Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is probably the fastest action game FromSoftware‘s ever made, with the possible exception of Armored Core 6, which is more about scale than attack speed for my money. Sekiro likely wins in reaction time and inputs per second, but studio president Hidetaka Miyazaki thinks FromSoft games can still get faster and more fluid.
Speaking with Game Informer, Miyazaki reflects on how FromSoftware has balanced offense in defense over the years, building toward something “much more fluid and active,” with enemies and players in the likes of Elden Ring both running circles around the comparatively clunkier characters of the original Dark Souls. Miyazaki says he’s been thinking about this balance more closely since Bloodborne, and describes Sekiro as a “turning point” for the studio’s games.
“Perhaps in Sekiro, it appears most obviously or it’s the clearest form that I think that philosophy can embody,” Miyazai says. “And personally, I think there’s one more level we can crank it up to and sharpen that and hone in on that mechanic even more, but I think Sekiro was a big turning point.”
Sekiro is often half-jokingly described as a rhythm game, such is the pacing of its reactive, parry-powered combat. Bloodborne, meanwhile, is more proactive, inciting and rewarding aggressive play through mechanics like Rally, which lets you heal yourself by dealing damage within a few seconds of getting hit. Elden Ring is somewhere in the middle thanks to a wealth of build options, but is generally much slower-paced than Sekiro, even in its most intense moments.
Miyazaki has been dropping subtle hints about what FromSoftware’s next, still far-off game might look like, suggesting that he’s still not made his “ideal fantasy RPG” and that “bits that didn’t go so well this time with Elden Ring” could be refined in the future. The scope and speed of the next FromSoftware game remains to be seen, but from the studio’s track record, it’s a safe bet that it’ll up the pace in some way yet again.
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