Elden Ring, Hidetaka Miyazaki’s masterpiece, is considered to be his most ambitious effort to date. Expanding upon the Soulsborne formula of Demon’s Souls fame, Miyazaki and his team created an open-world game with various gameplay options that brought him and FromSoftware universal acclaim.
When discussing Miyazaki’s success story, narratives inevitably shift toward Demon’s Souls, and rightly so. Taking the helm of a sinking ship and recreating it into a critically acclaimed game isn’t a common occurrence. Dark Souls trilogy, Bloodborne, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice have all played integral roles in defining Hidetaka Miyazaki’s success as a game developer.
But, there is a common notion that Demon’s Souls is the most important chapter of Miyazaki’s career. We, however, beg to differ. We believe Elden Ring, his newest release, is as responsible for his success as Demon’s Souls.
Demon’s Souls: The Miyazaki Miracle
When Hidetaka Miyazaki joined FromSoftware in 2004, we worked on the Armored Core series. But his dream was to head his own project. And the opportunity came to him in the form of the floundering project of Demon’s Souls.
Miyazaki not only rose to the challenge and comprehensively completed the game, but also gained widespread critical acclaim. And that was the beginning. The Soulsborne formula that made Demon’s Souls a fan favorite was the cornerstone for the Dark Souls trilogy that brought FromSoftware much-needed financial gain.
Bloodborne and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice further impressed Miyazaki’s game development prowess in the community. Which led him and his team to take on their most ambitious project – Elden Ring.
Two Masters Combine for Elden Ring
Elden Ring saw Hidetaka Miyazaki teaming up with George R. R. Martin of Song of Ice and Fire fame. Martin oversaw the worldbuilding of Elden Ring which featured diverse environments filled with secrets waiting to be discovered.
Elden Ring featured unparalleled freedom of exploration along with the possibility of several emergent storylines. Miyazaki and his team created an immersive experience with subtle storytelling that encouraged the players to piece together the lore themselves from NPC interactions, item descriptions, and so on. The fact that the game was such a box-office success reinstated Miyazaki’s faith in the Soulsborne philosophy while catering to an even wider audience.
Miyazaki evolved from the narrow dungeons of the previous games from FromSoftware to the expansive open world to add more depth and adventure to the experience. The main storyline was penned by Miyazaki himself while George R. R. Martin was entrusted with creating the events that served as prequels to the primary narrative.
The attention to detail in the game is mind-boggling as Miyazaki admitted to creating the NPCs to be vastly more compelling than the ones from his early works. With Elden Ring Miyazaki created an entire world and left the story obscured for the players to figure out. Everybody has their own interpretation of the story.
Whether Demon’s Souls was the best by Miyazaki or is it Elden Ring is a debate that we do not wish to partake in. For starters, both of them play pivotal roles in the success story of Hidetaka Miyazaki. However, it would be unwise to consider Demon’s Souls the greatest contributor to the success story.
While Demon’s Souls was the first game where the Soulsborne philosophy was introduced, Elden Ring was the biggest project based on that philosophy. With Demon’s Souls Miyazaki proved his mettle and secured his legacy as one of the finest creators in the industry.
With Elden Ring, he enshrined his work as a cornerstone of the ever-evolving tapestry of modern video games.
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