Dark Souls creator isn’t sure ‘how or if the series would have continued the way it did without Dark Souls 2’

Dark Souls creator and the president of developer FromSoftware, Hidetaka Miyazaki, has been speaking about Dark Souls 2’s impact on the series, and says that he’s not sure “how or if” the series would have progressed in the manner it did without the divisive second installment.

For anyone unfamiliar, Dark Souls 2’s reception amongst the fanbase was, and still is, mixed, to say the least. While many love it, it’s also received its fair share of criticism over the years, largely due to its differences from the first game, like the Estus Flask (a replenishable healing item) taking forever to actually heal you, and alterations to the invincibility frames granted by dodge rolls. Notably, it’s also the only soulsborne game that wasn’t directed by Miyazaki, who instead served as a supervisor on the title.