In a recent interview, the president of From SoftwareHidetaka Miyazaki talked about new projects on the way after Dark Souls III and that these may be of a sci-fi or mecha nature.
Talking about the upcoming Dark Souls III Miyazaki said that, “Dark Souls is my life’s work, everything I came up with for Dark Souls III is based on my personal preferences. However, Dark Souls III is also actually the turning point for the franchise.”
As to whether he wanted to make any more sci-fi or mecha games by applying the Souls framework to them Miyazaki stated he “definitely wants to bring the Miyazaki Touch” to games like that.
What’s more there are plans to launch ”several new projects,” but Miyazaki didn’t specify what these might be as he says, “I do want to work on something new, I’m pleased to hear people are interested in seeing that.”
Now before people get excited, Miyazaki has already directed two mainlineArmored Core games, namely Armored Core 4 and Armored Core For Answer(shown above). Both did poorly in terms of sales as well as critically compared to the Souls series, though they were still arguably solid games.
So we’ve already had the “Miyazaki Touch” made manifest on two non-Soulsgames as it is, that’s definitely something to keep in mind.
What’s more the former producer and effectively the father of mecha games at From Software, that of Toshifumi Nabeshima, has apparently left the companyto work on a new Front Mission game at Square Enix.
As such I am a bit wary of the From Software team taking up the mecha gaming mantle yet again without that expertise present, especially as the last time that happened we ended up with games like the palpably awful Another Century’s Episode R.
That said considering I rate the last Armored Core, that of Armored Core Verdict Day, as one of the best mecha games of all time I am naturally hopeful and excited to hear that the studio maybe doing more mecha games again.
Not to mention that I am all for studios investing in new properties and if anything a new mecha game might be exactly what the studio needs right now, so as to show that they can take their Souls expertise and apply it to other and newer types of games.
Considering that all we’ve had out of From Software for the past few years have been Souls games, I am glad to see that they haven’t forgotten their roots as a studio. For many, From Software was ostensibly the go to developer for mecha games and I am hoping that they may be that one day again soon.
I reckon we’ll likely hear more about these new projects at this year’s Tokyo Game Show, which starts mid-September.
Disclosure: I know members of the development team personally.
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