After the official version of "Eldon's Ring of Law" trial held by SIE Shanghai and Bandai Namco on February 10, Bonfire Camp conducted a "hot" interview with several domestic media friends to mr. Kitao Taidai, the producer of the game.
For more information about this trial, see our previous article
The following is a compilation of the entire contents of this interview.
▲ Mr. Yasudai Kitao, who has been promoted to producer
| Q: What feedback did the official receive after the beta test, and what changes were made to the official version?
A: We've received a lot of praise from players and the media, and we feel a little bit at ease. On the one hand, the feedback from players is the balance of the game, such as magic is too strong, specific weapons are too weak, and so on. Balance adjustment is the final stage of game development, we will make careful adjustments based on feedback; on the other hand, it is mainly related to game functions, such as beginner teaching and some mechanisms and props are not clear enough, we have adjusted to a more simple and understandable form.
| Q: Why did you go back to the slow-paced Soul game after making Bloodborne, a fast-paced battle game?
A: The Eldon Ring is a work based on Dark Souls, and the worldview is also in the style of medieval fantasy. In Bloodborne, players wear cloaks and act as hunters, and the battle is naturally lighter and more agile. Our feeling is that the Dark Souls generation and Dark Souls 2 are relatively slow, and suddenly accelerate in Bloodborne, while the tempo of Dark Souls 3 is already a little faster than the previous two generations, and Eldon's Ring of Law still follows the combat rhythm of Dark Souls 3.
▲ A new boss whose rhythm is very similar to that of "Slave Knight Gale"
| Q: Why did you use open world when you started the game? How do you combine the soul and the open world perfectly?
A: I wanted to be able to make an adventure game with an open world and full of mysteries, which is why Eldon's Ring of Law was born. As for how to better combine the two, we are not choosing one of the various open worlds as a reference, but expanding on the basis of Dark Souls and exploring in such a world. As for whether it can be well integrated, it is up to the player to judge. In the past, it was mainly castle and labyrinth exploration, but this time we have joined the open world, and we have made a lot of new attempts. It's still a challenging game, full of oppression, but how to let more players play without pressure is a new attempt. In the past, players will lose experience when they die, and then take it in "Dark Souls", and it is very troublesome to get the soul on the open world map of "Elden's Ring of Law", so this time I joined the Malika Wedge System, which is similar to this way to adjust the difficulty.
| Q: We saw some enemies at night that were only at night, what was the specific effect of the day-night cycle system?
A: The basis of development is to hope that the day and night cycle should not change the game too much. We actually tried to have completely different enemy configurations during the day and night, but it may allow the player to play once during the day, and then switch to the night to play again, which will have the feeling of repeating the play, so we changed it later, hoping not to make much difference as much as possible. We deliberately did not add too many different changes, and the simplest aspect of the specific impact is that the props will be more conspicuous at night, and it is easy to act secretly at night.
| Q: The degree of freedom in the trial is very high, you can go to many places in the early stage, the difficulty difference is not very large. So is there an official recommendation order?
A: If you start from Nyingev to the other side of the Galidd (author's note: referring to the eastern area) it is very troublesome, the enemies there are very strong. The recommended order is to explore around Nymgford, completing events and item collection before challenging the Stonewell Castle area. Of course, it is no problem to go to Galidd first to get stronger items and then come back, depending on the player's preferences.
| Q: About the difficulty: Fromsoftware's games are usually difficult, and players have two voices for this, one is that they like the challenge, and the other is that they want to get through but unfortunately can't beat it. How do you as developers see this phenomenon? Think that the current difficulty is just right, or do you want to lower the threshold so that more people can clear it? Specific to The Ring of Eldon, what solution did you come up with?
A: We also know that Bloodborne and Only Wolves find it difficult for many players to overcome. But from the perspective of the development team, in fact, our original intention is not to make a very hardcore game that only a small number of masters can enjoy, but to hope that interested players can fully enjoy it. Sorry for players who find it difficult to meet their expectations. Whether it's Dark Souls, Bloodborne, or Only Wolves, we think the biggest feature is the sense of accomplishment after overcoming difficulties, which is where we want players to enjoy. We don't think it's the right thing to do to remove difficulties or challenges, but to have more players challenge and experience a sense of accomplishment is what we're working towards. The core is this sense of achievement, as to how to attract more players to accept the challenge, is our subject. Allowing other types of players to cross the challenge through different means is something we value, and we don't make enemies that are "absolutely invincible". Maybe at first glance, it can't be beaten, but in fact, it can be overcome by experience, thinking or strategy, this time there are also mechanisms that reduce the difficulty such as summoning NPCs and multiplayer play, multiplayer play can make "Eldon's Ring" easier than the "Dark Souls" series, because this time it is easy to ask for help from others, these optional "clearance methods" are specially added by us.
| Q: In the past, the soul series works were designed first to play the game and then cooperate with the content to create the story plot, but this time with George W. Bush. R· Mr. R. Martin's collaboration was first to create a worldview and story background, and then to FromSoftware for game development. Does this process change also have an impact on game development? Can you talk about working with Martin?
