Dark Souls: Design Works

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Of course we decided on a fantasy setting so we couldn't stray too far from that, but we had to be careful not to just take the easy route or the world would become boring. It’s been a good long time since we’ve had a reason to bring up Dark Souls: Design Works — and it’s amusing to go back and read Chris’ thoughts about the art book from 2014. They have developed in almost complete isolation, so their customs and traditions are also completely different. Design Works' previous Dark Souls books contained droves of artwork, but the real attraction for me was an in-depth interview with series director Hidetaka Miyazaki and select staff members at the back of each book.

It may sound like a poor solution, but I actually had an image for the Painted World from the start, I'm just happy I was able to combine that image and the prototype map. I stripped off the interviews part (in japanese) for it would take too much effort to realign the scans. Miyazaki: Yes, they weren't originally supposed to move like that, but just as you say, it gave them a very unsettling quality, so I left it in. Unlike the other classes, I wanted to create something a little more unusual and this was designed as a pagan knight but it was too difficult to balance, so we gave it to the Knightess. Nakamura: When I started working on these four designs I decided that I didn't want to just create a standard set of armour and swap parts around.Dark Souls 2 was polarizing (it's still my favorite), and I can't speak to Design Works' Bloodborne book because I skipped it. As I mentioned earlier, each artist began with just a few simple "image words" and developed their designs from that. Perhaps Miyazaki and/or Design Works decided an interview wasn't necessary because Miyazaki was much more voluble about this game's development before and after its release in the spring of 2016 than he was about any other Soulsborne game. Miyazaki: It's almost comical how obvious they are, but I think things like that are all part of Dark Souls' appeal. That was the image I had for the enemy from the very beginning, it was designed out-of-house, but as long as it left a strong impression, it succeeded.

Miyazaki: Well, shields are the opposite to spears in terms of design; you have a great deal of room to create something expressive and unique and because of that, we were able to hold this type of user contest. Satake said, factors like the introduction of kindling and Frampt's arrival later in the game meant that the water gradually disappeared from the area. Waragai: In the end, she turned out completely different, but at one point you asked me to make her look like Hermione.If you’ve already been there and done that with the Dark Souls trilogy, it’s worth reminding everyone that Elden Ring will be getting a pair of official guide books — the Books of Knowledge — from Future Press later this year. They have to defeat 77 opponents, but with each victory, the number of rings they are forced to carry increases. Miyazaki: I like the dragon weapons, especially the Drake Sword and the Moonlight Greatsword, I'm really happy with the way they turned out. Miyazaki: The design only began to take shape when we started talking about the trial of the 77 Ringsfrom Jojo's Bizarre Adventure.

Miyazaki: Yes, but the artist had such a happy look on his face, I didn't have the heart to stop him. Nakamura: Your proximity to the darkness and the impending sense of dread and anticipation, we tried to capture all that in the design. The majority of the people in the Dark Souls world follow the Way of the White or Gwyn and the Sunlight Warriors covenant, but there is another, far more secretive group who follow Gwndolin and the Dark Moon. The best example of this is found at Angkor Wat in Cambodiaand in the areas surrounding it, where East and West Asia meet. It's a little different from the other dragons in the world, it's part of an ancient race of mineral based life forms, existing since long before the emergence of mankind, yet, despite its superiority over us, its time has passed, and it finds itself alone in the world, the last of its race forced to survive in any way it can.

He was saying "I want it to be like this" while acting out the motion, and of course, I had no idea what he was doing.