I wrote this in a thread earlier and am reposting it here simply because it got locked and for any newcomers to From Software that are being introduced to their stable of software because of Bloodborne you might find their history a bit interesting.
From Moonlight to Ludwig
From Software has been one of my favorite developers since I was a wee lad. I still remember to this day the first time I booted up Kings Field and marveled at how atmospheric it was. Nevermind that it was probably one of the most cumbersome games to play of all time (I mean you used what is now R1 and L1 on the playstation controller to look up and down) it was completely engrossing. There is one moment that I specifically remember truly blowing my little mind away. When you start the game you on a little rock out from this island that has is shallow enough to walk in. Naturally as soon as the game starts I begin experimenting with all the buttons and I realize R1 makes me look up. Holding the button down my screen panned up and I froze.
I could see what seemed liked millions of stars stretching into the distance and this moon that seemed forever away and at that moment everything I was thinking or doing in my world faded away and I had stepped into the world of Kings Field.
The freedom afforded the player in Kings Field was something that felt at the time like virtual reality. You could go anywhere.
Almost every part of the island Melanat is open to you if you have the strength, and luck to traverse it.
Interestingly enough as the gamers around the world praise the design of Bloodborne as a brilliant departure from the gaming norm a lot of us see what is just a natural progression from where this series started.
I Have To Fight That!
Everyone remembers the first time you played Demon Souls and your crossing over the bridge only to see the Red Dragon come roaring into view. It was a great preview for the kind of scale and enemies the game was going to throw at you but it wasn't untread ground for From Software.
In the very beginning of Kings Field you have 3 directions you can go.
- Straight ahead into the mountain where an open door greets you with manageable enemies.
- Across a bridge that leads you to another little island with wasps and skeletons that will tear into you like a Thanksgiving turkey.
- A little pathway that opens up to a huge cave with an enormous Kraken guarding the entrance. For the first 4-5 hours of the game I would go straight to the Kraken sure I could best him but every time his one hit would kill me. Finally I deemed it impossible and moved on. Through the course of the game I learned how to fight the enemies (Circle to the back HIT! Then circle to the back again. I bet that sounds familiar) and came back and beat the Kraken. Now this is where this game forever implanted itself into my heart. When I started the game over which I did immediately when I beat it. I ran straight to the Kraken again and now that I knew what I was doing I whittled at his sides like I was carving a redwood with a plastic knife. It must have taken close to an hour but I beat him.
From Software Rule 1 - You are only limited by your Skill
This is a foundation of their games that has stayed the course time and again. Unfortunately back then a big part of the "Skill" was fighting the awful controls and in-firmed character movement.
You Loved them or Hated them
The unfortunate thing was From Software was a very polarizing developer. I remember EGMs panel giving Kings Field 2 a combined score of like a 4 or 5 out of 10. Meanwhile PSXtreme gave it a 9. The reason being is the combat and movement were extremely clunky. You moved at a snails pace which was so the game had time to load the next area making it seem like a seamless world. Some gamers could forgive that though because FS were masters of atmosphere and subtle storytelling.
Right now a lot of you are going through Bloodborne for the second time and are probably amazed at the effort they put behind the lore in those games and the subtle groundwork they lay for the NPC's. Even that great hallmark of the Souls games and now BB was already a staple of Kings Field.
You Poor Poor Bastard
In the Frozen Plains of Kings Field 2 you find an area that has these enormous ice golems that are very difficult to kill. Venturing further you come to a house with a father that is very distraught. His daughter has gone missing along with her fiancé Flyn. His soon to be son in law was a skilled miner of the ice mines and was planning to make her a wedding ring but he didn't return and so the daughter went looking for him. He begs you to bring them both back.
After searching the plains for hours you finally find the daughter kneeling in front of some cave. She tells you that she believes an Ice Golem killed her true love as since he has disappeared before going to sleep each night she has seen an Ice Golem watching her house from afar. Never moving. She believes it either killed him or is holding him hostage.
You won't let this injustice stand!
