Dark Souls is a series of titles known for being incredibly difficult and having a bleak atmosphere, setting, and narrative. It is, by all means, a lineup of games that are aimed towards a mature audience. It was also a series of titles that inspired many other studios to develop similar titles.
As one might expect, the titles that inspired FromSoftware and Hidetaka Miyazaki‘s brainchildren were also dark and grim, but there was also a title that might not fit that exact bill. Moreover, while the degree of similarity isn’t spectacular, it is undoubtedly uncanny and surprising.
An MMO for all ages took inspiration from Dark Souls feature that isn’t talked about enough
One thing about the titles from Hidetaka Miyazaki’s studio is that they might not try to create something entirely novel in terms of experience. Still, they keep the feel intact and innovate on finer aspects. The studio demonstrated the same when it launched Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Elden Ring, focusing on a similar formula but a different execution.
The multiplayer aspect in Soulsborne games can get rage-inducing and frustrating when one meets sweaty players who abuse the meta. That said, a title known for having a polar opposite multiplayer experience, Sky: Children of the Light, had a feature inspired by FromSoftware’s RPGs.
The game’s creative director, Jenova Chen, spoke about this at the Game Developer Conference. Per him, the team didn’t want to incorporate text chat but later allowed direct messages between friends. The studio also incorporated a mechanic allowing players to leave messages on paper and fold them into a boat for other players to find. Chen also stated that Dark Souls’s soapstone message system inspired this mechanic. But the challenges didn’t end there for the studio.
Despite being similar, the Dark Souls’ text chat system has more stringent rules
Despite being inspired by a mechanic from FromSoftware’s hit series, the Indie studio made a fundamental change, allowing players freedom and ensuring they feel accountable for their written messages. While Miyazaki-san’s series only allows players to construct messages from a word bank, Chen’s idea of ensuring healthy communication was innovative.
As per Chen, when players were allowed to leave any message on the folded piece of paper placed in a boat, they would mostly be Internet memes. While not entirely wrong, it wasn’t what the purpose that system was intended to serve.
That is when Chen and the team introduced accountability into the mix and allowed the player’s friends to see the messages they left for other players to read. As soon as this system was introduced, the negativity and toxicity in the game started evaporating, and people turned more thoughtful of their messages.
Online games can turn toxic soon, especially if there is an aspect of competition in them, but such clever mechanics by studios help balance the experience. What do you think of this strange connection between the dark and grim series of games and one of the most wholesome MMOs ever to be released? We would love to know your thoughts in the comments below.
