In the last post, I was musing about what makes a good soulslike along with why i’m fine with Elden Ring being open world Dark Souls IV. I think that FromSoft is now in an interesting time because for a decade, they were flying under the radar and considered a genre-defining developer. They were never considered AAA, even though their games were all published by big name publishers. They seemed to be guns for hire, and basically willing to go with any publisher who would have them.
That comes with both positives and negatives. Positive: They got their games published. This is just speculation, but back in the day, that was probably their highest priority. Just getting their games out there, I mean. And this is total speculation on my part, but I think they like working with Bandai Namco the best. Why do I think that ? Well, first, they have not done sequels to Bloodborne or Sekiro, both of which were published by other publishers (Sony and Activision respectively).
There was one DLC for Bloodborne, and it was massive. FromSoft also did a weird VR game called Deracine for the PS4. Nobody talks about it, and I bet most people don’t even know it exists.
Hm. I just checked sales because I thought maybe the two games didn’t sell as well. Bloodborne has sold the least (around eight million worldwide), but that’s to be expected because it’s it was a PS4 exclusive.
Oh. I forgot about Armored Core VIFires of Rubicon, but so has everyone else. That sold nearly three million copies, so that’s by far the least-sold of the games. I don’t count it in the canon, though, because I’m talking about their action-adventure games.
It really felt like FromSoft was more restricted when working with Activision. No one talked about it, but there were things in the game that I felt were begrudging additions handed down from the men on high. I will not be swayed from the opinion that they put a map in because Activision made them. They have never had a map in one of their games before that and I would wager that most people didn’t even know there is one in Sekiro. It’s in options and then something else not named map (if I remember correctly). Plus, the map is just of the overworld and nothing detailed. It felt very much like a fuck you from From or them doing it under duress.
Not to get into the weeds, but I’m going to get into the weeds. Activision is American whereas FromSoft is Japanese. Bamco (what Bandai Namco is also known as) is Japanese as is Sony. I could see some culture clash at work with Activision as well. In general, Americans are more straightforward and prize honesty and bluntness. That has both positives and negatives, but that’s not the point of this post. In games, Americans want directions. Tell me what to do and how exactly to do it. Japanese people seem to be more ok with not being led around by the nose.
I’m honestly not saying one is better than the other because I think I prefer something in the middle. I do think From can be unnecessarily opaque, and I am glad that they simplified some of the instructions for Elden Ring. Obtuse tutorials is not hard in a fun way–it’s just frustrating. But, on the other hand, they don’t change much from game to game in that genre for FromSoft, so once you’ve played one, you can probably at least get the basics of the other games.
I did not mind that they spelled things out even more in Sekiro. I think it’s partly Activision’s heavy hand, but it’s also because they did change the combat significantly. They added unblockable attacks with red kanji letters flashing to warn you, so they did explain those. Not in depth, but it’s better than nothing.
This is the thing about FromSoft. They shocked the world with Demon’s Souls. Well, the people who actually played the original–which sold roughly a million copies worldwide. So, not many people at all. But it was considered a very influential game–a decade later–as it kicked off the whole soulslike genre. People talk about Dark Souls like it was the first game, but it wasn’t. And here’s the reason that FromSoft has been so successful. Well, one of them. They came up with a solid base for a game, and they iterate and tweak each new game. In other words, they keep the basics and then just add new things to it.
Bloodborne and Sekiro are markedly different games, true, but they still have Dark Souls DNA at their heart. You would not mistake the games as have been made by anyone other than FromSoft. Even Sekiro, which is probably the most unlike the other games of the bunch, has all the marks of a From game. Intricate level design, hard as nails, thoughtful combat (though this one is much faster than the Souls games), and really elaborate things you have to do ti get certain endings. One is completely ridiculous, and I do not know how anyone figured it out.
The new thing in Sekrio was the deflect. I mean, there were parries inthe games before, but in this game, if you could get the deflect (perfect parry), you broke the enemy’s poise. There was a poise bar (you have one, too), and once that filled up, you were laid out for a good while. Once you perfected the deflect, a boss fight could take a minute or two. Or so I’ve heard. I wouldn’t know because I could never do the deflect with any consistency.
I think the game is brilliant and well made (as usual), but it was my least-favorite of the From games I’ve played. You had to adapt to the game beacuse the game certainly was not going to bend to you.
I know the difficulty is baked into the games, but I honestly don’t think they are at the center of the design. I mean, it’s assumed that the bosses will be tough (except two or three) as well as the enemies, but it feels like it’s almost incidental. I know it’s not and that it’s a deliberate choice, but I really think it’s not meant to be front and center.
I’m done. Will write more later.