From Software has made a name for itself over the last five years as the crafter of immaculate game designs, games that are extremely difficult but also extremely fair, such as Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls, and Dark Souls II. It’s upcoming game, Bloodborne, seems to offer no such respite from the difficulty that pervades all of their games, and if you were expecting them to tone down the difficulty in order to appeal to a broader audience (that may or may not include you) any time soon, you will find yourself incredibly disappointed with what they had to say recently.
“Other than focusing on a dark fantasy world, we’re focusing more on making players experience the sense of accomplishment,”Dark Souls II director Yui Tanimura said during TGS. “That’s what we have been always pursuing for all games that From Software has created. We are aware that creating [games] featuring higher difficulty is becoming a minority in this industry. But that’s what From Software has been working on. In order to bring a sense of accomplishment to the players, that’s something we have to keep, stick with it, and keep remaining to do for all the upcoming titles that we will be creating.”
Personally, this makes me heave a sigh of relief. like many, I too expected From to make its games more accessible with time, but I dreaded that transition instead of welcoming it. To see From eschew it and to stick to its roots, even in the face of contradicting commercial evidence, is very reassuring indeed.
