I have one more post in me about FromSoft. Let’s be real. I could write about them endlessly, but for now, I’ll stick to one post at a time. In the last post, I talked about why Patches is a better representation of the From games than is Solaire. Oooooh yes. I know that’s so controversial of me to say, but it’s how I feel deep in my heart.
Ian and I have discussed plenty of times whether Miyazaki loves his fans or hates them. I’ve said this before, but here are the arguments for both sides.
Miyazaki hates his fans: His worlds are so bleak and actively out to get the player. It’s pure misery everywhere you go, and everyone is hurting in one way or the other. Hell, one of the main points of the first game is that if you go Hollow, you’ll lose your reason to live. That’s when you lose your mind and it’s just a mercy to kill you. There are more than one NPC in the first game that you can mercy kill after they lose their minds (Griggs of Vinheim, Big Hat Logan, Oscar of Astoria, Crestfallen Warrior, Reah of Thorolund, Laurentius of the Great Swamp, to name more than a few. And, of course, the big man himself, Solaire).
That’s just off the top of my head–there might be more. I don’t do them all every time, but I have done them all at least once. Hm. That might actually be my next playthrough–doing all the NPC mercy killings.
By the way, many people like to kill all the NPCs at the end of the playthrough and before NG+ to get the items that they drop. I’ve done that, but I felt really bad about it. I don’t do it any longer.
It’s amazing to me how I can remember every corner of the game–at least in the first half. I did those runs so often, I can do them in my sleep. I will admit that I’m not quite as good at the second half of the game, but I know the general layout and most of the enemies. You kind have to when you die a million times on the way to the boss.
It’s also wild to me that I’ve played this game at least two dozen times, and I still find new things/hear new things about it. I’m sure that there are no secrets left to be found, but that doesn’t mean I’ve heard/seen it all.
One of the best things about playing a From game real time is the sense of community that happens when everyone is looking for secrets and commiserating about how hard certain bosses/areas are. This has happened since Demon’s Souls, and it’s one thing that makes the games incomparable. People are divided as to whether Miyazaki meant it to be that way or not, but my god, it has paid off in spades.
Oh, back to whether or not he hates his players. I mentioned why people thinks he does–the hard, unforgiving worlds that eat you alive. The goddamn poisoned swamps that he just cannot stop himself from making. The horrible enemies around every corner, the shitty platforming, and, of course, the horrific bosses who kill you over and over and over….and over again. And again. And yet again.
The other camp is filled with people who say that Miyazaki loves his players and wants them to do better. He wants them to fall so they can get up bigger, better, and stronger than ever. He’s like the strict teacher who expects the best out of his students. He knows they can do better than they themselves believe they can do, and they do what they can to live up to his expectations.
Plus, the whole summoning system if things get too hard. He said that he was once in a snowstorm with a flat tire and some people stopped to help him change the tire. That’s how he got the idea for summoning people to help you in your game. Some people don’t believe it ever happened, but I don’t really care. It’s a sweet story, and it birthed one of the best systems in the game.
Side note: I don’t understand why people are so mad about it. If you don’t want to summon, then you don’t have to summon. It really is that simple. You can ignore the whole system if you want. You can go through the whole game pretending it doesn’t exist. But for some reason, some of the hardcore fans take it as a personal affront that it’s in the game at all (and, indeed, in all the games save Sekiro). And heaven forfend that you actually dare use the system! Then you’re a fake gamer and can you really FromSoft at all, brah?
By the way, one of the most fun ways to play the first Dark Souls game is to cheese all the bosses you can. There is a known cheese strat for several of the bosses in that game, and it’s really fun to kill them like they’re nothing. One of my fave is to poison arrow a certain boss to death. It takes forever to actually kill the boss, but it’s amusing. In fact, using a bow and arrow is the cheese for more than one boss in that game. It’s so satisfying, too. And it’s the way to get the cheese weapon early on.
Look. The main reason to play a game is because it’s fun. That’s it. And if it’s fun for someone, who the fuck cares if it’s “cheating” or not? I do not get how someone doing something the fun way takes anything away from the onebros who play the game unleveled, naked, and with a broken weapon (or fists). You wanna do that, bro, go ahead! I’m sure you can find several other hardcore bros who’ll cheer you on and tell you how hardcore you are!
I tried to do a onebro run in both Dark Souls and Dark Souls III. I got as far as the beginning of Anor Londo in the former and the Cathedral of the Deep in the latter (the latter is MUCH harder). Oh, even then, the hardcore bros have a hierarchy of how tough you are as a onebro. If you summon at all, then you’re not a real on, yo.
What the fuck ever. I hate gatekeepers. They can go pound sand for all I care.
Oh. Back to whether Miyazaki hates his players or loves them. I’m in the third (not talked about) camp (because I made it up): he’s indifferent to the player. He doesn’t love nor hate the player beacuse he simply doesn’t care about them at all. What matters to him is making the worlds to his satisfaction. The player is incidental to his whole vision. In fact, I would nat be surprised if he does not think of the player at all as he’s designing the games. He leaves that to the QA team and the beta testers.
In a way, it’s refreshing. Games usually center around the player to a disconcerting degree. I like that the From games don’t really give a shit if the player character is there or not. Miyazaki just shrugs his shoulders and says, “Have at it!” before going back to dreaming up his next game. I’m exaggerating for effect, but the core of what I’m saying feels true to me.