The world view of the “Dark Souls” series has been a hotly discussed topic among players for many years. However, YuWave, the developer of the new roguelike “Demon Lord: Just a Block”, which has recently become popular on Steam and has a praise rate of 96%, believes that if FromSoftware had directly disclosed the complete design files of “Dark Souls”, no one would discuss its Lore today.
Don’t tell too many stories, so players will keep digging.
In an interview with GamesRadar+, YuWave said that “Demon Lord: Just a Block” adopts a narrative concept somewhat similar to “Dark Souls”, that is, it does not tell all the stories at once, but uses fragmented information to allow players to piece together the world view on their own. He bluntly said: “If FromSoftware released the complete design documents of “Dark Souls”, no one would argue about its Lore anymore.” Precisely because the official has not given all the answers, the player community can continue to research and speculate, making the world view last forever.
Players are here to play games, not to read novels
YuWave stated that “Demon Lord: Just a Block” has always been a Gameplay First work, so the team deliberately avoided lengthy conversations. He even set rules for himself, with each plot scene having a maximum of 10 dialogues and each sentence not exceeding 50 characters. He hopes that players can quickly understand the information instead of having to stop and read a lot of text. He believes that short and powerful narratives make it easier for players to remember the characters and maintain the pace of exploration without ruining the game experience.
The true ending is actually always there!
YuWave also revealed that the true ending of “Demon Lord: Just a Block” actually exists from the beginning of the game, but players lack enough plot clues to know how to trigger it. As they explore and collect more story fragments, players will gradually understand the world setting and even discover new routes and ways to overcome levels. This is also the experience he hopes to bring to players. The story is not forced through cutscenes, but relies on players to discover it step by step.
Blank space is the soul!
Many players agree with this narrative method and believe that the most fascinating thing about the “Dark Souls” series is that there is no standard answer and everyone can come up with different interpretations based on the clues in the game. Some people also said that many games nowadays are in a hurry to explain the plot clearly, but there is less fun for players to explore and discuss on their own.