Denise said, "Alright, let's get to the point. I'm here with a lot of questions from the players. We all know that Dark Souls was a huge success in Europe and North America, even crushing GA's Paladin's Glory.
"Although you've had other successful games like Warcraft, Minecraft, League of Legends, etc, none of them have had as great of an impact as Dark Souls. It's the first game made with an AI engine after all, and it represents the best VR game design.
"Regarding this game, the first thing we're concerned about is its difficulty. Did you decide to make the game so difficult from the beginning when you were designing it? Or was it decided by the entire development team? "
Chen Mo nodded, "I was the one who decided on the difficulty."
Denise said, "So you're saying that the difficulty of Dark Souls … was the result of you going against everyone else's wishes? So why did it have to be so difficult? "
Chen Mo laughed, "I don't think you can simply use 'difficult' to describe the game's difficulty. I don't like to say 'it's too difficult', but I'd usually say 'it doesn't make sense'. "
Denise was confused, "Is there a difference?"
"Obviously, the difficulty of Dark Souls isn't high enough to dissuade anyone from playing it. That wasn't my intention when I designed it," said Chen Mo.
"From a secular point of view, Dark Souls is indeed more difficult than most of the games on the market. However, what I'm more concerned about is whether the logic behind Dark Souls' level design is reasonable."
"The key is to find a balance. Players will find it difficult when they can't find the trick, but once they find the trick, most players will be able to clear the game smoothly. That's the difficulty I wanted. "
Denise was shocked, "Wow, you're a world class video game designer, even the way you look at games is different from us."
Chen Mo said in a low voice, "To put it simply, you can't go too hard on your leeks, or you'll make the players run away from you."
Denise said, "Huh?"
Chen Mo laughed, "It's fine, let's continue."
Denise said, "Alright, the next question is, the damage output of the weapons in this game seems to be very different? For example, I personally like whips very much, but in 'Dark Souls', whips don't seem to have any effect at all. As for some other weapons, such as the Exiled Broadsword, aren't they a little too strong? "
Chen Mo said, "Yep, yes. The Exile Greatsword is indeed stronger. "
Denise asked, "Why deliberately design it this way?"
Chen Mo replied, "Of course it's because I like to use it myself."
Dennis: "Huh?"
Chen Mo continued, "As for whips, they're one of the more marginal types of weapons in terms of design. In fact, in Dark Souls, most of the weapons that were suitable for acting cool had their other attributes slightly weakened. This is to allow players to experiment with other types of weapons. "
Denise was deep in thought. "So, is this the reason why whips and other cool weapons are all flashy but not practical?"
Chen Mo laughed, "That's right. After all, being strong is only temporary, but being cool is for life! If it's strong and cool, then players won't be playing with other weapons. Wouldn't I have wasted my time? "
Denise was speechless, "That makes sense … But there's a limit to how weak it is, right? For example, the whip that I like, isn't its damage too low? "
Chen Mo coughed dryly, "Well … don't bring your hobbies into the game. Moreover, if you think the damage is low, you can turn off the damage display. "
Denise was shocked, "Turn off the damage display? Aren't you just lying to yourself? "
Chen Mo nodded, "Yeah, but at least it's a good solution, right?"
Denise was on the verge of breaking down, "But … whether it's hacking or being a cop, having low damage means you can't beat someone!"
Chen Mo smiled, "About that, you can play the game offline and be the lonely Queen of the Whip. That way, you won't have to face this problem."
Denise was shocked, "So, the solution to the problem of the whip being too low is to play offline?"
Chen Mo nodded, "Yep. Although this solution doesn't sound very reliable, you have to admit that it's one of the ways to solve the problem."
Denise put her hand on her forehead, "Alright, let's move on to the next topic …"
"The story of Dark Souls has been getting a lot of discussion online. Some players are even trying to figure out the story by looking at the name of the game. Many people say that it's a stupid method, since the designer of Dark Souls is Chinese. So, when you named it, did you put the corresponding meaning in it? "
Chen Mo said, "Aiya, I actually did. My knowledge is quite extensive, including the names of many places and people in the game. They were all in English first, then translated into Chinese. Otherwise, the game wouldn't be so western. "
Denise's eyes lit up, "So you're saying that it's reasonable to figure out the story based on the names of places and people?"
Chen Mo nodded, "Yeah, you could say that."
Denise said, "That's quite surprising. Looks like you have quite a bit of cultural background! I was still wondering how a Chinese company could produce such an authentic Western fantasy theme, but after knowing that you have such a deep cultural heritage, it's not difficult to understand! "
Chen Mo chuckled, "Aiya, it's just a small hobby."
Denise continued, "We haven't noticed it yet. The story of Dark Souls is quite fragmented, and a lot of it isn't explained clearly. What do you think about this? Are you doing it on purpose to give the players more room for imagination? "
Chen Mo laughed, "Actually, it's a deliberate design. I have the complete story in my head, but I definitely won't say it out loud. Letting the players explore the world and uncover more mysteries is one of the core joys of Dark Souls.
"Of course, there's still a lot of the story that we haven't released yet. There will be another installment in Dark Souls.
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