Traveling into the cave you find the golem but he is facing away from you kneeling down. Which is odd because these big bastards turn and fight you the moment you come within striking range. Taking advantage of his opened flank you hit him with a barrage of strikes until his hulking body hits the ground. Past his final resting place you venture further down the cave and find a wedding ring made of ice crystals.
You bring it to her and she slumps over. Moved with crushing grief she doesn't know how she can go on but she thanks you for avenging his death and vows to find a weapon that will let her rid the land of the ice golems. She says since the king lost his mind more and more townspeople have been disappearing.
Now that is the end of it for the most part.
However.
If you keep searching around the frozen plains you find another cave and at the end of that cave you find writing carved into the cave wall. It says something like:
"I don't know how but the cold is seeping into me. Against all my hopes it appears it is firmly taking hold and I can't escape it even my tears are turning to ice. If only I had known....Katarina I won't allow it to steal my love for you. I won't allow it to make me a monster. No matter what I become I will watch over you......I promise"
0_o
Yup you killed her love. Who stood a watchful vigil over her every night.
Then in true From Software you learn even more that adds to the bleakness. The curse made on the land was by a terrible king. In order to protect the people from the beasts he was creating the Kings son released crystals that would allow the villagers to fight. These crystals made them turn into ice golems. That knowledge was lost sadly and as such the people of this small village were in an endless war against gentle giants that they assumed had stolen their loved ones. When in fact it was their loved ones protecting them.
From Software Rule 2 - Don't Force Lore on Players, but make it rewarding for those that do.
Miyazaki's Souls
With Miyazaki serving as game director of Demon and Dark Souls he brought about a revolutionary system that the games were in desperate need of. What was that system you ask?
The system of when you press a button your character does something
The general mechanics are by no means perfect and still retain a bit of that clunk you have come to expect but they were a massive step forward for the developer.
They were finally good enough that a lot more of the populace could appreciate what fans of FS have been praising for years. You had brilliant level design, great enemies and an oppressive atmosphere that gave way to moments of calm and beauty.
When Demon Souls came out there was a bunch of praise made with the contrasting environments. You would be in this oppressive dark area for what seemed like hours. Death around every corner only to emerge into a small area with light streaming through the trees and a general tranquility. It was in these moments of reprieve that you realized just how tense you had been before.
This idea again was one already perfected by the From Software Team.
Most notably in Kings Field The Ancient City. You would spend hours underground or in these dark castles facing off against foes that exhibited new attack patterns you didn't know how to defend against. Sometimes you would be in these areas for hours, dying over and over and over. Once through and just when you started to think "Man I need a break" you would emerge above ground with giant trees around you and peaceful forest golems to nurse you to health.
You can see the two contrasting areas here:
Oppressive Castle of Xenomorphs
Calm of the Giants
You would also notice a lightness to the music that stood in utter contrast to the rest of the soundtrack.
Bloodborne - Aged to Perfection
Finally with all these idea's aged and tested Miyazaki and FS were ready to put all that knowledge to the next level with Bloodborne.
Whats astounding about BB is you can clearly see where it is this evolution of so many hard learned lessons that have come before it but then it also introduces elements that FS have never ever been good at and have suddenly mastered.
Now I have already talked about the obvious blueprints that hail from the older games but even things like your weapon having two forms came from Kings Field.
Check this little bad ass out.
The Triple Fang instilled fear in all enemies that crossed its path. Just a normal blade when swung with the attack button but if you did a combination of sorts you could get it to split the blade two ways and unleash these awesome homing missiles.
Where Bloodborne really differs from the Kings Field mold and even to a large degree the Soul series is in combat.
The combat is so much better that its kind of shocking. Each weapon brings with it a unique set of skills that are deep and hard to master. I regularly rotate through my Blades of Mercy, Ludwig, and Chikage depending on the situation. Each weapon vastly different than the one before but no less effective.
Then you have the Viscerals. FS loves the idea of risk/reward but the parry system was always a bit janky and never really worth it and finally with the viscerals they have a system that really makes you feel like you can win even impossible odds.
