H_Prestige
Banned
Well, at least it sounds like he's quite a bit more involved than I initially thought. The Edge article made it seem like he told the team to use dedicated servers and then just handed them the car keys and left.
Thanks for the translation!
Someone mentioned Havok: I fucking loved the way the enemies ragdolled, sure it was totally ridiculous but it was endearing. Kinda janky in a loveable way.
I once got a giant rat stuck on top of my character, I couldn't see shit and died.
Here's the first part with Miyazaki. I'll work on the rest of the interview a bit later:
4Gamer:
Miyazaki-san, I was very surprised to hear that you wont be directly involved in the development of Dark Souls II.
Miyazaki:
Thats correct. Shibuya is working as the director for Dark Souls II. Hes worked on the Another Centurys Episode series--most recently R.
4Gamer:
With that being so, whats going to happen to you?
Miyazaki:
Saying whats going to happen makes it sound like a big deal (laughs). My official title is still supervisor.
4Gamer:
With Dark Souls really being your serieshaving developed Demons Souls and Dark SoulsI think a lot of fans are going to feel uneasy about your separating from it.
Miyazaki:
Hmm, I wonder
Well, either way, I dont think anyone needs to feel uneasy in that sense. The directorShibuyais far more experienced than me as a developer, and he understands the idea and delicate nuance of Dark Souls, so I think its OK to trust him.
4Gamer:
Why did you step away from the development of Dark Souls II in the first place?
Miyazaki:
That decision came from the company.
When it comes to Dark Souls, I have a lot of affection towards it and things to gain from it. Being so attached to the title, it would be a lie if I were to say Im not a bit sad.
4Gamer:
Of course.
Miyazaki:
However, I dont look negatively at the decision to change directors. While I hesitate to say this myself, I think that Dark Souls, as a game base, has immense potential, and a change in directors will give it a chance to be released from narrow frame or limitations that I imposed upon it. As someone who created the game base of Dark Souls, I would really like to see what that potential is.
At the same time, Im also working as director on another project, so theres that.
4Gamer:
Really? Thats some pretty huge news. Is it OK to put that in article?
Miyazaki:
Well, I dont mind. It would be weird if I said I wasn't working on anything. With that said, were not at the point where I can speak to specifics about the project, and this interview is about Dark Souls II, so lets leave it at that.
4Gamer:
OK. So, going back to Dark Souls II, you said that your title on the project is supervisor. What exactly does this role involve?
Miyazaki:
There are two main parts to the role. The first is deciding the more broad direction for Dark Souls II.
4Gamer:
So, kind of like a producer?
Miyazaki:
Its a little different. In terms of a producers job, its more like I did only the first part. Frankly, what I did was make decisions about things that would be easier if I just decided them on my own. Things like making sure our budget is enough, and what our development schedule will be like, including testing. When it comes to things that are a bit closer to players, I decided that we should have our own game servers this time, and that we shouldn't sell individual items or weapons as DLCstuff like that.
4Gamer:
Whats the other main part to your role?
Miyazaki:
Its overall supervision, although I dont like how important that makes me sound.
That involves making sure that I convey things like the core game mechanics that I feel should not be taken out of a sequel to Dark Souls, as well as what we (the development team of the previous title) learned from working on the game, and the many points that we felt could be improved. Also, if I feel things are getting a bit off course, I explain the concept again, and ask the team to consider making adjustments. In reality, there have already been a quite a few cases where I've done such things, and depending on the situation, I may need to re-think the boundaries of supervisor role.
4Gamer:
So rather than giving direct instructions, youre in a more indirect role?
Miyazaki:
I dont intend to interfere more than necessary. I think, in the end, a game should be created under a directors coherent vision, and you end up getting better results when that happens. I mentioned core game mechanics earlier, and I think there are many elements that can be fixed, improved, or adjusted in that area. When it comes to the feel of the world, the story, and the artwork, all of that is rather subjective, and comes down to individual sense, so I try to keep my mouth shut as much as possible.
As I said before, Shibuya is a very experienced developer with many projects under his belt, and honestly not a whole lot of supervision is required, nor do I think its desired.
4Gamer:
However, is there no worry that, when the creator changes, the direction of the game and core elements might deviate?
Miyazaki:
In general, I understand the concern.
However, when it comes to Dark Souls, so many people in the media and so many of our players have given us very passionate and amazing reviews and impressions, as well as criticism and complaints, and the majority of these are all kind of pointing in the same direction. From a creators perspective, this makes Dark souls a very fortunate and rare title, indeed.
All of these things will prove to be valuable assets in ensuring that the direction and core elements of Dark Souls II dont get off track, and with that in mind, I hope everyone will put their trust in the new director and the development team.
