GameCentral plays the new game from the team behind Dark Souls and Bloodborne and talks to the creators about making the ultimate ninja sim.
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As great as it was, by the time Dark Souls III came out in early 2016 there was a general feeling that the SoulsBorne formula was beginning to get a little overfamiliar. It was a common complaint but there are few companies that wouldve acknowledged it themselves, and not only mothball the franchise that made them famous but not put out any similar games for three years afterwards. But now the hunger for more SoulsBourne is real, and Sekiro looks like its going to offer a very substantial feast.
After a teaser last year, Sekiro: Shadow Die Twice was officially announced at E3 in June. It didnt take centre stage though and most people didnt get a chance to play it. But at Gamescom last week a whole level was available to play through, for both journalists and the public. And the second we got our hands on it we were reminded of both how much weve missed FromSoftware and… how hard their games are.
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Sekiro has a lot in common with previous SoulsBourne games, including a very similar style of combat, resurrecting enemies when you die, and being extremely difficult. The style of level and art design is also very familiar but there are important differences too. The game is also influenced by Tenchu and other ninja games, and so there are no role-playing elements or character creation options. Theres no multiplayer either and, as you would expect for a ninja, a much stronger emphasis on stealth than previous titles.
Whether the plot is going to be as opaque as traditional SoulsBourne games were not sure but the initial set-up is more explicit than usual. You play as a ninja/shinobi who is left for dead and wakes up with one of his arms replaced by a prosthetic limb, which earns him the nickname Sekiro – which means one-armed wolf. Your new arm has three abilities in the demo, allowing you to use a giant Blooborne-esque axe to finish of an enemy or shoot flames or shuriken from a distance.
You also have a grappling hook, just like Tenchu, and can crouch and hug the wall in the manner of most stealth games. The games difficulty seemed at least as challenging as previous games (by the second day only one person in the whole of Gamescom had beaten the demo – we got about one-third through it) but there is slight wrinkle in how resurrection works.
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As you fight enemies you build up a meter that allows you to resurrect yourself instantly and carry on the fight without restarting. Which sounds good until you realise that the larger enemies are able to use the same trick. We still managed to beat the first mid-boss encounter though – a large samurai general – and felt pretty pleased about that until we were cut down by archers a little later on.
We were still relatively satisfied with out performance though and felt no shame in describing it to FormSoftwares Yasuhiro Kitao – and Activision producer Robert Conkey – when we met them the next day. We also discussed the difficulties of using a more realistic setting and exactly how stealthy, and weird, the game gets in its later stages. They were both pretty cagey, given the game isnt out till March, but its already become one of our most anticipated games of next year.
Formats: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC
Publisher: Activision
Developer: FromSoftware
Release Date: 22nd March 2019
GC: Im a great fan of Froms work, and its particularly good to see you working on new IP. But Im curious to know where the idea came from, especially as I know you own the rights to the Technu series. But as far as I understand youve never actually made any of the games yourself? Except for one puzzle game spin-off?
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YK: So yeah, rather than do a sequel to one of our existing series we wanted to do something fresh, something new and different this time. And so we looked to Japan as our original source of inspiration and to provide a lot of the motifs for the games setting.
As you say, From owns the Tenchu IP and weve published a couple of those games. We didnt want to just make another Tenchu. We wanted to make something new, but obviously Tenchu came up in the initial discussions about the game and served as an initial impetus.
Obviously, Tenchu had a grappling hook and there are certain elements that have carried over into our design philosophy for Sekiro. So there were a couple of talking points but we really feel like its come into its own and its a brand new experience.
GC: Something Ive talked about often with developers is how bad video games are at recreating common fantasies. Despite how popular the general concept is there are very few good pirate or robot games, or indeed ninja games. Which seems especially odd given Japans influence on the industry. Tenchu is probably the best, but it was never that good.
YK: [laughs]
GC: Were those the sort of things you were thinking about when designing this game? Did you specifically set out to make this the definitive ninja game?
YK: So, the game being set in Japan, and being the Sengoku period – the warring states period of Japan, this obviously provides the foundation for ninja, and for shinobi, and this is just a character that we love, that we think is very cool. We share that ninja fantasy. And so we wanted to make a game that starred a shinobi protagonist.
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GC: I can see in Sekiro that there are lot of similar elements from across all the SoulsBorne games – the difficult, the basic controls, the idea that when you die everything resets. Is that all set in stone before you start or does the setting come first and you see what parts of the template it fits afterwards?
YK: It often depends on the game and the situation, but its taken on a case by case basis. So sometimes we will provide some key words and provide an initial motivation for the setting and for the themes. And then the design team will work on that and create concepts based on that. And then that can shape a lot of the environments and the gameplay. But other times we start from the more systemic viewpoint as well.
GC: I sometimes wonder if you wouldnt rather make some kind of super easy, colourful platformer or something between games. Just as a palette cleanser.
YK: [laughs]
GC: Are you never tempted?
YK: [laughs] At least speaking to Sekiro this time, of course when you first see the game youre gonna see its a dark, gritty world. Its part of the reason we chose the closing years of the Sengoku period, because this is a war-torn Japan. Its exhausted, its withered. Its dying. This is the kind of game, this is the kind of setting we love to make.
