Dark Souls Would Be More "Casual" on Mobiles

[StewShearerOld]

Dark Souls Would Be More "Casual" on Mobiles

Namco Bandai wants Dark Souls to go mobile but From Software doesn't want to compromise its controls.

Dark Souls was easily one of the RPG highlights of the past few years, dropping players into a grimy world of violence, horror and oddly entertaining frustration. It's an experience that, thus far, has been limited to consoles and PC, something that Namco Bandai doesn't think will be changing anytime soon. While the publisher has expressed that it's interested in expanding the franchise's reach to other platforms, it recently revealed that the game's developers at From Software aren't on-board with a Dark Souls made for mobiles.

"We'd like to bring Dark Souls to mobile, but it's very difficult because the guys at From Software are very much console oriented," said Alex Adjaj, director of global strategy for mobile at Namco Bandai. "To change their mind about it, it takes quite a while." The root of From Software's objection apparently stems from the developer's dislike of touch controls. "The leads on Dark Souls are saying we don't want to do mobile because the controls would have to be changed," explained Adjaj.

That being the case, Adjaj isn't without hope that a mobile Dark Souls may some day still happen. "[There is] growth in controllers for mobile," he said. "I think it's not an impossible case scenario to see a Dark Souls game coming to mobile at some point." Even then however, he concedes that adjustments to the game's core mechanics would probably need to be made to accommodate the mobile market. "I think there is a need to redesign the way you reroll in the game to make it a bit more casual, so with shorter sessions," he said. "When we bring a game to mobile we have to think about everybody, not just a few willing to buy the game."

Considering how fans have reacted to the idea of <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/130686-Dark-Souls-II-Director-Apologizes-For-Calling-Game-Accessible>a more "accessible" Dark Souls in the past, we can imagine this being a sentiment that wouldn't go over well. That said, what we're left curious about is if Namco Bandai and From Software have ever considered portable Dark Souls game. While we can understand the developers not liking the idea of altering the game to fit more limited touch controls, the 3DS and Vita are both equipped with button-sets that are largely comparable to their console counterparts. We've reached out to Namco Bandai to ask about this and will let you know if the company offers any further comments.

Source: <a href=http://www.digitalspy.com/gaming/news/a538951/dark-souls-not-on-mobile-devices-due-to-touch-screen-controls.html>Digital Spy








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[llamastorm.games]

It wouldn't have to be as hard as the console versions of the game, just so long as it was more challenging and involved than most other mobile games.
Changing the controls would surely be fine so long as the experience was still Dark Souls in essence. The difficulty, the depth, the world, and it's eeriness...

 

[Ninjamedic]

"And then they're going to start talking about Mobile gamers for some fucking reason"

Now where did I hear that before? (I have to wonder if he was serious with that remark at the time.)

 

[Trishbot]

Filthy casuals! Keep your grimy paws off of Dark Souls! It belongs only to gaming's elite!

... *still totally wants an easier difficulty setting and the ability to pause the game in case of emergencies*

 

[deathbydeath]

Man, these recent Dark Souls press releases sound like From overrun their marketing budget but still need attention.

 

[Insideout Ink Demon]

hows about a Wii U relaese
middle ground if you would

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Maybe they should concentrate on doing proper PC ports before they expand beyond console and PC realms for their game. Just a thought.

 

[bluegate]

How the hell would a game like this even work on mobile... oh wait, it wouldn't! Good to hear that the guys at From Software are standing their ground on this one...

Wanting Dark Souls on mobile sounds like little more than a name-cash-grab...


Although I could totally see myself playing a Vita version of Dark Souls...

 

[Madmanonfire]

... *still totally wants an easier difficulty setting and the ability to pause the game in case of emergencies*

You can pause the game. All you have to do is kill/run from all nearby enemies and/or quit to main menu. If playing multiplayer, suicide or black crystal. Dark Souls would be too forgiving with a pause button.

OT: From didn't want to put DaS on handhelds, so I doubt they'd ever consider mobiles.

 

[Crazie_Guy]

We have a solution for this, it's called the Vita.

 

[Ishal]

I know nothing about mobile games. Does that mean mobile phones and notebooks? Can they even play games like Dark Souls?

Seems highly unlikely to go to mobile. But I'm glad to hear they aren't willing to compromise on the design of their game. Now if only they would've been this way at the beginning earlier in the year. We could have avoided such a mess >.>

 

[The_Darkness]

Yikes. The very prospect of Dark Souls on touchscreen controls is making me flinch.

Dark Souls works so well partly because of its precision controls - if my character does something, it's because I decided to do it. If things go horribly wrong because of a sidestep into fireball, I was still ultimately the person who decided to sidestep.

I don't think you can get that level of precision out of touchscreen controls. Gestures rely too much on the computer recognising the shape that you make, and even on-screen buttons require you to know where your thumbs should be, rather than being able to feel the buttons on a controller or keyboard.

Ultimately, this sounds like it would just be a lesson in frustration. The bad kind of frustration.

 

[loa]

I don't think fromsoft is equipped for mobile development anyway.
They managed to ship a game that lags on a fixed system and the pc port isn't exactly known for quality either.

That whole "difficulty" mantra of dark souls could turn out to be quite damaging though.
Focusing on that over the artstyle, the atmosphere, the exploration, the sound design etc. may lead them away from what truly made dark souls great.
Dark souls was more than just "a hard game" and in fact, it wasn't even that hard once you figured it out so all you're doing with that marketing is scaring people who would have found the game perfectly enjoyable away for no reason.

It isn't I wanna be the guy.

 

[VoidOfOne]

Sounds like Namco just wants to make more money, which is no fault in it of its own. However, it seems to be rather ridiculous to think such a game like Dark Souls or Demon Souls would work on phones, which I assume is where Namco wants the game to be set. The game would definitely have to be simplified for it to run well on a mobile platform, and I can't see that happening without sacrificing the core aspects of a Souls game.

Main reason against this is that a lot of time and resources would have to go into making this game, rather than on other aspects on the series. Maybe it can work, but I can't see it. WHo knows? In any case, it feels like a dumb thing for Mr. Adjaj to say.

 

[not_you]

On the Vita Dark Souls would probably be exactly the same experience...
Just a button re-map for the shoulder buttons...
(And I would totally buy the shit out of that game)

on the phone/tablet?

No, I don't think so...
It just wouldn't work... The idea of the Souls franchise is to always be alert and learn from your mistakes... and it is infinitely harder to learn from your mistakes when your thumbs are covering 1/3rd of the screen...

Also: In frustration, I, like many others (I would assume) like to throw things...
The LAST thing I want to do is throw my phone across the room.... That would get REAL expensive...

 

[Baresark]

You give me any mobile game that is comparable to any other gaming platform... and I'll show you a game that was ruined by touchscreen controls. Good move From Software, stick to those guns!

 

[Weaver]

I just... why?
Why in the hell would you even bother? I have a lot of respect from... well FROM for holding out on this. This is exactly the kind of reason why publishers are bad.

The game is just so completely unsuited to touch controls it wouldn't even be worth your time to make what is a really shitty version of the game. Make some kind of mobile spinoff or something.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

We have a solution for this, it's called the Vita.

Not enough people own PS Vita's to warrant spending the money to port it over. The thing is still too expensive and so are the memory cards that you have to buy with the console.

 

[Glaice]

Dark Souls should not be on mobiles, period. No compromising this great game for smartphones or iPads or iExpensiveDevices.