So, with that said, I think it would be good for Shibuya to get a chance to talk directly. I dont want to inconvenience him and his team any more by just saying whatever comes to my mind (laughs).
Decision to change the director came from the company?
Man. I can't read that in a not-terrible way.
Here's the first part with Miyazaki. I'll work on the rest of the interview a bit later:
you just quoted that entire fucking thing to make a totally worthless comment?
Think items being sold as DLC was an idea bought up that he said no to? He's used it as an example twice.
Be careful what you wish for. *The Idolm@ster armor sets get announced*ducky tell me it's going to be ok, tell me they are going to cater to there Japanese fans.
Be careful what you wish for. *The Idolm@ster armor sets get announced*
Be careful what you wish for. *The Idolm@ster armor sets get announced*
Be careful what you wish for. *The Idolm@ster armor sets get announced*
Moe Souls
Also, if I feel things are getting a bit off course, I explain the concept again, and ask the team to consider making adjustments. In reality, there have already been a quite a few cases where I've done such things, and depending on the situation, I may need to re-think the boundaries of supervisor role.
As I said before, Shibuya is a very experienced developer with many projects under his belt, and honestly not a whole lot of supervision is required, nor do I think its desired.
Demon's Souls reception in Japan is actually pretty interesting. It wasn't poorly received at all, and the difficulty was really not the issue. It was how the game was perceived when it was released, and how the media presented it. The game did get poor reviews, but that was because it was seen as a lower budget unpolished shovelware sort of title, even though it was a first party game. The marketing wasn't strong, and I don't think there was an expectation that it would sell well at all, so there was a low initiate shipment along with the bad reviews.
But when gamers bought the game and word of mouth started to spread, the game continued to sell, shipment after shipment sold out. For a market like Japan where most games are extremely front loaded, especially more hardcore games, it's really impressive that Demon's Souls sold 36k in the first week, and continued to sell until it hit a LTD of 168k. When it was released again on a budget label, it sold another 68k.
The positive word of mouth and excitement continued to grow after Dark Souls was announced, and Dark Souls sold 334k in Japan, with the budget re-release bundled with the DLC selling another 80k.
It's a good example of a franchise which no one really took seriously at all, growing and becoming a success based on almost word of mouth alone. The reason why Demon's Souls was really well received in the West immediately was because the positive impressions from Japan had already started to have an impact on how people throughout the industry viewed the game by the time it was finally released outside of Japan.
What if they are not the anime designs?I would buy 10.
What if they are not the anime designs?
The bestFiguring out how to launch undead corpses into the air with a roll was the best Havok implementation ever.
Shibuya:
Yes. Also, one other concept of Dark Souls II is that of time. (note: the word hes using刻tokiis probably more accurately described as a specific moment in time.)
4Gamer:
Oh. Whats an example of that?
Shibuya:
Umm (while eyeing the PR representative in the room) it looks like I cant actually talk about that, so lets just say that time is one of the keywords (laughs).
Change the future, change the past.
There's still a reason why the company forced Miyazaki off the project. I don't care how they're going to try to sell me on the game, they forced the visionary off of his vision for a a very real reason.
Shibuya:
Dark Souls is a title that already has a very large fan base, so first and foremost, I think its important to make sure we dont let those players down. As such, we dont plan on changing the framework for Dark Souls II. On the contrary, we are focusing on really highlighting the best parts of the previous game and going in that direction. The concept is to give the game a major upgrade while leaving the good parts of Dark Souls as-is.
Wow. If those comments had been in the initial interview, it might have saved everyone a hundred pages of premature panic and bad feelings. Of course, Edge throwing in Skyrim comparisons didn't help anything.
Anyway, good PR job by Miyazaki and Shibuya. It's a very nice interview.
I feel a lot of the credit should go to 4Gamer as well. They are one of the best Japanese online publications these days imo, and their interviews are always very in-depth, candid, and feel less like PR-mouthpieces because the interviewers and editors are actually interested in getting information and details.
Sorry for the delay. I had to step out for a while. Here's the middle part of the interview with Shibuya. I'll translate the final part where Miyazaki rejoins the interview a bit later...
Probably more along the lines of the feeling after eating at taco bell."sense of sorrow that that wells up after defeating something" - is this referencing a kind of SoTC kind of feeling?
Ok that latest part of the interview got me rock hard.
"sense of sorrow that that wells up after defeating something" - is this referencing a kind of SoTC kind of feeling?
The whole time and his focus on details and feeling makes me think he has a great idea of how he will take the game. I feel confident
Isn't this the same interview that was already out several days ago, just more thoroughly translated?
But yeah, it's a good interview. Feeling a little more confident about the direction of the game now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVOBoMzcl0Q