The trailer for the upcoming Bloodborne was shown at E3 this week and fans of Dark Souls/Demon’s Souls promptly lost their shit. But aside from what’s in the trailer, what do we know about the new game from From Software?
Hidetaka Miyazaki, director of Demon’s Souls, the original Dark Souls and the upcoming Bloodborne sat down with Japanese gaming mag Weekly Famitsu to talk about the new game.
Asked why the new game was announced as a new title and not a Demon’s Souls II, Miyazaki responded, “Back in 2012, before the announcement of the PS4, SCE (Sony Computer Entertainment) originally approached us with the idea, ‘would you be interested in making a new game for new hardware?’ so this was never considered as a Demon’s Souls II. For us, the idea of new hardware was appealing and I remember feeling enthusiasm from SCE for a new game.”
As for why Victorian imagery was chosen as the game’s aesthetic, Miyazaki explained, “There are several reasons, the first of which is the combat. We were already thinking of a shift to a combat system where you would enter battle more actively than the sword and shield-based combat of Demon’s. So we adopted the idea of guns, but there was a prerequisite that we didn’t want the game to turn into a shooting game, and the Victorian age fit perfectly. It’s an era where the imagery of old guns still remains.” Miyazaki also noted that it was thanks to the PS4’s capabilities that the developers were able to portray the ancient city of Yharnam in such a fitting, detailed, and heavy atmosphere.
Fans of the Demon’s and Dark Souls games are obviously interested in what sort of combat Bloodborne will offer, and Miyazaki was able to give a general description of the difference. “The enemies are strong and fierce, and if you wait passively to respond, you’re going to be eaten and killed. So, in order to get out of a fix, you need to actively advance. When I say ‘active’ you might think that it means the player characters are stronger and the enemies are weaker than in Demon’s Souls, but that’s not the case.” Miyazaki stated that while basic defence was an option, it would be less important than other aspects. Miyazaki also noted that while the game did have guns in it, their true worth was as close-range weapons and that long-range sniping would not be as effective.
Along with the change of atmosphere from fantasy to Victorian is the change of enemies, and while Miyazaki would not give exact specifics, he did say that “I don’t think there will be any dragons. However, since just fighting humanoid enemies will get boring, there are other creatures. There are some creatures that not only fit the game’s atmosphere, but are very much something our team would come up with, so please look forward to them.”
As for online features, Bloodborne will apparently offer a “new online experience” that is based around the theme of “free sharing of exploration.” However, Miyazaki stated that they were not at a stage where he could reveal more details.
Finally, asked how development was going and when we could expect to see the game on store shelves, Miyazaki answered, “Development is… let’s say it’s ‘going smoothly.’ As for release dates, we’re aiming for Spring, 2015, but at present, I can’t say anything more specific.”
Bloodborne is currently scheduled for release in 2015 on the PS4.
【今週の週刊ファミ通】E3で発表の『Bloodborne（ブラッドボーン）』や『FFVII Gバイク』などのスクープ情報満載！ 『フリーダムウォーズ』の付録も！（2014年6月26日発売号） [ファミ通.com]
Comments
11 responses to “There Are Guns, But From Software’s Bloodborne Won’t Be A Shooter”
I never thought it would be a shooter, if you saw the leaked gameplay footage before E3 it was very “Soulsie”, albiet the movement looks a little faster.
*presents wallet and firstborn*
This.
might need to get ManAtArms to whip you up a real life helmet to shield you from the missus once you handover your first born!!!
It’s for the greater good. She will understand in time.
THE GREATER GOOD
I trust Miyazaki, the man should be a household name in gaming imo.
2015 is going to be a great year for games.
Also this.
The main combat difference looks to me like coming down to not having a shield, which (for my play style at least) is huge part of the souls games. And I get the impression that the gun is like a spell in dSouls in that ammo is very limited but it hits hard, only at very close range.
I heard the multiplayer had instances where the game will just intertwine several people’s worlds, so you might see another player fighting through monsters in the distance, and you can choose to help them or not (rather than specifically being either a good phantom or bad phantom), so a bit more like Day Z in that regard, but that’s just conjecture.
Can’t wait to get my hands on it! This and Zelda are the two games I think I’m most looking forward to.
http://gfycat.com/ArtisticDetailedAntelope
Can we perhaps have proper co-op in this one? As in, I’d love to play an uber hard game like this with a friend or two. Something we can’t clock in a weekend for a change :-/