From Software’s upcoming game, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, looks to be very different from the kinds of games we’ve come to expect from the developer in the last few years. Especially in terms of its aesthetic and atmosphere, if nothing else- while the likes of Dark Souls and Bloodborne depicted gothic, fantastical lands and stories, Sekiro seems to be more grounded, thanks largely to its historical setting.
However, Sekiro is still going to feature elements of fantasy, and won’t be sticking to its historical setting with accuracy, which is something we’ve been told earlier as well. While the game will certainly approach those elements in a more grounded manner, they’re not going to be completely absent from the experience.
“We’re not 100 percent rooted in reality,” the game’s director and From Software CEO Hidetaka Miyazaki told Edge magazine (Issue 322, September 2018). “Of course it’s important to retain a sense of faithfulness, but we’re not trying to to make a historical depiction of the Sengoku era. While we explored more drastically fantastical elements in our previous games, we want to approach this with a little more dignity this time – a little more carefully, maybe.”
“But, rest assured, you’re not just going to be fighting humanoids the whole way through,” Miyazaki continued. “There are going to be some things beyond human, even a little supernatural, hidden within this world. In order to make these fantastical, mystical or even grotesque beings seem even more so, the initial groundwork is a lot more realistic.”
Well, the fact that the character you play as can be resurrected in gameplay after dying should be enough evidence to prove that yeah, the game isn’t going to be completely rooted in reality. Unless there was an ancient sect of samurai warriors in the Sengoku era who could somehow cheat death that I don’t know about.
Meanwhile, Miyazaki also took out the time to answer the question of whether he likes working on new franchises more, or sequels. His answer? Both. Both provide different opportunities for expression of creativity, with one paving the way for learning new things, and the other allowing him and his team to improve on stuff they already know.
“Personally, I have no preference,” Miyazaki said when he was asked the question. “That largely comes down to the business decision in the end – to what everyone wants to do. Personally I think both have their merits. A brand-new IP like Sekiro allows me and the team a lot more creative freedom to try new ideas. But a sequel is equally as fun because it allows me to refine existing ideas, to improve things that I maybe regretted doing not so well the first time around. As both a creator and a player, there’s this level of creativity that means both are on equal ground.”
Recently, Miyazaki spoke about how he likes to direct two different projects at the same time– currently, he’s working on, obviously, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (which launches some time in early 2019 for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC), and PSVR project Deracine, which is due out later this year.