Dark Souls: Design Works

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Miyazaki: I always thought of the Painted World as a place where things go to escape and the bird men are no different. They were originally designed as worshippers of the Goddess Velka whose bodies were warped by their devotion. I think this obsession makes them really interesting characters. Smough was one of the few living beings left who seemed present in Anor Londo, stationed there alongside Dragon Slayer Ornstein to guard Gwynevere, Princess of Sunlight. Miyazaki: In my mind, Sieglinde was always a cute character. I specifically remember asking for that.

Miyazaki: Yes that actually Super Tiger'srolling sobat. I think I recall saying that Super Tiger's story is one of the greatest ever told, although I suppose that's not really relevant here. Chaos Eaters Otsuka: That's great. So, does it have a special meaning for you since it was one of your first designs? Satake: I was responsible for the design. It was actually based on a very old sketch. I was trying to create something strange and unique, like the Great Race of Yathfrom Lovecraft'smythos, or something with many eyes, on springs. There was a period where I was created a lot of designs around these themes, and it was one of these sketches that formed the basis for this particular design. I'd been wanting to do something with it for a long time now so I'm glad we were able to use it in the game. Miyazaki: I wonder… Personally - this is also the case with the Ceaseless Discharge - I'm not entirely happy with the way she turned out, I think we could have improved both their behaviour and the way they are introduced to the player.I don't have that problem with people like Mr. Nakamura or Mr. Satake. I've worked with Mr Nakamura for a long time on both Armoured Core and Demon's Souls, and have always trusted him with the most important designs. I've also worked with Mr. Satake since Armoured Core, and on this project he worked with the out-of-house artists which basically meant he had to translate my abstract directions into something they might understand. I'm very grateful. Caspar David Friedrich is another romantic painter that Hidetaka Miyazaki seems to have taken influence from while designing Dark Souls III. Friedrich is noted for his allegorical landscapes that, like John Martin, place man into the heart of the awesome expanse of nature which Friedrich sought to depict as a "divine creation, to be set against the artifice of human civilization" according to art historian William Vaughan. Friedrich’s Wanderer above the sea of fog is described by historian John Lewis Gaddis as "suggesting at once mastery over a landscape and the insignificance of the individual within it. We see no face, so it's impossible to know whether the prospect facing the young man is exhilarating, or terrifying, or both." The man in the painting can only do as much as look and wonder, for he is nothing when set beside nature. The painting is the culmination of the concept of the sublime with it left open what emotion Friedrich wants us to project onto the piece. Whether it be astonishment or fear that resides within the subject, the work is filled with an exhilarating emotion that is reflected within Dark Souls III.

Dark Souls 1 Design Works interview conducted by Famitsu's Kadoman Otsuka featuring the director Hidetaka Miyazakiand a number of artists who worked on the game: Hiroshi Nakamura, Masanori Waragai, Daisuke Satakeand Mai Hatsuyama. Hatsuyama: I thought he'd turn into a mushroom, but I was told that it wasn't an issue, so I just went ahead and did it. Concept art of Smough's armor depicts a rather muscular man wearing it. Whether this depiction is of Smough himself, or a male Chosen Undead wearing his armor, is unknown. Miyazaki: Her Brass Armour was actually one of the starting sets for a while. Unlike the other classes, I wanted to create something a little more unusual and this was designed as a pagan knight but it was too difficult to balance, so we gave it to the Knightess. However, that initial image remained.Hatsuyama: Can I ask aboutGwynevere, because compared to the other female charters she's very different, almost glamorous. Miyazaki: As I said before, everything had its particular shade or tone; Blighttown, for example is the rawest, most disgusting area in the game, but looking at the area as a whole, I wanted it to both possess a deep sadness and feel bitterly cold, that's the atmosphere I tried to build on. You could say I that have a habit of working in this way, and I think you can really see that in Dark Souls' art direction.