When development on Demon’s Souls was in the early stages, things weren’t going to well as From Software had been unable to “create a compelling prototype.” Luckily, Hidetaka Miyazaki stepped in and took over the project.
Speaking in an extensive interview with The Guardian, Miyazaki said despite the game’s problems when he found out it was a fantasy RPG, he jumped.
“When I heard it was a fantasy-action role-playing game, I was excited,” he said. “I figured if I could find a way to take control of the game, I could turn it into anything I wanted. Best of all, if my ideas failed, nobody would care – it was already a failure.”
The fantasy RPG aspect of the game interested him greatly, because at one time, he considered a career in game development but pushed it aside for a role with US IT company Oracle Corporation . Then one night, his interest in development was resurrected when a friend suggested he play ICO.
“That game awoke me to the possibilities of the medium,” said Miyazaki. “I wanted to make one myself.
“Now I’m president [of From Software] and I get to meet a lot of other company presidents. They’re such weird people. I’m fascinated by them. I use some of them as enemy characters in our games.”
