The relationship between action games and difficulty has undergone a significant transformation. Early titles often presented steep challenges, sometimes as a byproduct of developers learning to implement precise yet fair gameplay. As cinematic narratives became more prominent, many action games shifted towards greater leniency, making them more accessible. However, this landscape changed dramatically in 2009 with the emergence of a seemingly obscure, brutally difficult game from Japan that would not only become a fan favorite but also one of the most influential titles in video game history.
Hidetaka Miyazaki, now a titan in the industry and president of FromSoftware, reflects on the genesis of the genre that would come to be known as Soulslike. Despite the widespread credit his studio receives, Miyazaki maintains a humble stance, suggesting that while FromSoftware may not have invented the concept, they provided the definitive answer to an audience ready for games that embraced death and learning as core mechanics.
The journey began with Demon's Souls. Miyazaki, then a designer on the Armored Core series, was drawn to a struggling internal project focused on high difficulty. Inspired by FromSoftware's own late-90s King's Field series and a perceived lack of challenge in contemporary action games, he aimed to blend old-school hardcore fantasy RPG elements with modern technology, particularly non-intrusive online cooperation and a nuanced risk-reward system tied to player death. The result was a novel gameplay loop where players could retrieve lost upgrade resources, fundamentally altering the player's relationship with failure. "What we discovered is it is okay to make games with death as part of its core gameplay loop, and our answer happened to land and resonate with various audiences," Miyazaki explained.
Demon's Souls, released in 2009, emphasized precise inputs, pattern recognition, and learning from mistakes, all wrapped in punishing difficulty. Miyazaki stressed that the difficulty was designed to be fair, ensuring players could understand why they failed and use that knowledge to improve. "When players are killed and they can understand why they were killed in an instance, and it feels justified, that makes sense," he stated. Despite initial low confidence from Sony, which declined to fund Western localization, Atlus stepped in for the North American release, leading to overwhelmingly positive reviews and substantial sales that boosted Atlus' profits. This success gave Miyazaki and FromSoftware a crucial confidence boost, validating their design philosophy.
Seeking to reach a broader audience, FromSoftware then developed Dark Souls, a spiritual successor to Demon's Souls, intentionally designed for multiplatform release. Drawing on diverse mythologies and refining the core concepts, Dark Souls introduced staple features like bonfire checkpoints and further polished the formula established by Demon's Souls. Released in 2011, it garnered critical acclaim, selling over two million units and solidifying its place as a highly influential game.
Miyazaki's involvement remained central, even as he became president of FromSoftware in 2014. He retained a strong focus on level design, believing it crucial to the player's experience. While he stepped away from directing Dark Souls II to focus on new directions, he remained involved in a supervisory capacity. The studio then partnered with Sony again for Bloodborne, a PlayStation 4 exclusive that leaned into Lovecraftian themes and introduced faster-paced combat, resonating strongly with players and becoming one of the most acclaimed games of the 2010s. Miyazaki considered Bloodborne particularly personal, reflecting many of his own ideas.
Following Bloodborne, Miyazaki returned to direct Dark Souls III, which blended elements from both Dark Souls and Bloodborne, resulting in a highly polished entry that contributed to the Dark Souls series selling over 37 million units. These titles, along with Demon's Souls and Bloodborne, necessitated the coinage of the term "Soulslike" due to the sheer volume of games drawing inspiration from them.
The success of FromSoftware's games sparked a wave of imitators and inspired developers across the industry. Team Ninja, known for the Ninja Gaiden series, developed Nioh, explicitly citing Dark Souls and Bloodborne's success as a major reason for its development. Other titles like Lords of the Fallen and Lies of P also demonstrated clear influences, with developers often acknowledging the genre's appeal and commercial viability.
Developers have also experimented within the genre. Aggro Crab's Another Crab's Treasure offered a more lighthearted take, while 2D titles like Salt and Sanctuary and Blasphemous adapted Soulslike principles to different perspectives. Many developers acknowledged the pervasive influence, with some playfully noting that trying to perfectly mimic Dark Souls might be missing the point, suggesting that the genre's strength lies in its adaptability.
Miyazaki views this proliferation positively, seeing it as a symbiotic relationship that stimulates FromSoftware to find new angles and interpretations. "It’s very stimulating for us to see a different team take a similar concept from a completely different angle and interpretation and add their own set of values to that experience," he said.
FromSoftware continued to innovate, with Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice exploring new gameplay tempos by emphasizing parrying and a balance between offense and defense, earning critical acclaim and awards. The studio's most significant evolution came with Elden Ring. Conceived as a direct evolution of Dark Souls mechanics but set in a vast open world, Elden Ring offered players unprecedented freedom, allowing them to tackle challenges at their own pace. The collaboration with author George R. R. Martin on its world-building laid a foundation that Miyazaki's team then elaborated upon with grotesque creatures and fragmented storytelling. Elden Ring achieved immense critical and commercial success, selling over 30 million copies and being hailed as one of the greatest games ever made.
Miyazaki attributes the studio's and genre's success not just to his vision but to the feedback loop with fans, dating back to Demon's Souls. "Everything leading up to Elden Ring has been built upon these bricks that we’ve established and fortified over the years," he stated.
Looking forward, FromSoftware continues to experiment, with titles like Elden Ring: Nightreign and The Duskbloods signaling a continued exploration of multiplayer and experimental twists on the Soulslike formula. The future of the genre appears bright, with developers expressing excitement for further evolution and diverse approaches, potentially leading to a point where defining the genre itself becomes unnecessary. Hidetaka Miyazaki's enduring influence remains undeniable, solidifying his legacy as a pioneer of one of gaming's most impactful subgenres.