| Otakumegane said: Dark/Demon Souls is a Western emulating JRPG. Still a JRPG. Them armor designs man. (Actually now that I think about it Xenoblade has a lot of Western elements of design as well) |
I have a difficult time understanding why so many people say that Demon's Souls/Dark Souls are emulating Western RPGs when both From Software titles have elements that are often featured in Japanese-developed games like minimalist storytelling (e.g., Ico, Shadow of the Colossus) and emphasis on combat. The Souls games are also spiritual successors to From Software's King's Field series, which released roughly around the same time as The Elder Scrolls: Arena.
Obviously the Souls games can trace their roots to pen-and-paper role-playing games and early games like Wizardry, but the same can be said of games like Dragon Quest. I'd even say that the Souls games have much more in common with games like Shadow of the Colossus or Castlevania than they do with games like Planscape: Torment, Baldur's Gate, or Icewind Dale.
Demon's Souls and Dark Souls are obviously different than games like Final Fantasy, Persona, or Tales of games, but they're ultimately still RPGs influenced by Japanese game development.