But at the same time the reason we chose Sengoku as opposed to, say, the Edo period or more early modern period of Japanese history is because it retains a lot of those kind of elements of mysticism and the sort of natural Japanese beauty of the time. It allows us to play a lot with those motifs as well. So, I dont know if you got as far as the Corrupted Monk boss in the demo?
GC: Err…no. I beat the samurai general. Which I was very proud of.
YK: [laughs]
GC: And then I beat the two guys with the shields but doing that I got shot in the back with an arrow from someone I didnt see.
YK: [laughs]
GC: But that leads into another question, youre well known for your baroque art design. Did you not find it slightly more restrictive working with this more realistic setting? It sounds like maybe youre relying on these folklore elements to compensate?
YK: As you say, if you try and incorporate these historical figures or landmarks you start to maybe restrict yourself and limit what you can do. But we do try and ground the game in at least a sense of reality, first. This is why we chose the period. We research and look to reference the architecture that was used at the time, the plant life and vegetation, the sort of objects you might find lying around the battlefield. But we dont feel these restrict the creativity there. And so while grounding it in reality we then take that forward and create our own original creations.
GC: So Im guessing you might start to see more fantastical creatures towards the end of the game?
YK: Having the Sengoku as a base allows us to be a little bit more medieval in terms of Japanese history and setting. And so it allows us to play with some of those elements of Japanese folklore and history and really try and create our own interpretation of that period. Even in the demo, you will find that if you explore a little bit off the beaten track youll discover a couple of those more eccentric creatures and some hidden mysteries and things.
GC: Theres always been an element of stealth to the SoulsBorne games but have you tried to distinguish that from the more formulised use of stealth that a ninja might employ? A lot of stealth games, like Tenchu, you can go a long time, perhaps a whole mission, without killing anyone. But I dont get the impression thats the case here?
YK: So yeah, I agree that in Tenchu maybe stealth was more or less the answer. However, this time we dont want people to see it that way. We want stealth to be just one of the many tools, one of the many facets of this shinobis arsenal. So maybe players who have confidence in their ability, they can dive right in there and they dont have to use stealth whatsoever. They can just go head-on, toe-to-toe with the bad guys and show their skills that way.
However, we are preparing these different methods and these different approaches, some of which use stealth to first survey the battlefield, get a vantage point over your enemies, start thinning out the numbers before you engage.
Also, weve prepared a range of prosthetic tools as well, which you can actually use to exploit the enemies weaknesses. So if youre clever and if you take time a little bit then youll definitely find ways that you can take advantage of the situation.
GC: The shield guys after the samurai general, I tried to sneak up on those when their backs were turned but they always seemed to notice me. Was I just not being stealthy enough or was there no way to avoid them seeming me?
YK: [laughs] There was nothing wrong with what you did. Theres a very systemic, mechanical answer to that so Im sorry! But for the purposes of the build we wanted users to try experimenting with the prosthetic tools at that point. And so we introduced the tutorial and then we actually had the enemy turn around to face you. [laughs]
GC: Oh, well that makes me feel better! So in the real game he wouldnt have turned round automatically?
YK: Absolutely!
GC: In terms of the combat with the samurai general I was parrying okay but it was never creating much of an opening, until I realised I had to dodge and circle around as well. Was that just him or is that indicative of the general style of combat?
RC: The main way that it kind of works is… both of the things you mentioned are actually totally viable. One of the ways is if you deflect those attacks when youre getting hit youre making his posture bar go up. Also, if you do go around the side and hit him youll make it go up as well. Ideally youd be using a mix of those, wherever you can do it. Because with him its risky because he does these big side swipe attacks.
So kind of a mix of those two styles interspersed with you counter-attacking is the ideal way to fight the samurai general. A lot of enemies do work that way, so thats kind of the approach in general.
GC: I see, so he was fairly typical for a human type enemy?
RC: For sure, yeah.
GC: In terms of technology, I noticed the backgrounds were more interactive than usual. I was knocking over piles of wood and braziers. Is that just background detail or an indication of a new gameplay element?
YK: Its more or less an environmental detail. We havent really changed our approach too much from our previous titles. Its not really a case of showing off what we can do technically or graphically. Its more a case of what fits that scene, what fits the time period – for instance these large wooden watchtowers or the chopped wood, like you mentioned. Its just having some sense of tangible impact on the environment.
GC: OK, I just wondered if it was an indication of more destructible scenery in the game?
YK: Well, for example, you may have seen the debut trailer that we released at E3 this year. At the end of that we have the horseback warrior boss who comes storming in and in that battlefield, there are these large wooden watchtower objects and this warrior will just charge through them and smash them into smithereens. And this helps to create this sense of dynamism and this extra detail and impact.
GC: Okay, I think we have to stop there but thanks very much your time.
YK: Thank you.
(While packing up we notice Kitaos phone is covered in Bloodborne stickers.)
GC: So did you work on Bloodborne?
YK: [in English] Oh yeah.
GC: Thats one of my favourite games ever.
YK: Thank you.
GC: Do you think youll ever do a sequel?
YK: [laughs]
GC: No, but really. Do you think you will?
YK: [laughs noncommittally]
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