FromSoftware’s action-RPGs, particularly the Soulsborne series, have become synonymous with a unique brand of storytelling. Unlike games that spoonfeed narratives through cutscenes and exposition, FromSoftware’s stories are conveyed to players in a fragmented format.
This approach was pioneered by director Hidetaka Miyazaki, making players feel like they’re figuring the lore out for themselves and letting them interpret it in their own way. Dark Souls 3 was much the same in this regard, but apparently, Miyazaki does know the “perfect storyline” for the series.
Hidetaka Miyazaki Knows The True Story, But Won’t Tell
Dark Souls 3 is the grand conclusion to the Souls franchise, and in an interview with VG247, Miyazaki confirmed that while he does know the correct storyline, the game isn’t designed to force-feed players a singular interpretation:
First of all, yes, there is a perfect storyline in my head. However, I have no intention at all of enforcing that storyline to the players out there.
Most AAA games today deliver their narratives in a linear, straightforward fashion. Players are bombarded with information, leaving little room for personal interpretation or piecing together the bigger picture. In Dark Souls 3, like its predecessors, makes the lore a collaborative effort.
The developers provide the building blocks – environmental details, item descriptions, subtle NPC lines – and the players use them to construct interpretations that resonate with their individual experiences and personalities, making the story more than one-dimensional.
Storytelling Differentiates A Great Game From A Masterpiece
This storytelling format ensures every player comes out of a FromSoftware game having interpreted it in different ways than others. This is exactly what Miyazaki wants, as he explained:
Only those storyline elements that actually make it into the game are something that I need to force players to accept as a base for building up their own interpretation of the world. There are things in my head that aren’t in the games, after all – so after that, it’s all up to the players. I have no intention in forcing any of the storyline upon any of the players out there, and there will be no official statements made about the ‘true’ story of the game.
Scattering the lore throughout the game’s world also makes it so much more engaging to find. This is what gives FromSoftware games such long legs and great replayability. By looking closely at every corner of the world and reading item descriptions over and over to find hidden meanings, fans can play the same game several times and still learn something new every single run.
Despite their brutal difficulty, FromSoftware games sell tens of millions of copies and are some of the best in the industry for this exact reason. Having the freedom to decipher the lore in any way you want and progress through it in different ways, with multiple endings to reflect it, is what separates them as masterpieces.
Dark Souls 3 satisfyingly tied up the Souls series, even though its initial network beta was met with somewhat mixed reactions. Moreover, Miyazaki’s refusal to explicitly state the “perfect storyline” for the threequel further reinforces FromSoftware’s storytelling formula. It’s all about personal rendition and relentless theories in subreddits.
