Legendary FromSoftware director Hidetaka Miyazaki says he wants The Duskbloods to take a broad approach when it comes to designing the game’s Bloodsworn characters. Rather than be constrained by traditional concepts of vampires or monsters, Miyazaki wanted to allow for design like Zork’s.
The Duskbloods network test was a huge success, with more people signing up for it than for Nightreign, despite it being a Switch 2 exclusive. There was one part of The Duskbloods that was more popular than all the rest, and that was the heart-stealing diving bell with a beak, Zork.
In a media briefing reported on by 4Gamer, and translated by GamesRadar+, Miyazaki speaks about how he doesn’t want people to think of the playable characters or Bloodsworn as vampires. “In this game, the player character isn’t a vampire, but something called a Bloodsworn,” he says. “We didn’t want them to just be monsters, but to give the impression that they are a species with intelligence and philosophy and culture and history.”
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Describing the game’s style as Victorian gothic, he doesn’t want the design to be restricted by existing traditional concepts. “Maybe it’s just a quirk of mine, but my style of interpretation is basically ‘If it’s called a Bloodsworn, then it’s a Bloodsworn,” says Miyazaki. “Having a traditional conception is important, but I think the approach should be broadened when it comes to character design. I think you’ll find that easy to understand if you look at Zork from the network test.”
Zork’s design is clearly inspired by the masks of plague doctors, a type of medicine man who tried to cure patients by letting their blood, with uninspiring results. I guess that’s a kind of vampirism in its own way.
FromSoftware knows what it’s doing with The Duskbloods character Zork, the internet’s new obsession: “I have developed a powerful, almost maternal affection”
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