Hidetaka Miyazaki Says Bloodborne Was His Favorite Game To Make

From Software president Hidetaka Miyazaki (who directed a few Armored Core games and most of the Soulsborne games) says that Bloodborne is his favorite of all the games he’s worked on. Miyazaki took on a more supervisory role for Dark Souls II to focus on the development of Bloodborne–a game that’s similar to but altogether a different beast (pun intended) from the Souls series.

“If I [have to] say which one I keep in my heart, it’s Bloodborne,” Miyazaki said in an interview with GameSpot Brazil, our sister site. “It’s the one that left [the biggest] mark on me.” But even for how much he loves the games, Miyazaki still believes Bloodborne could have used a bit more polish prior to release. “I would’ve improved the Chalice Dungeons and the Blood Gems, which I wish were more detailed.”

In the interview, Miyazaki spoke about boss battles and the process of designing the Soulsborne games’ notable enemies. “First comes the design,” he said. “When I have a general idea of how the boss will be, I make a request to the designer so he can create the art… I describe the minimum requirements that a boss needs, and I leave the rest with the designer. Because I believe that adds even more originality.”

In regards to his favorite boss, Miyazaki pointed to an enemy from the original Souls game: the Old Monk from Demon’s Souls. “[The Old Monk] has a unique system, where the player fights other players. Back then, this wasn’t a common system, so I got some critics and warnings,” Miyazaki said. “But in the end, the users liked it, it was something very different. So, inside me, it is the one that marked me the most.”

Miyazaki has already moved on to directing From Software’s next game: Elden Ring. The game boasts a high-profile partnership with fantasy author George R.R. Martin, taking the Souls-like formula and putting it into an open-world setting–a brand-new step for the From Software created catalog. “With a larger world, new systems and action mechanics inevitably become necessary,” Miyazaki said in an interview for Elden Ring. “In that sense, I think that Elden Ring is a more natural evolution of Dark Souls.” Though it doesn’t have a release date, Elden Ring is scheduled to launch on Xbox One, PS4, and PC.