Game Design Deep Dive

5 How From Software Defined Soulslikes

DOI: 10.1201/9781003450078-5

5.1 The Big Bang of Soulslikes with Demon’s Souls

An alternate title to this book could be “How From Software Conquered the Game Industry” as the company was mainly known for small to modest successes for more than a decade. The story of how Demon’s Souls became a worldwide phenomenon is an interesting one. The game’s design came from Hidetaka Miyazaki who has become a household name for fans of the series and soulslikes (Figure 5.1).

Figure 5.1 Here are the US and Japanese box arts for the game that would change From Software as a studio forever and launch the entire subgenre ...