Bloodborne creator Hidetaka Miyazaki: ‘I didn’t have a dream, wasn’t ambitious'

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/mar/31/bloodborne-dark-souls-creator-hidetaka-miyazaki-interview

by alacritythief • 11 years ago

110 51 11 years ago

theguardian.com

doctorpangloss• 11 years ago

If you want to see more of the game but find it too cumbersome to buy, I started by just watching it on Twitch[0].

http://www.twitch.tv/directory/game/Bloodborne

runevault2• 11 years ago

You can also watch videos from one of the guys who helped write the guide, and is a long time well known member of the Souls community

https://www.youtube.com/user/epicnamebro/videos

philtar• 11 years ago

How would it be too cumbersome to buy?

jmgao• 11 years ago

It's a PS4 exclusive, so anyone who doesn't already have the console have to buy it ($400) to be able to have the privilege of buying it.

(it was worth it)

runevault2• 11 years ago

Requiring a PS4, which many people haven't bothered with yet (whether from not enough exclusive games that can't also be bought on PC, owning an XBox One instead, or just being too broke to drop $400 on a console for one game).

devindotcom• 11 years ago

I've been playing Bloodborne every evening for the last week or so, and it is tremendous. It's the only game that minor spoiler has ever gotten Lovecraftian horror correct in a really convincing way. The tone is pretty much one hundred percent on target.

I'd love a couple of my cosmic-horror-loving friends to play it, but it is fucking hard. I'm not sure they'd make it to the first boss, to say nothing of past it and the next however many there are.

As someone else points out, it may unfeasible for you to get a copy of your own (it's a PS4 exclusive), so you can of course watch others play - but seriously, it's not the same thing. Creeping around corners waiting for an ambush, inspecting hideous statues, hearing the slither of some nearby yet hidden hostile creature - the mindset you enter while playing is important to the consumption of the content. Watching another play, you don't quite have that. If at all possible, don't watch, just wait for your chance to play it - outside of Dark Souls and to some extent its prequel and sequel, it's pretty much a one-of-a-kind experience.

doktrin6• 11 years ago

I'd love a couple of my cosmic-horror-loving friends to play it, but it is fucking hard. I'm not sure they'd make it to the first boss, to say nothing of past it and the next however many there are.
outside of Dark Souls and to some extent its prequel and sequel, it's pretty much a one-of-a-kind experience.

Weird. Bloodborne is the first of the "series" that I've even been remotely tempted to play. The combat mechanics look fresh and exciting. Every video I've ever seen of its predecessors featured gameplay that looked boring and clunky (even if challenging).

cdr• 11 years ago

The combat in Dark Souls was amazing. The hitboxes were so finely tuned you could just about dodge by a hair. The Artorias boss fight was the most fluid battle I've seen in a game, though maybe Bloodborne can top it. The PVP was absolutely great also, with skill-intensive counters for everything meaning the most skilled player almost always came out on top.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWLsLb-tK8A (audio possibly NSFW)

JimmyM• 11 years ago

It's the only game that minor spoiler has ever gotten Lovecraftian horror correct in a really convincing way. The tone is pretty much one hundred percent on target.

I would recommend the game Darkest Dungeon, which convincingly nails the atmosphere of some of Lovecraft's work, for me. It's pulpier and less serious (more purple) than Bloodborne, but I believe that Lovecraft himself was pulpier, purpler, and less serious than Bloodborne (going so far as to hide inside jokes in his work).

cousin_it• 11 years ago

Lovecraftian horror in video games? I have just the link for you! :-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OF_cCOKXgvk

WillPostForFood• 11 years ago

Great quote from Miyazaki, who rose from programmer to president of the company.

“Now I’m president,” he says, “I get to meet a lot of other company presidents. They’re such weird people. I’m fascinated by them.” With a smile, he adds: “I use some of them as enemy characters in our games.”

Filthy_casual2• 11 years ago

This quote reminded me of an anime/manga called Attack on Titan, where it's said that its creator draws inspiration for Titan looks from bullies that had in his school years.

sergiotapia• 11 years ago

This game is just phenomenal, I find myself thinking about the game and it's creatures late at night while trying to sleep. It has a quality to it that requires your undivided attention and I think that's why it permeates so easily into your psyche.

If you haven't tried it out yet, do yourself a favor and at least rent it. It's one of the best game to come out in the past decade. You'll hear people whine about it being hard, but it's not like that. It's fair. You mess up you will be hit. If you're patient and time your movements you'll glide through the areas and make the game seem like a typical hack n slash. You will make it look easy.

izacus2• 11 years ago

Does this game also require you to pointlessly repeat large chunks of levels after death on bosses like the Dark Souls games did?

mreiland6• 11 years ago

Yes, coupled with a 30 second load screen after every single death. I've never played any of the other games, but I can tell you after playing this for a while that this game is not for me due to how they implement the difficulty.

Just to give you an idea, it took me 7 or 8 years to beat Kingdom Hearts 1 because of how bad the camera was. I got to a point where I just walked away. I really dislike games that are difficult due to ackward controls, cheesy mechanics (such as enemies popping behind you in an area you just cleared), that sort of thing

I played it for a few hours but I got tired of things like

- you roll and the camera lifts up so you're staring down at yourself and can no longer see the enemies you rolled from

- if you hit the enemy at the end of your range your attack pushes them back further than your characters steps forward so you miss the followup attack and they end up killing you (or hurting you badly).

