For over a decade, From Software had established its image for making demanding action role-playing games set in dark and intricately designed worlds. Right from 2009’s Demon’s Souls, followed by its spiritual successor, the Dark Souls trilogy, and the gothic wonder Bloodborne. And an instrumental role in these was played by the legendary Hidetaka Miyazaki himself.
His unique take on the RPG games made him as well as FromSoftware a significant name starting a whole new sub-genre of Soulsborne games and influencing countless other developers in the process. However, after 2018, it was observed that the studio was changing its approach.
Hidetaka Miyazaki changed the direction of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
It subtly began with 2018’s Déraciné, which retained FromSoftware’s signature elements but blended in a different style of play. Miyazaki and his team then shifted once again taking a pure action route with the ninja game Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice which was released in 2019.
During an interview with The Verge, Hidetaka revealed the approach FromSoftware believes in when it comes to using different styles. He said,
“I think one of the studio’s characteristics is to embrace wholeheartedly what we feel is interesting, what we perceive to be worthwhile, cool, or beautiful.”
Unlike the other Souls-like games, wherein the players could create their avatar before embarking out into a scary world, Sekiro allowed players to play as a very specific ninja who is on a quest for revenge. Besides, unlike normal RPGs, players do not get to upgrade or change the hero.
However, the most notable of these differences that set Sekiro apart is the fact that players have one single weapon, known as a katana, throughout the game. This weapon can be augmented with various tools, thus giving players new options and abilities.
Miyazaki reveals the idea behind Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
During the interview, Hidetaka Miyazaki was also asked about how the concept of Sekiro came into being. To this, he said,
“The genesis for Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice came from two ideas we had for a game. The first was that we wanted to enjoy the multi-layered maps we’ve come to create from another perspective, as well as move through them with greater freedom, both laterally and vertically. The second was that we wanted to create a more ferocious, more dynamic battle system filled with tension and strategy.”
He then added how the idea of roleplaying a ninja seemed like the coolest way to realize these concepts. This would also allow them to retain a sense of reality, making the character archetype extremely attractive. “In other words, the impetus for Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice’s design initially came from the role of ninja,” Miyazaki summons.
