じこしょうかい For Two

こんばんわ！はじめまして。

ぼくわ　カイパーです。アメリカジンです。ノタルダメの　だいがくの　にねんせいです。ぼくの　せんこうわ　えいご　と　にほんごですよ。

どうぞ　よろしく。

　And now that I have given my じこしょうかい, I would like to introduce an individual from Japan that I greatly admire: ひでたか　みやざき (or, per Japanese custom, みやざき　ひでたか).

みやざきさま <3

　みやざきさま is known as the creative director—and now President—at FromSoftware, a Japanese game studio that may be called both popular and infamous in the gaming world. FromSoftware is the company responsible for the Souls series—composed of Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, Dark Souls II, and the soon-to-be-released Dark Souls III. Why both popular and infamous? The games in the Souls franchise are widely recognized as some of the most challenging games to be released in the past ten or so years. The games combine scarce checkpoints for saving progress with tactical combat and harsh boss fights to ensure that every death is both punishing and encouraging—they are designed in a way so that you can pick yourself up, brush the dust from your shoulders, and jump once more into the breach. Death is a learning experience, not a failure. Really, I think FromSoftware and みやざきさま present some valuable lessons for real life.

　But while I enjoy the combat of the FromSoftware games, and exploring the worlds they create, finding secret passages and marveling at fantastical vistas, there is one element that I enjoy above all else: FromSoftware's and みやざきさま's unique approach to storytelling.

    In an interview with IGN, “Inside the Mind of Bloodborne and Dark Souls' Creator,” みやざきさま offers some insight into his creative approach to games. As a child, みやざきさま loved to read. However, being young, he could not often pick up on all the threads of the story he was reading. Without half the story, みやざきさま says, “my imagination would help fill in the other half, and that imagination element would just blow up.”

　As a huge fan of Bloodborne, the latest FromSoftware game, I can attest to such an idea of vague, half-known narratives. みやざきさま　envisioned a rich, grotesque, horrific world, but does not reveal the world fully to players. The effect is like walking through an art museum where someone has set up fog machines. You can guess at the subjects of hazy paintings and jump at looming sculptures, but you never know exactly how everything looks. And while some may call this “lazy” storytelling, I applaud it. I feel like a true participant in Bloodborne's world as I piece together its history.

　And thus, みやざきさま. A creative mind that deserves all the success he has received.

じゃあ、また。

カイパー

*link to the IGN interview: “Inside the Mind of Bloodborne and Dark Souls' Creator – IGN First”