Role playing has evolved over the years, from an unchanging genre to an unpredictable, exciting, and diverse style.
Companies like FromSoftware are driving the evolution of our perception of role-playing games and their potential. The Japanese developer has taken players on a series of treacherous pilgrimages from the cursed lands of the Almas series to the winding Yharnam streets of Bloodborne.
With the fairly recent edition of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, inspired by Sengoku, and the upcoming epic collaboration with George RR Martin, Elden Ring, it seems that FromSoftware's ruthless gameplay mechanics may be injected into n & # 39; any mold
However, it's easy to forget that FromSoftware is developing games for the original PlayStation, with role-playing games reaching a good state when Hidetaka Miyazaki stepped in to lead Demon's Souls. FromSoftware's role-playing legacy is a crucial part of the company's history, reflecting its journey to become the master of the RPG experience.
Dawn of FromSoftware
(Image credit: FromSoftware)
FromSoftware originally developed productivity software, which may explain why their approach to video games leans towards obscurity and obscurity. If you don't recall seeing your logo in games of the past, it could be due to the fact that other companies have published their titles in the West, such as Crave, Ubisoft, and Agetec.
King's Field, FromSoftware's first RPG experience, was the first RPG to be released on PlayStation in the West. Originally published in Japan in 1994, King's Field is a first-person medieval fantasy, often hailed as the granddaddy of the Souls series.
While this statement itself should be interpreted with a touch of salt, King's Field has undeniable shadows of ambiguity in a dark and dangerous landscape, all of which are essential components of the iconic FromSoftware franchise. This is why Demon's Souls is called a spiritual successor. .
Although the first King's Field title doesn't get a Western release, the second installment in the series ends up coming to PlayStation in 1995, two years before Cloud Strife of Final Fantasy and his heavy sword. The game sells well enough to deserve four sequels, with opinions polarized over critics.
However, many of the game's flaws are also considered its features, and the mechanics are described as slow. The speed of the game is said to be related to its immersion factor, allowing players to discover the world around them. When you compare this style of play to modern FromSoftware titles, it is clear that the company has always been concerned with slowing down the player, either literally or adding consequences for the rush.
If we can get anything out of the King's Field series, it's that FromSoftware had a clear vision of what it wanted from an RPG: a dark, fantasy adventure that should be addressed quickly. Yet mechanically, King's Field feels a far cry from the adventures we know and love today, with much of the company's growth described in the early 2000s through experiments.
Try and failure
(Image credit: FromSoftware)
At the start of the PlayStation 2 in the early 2000s, FromSoftware began to move away from the King's Field formula, for better or for worse.
SquareSoft's dominance of the role-playing scene had become a force to be reckoned with, cementing its strength with three Final Fantasy titles on the original PlayStation. To take on its competitors, FromSoftware should try something different enough to be worth its players' time. The company's first two titles on the new PS2 platform, Eternal Ring and Evergrace, were still role-playing games, but they created a split in FromSoftware's role-playing app.
Eternal Ring is visually identical to the King's Field series, with a first-person view of a slow-paced fantasy adventure, starring a wizard. It's clear FromSoftware wanted to challenge SquaresSoft's role-playing formula, even with the game's tagline that read, "Who Said Fantasies Should Be Final?"
Under the hood, the Eternal Ring began to develop complex role-playing mechanics that would help express the depth of which the genre was capable. While Eternal Ring behaves like an Elder Scrolls game in Ritalin, it features a "build it" ring system that allows players to use gems to equip spells and boost stats simultaneously. With so many gem and ring combinations, Eternal Ring has a level of customization that was lacking in most RPGs of the time.
For its part, Evergrace, FromSoftware's bonus title on PS2, was a step forward in the company's brave stranger, with a mechanism that may sound familiar to Souls fans. However, aesthetically, Evergrace looks more like a Japanese anime than the usual FromSoftwares case, with the game's protagonists hosting a party that would be welcomed at a Final Fantasy party.
"With so many gem and ring combinations, Eternal Ring has a level of customization that was lacking in most RPGs of the time"
Evergrace has a complicated plot, with details that surround the world and ambiguous characters. There are two playable characters, Darius and Charlene, who follow the narrative and different fighting styles. Most of the plot is about characters trying to unravel the secrets of 'The Crest', a mysterious mark described as cursed by those who carry this mark. Does it sound familiar to you? The similarities to Dark Souls don't stop there.
Evergrace is a third-person RPG that has a "paper doll" form of customization, which is another way of describing how your character would wear their armor and clothing. The ability to customize a character's appearance in an RPG was a groundbreaking mechanism, especially considering its lack of major players in the genre. This mechanism was not simply a "style on a substance", each equipped item also had a collection of statistics that can be correlated to physical attributes.
In terms of "upgrade", the implemented system is somewhat vague, the stats can be improved by collecting a "blue fruit", but the attributes themselves follow the same pattern as Dark souls. Many titles have already been adopted, but it seems that FromSoftware knew that this system was perfectly suited to their role play, as can be found in Dark Souls and Bloodborne.
Evergrace received a mixed reception from critics at the time, with his awkward game being one of the game's setbacks. Despite this, it's easy to see how the combat system in Evergrace could shift to RPG elements. Found in SoulsBorne titles, the player actively exchanges weapons and magic with an enemy. This also corresponds to a "power" bar, which actually works at a similar level to stamina, but with a depleted bar that affects the amount of damage that can be dealt to enemies.
It is important to remember that despite the similarities, it does not mean that Evergrace mechanisms are the cornerstone of FromSoftware's modern library. Instead, this comparison serves to explain how society structures its game design.
The birth of souls
(Image credit: FromSoftware)
Throughout the 2000s, FromSoftware stayed true to what it did best, focusing primarily on its Armored Core and King's Field franchises. Despite the company's role-playing ambitions, none of its attempts seemed to stand out among Square Enix's many successes. The transition to becoming one of the biggest names in the RPG genre was somewhat eventful, as some in-house developers took a rather opportunistic approach to presenting their artistic visions.
After the development of Arborored Core 4, a team from FromSoftware began working on a project with the intention of creating an action role-playing game. The project failed in the early stages of conceptualization, prompting Hidetaka Miyazaki to apply to join the team in hopes of relaunching work to concretize the concept.
So how does this relate to other FromSoftware games from before? The team working on this project was made up of company veterans like Shinichiro Nishida, one of King's Field's editors. The design standards of these veteran games, along with Miyazaki's vision, inspired by the likes of Bushido Blade and Monster Hunter, almost guaranteed a formula for success. Of course, the main inspiration for the games was inspired by King's Field, who uses his art style and difficulty to shape something new.
This combination of existing concepts and new visions led to the creation of Demon's Souls, a title that would serve as a proof of concept for how FromSoftware could create unique new role-playing experiences.
Yharnam wasn't built in a day
Sekiro: shadows die twice
(Image credit: FromSoftware / Activision)
FromSoftware's slow transition to creating titles like Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro was a necessary step in creating its iconic formula.
FromSoftwares' heritage may be flawed, but these games relaunch new ideas in the role-playing genre. The company's latest title, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, showed that the formula was beginning to experiment with a different approach, which could mean that the next Elden Ring game could deviate even further from the beaten path.
Needless to say, the company has built its confidence in executing ideas, spending a lot of time at the drawing board during its early days. Who knows, we can go back to FromSoftware titles in modern times, assessing their influence on the evolution of role-playing mechanics as we know it.