Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice’s Storytelling Is Similar to and Different from Dark Souls

The Souls series has always been home to enigmatic story elements. A narrative does indeed exist, except it’s cryptic and often difficult to follow, even once the various mysteries are unearthed. Apparently, not much will change in this regard for FromSoftware’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Yet, Director Hidetaka Miyazaki has insisted the story will at least be “initially easier to understand.”

In an interview with Polygon, Miyazaki divulged how FromSoftware is implementing storytelling tenets from the likes of Dark Souls into Sekiro.

There’s still going to be this kind of fragmented element to it. You’re still going to have to explore it to a find all the clues and depth for yourself. We feel like it’s not going to change too much in that sense. Our approach to storytelling has not changed.

This time we do have the fixed protagonist. We feel like he creates the axes for the main core of the story. The characters, they revolve around him as well. This allows us to frame the story and the settings in a much simpler light than previously. So it’s going to be initially easier to understand and easier to relate to.

The flair for complex storytelling present in FromSoftware titles is derived from Miyazaki’s own love of elaborate narratives. He noted,

When I was quite young, instead of reading very simple picture books and stories, I chose to read very difficult books. At first I didn’t know what was going on, but then I gradually started to understand. I felt a certain enjoyment from that. This kind of filters into my games as well. It’s not like I want to force that approach on people, but I feel like we have a lot of relatively easy to understand game stories out there. So why not have this kind of approach from time to time?

Of course, many fans primarily hold interest in Sekiro’s gameplay, which also is both similar to and different from the Souls series. Based on gameplay footage, boss battles in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice are just as grandiose as those featured in Dark Souls. Notably, with regards to gameplay, one aspect that has changed is Sekiro’s designation as an action adventure title. How FromSoftware intends to make this difference palpable remains unknown. Though an emphasis on stealth may serve as one example.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice will launch next spring on March 22, 2019.

[Source: Polygon]