If we were to conduct a general poll of the gaming community, it’s highly likely that eight out of ten people would have a souls-like game in their top five. From the original Dark Souls to the phenomenal success of Elden Ring, this genre has not just made a mark, but has taken over the entire gaming world. So, it was quite a surprise when Hidetaka Miyazaki, the mastermind behind these games, revealed that he had not yet created his ideal game.
What does he mean by this?
If you are unaware Hidetaka Miyazaki is the director of almost every Souls like game that you’ve ever played, including Elden Ring. So, when he says that he hasn’t made his perfect game yet it has left many wondering what his dream game could even be.
This is hardly a surprise, but the Souls formulated has dominated gaming for over ten years and shows no sign of stopping. Every year, we get at least one new game trying to use this formula. However, none of them pan out when Miyazaki takes the helm to make one of them.
It is mind-boggling that he still thinks he has more to do, especially when you consider that his last epic, Elden Ring, was made with George RR Martin’s help. His detail-ridden approach to creating fantasy blended perfectly with soul-like gameplay to achieve a status few games could ever achieve.
Miyazaki has admitted that this is likely because he makes the games and, therefore, isn’t surprised by them; he let something else slip. During an interview, he said he couldn’t say what he thought the games were missing because he didn’t want to spoil upcoming games.
What can we expect in the future?
Now, it makes sense that there would be more games coming, but hearing it this way tells us two things. The first is that there will be at least one new game, but maybe even more. Most studios only work on one title at a time, but it sounds like there might be more than that in this interview. Even if they are only ideas being tossed around the office, it is a good sign for fans.
The second is that these new games have features he was worried about spoiling. Whatever new features are being included are enough to spoil the game if we figure them out. This means that we might see some big shifts in gameplay moving forward that he wanted to protect.
It is difficult to gauge exactly what these new features or story elements could be because any number of changes could occur. If we look at the history of these games and their settings, as well as new features on each iteration, it is a wild ride. We have seen everything from the hyper dark but constrained fantasy of Dark Souls to the history-bending nature of Sekiro Shadow Die Twice to the detail-ridden open world of Elden Ring. So, who knows what the future holds?
