Summary
Elden Ringcreative director andFromSoftwarestudio head Hidetaka Miyazaki has revealed that he’d like to take a shot at developing a traditional JRPG someday. The acclaimed game designer has largely been recognized for his work on Soulslikes in recent years, so seeing him express interest in making a title in a genre atypical of his past efforts is a bit surprising. Regardless, the prospect of a JRPG helmed by the creators ofElden Ringwould likely set certain corners of theFromSoftwarefanbase ablaze with excitement.
Although FromSoftware is nowadays best known for being the studio behind massively successful titles likeDark Souls,Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, andElden Ring, the company has a rather eclectic library of games in its lengthy development portfolio. FromSoft initially made its debut with the bizarreKing’s Fieldseries of action RPGs. Afterward, the company branched out and worked on a wide variety of other games, like the 3D platformerThe Adventures of Cookie & Creamand the cult-classic hack-and-slashOtogi. Ever since Hidetaka Miyazaki became president of the studio in 2014, though,FromSoftware has largely pigeonholed itself into a few genres. This hasn’t necessarily been a bad thing for the company, but Miyazaki is nonetheless looking to shake things up.
Duringan interview with Rolling Stone, Miyazaki stated that he’s interested in experimenting with new genres outside the Soulslike formula that FromSoftware established with itsbrutally difficult games. Specifically, he mentioned that part of him wants to create a traditional JRPG. While Miyazaki has yet to make such a game, FromSoftware itself has actually developed a JRPG before. After all, in 2006, the company released a Japanese role-playing game, published — oddly enough — by Ubisoft, for the Xbox 360 namedEnchanted Arms. Though this particular title wasn’t received all that well, if Miyazaki were to make a game in a similar vein, it could end up being something special.
If Miyazaki Does Make a JRPG, It Likely Won’t Be a Sequel To Enchanted Arms
Despite Miyazaki’s interest in developing a JRPG, don’t expect FromSoftware to releaseEnchanted Arms 2anytime soon. In fact, don’t expect the company to return tothe worlds of most old FromSoft gamesat all under Miyazaki’s leadership, as the studio head isn’t interested in creating new entries in franchises that he wasn’t involved in the creation of. Explaining this stance of his, Miyazaki said that he thinks “a lot of these games are so intertwined with the directors who almost invented that style of game.” As such, he doesn’t see a scenario where he himself “would make aKing’s Field. The same can be said aboutOtogiandEnchanted Arms.”
FromSoftware’s current approach of sticking to only a few genres has paid dividends for the company, as evidenced by the recent release ofElden Ring’s new DLC, thecritically-acclaimedShadow of the Erdtreeexpansion. Even still, it would be interesting to seeFromSoftwareand Miyazaki branch out by making a traditional JRPG in the vein of aFinal FantasyorTalesgame.
From Software
Based in Japan, FromSoftware is a development company best known for the Souls series and Armored Core franchise. Other popular games from From Software include Elden Ring, Sekiro, Bloodborne, and the King’s Field series.
