Polygon has published the translated version of a new interview in Famitsu in which Hidetaka Miyazaki and Tomohiro Shibuya reveal more information about the recently announced Dark Souls 2.
Having directed Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls, Miyazaki is moving to a less involved supervisory position for the latter’s upcoming sequel. Although many fans of the Souls series have already voiced their concern over not only this move but also other existing details and official statements related to the sequel, Miyazaki told Famitsu, “If we’re going to announce this as a sequel to Dark Souls then I think there’s certainly a core that we need to protect.
“I’m talking about how we think about the difficulty level and how you achieve things in-game; about the concepts behind the mechanics and level design. Outside of that core, though, I think it’s better to leave things to the discretion of the director. There’s a lot around that core that we need to fix or adjust, besides, and individual touches always tend to come out in the world setting and artwork, so I’m not meddling in that very much.”
Regarding the issue of what kinds of direct links will exist between Dark Souls and its sequel, Dark Souls 2 director Tomohiro Shibuya stated, “The two settings are connected, yes. However, I wouldn’t say there’s a direct connection as far as story is concerned. The game is set in a different part of the same planet — to put it another way, if the first game was set in the North Pole, this one would be in the South Pole; that sort of contrast.”
Shibuya added: “Not just me, but I think everyone on the team sees the previous Dark Souls as our biggest rival. It’s an enormously huge presence in our minds and we feel a lot of pressure, but we’re all giving a full effort to surpass what we’ve already accomplished.”
[Via: Polygon]