However, like Kings Field they want you to feel the freedom to go where you want. I found myself going into areas severely under leveled but being able to survive because I could effectively counter all the enemies. Thats a big departure from even Dark Souls where you could venture into areas with high leveled enemies(Like the skeleton graveyard) but you were going to get your ass effectively handed to you.
The Level Design is another area that FS didn't really have a firm grasp on until Demon Souls but even then you had some disorienting connections. Kings Field was always relatively linear with some connections that helped you get your bearings but not much. Bloodborne is so well thought out that as you begin connecting all the shortcuts you can actually start to visualize where you are in relation to each area.
The art and visuals are also a big departure from what has come before them. With Dark Souls you can see almost identical looking textures from Kings Field games done in a higher res. Which makes sense since If there is one thing From is truly well versed its Dragons and Gothic Castles.
Gothic Architecture is more Konami's ballgame and funny enough I kept thinking of this gem while I played BB.
In Bloodborne though they really went out of their comfort zone and I think its what pushed them to create such memorable areas that are just dripping with atmosphere and foreboding with huge castles looming in the background or nightmarish spiders clinging overhead the art direction is the best they have ever achieved.
Just look at this:
http://i.minus.com/iD1wceDDb3is5.jpg
http://i.minus.com/i4bmbyuRAwLNr.jpg
http://i.minus.com/iY9MiieOj2vMB.jpg
http://i.minus.com/ijtUTV2Lf15FJ.jpg
The enemies are astounding as well with huge variety and unique attacks. This is also a testament to how good their combat has become because you could never get comfortable with just one type of play-style. Some encounters required you be extremely agile while others were better served trying to stagger and stun. It made each fight tense and life threatening.
Along with the enemies are the bosses which are exceptional. They are so well designed and I found myself marveling at the creativity of the artists every time I fought a new one. Another throw back to KF is in every game since Kings Field 2 they have had a giant spider boss. This guy gave me nightmares back in the day. Yes I am serious
The Music shows their growth as well. It still uses it sparingly but everything is more EPIC. A couple of the songs actually reminded me of God of War in a way. The music has always been used by FS to accompany the atmosphere. To make you hear the echo of water falling on old broken castle steps as you walk through in the dark. With BB they want it to punctuate player action which they did to some effect starting in Demon Souls its just the first time they have really committed. That said I still really do love the simple but haunting music of Kings Field. This is still my personal favorite:
This plays in the intro of Kings Field 2 and when your walking up to this enormous underground castle. To say I was feeling trepidatious is an understatement.
Lore as I stated earlier is a huge part of these games but its been a big surprise in BB. Going through the game again and reading the story thread has been just utterly blowing my mind. There are so many little details and clues to pick up on that flesh the narrative out and add such an excellent backdrop to your actions. Like the previous games though its completely up to you whether you delve into the history of the characters you come across and the locations you visit but it is a very rewarding task. You gain some tragic insight behind some of the NPC's and come to loathe others you thought had your best intentions in mind. It's again masterfully woven into the game.
Then there are the small things I love so much but show the humor and personality behind the team:
The hats I can adorn my little messengers with and how I pretend when they rise to greet me at a lamp they are attempting to serenade me with their clanking jaws.
The undulating mass of smoke that is the fog gates. It has this beautiful swirl and movement to it. Anytime I go to fight a boss for the second time I can't help but stare at it a bit.
The cloth physics that add so much satisfaction to a well placed hit with your blade or a giant exploding at your feet blowing your cloak behind you in spectacular fashion.
Even The Doll Should It Please You - I actually had a moment about 15 hours into the game where after channeling my blood echoes I went to set my controller down and as I did so it hit the right bumper making my bloodthirsty character do a massive swing that came crashing down on the dolls head leaving her lifeless........
Yeah I started the game over.....
and yes I found out she comes back to life :/
In all it gives me a lot of pleasure to see a developer I have loved for so long get the reception and audience they deserve. When other companies are abandoning long held principles and foundations to chase the COD crowd you have to really admire a team and company that have stayed true to their beliefs for so long.
Bloodborne holds a lot for me personally because I feel like its the embodiment of many day dreams had of a game I would never play.
Guess I was wrong.
any suggestions?
