Life can be cruel, especially to fans of Demon's Souls, the brilliant but unforgiving RPG adventure that has seduced and enslaved many a Gamesblog reader. Regulars on our Chatterbox forum became so devoted to the game following its UK release in June that I arranged to get a selection of their questions out to its Japanese developer, From Software.
For a long while many of you must have quietly feared that a response would never be forthcoming. But now, the title's director Hidetaka Miyazaki and SCE Japan Studio's Takeshi Kajii have tackled all of your queries, aided by translators at Namco Bandai Europe (thanks, chaps!). The answers are often short, snappy and wonderfully obtuse, but true Demon's Souls fans probably wouldn't have it any other way. Plus, there's a tantalising hint that, despite a few whispers to the contrary, we can perhaps tentatively look forward to a sequel. One day. Perhaps. Fingers crossed...
MeepMeep: Did you face much opposition from management, trying to dissuade you from releasing such a difficult, hardcore game?
HM: Yes, sometimes. *laughs*
TK: There was some quite strong pressure from management... However, on the creator's side, their concept was very clear, and they explained it very politely, so we were able to have the game released as it is.
MeepMeep: What did the testing groups make of it?
TK: At the beginning, of course, there were a lot of comments about the difficulty of the game, saying for example that it was too difficult!
HM: But then we explained very clearly the intention of the game regarding its difficulty, and they kindly understood our position. So the difficulty level hasn't become a problem.
CB Podge: Does it annoy you that people have found certain exploits to make killing the harder bosses easy?
HM: No, it doesn't. It was not intentional, and if we had discovered it during development we would have corrected it. However, now that some remain in the final game, I think that these exploits have become part of the its flavour.
Of course, this will be taken in consideration for future versions, especially those instances which are not exploits but bugs that prove to be a disadvantage for the players.
BeardofBees: How was the difficulty balance tested during development?
HM: First, I set up numerical formulas myself as a reference. Based on this, we adjusted all the parameters together with the people in charge of planning those parameters. Afterwards, we repeated the tests and made modifications over and over.
The tests were mostly done by the members of the development team, but at a certain stage, we also received the help of SCE's Tuning Team.
BeardofBees: What gave you the idea to release a 'difficult' game like this into a marketplace where most games lead us gently by the hand and can usually be finished by the poorest of players?
HM: Our intention wasn't specifically to make a difficult game. We first wanted to create a game with a high sense of achievement, and in order to do this we needed to increase the difficulty.
BeardofBees: Was it a harder decision for a Western audience, and is this why it took so long to get released here?
HM: I think so, but I am only a member of the development studio, so I don't know if this is true or not.
TK: At a certain point, we had a game that had been created to our liking and that we ourselves thought was interesting. But it wasn't a game made in keeping with the general fashion of the time because of its harshness toward the players for example, or because of the way the online system was created. So I think it was difficult for foreign publishers to evaluate the game.
Actually, even in Japan, at the beginning the sales figures of the game were quite low as well. The game became popular thanks to the feedback from the players, the exports also grew, and the word spread in Western countries, but this process took time.
Dominicorourke: When will I be able to use the PS Move to loose my arrows at skeletons?
HM: We don't have any plans for that at the moment.
Satansallsmiles: How did the concepts for the more passive multiplayer aspects come up? I feel that these really add to the sense of community in the game - was this an intentional design decision or a respnse to time or technical limitations?
HM: This came from a very precise and intentional plan. The decisions in creating the online system weren't dependent on any limitations we might have had, but something we voluntarily wanted to put in place.
Satansallsmiles: Is the Royal class cheating?
HM: No, this is not cheating. I think Royal class is a magnificent way of living.
Dizzyisanegg: What was the thinking behind having such an anonymous main character and the bare-bones story?
HM: There are two reasons for this: First, we wanted the player to be the main character of this adventure. The other reason is that we wanted to stimulate the imagination of the players.
Libation: What have been the primary influences on the development of Demon's Souls?
HM: Hum, that's a difficult question
That's why my answer to that question is always that my main influence is the book series called "Sorcery". *laughs*
DaveFalse: The game took off due to word of mouth, and people importing it from Asia and then US. Did you expect this to happen?
HM: No, we didn't foresee it at all. This is why it has been a series of happy surprises for us.
TK: That was very interesting for us, and people valued the game differently than we thought they would. We were a bit stressed before the release of the game
I remember that it was a dark moment when we saw the first order figures. *laughs* I really think that Demon's Souls became what it is today thanks to all the players.
DaveFalse: Which part of the game are you most proud of and which is your favourite level and/or boss?
HM: This is also a difficult question. What I am the most proud of is the fact that so many players accepted the style of Demon's Souls and enjoyed it.
My favourite stages are the Valley of Death and Latria. My favourite bosses are the Phalanx and the Adjudicator. I will let you imagine why I like those best
DaveFalse: The "short cut" on 4-1 where you can roll off the battlements and cut out half of the level. Was this intended or something that was discovered by players? If so were you tempted to remove it once you were aware of it?
HM: This was not intentional. If we had discovered it during development, we probably would have fixed it, but it's a fine line. Maybe we would have hesitated
DaveFalse:The fact you can kill one of the Maneaters on 3-2 from outside the fog gate. Again was this intentional and if not were you tempted to "fix" it?
HM: Again, this wasn't intentional either. But for this one, if we had discovered it during development, we definitely would have corrected it.
DaveFalse:How long do you intend to keep the servers going for online play?
TK: In Japan and Asia, SCE is publisher of the game so we can decide what to do about the servers. But in the US and in Europe, there are different publishers so this has to be discussed with them. We have daily tracking of the number of players connected to the servers, so we will take this into account when we make a decision about them. But I can't tell how long they will stay online right now. If a lot of people keep playing online, we can keep the servers online.
Naboomagnoli: Is there any chance of owners of the Asian version being able to play against owners of the European edition?
TK: There are different servers for each region, so this will be difficult.
Naboomagnoli: Are there any weapon types that you wish you'd made more/less effective? When I start a new character I always find it hard not to end up using the Crescent Falchion from World 4-1 cause it's so much more powerful than anything else around!
HM: There are a lot of weapons like this one. *laughs* If I were to pick out one weapon, it would be the Bowgun. It was a bit too weak. But I agree, the Crescent Falchion is strong!
Naboomagnoli: Are there any equipment setups you think work really well that people rarely use?
HM: Hmm, right now I think everything is well known and used by everyone, so I can't really recommend anything in particular. I'm afraid that people say, "We already know that!"
Shadowmind: If you do make a sequel are you going to make significant improvements to the AI?
HM: That would depend on the concept of that sequel. I think depending on that, the course of the improvements would change...
Anonymous: One specific question I've been wondering about is to do with Character Tendency. I want to shift my CT towards White. Can I do this by playing as a Blue Phantom and helping another player defeat a boss?
HM: No, this method doesn't shift your character tendency toward white. You need to summon another player and help him to revive.
FINAL QUESTION: Will there be a sequel?!
HM: I will let Mr Kaiji answer that question.
TK: At the moment, my answer is "no sequel!" However, we have been encouraged by all the players, and this title is so well supported, and besides we like this title so much
Well, this is my own feeling, but I think one day we could bring you another Demon's Souls...
