Chapter 93: The Arrangement for Dark Souls

Choosing Dark Souls, or specifically the third installment as the final chapter of the Dark Souls series, was a decision Chen Xu made after careful consideration.

In his previous life, Dark Souls was an exceptionally extensive series.

From the original title to the third entry, which marked the end of the Age of Fire.

It told players an epic, grand-scale story about the Age of Fire.

Among them, the first and third installments left the strongest impressions on players.

This was mainly because the second game wasn't directly handled by Hidetaka Miyazaki, which led to many players criticizing it.

Specifically, Dark Souls 2 featured numerous mob-piling difficulties in various sections.

This is also why the second installment didn't achieve the same level of fame as the first and third.

As for why Chen Xu prioritized the development of Dark Souls 3,

the reason was very straightforward.

By the third game, the core philosophy of Souls-like games had essentially matured.

Take Demon's Souls, the original Souls-like title—many players felt it was harder than Dark Souls 3, while others thought it was easier.

However, the difficulty of that game didn’t primarily stem from BOSS battles, but rather from user-unfriendly design and malicious map layouts.

Dark Souls, on the other hand, was different. It could be considered a standard level-driven game, or even a memorization game.

Compared to the first installment, many players believed the third was slightly easier, and this was perfectly valid.

Because Dark Souls 3 was indeed the most beginner-friendly entry into the Souls-like genre.

If one were to rank Hidetaka Miyazaki's Souls-like games, temporarily setting aside Dark Souls 2 (which he didn't personally direct) and Demon's Souls (his first attempt at the genre, where many concepts were still immature),

the difficulty ranking would place Dark Souls 3 as the easiest when compared to Dark Souls 1, Sekiro, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring. (Don't argue. If you want to argue, take it up with Hidetaka Miyazaki himself, because this is exactly what the Old Geezer said in a Famitsu interview about Elden Ring.)

Unlike Dark Souls 1, which dropped players directly into the center of Firelink Shrine and allowed them to wander into high-level zones by accident,

Dark Souls 3 arranged its pacing considerately, roughly following a pattern of learn—test—graduate—learn—test, making it truly progressive.

Precisely for this reason, Dark Souls 3 achieved the highest sales of any Souls game to date.

Of course, Dark Souls 1 was also quite difficult, close to Demon's Souls, as it was an early Souls series title.

But it differed from Demon's Souls in map design. Due to budget constraints at the time of development, Dark Souls 1 adopted a clever approach.

It referenced and borrowed the map structure design philosophies from Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, adopting a Möbius strip pattern.

This unexpectedly became a major highlight of the Souls series and was preserved throughout.

When it comes to groundbreaking achievements in Hidetaka Miyazaki's Souls-like games,

if you're looking for something as revolutionary as how The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time established the standard for 3D games, such a moment doesn't really exist in Souls-like games.

Because all the core mechanics had already existed before.

Rolling, Perfect Guard, backstabs, grappling hook, blocking—along with map design and fragmented storytelling—none of these were invented by Souls games.

Yet its greatest feature lies in combining all these pre-existing elements into a game with a distinct and unique style.

The so-called "difficulty" is merely a superficial label.

To equate Souls-like games solely with "difficulty" means you've completely misunderstood their essence.

It was precisely for these reasons, and with consideration of player endurance in this Parallel World,

that Chen Xu chose Dark Souls 3 as his next development project.

Of course, another reason was development feasibility—being a level-driven game, it was relatively simpler to develop compared to other game types.

Moreover, as the flagship project meant to establish Nebula Games Platform's reputation, its potential for virality had to be taken into account.

Souls-like games, with their unique charm, were clearly a suitable choice.

After all, the live streaming industry in this Parallel World was also far more advanced than in his previous life. Games like Dark Souls naturally saw their popularity amplified through live streaming platforms.

In his previous life, Dark Souls 3 and Sekiro achieved massive popularity domestically, closely tied to the growth of streaming and video platforms.

As for the story aspect, that wasn't an issue either. In Souls-like games, level design mattered far more than narrative.

Of course, fragmented storytelling remained a hallmark of the series.

Unless you were a genius player, completing a first playthrough would barely let you grasp what the game’s story was actually about—it was nearly impossible.

After clearing one playthrough, you’d only understand the broad outline.

Many story elements weren't directly revealed during gameplay but were instead hidden throughout the game world, requiring players to piece them together.

This contributed to the unique appeal of the Souls series: a thousand players, a thousand interpretations.

Every player had their own unique understanding of the Dark Souls story.

Because vast portions of the lore and worldview were scattered across the game in fragmented form.

Typically, deep digging was required to roughly understand the narrative’s direction.

As a result, the story of Dark Souls was continuously explored and analyzed by players, eventually giving rise to memes like "Souls scholar."

Dark Souls 3, as the story of the Age of Fire's end, could perfectly employ the flashback technique to present the narrative to players.

All that was needed was to handle the game’s tributes and easter egg elements, embedding them as foreshadowing for future prequels.

………………

Inside the Nebula Games office, Chen Xu leaned back in his chair, eyes closed, pondering the future direction of Dark Souls.

As for the design concept drafts for gameplay mechanics, Chen Xu wasn’t in a rush.

Even if he ground them out now, the project would still require a preparation period before actual development began.

Before that, the points he had accumulated from Overcooked since before the Lunar New Year could now be used for a big gacha pull—boosting his various abilities, and perhaps even landing some useful items.

As for Sanguosha and Fall Guys, they hadn’t contributed many points yet.

Because both games were officially launched only after the gameplay Expo.

So they hadn't generated much in terms of points.

After mentally reviewing the future direction of Dark Souls, Chen Xu opened his browser and the Nebula Games platform backend, checking the performance metrics of Fall Guys and Sanguosha.

Dark Souls, as Nebula Games' first AAA title, was a long-term project.

Although players were eagerly anticipating it, all he could do for now was respond with "it's being made."

Sanguosha and Fall Guys would serve as Nebula Games’ main pillars in the coming period.

And it wasn’t just Chen Xu himself.

Many game designers in the industry were closely watching these two titles.

After all, during the gameplay Expo, both games had shined exceptionally.

Numerous game designers and developers were highly attentive to the post-launch data of these two games.

A game’s popularity alone didn’t define success—gross revenue and sales were the true indicators of a game’s triumph or failure.

(Daily request for recommendation votes and Monthly Pass. Before Dark Souls, I plan to write a low-budget game to bridge the timeline. Keyword: three men, one woman, one dog. Can you guess what it is?)

(End of Chapter) <>