4Gamer has put up an extensive 4 page interview with Miyazaki, the director of Dark Souls, and it covers a wide ranging number of topics regarding the game. This is without a doubt the most in-depth and detailed interview about the game released in the press so far.
http://www.4gamer.net/games/120/G012067/20110208026/
I'm not going to translate the entire interview because it's huge, if someone else wants to tackle it, feel free and I'll add it to the OP. Meanwhile I'll just highlight the most interesting questions which should kick off some good discussion issues.
Where is Demon's Souls 2?
- 4Gamer asks directly why Dark Souls is not Demon's Souls 2. Miyazaki says that it would be a lie if he says that he never wanted to make a sequel in the first place. Instead various things happened, and they ended up having to make a brand new IP. He is thankful that happened though, because this allowed him to be more creative and to make improvements which change things without feeling the need to conform too much to a defined franchise.
Is Bandai Namco Games going to ruin the game with crossovers and DLC?
- 4Gamer wants to know if Bandai Namco characters will be showing up in the game since they're collaborating. Miyazaki flat out denies this and says the world is incompatible with crossovers in this way, and it would not fit the game.
- 4Gamer then presses on the issue, and asks if From Software will be doing tons of DLC for the game since Bandai Namco is involved in some way. Miyazaki says that he hasn't really thought much about actual DLC content so far, but he doesn't rule it out. What he does rule out specifically is that they will not be selling items or cheats. They will never put out DLC which gives the player an option of paying to get something other than working for it in the game itself. Instead, DLC will only be considered if it fits into the online design and engine of the game, in a way where it is actually interesting to explore such an option.
Is Dark Souls now just an Oblivion knock-off?
- 4Gamer also quizzed the director on whether being a fully seamless world, that Dark Souls would be an open world game like Oblivion. Miyazaki says that the style of the game is very different from Oblivion, and it won't be the sort of open filler exploration world. Instead the concept is to create fully integrated dungeons and to link them to each other in a seamless way. In other words, it will be no different from how Demon's Souls have various stages and parts of stages, but this time they will all be connection seamlessly instead.
Improvements and expansions to the Demon's Souls format.
- In terms of content and play time, Miyazaki says that Demon's Souls takes players on average about 30-40 hours to complete, and contains about 40 enemy types or so. For Dark Souls, he expects the game to last about 60 hours on average, and there will be close to 100 different enemy types.
- Miyazaki outright admits that he feels that the weapon customization/upgrade system in Demon's Souls was somewhat of a failure. He says that while Japanese players seemed to be okay with the complexity and vagueness of the system, overseas players sent many feedback letters which suggested that the system was too complicated and obscure for its own good. This is bad because players cannot fully utilize the system due to their failure to properly explain things. It will be improved in Dark Souls and they are considering this aspect very carefully.
New details on the expanded multiplayer features.
- Miyazaki also sheds the most detail we've heard so far about the new multiplayer systems. For the "sharing of experiences" part, he details it as such that he wants to create the feeling of players helping each other through difficulty parts, but integrated as part of the game. In a comparison, he says he really liked the good old says where people played Dragon Quest and would share their strategies with other players, and people would talk about their different experiences through the game, and in doing so help those who are having difficulty. He says there will be more details later.
- As for the "mutual role playing" system, he wants to create a feeling where other players interact with each other throughout the game even as each player plays their own game. While there are elements of this in Demon's Souls, this system specifically wants to take both co-op play and PvP play to the next level. The example he gives here is Lord of the Rings. In LotR, Frodo discovers the One Ring, which is a valuable item, and he is tasked to keep it and protect it. That is his role. On the other hand, there are the black riders who have long searched for this valuable item throughout the world. When Frodo possesses the ring, their roles clash because of contradicting objectives. If the black rider happens to defeat Frodo and attain the ring, then he is a fortunate player who managed to get what he wants, the player who loses the ring because he failed to protect it is unfortunate...
Miyazaki's promotion.
- Miyazaki is both the director and the producer of Dark Souls, but his job role hasn't really changed. The main reason is that his producer role is as the internal producer of development in From Software, which is pretty much what he did as director anyway. The reason why he is also the producer is because at the time earlier in the project, he had to put the team together and drive development quickly to get the project off the ground. It sounds like he's really the one who made Dark Souls happen.
What's this Dark Ring trademark Bandai Namco Games made last year?
- Some fun trivia about the game title: Right before TGS 2010, the title of the game was Dark Race. The Dark Race would refer to the ones who were cursed in the game. This was going to be the real title and it even had a logo designed. But just before TGS they got feedback that it would sound incredibly racist to the western market. So Miyazaki had like 2 days to come up with a new title. He looked at the logo and said "Well if we can't use Race, let's keep the Dark." and made the placeholder title Project Dark for the announcement.
- After TGS, they took the word Dark from Project Dark to explore new title options. They decided on two titles: Dark Lord and Dark Ring. But Dark Lord was already taken as a trademark apparently, so they settled on Dark Ring instead. Unfortunately for the director, his luck with the English language is terrible, and he was informed before the start of this year that Dark Ring is also a British slang for the anus. Curses! This topic came about because 4Gamer asked him specifically about the Dark Ring trademark that Bandai Namco Games registered in Japan.
- Apparently Dark Ring was chosen because the mark of the curse on a player was that of a circle somewhere on their body. This "Dark Ring" as a sign of the curse was fitting for the title, but it's too bad that it would invoke thoughts of the anus in some people. After this, they settled on Dark Souls.
Where's my Dark Souls demo? Can I play with Japanese players this time?
- Miyazaki says there will probably not be a downloadable demo for the game, although they do plan on making the game playable at various events and playable sessions. The point he made is that the game is not one which can be easily explained or appreciated in a short period of time or in a small segment. He seems to feel that a playable demo of the game would be a waste of time for the developer and the players.
- He also confirms that Dark Souls is not just a worldwide game in terms of release, but also in the the online space. He was disappointed that they could not implement an online system for Demon's Souls where all players could play together, and it's a pity because the online system was specifically designed such that it did not require direct interaction between languages. For Dark Souls you will be able to play with players all over the world.
