Anyone who had Cliff Bleszinski pegged as a sworn enemy of all things PlayStation after his joke about Move controllers earlier this week may want to think again. The Epic Games design director has now offered warm words for one of Sony’s own exclusives, singling out Demon’s Souls for high praise.
Detail on exactly what won him over is limited, so we will not put words in his mouth. The headline, though, is simple enough: the lead designer behind Gears of War, the series most closely tied to the Xbox 360, rates a game that can only be played on a PS3.
From Software’s Punishing PS3 Exclusive
Demon’s Souls is the work of Japanese studio From Software. Sony published it in Japan in early 2009, Atlus brought it to North America that October, and Namco Bandai handled the European release last summer. It quickly built a reputation as one of the toughest games of this console generation, a dark action role playing game that punishes carelessness and expects players to learn from every death.
Much of the attention has gone to how it handles failure. Die and you return in soul form with reduced health, leaving behind the souls you were carrying; die again before reclaiming them and they are gone for good. It is a harsh loop, but one that makes every hard won step through its grim kingdom feel earned.
It is also easy to see why a working designer might admire its online ideas. Players can leave short messages on the ground to warn or mislead others, bloodstains replay the final moments of strangers who fell nearby, and other players can appear as phantoms to help out or invade to cause trouble. Those systems connect people without ever forcing them into a traditional multiplayer lobby, and they have been widely discussed among developers since the game arrived.
A Busy GDC Week For Cliffy B
The praise lands during a busy week for Bleszinski. At this year’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco he gave a talk urging creators to become what he called a power creative with thick skin and a public profile, arguing that developers increasingly need to act as a brand. He is certainly practicing what he preaches, and few developers generate as much discussion with a single offhand remark.
It also serves as a reminder that developers tend to be far less tribal about platforms than the fans who argue over them. Epic’s latest game, Bulletstorm, launched on PS3 as well as Xbox 360 and PC last month, and good design is good design whichever console it runs on. PlayStation fans who bristled at his Move joke may find this one a little easier to agree with.