
Which FromSoftware game has your favorite critical attack: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Bloodborne, or Dark Souls? Let us know in the comments!
