Gamers have been waiting some time to get their hands on Dark Souls 3, but it could be a whole lot more than just the third in the series of games.
According to creator Hidetaka Miyazaki (via VG247), it's also his life's work, and a "turning point" for the entire franchise.
Speaking in an interview with GameSpot, Miyazaki extolled the virtues of the third entry in the Dark Souls series, but made this one interesting point. Miyazaki mentioned during the same interview that he would be focusing on several new projects and is interested in expanding the Souls series beyond the fantasy genre. Demon's Souls and Bloodborne were departures of sorts, but only because Demon's Souls started it all and Bloodborne went down a slightly different path.
Dark Souls is infinitely important to Miyazaki, as evidenced by his quotes to Gamespot:
“Dark Souls is my life’s work. Everything I came up with for Dark Souls 3 is based on my personal preferences."
This is absolutely evidenced within Miyazaki's work, with the intricate and dark scenes of the Dark Souls games, crushing difficulty, and the number of fans willing to go to ridiculous lengths to beat the game. They speak to an audience undoubtedly culled from the olden days, where "Nintendo-hard" titles were the norm, and developers didn't feel the need to cater to an audience that needed their hands held.
It's hard to figure out where the Dark Souls games could possibly go next, however. They've got a core audience that seems very pleased with that Miyazaki has offered them thus far, so what tweaks and changes could we see out of him in any upcoming successors to these ridiculously popular adventures? More RPG-like elements, varying game modes, or even darker adventures that transcend genres?
Whatever the case, it'll be an exciting proposition, especially as the series has transcended last-gen's tech with the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and the team can develop solely for PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One. Not having to cater to older tech opens up new doors, just as it does for many of the other new releases coming out these days with sharper graphics, more content, and surprises around the corner. The latest footage of Dark Souls III is shining evidence of this.
And despite how hard Miyazaki is working on content for Bloodborne, he insists that spending time working on both projects at once definitely won't hurt either individual property. That's good news to hear, as some of us chronic multitaskers know it can be rough to split your time up between important commitments.
We'll see what happens with Dark Souls III when we finally get our hands on it, but more than likely it's going to blow us away.
