FromSoftware president and Elden Ring creator Hidetaka Miyazaki has appeared to want a change in focus and put his own spin on traditional Japanese role-playing games (JRPG), as he expects more games being directed by other members.
FromSoftware Might Revisit Its Roots and Put Its Own Spin on the JRPG Genre
JRPG Title Hidetaka Miyazaki is Interested in Making Will Not Resemble Studio's RPG Enchanted Arms
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Hidetaka Miyazaki, president of FromSoftware, expressed interest in branching out from the studio's well-known repertoire of Action RPGs and Souls games. Miyazaki also revealed to the media outlet that "part of him wants to make a traditional Japanese roleplaying game someday."
This is a significant shift for Miyazaki, who has gained acclaim for his work on Souls and Action RPG titles such as Elden Ring, Sekiro, Bloodborne, and the Dark Souls series. Miyazaki however clarified that it would not be connected to FromSoftware’s 2006 RPG title, Enchanted Arms. This game was directed by Masato Miyazaki, who is now with Capcom and whose work he saw as something he could not replicate.
Reflecting on the studio’s history, Miyazaki said that he does not see himself reinterpreting FromSoftware’s past franchises. "I think a lot of these games are so intertwined with the directors who almost invented that style of game," Miyazaki explained. He also cited FromSoftware’s debut game, 1994’s King’s Field, as an example. Produced by From Software’s first president, Naotoshi Zin, King’s Field bore the signature of its original creator. "I don’t think there’s a scenario where I myself would make a King’s Field. The same can be said about Otogi and Enchanted Arms," Miyazaki noted.
Miyazaki also said he expects more games to be directed by people other than himself. As with the case of Armored Core 6, wherein Miyazaki was initially its director before the project was handed off to Masaru Yamamura.
Armored Core Should Be a Mainstay
Miyazaki began his career at From Software in 2005 as a conceptual "planner" on Armored Core: Last Raven and expressed a willingness to revisit the series. "I worked on Armored Core 4 and Armored Core: For Answer. It enabled me to put my own interpretation on Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon and develop that," he shared. Last month, in an interview with IGN Japan, Miyazaki discussed the future of the Armored Core series and affirmed its importance to FromSoftware, expressing his interest and belief to continue developing the series following the success of Armored Core 6.
Miyazaki’s directing credits primarily include the Dark Souls and Armored Core franchises, but his interests extend beyond these genres. In 2018, he directed Deracine, a PlayStation VR-exclusive narrative-adventure game that was different from his typical projects. Miyazaki also expressed he wants to "experiment with other types of games if the opportunity presented itself." However, he acknowledged that there is challenge with creating "an environment that allows for games that deviate from FromSoftware’s typical mainstream hits."
Source:
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