- Sometimes when you attack an enemy they'll slide sideways (I say sometimes, I mean quite often). I've seen them slide so far they slide behind the camera at which point you're guessing where they are based upon where they disappeared.

- Your attacks do random amounts of damage. Sometimes it takes 3 hits to kill a mob, sometimes 4 or 5. But because every attack uses stamina, you really want to use as few attacks as possible and sometimes you die for it because that 1 random enemy required an extra hit. I never figured out why.

- the healing items appeared to give a random amount of health back.

- Some of the level designs appeared to be such that it maximized the pain of the camera. One enemy in particular I'm thinking of is big and surroundedin by innumerable unbreakable boxes and such. He wasn't that difficult himself, but being able to avoid his attack successfull due to the aforementioned boxes, etc, was a tedious chore.

I can see the appeal to the game, but it just isn't for me. And this is coming from a guy who plays most games on hard. But there's a certain kind of difficulty I don't enjoy and unfortunately this game lands right square in the middle of it.

edit: The thing that caused me to respond in the first place.

The game moves slow overall. You kill an enemy, he drops loot, but not immediately, so you end up waiting to see if he dropped loot. If he does, you run to the body, hit X, wait for the confirmation to pop up, hit X again, and then eventually go on about your day. When you're playing the same level over and over again it gets really time consumingly tedious. Add on to that the 30 second load screen (that's not an exaggeration) and you have a game that's pure tedium (atleast for me).

izacus2• 11 years ago

Yeah, that's what bounced me off of older DS games as well - after playing games like Bayonetta (which are of similar genre) the slow clunky controls, downright bad interface and having to slog through the same groups of slow enemies to retry a boss was simply too annoying.

anon42• 11 years ago

Your attacks do random amounts of damage

No, it matters which part of the weapon hits the enemy. With the hammer for instance, you really need to aim it right - to hit the enemy with the head part and not the hilt part.

Some of your other gripes can also be summarized as "you must become proficient at the mechanics" and the rest is fucking bullshit which Miyazaki put in because he hates you.

petriw• 11 years ago

If you find the combat system annoying to the point where you lose interest in the game I would recommend watching the walkthrough/lore videos by EpicNameBro and study how he approaches combat.

The combat system can be VERY punishing if you don't pace yourself correctly or attack when you should defend. You don't really need to go slow, but you can't really play it like other games either.

Imho Bloodborne does not use "cheesy mechanics". For example, enemies don't pop behind you, they just ambush you (look above you / in side alleys). Once you get used to the system the camera is rarely an issue, damage is very predictable and healing is not random. Exploring is also generously rewarded and there are usually significant shortcuts you can unlock to reach bosses.

Also, try out other weapons. Perhaps the Threaded Cane is not a good match for you.

I realize the game is neither perfect nor for everyone. I just hope you'll try it a bit more! :D

Narishma6• 11 years ago

Most of the randomness you mention isn't actually random, it's just stuff you haven't figured out yet. For example, weapon damage isn't random at all, but it depends on various factors like your character and weapon stats, whether your weapon is extended or not, what the enemy is doing (blocking, neutral, attacking) and any resistances it may have, and so on.

Goronmon• 11 years ago

Usually you can find shortcuts to the boss areas, and most enemies in the game can be just run past. They leash back to their spots pretty quickly from what I've seen so far.

But I guess relatively speaking to non-Dark Souls style games, then yes, you do have to fight your way to the boss fights.

Narishma6• 11 years ago

Only if you don't bother exploring to open up shortcuts, or if you insist on killing every enemy every time you respawn.

doktrin6• 11 years ago

I've noticed a lot of fans of these games are defensive about them to the point of being weirdly hostile to anyone who dares express criticism.

Chill. You can explain the mechanics without turning everything into a weird "your fault n00b" blame game.

jobu• 11 years ago

Unfortunately I don't have a PS4 to play it on, but from what I've seen and heard, it's meant to be more than just a hack-and-slash.

Many of the encounters are almost like puzzles where you need a strategy to get through. Here's a pretty good take on it from PA: http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2015/03/27/provisional-resigna...

Filthy_casual2• 11 years ago

But Miyazaki had a problem: at 29, he was too old to apply for graduate positions and too inexperienced for anything else. “Not a lot of places would take me,” he says. “From Software was one of the few.”

Career switchers who are slow to find their knack in life deserve a fresh start. I say that from the position of being one. Talent does exist among the people who are trapped in mediocre, unfulfilled lives, and all they look for is their chance to shine.

I bloody love Dark Souls and Bloodborne.

kleer001• 11 years ago

I am considering a career AND industry change, and I'm almost 40. Can you give me some general advice or pointers about career switching. I'm not entirely sure why I would think you might have a basis, just reaching out.

rokhayakebe• 11 years ago

This is not an advice, but just a comment. I think many software engineers would KILL it if they worked for small mom and pop shops, or small practices. They could help turn many $500,000/year businesses into several times that revenue. Plus they would have WAY more autonomy then working at startups and tech companies, which in my opinion are just factories.

Bloodborne creator Hidetaka Miyazaki: ‘I didn’t have a dream, wasn’t ambitious'

Related Stories