A: In fact, this time also decided to play the game first and then do the story, Mr. Martin just decided the worldview framework, and then we went to complete the world details. As a result of the collaboration, the development is indeed different from the past: Mr. Martin does not write the parts that the player sees, but the ancient myths of these stories before and more distant times, and we are responsible for the main axis of the post-mythology. If you make the game first and then write the story, it will trouble Mr. Martin to revise it repeatedly, so the current order is adopted. Mr. Martin's story is a relatively easy part to understand, and some of the characters that can be seen by players in the world where the game is played, such as marlena and other demigods, are all appearing in mr. Martin's mythology. Mr. Martin's setting has a personal style that highlights the entangled parts of human nature. In contrast to the bosses in Bloodborne who rushed to slash people at the beginning, the bosses of The Ring of Eldon's Law will be put into battle after the opening, incorporating some narrative feelings.
| Q: For Fromsoftware, how do you balance the RPG and ACT parts of the game? For example, which ones test skills, and which ones can be reduced with props? It would be better to have concrete examples.
A: We made Eldon's Ring of Law a game that was RPG-oriented, hoping that the RPG elements would be more than Dark Souls, rather than action fighting like "Only Wolves". The RPG elements in The Ring of Eldon include level ups, weapon enhancements, magic skills, and more, as well as a variety of different gameplay genres such as mages and warriors. In boss battles, there will be special battles like "Bloodborne" that "uses a music box to reduce the difficulty".
| Q: The Eldon Ring of Law is an open-ended design, so will there be an unexpected way to return to the original scene design in the map?
A: You can't just say no. We love making levels like this, and this time there will be one, but hopefully players will find them in their own way.
| Q: We can meet a lot of dragons in the game, what kind of role does a dragon play in the old man's ring?
A: Although the game is not designed with dragons as the main design, there are some scenes where the theme is mainly designed with dragons.
| Q: There is a golden guide line on the map this time, what other guidance is there besides this?
A: We deliberately did not place strong guidance. In addition to the golden thread, there are auxiliary means such as bird's-eye mirrors. There are also online messages left by players in the game, hoping that these prompts will bring about different changes to the game experience.
| Q: After the development of Eldon's Ring of Law, what advantages do you think are compared to the development of the open world and the development of Dark Souls, such as ideas that could not be realized in the past can be realized this time?
A: Although it is not a benefit, our preset game is mainly divided into two parts, one is the open wilderness, and the other part is the underground maze. Originally, the castle area resembled a dark ghost's dungeon, while the plains were relatively flat. But later due to the interest of Miyazaki and others, the plain also has a large number of height differences, but also added two jumps, big jumps and other crossable terrain, hoping that the players of "Dark Souls" will be full of freshness in this experience. Because the gameplay is different, the actual game experience will be completely different, for example, I have been used to using straight swords before, but this time I found that there are more ways to solve the enemy, tried a variety of weapon combinations, I hope that old players can also try different ways of playing.
▲ The "Big Jump" of the Spirit Horse
| Q: I've met 12 NPCs today. There are so many in the early days, so are there more characters in the later stages? Will so many characters make the story more obscure and the relationships of the characters more complex than ever?
A: In fact, players do encounter a lot of NPCs in the early stages, but they will appear in the process many times. Players will imagine the composition of the entire world based on their lines and actions. It is true that it may make the player forget what so-and-so is, but it will be easier to understand the game overall.
| Q: Will the open world make it more difficult to design? Because of differences in development habits, dilution of map content, and a decline in the game experience due to stacking materials? What experience does this team have?
A: This time the part of the underground maze uses the past development experience, and the enemy density is still very high. Rather than being critical or contrasting — Fromsoftware doesn't like errands and repetitive tasks, but focuses on combat, where players may get a good combat experience, the right pace, and entice players to explore and fight further.
▲ There will also be a portal mechanism similar to "World in Picture"
| Q: What is in the game that Mr. Hidetaka Miyazaki is fully involved in or insists on making?
A: Mr. Miyazaki is the general supervisor of the game, and almost every part from the worldview is involved by Mr. Miyazaki, such as gameplay, art design, music, action, narrative, and so on. By the way, many of the NPCs' lines were written by Mr. Miyazaki himself, so you can look forward to it.
| Q: What are the features that only PS5 has?
A: The haptic feedback of the PS5 controller is also the first time for us, this feature allows players to have a more immersive gaming experience, please try it.