Hidetaka Miyazaki Doubts FromSoftware Created the "Souls-like" Genre
05 Jan 11:10
Hidetaka Miyazaki, game director of the Dark Souls series and Elden Ring, stated that he is not sure whether FromSoftware should be credited with creating the term "Soulslike."
I know that we are credited with inventing [the term ‘Soulslike’], but from a design perspective, the idea of death and learning through defeat as part of the gameplay cycle is something the audience may have been ready for.
We found that creating games with death as part of the core gameplay is normal, and our response has been successful and liked by different players. The DNA of FromSoftware and our design intersected with what may have been missing in the market.
The Soulslike term is unlikely to disappear, but it's interesting to see Miyazaki's humble approach. Someone else could probably have used difficulty in the same way as in Souls games, but few would have done it as masterfully as FromSoftware.
