Hidetaka Miyazaki, the renowned creator of the challenging Dark Souls franchise, has always employed the use of a unique format of narrative advancement for his games. He uses fragmented storytelling, which doesn’t rely on cutscenes, but environmental hints and textual clues from in-game items.
Dark Souls 3 was no different to this formula. As the conclusion to the Dark Souls series, it had 4 separate endings that would either preserve the game’s world or snuff it out. Miyazaki has affirmed that he prefers one ending, but didn’t disclose which, and as it turns out, he’s also privy to the precise storyline that ties the franchise together.
The True Dark Souls Storyline We’ll Never Know
In an interview with VG247 about Dark Souls 3, Miyazaki acknowledged a carefully crafted storyline existing within his mind that perfectly wraps up the Dark Souls series:
First of all, yes, there is a perfect storyline in my head. However, I have no intention at all of enforcing that storyline to the players out there.
Mirroring his answer to what his favorite Dark Souls 3 ending is, he refrained from divulging this secret “perfect” storyline. Miyazaki would rather have players be active participants in the narrative, piecing it together in a way that’s personal and unique to them, thereby validating the fragmented storytelling format of FromSoftware games.
Hidetaka Miyazaki Believes Personal Interpretations Are More Important
Unlike the spoon-fed stories of most AAA games, FromSoftware titles demand players to engage with the world to figure it out themselves, much like books that allow you to visualize their stories any way you want. While this approach can alienate a lot of gamers who want a more relaxed, laid-back experience, Miyazaki doesn’t view it as a barrier to success:
Only those storyline elements that actually make it into the game are something that I need to force players to accept as a base for building up their own interpretation of the world. There are things in my head that aren’t in the games, after all – so after that, it’s all up to the players. I have no intention in forcing any of the storyline upon any of the players out there, and there will be no official statements made about the ‘true’ story of the game.
While some may scoff at the strategy, it’s worked wonders for FromSoftware over the years, elevating them to a legendary status in the games industry. Every single FromSoftware game in the past decade employs this storytelling formula, and all of them have accrued truckloads of critical and commercial success.
While there is a clear-cut story for the Dark Souls franchise that is constrained to Miyazaki’s brain, ultimately, it’s the players’ interpretations of said story that matters. Thanks to the series’ cryptic lore and mysterious characters, speculation, theories, and discussion about its games will be evergreen.
This player-centric approach to storytelling means that Dark Souls 3, and by extension, most FromSoftware titles aren’t just games that you play, finish, and forget, but experiences that stick with you long after the credits roll.