For players of Dark Souls, the feeling could only be described as "it's New Year's again."
Some even felt that hearing news about a prequel was more exciting than the New Year itself for many die-hard Dark Souls fans.
Meanwhile, in the office of Nebula Games, Anna, Rachel, Hector, and the others sitting in the meeting room were all completely confused.
Players outside were beyond excited, major game media were all reporting that a Dark Souls sequel was coming, and fellow designers and developers in the industry were quietly watching.
But they themselves knew the truth—this so-called prequel didn't even have a folder created yet!
Even the picture Lucas had posted on the official account was something he had quickly pulled from last year's promo materials.
And everyone knew today's meeting was basically about this Dark Souls prequel.
"Lucas, there's only about a month before the gameplay expo. Trying to make a demo version isn't very realistic!" Before the meeting even started, Hector, sitting next to Lucas, whispered to him.
"Yeah, even if the overall framework is there, one month is just too rushed, right?" Rachel added.
Everyone shared the same thought—getting a playable demo ready for the expo would be way too hard.
Even if they worked overtime every single day, it didn't feel like they could make it in time.
"Why are you all panicking? Whether it's interviews or the official account, didn't I already say? During the gameplay expo, we'll bring new content to players. Isn't a trailer also considered content?" Lucas sighed as he looked at them.
When it came to skills, Rachel, Anna, and Hector had all been learning and improving a lot over the past two years. They were already capable of handling tasks on their own.
They could complete the jobs he assigned very well, but when it came to understanding, they were still lacking a bit.
As game developers, wasn't this the most basic ability?
If a game developer couldn't "paint a picture of the future," could they really be called qualified?
Look at those famous game studios and producers from before. Which of them wasn't a master at hyping things up?
Some official accounts kept posting photos with celebrities that made people wonder if they were spending company money to chase stars, sometimes even throwing in travel or food pictures. And whenever players asked about the progress of a game, the answer was always, "We're working on it."
And then there was that one company starting with B, which was even bolder. At the expo, they just showed a game title, then played a grand theme song from the series with some scene images zooming in and out—and that was it.
Compared to that, at least Lucas was preparing a proper promo CG.
After hearing Lucas's words, everyone went quiet for a while, but then relaxed.
Because when you looked at it that way, the time really didn't seem so tight.
Last year at this time, they were making the promo CG while also developing Legends of the Three Kingdoms and Fall Guys at the same time.
This year, even though the time was about a month shorter, they only needed to focus on one project.
On top of that, Dark Souls already had a framework in place, which would save a lot of time for development going forward.
Checking the time, Lucas saw that all the staff from different departments had arrived, so he stood up to start today's meeting.
"Alright, I believe everyone already knows the topic of today's meeting." Lucas spoke as he opened the laptop on the meeting table.
The projector behind him lit up, showing a document with the title: Dark Souls Prequel.
Underneath was a subtitle: Age of Fire.
The people in the meeting didn't look too surprised.
Because Lucas had already hinted on the official account that this prequel game would be set in the ancient era—the very beginning of the Age of Fire.
So this subtitle also matches well with the game's story.
The only thing everyone is curious about is what makes this prequel game different from the past ones.
"The prequel to Dark Souls won't change much in the battle system, except for some adjustments to the numbers." Lucas looked at everyone and set the foundation first.
Lucas didn't plan to change the core battle system.
After all, in the previous life, Dark Souls 1 and Dark Souls 3 shared the same style of combat system, since both were directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki.
It was only because of technical limitations that some "difficulties" appeared in the details.
The clearest example is when drinking Estus in the game.
In Dark Souls 3, players can move a little while drinking, which makes the combat feel smoother.
But in Dark Souls 1, drinking was a fixed action where you just stood still. This was more like a technical shortcoming. After all, when Miyazaki first developed Dark Souls 1, there was barely any funding. Even the artistic map design wasn't planned from the start, but was instead a compromise due to low budget—yet it unexpectedly became the most iconic part of the game.
Of course, drinking in Dark Souls 1 wasn't the most frustrating. The most frustrating was Dark Souls 2, a game many fans considered no longer worthy of the "Souls" name. That game added an Agility stat, and early on, drinking Estus was unbearably slow. Especially for characters starting with nothing, the drinking speed made countless players complain that it felt like they weren't drinking Estus but some bottle of urea—it was that hard to swallow.
Still, Dark Souls 2 wasn't without merits. Aside from its map design, its combat system leaned more toward "realism." But that style was completely different from Dark Souls 1, which caused a split among players. Some thought it was an evolution, while others felt it was a huge step backward. For a series, changing its core style so directly was risky.
So when it came to the battle system, Lucas didn't plan on big changes, only some small adjustments.
As for bosses and monsters, Lucas skipped over that part for now. At this stage, there was no need to discuss it yet.
Right now, Lucas mainly explained how the map design would work with the game mechanics, so everyone could see what made this game different.
"The biggest difference from the earlier games is that we're redoing a huge portion of the map. The interconnected design will be shown even more fully in the prequel, and it will become one of the core experiences for players. To let them feel its charm more deeply, there will be some small changes to the mechanics." Lucas smiled at the group.
Small changes to the mechanics?
Hearing this, Rachel, Anna, and the others all looked curious. But seeing Lucas's faint smile, they had a feeling those "small changes" might not be so small after all.
Sure enough, his next words left them stunned.
"For example, bonfires in the game can't be used to teleport." Lucas chuckled at their curious expressions.
"Wha… bonfires can't teleport!?" Hector's eyes widened.
Anna, Rachel, and the rest of the team in the meeting room all looked shocked.
Did they hear that right?
Bonfires in the game's map can't teleport?
If there's one thing that gave players peace of mind in Dark Souls, it was the bonfire.
Because at the bonfire, you could return to Firelink Shrine and meet the Fire Keeper, and it basically served as saving your progress.
But now the bonfire couldn't teleport?
How could anyone play this game!?
If you wanted to see the Fire Keeper again, you'd have to climb mountains, cross obstacles, and fight your way back.
And if you were carrying tens of thousands of souls and wanted to head back to level up, but then died twice in a row on the way—wouldn't that drive anyone insane?
(End of The Chapter)
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