Tomorrow marks the launch of Déraciné from popular Japanese developer FromSoftware. While the company has put themselves on the map over the past decade by creating and trailblazing the Souls-like genre with titles like Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and the upcoming Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Déraciné is a more experimental VR adventure game.
Déraciné was revealed by FromSoftware and Sony Interactive Entertainment during the post-show of their E3 2018 Press Conference. The game has players control a spirit summoned to a small and secluded boarding school by a little girl. The school is frozen in time from the spirit’s perspective, so players must interact and investigate things in order to solve an overarching mystery and assist the kids at the school.
FromSoftware’s Hidetaka Miyazaki previously explained how Déraciné’s adventure game style was a nice change of pace for the developer that allowed them to channel their roots from games like Echo Night. Today, he discussed the game further on PlayStation Blog.
Miyazaki-san started by explaining how Déraciné was a passion project for him. He found the title “rife with experimentation and novel ideas” and believes the development team had a lot of interest and autonomy for developing a game in VR for the first time:
“Yes, I have developed a very unique affection for this project, unlike any of the titles I have made in the past. For me personally and for FromSoftware, this was a title rife with experimentation and novel ideas. The reasons for this are varied: the game being on PS VR, the genre being something we have never worked with before, the small scope of the project which gave a lot of autonomy to the development staff, and the focus on theme and narrative over game systems. As a result, we struggled a lot, and we learned a lot. I think that’s where this strange affection was born.
Or maybe I’m just letting my own particular tastes, always kept in check until now, color the project a bit more (laughs).”
That being said, he also had something interesting to say about the long-term potential of VR. While wireless headsets like the Oculus Quest are coming, many still think VR is a passing fad on the decline. Miyazaki-san believes there’s a ton of potential for new and interesting titles like Déraciné, but acknowledged the fact that technology needs to improve for VR to have continued success:
“While the bar is high, VR truly is interesting. It straightaway has the potential to create entirely new game experiences, but there’s also enough room for curveballs such as this one. The fun of developing games– the fun of developing games over the long term, depends a lot on the technology, which is a major reason why this is a media that plays host to dramatic changes. I feel like VR is an important facet to those changes.”
Hidetaka Miyazaki ended the interview off by stating that while fans of other FromSoftware titles may be surprised by the changes in tone, pace, and setting with Déraciné, they should still give it a try as the story and characters will hopefully stick with players long after they finish Déraciné:
“I would like to start off by saying this game is unlike any I have made before in a myriad of ways. The gameplay, the approach to game design and even the volume of the title are dramatically different. It is also quite strange, and probably difficult to understand. All that being said, if your curiosity is piqued, don’t worry about it and just give it a try…
There is a kind of emotion I’d like players to take away from this title, connected to the theme I mentioned earlier. It would be difficult to explain without giving away spoilers. I guess the one thing I can say is that I hope this little title, and the characters that live inside it, will linger on in the memories of those who play through it.
You can check out the VR game’s launch trailer below. Déraciné will releasing exclusively for PlayStation VR tomorrow, November 6.