Design Analysis of Dark Souls III
A downloadable project
Dark Souls III is a highly acclaimed ARPG game known for its high difficulty and obscure story. This article only analyzes and deconstructs the design of its guidance aspects.
Visual guidance in Dark Souls III:
"Weenie": In game design (especially in open-world games), a "Weenie" refers to a visual focal point that is often tall and eye-catching, such as the castle in Disneyland.
Weenie in Ghost of Tsushima:
In Dark Souls III, there are also Weenies used to guide players, such as the sky contrasted by two steep cliffs.
Indicating the action range: In Dark Souls III, to provide players with a clear understanding of their action range, the development team uses a large number of half-height tombstones, coffins, and other objects to create a clear and concise environment.
Ensuring visibility: In a game like Dark Souls with severe death penalties, to prevent players from dying due to poor visibility, the development team often leaves a large empty space in the scene of boss battles. In the initial tutorial map, there is also ample space left around each enemy.
Visual guidance: There are also many level guides in this game. For example, the player's starting point is intentionally set in a higher position.
Additionally, the surrounding tombstones are tilted, and the two distant shattered buildings are ingeniously arranged to form the shape of a door.
Color also plays a part in guidance in this game. For example, a distant pool of water flickers like a lamp in the earthy scene around the player.
The placement of the first collectible item in the game is also worth discussing. It is intentionally placed in a location that is only visible after walking a certain distance. I believe this is to draw the player's attention to the first enemy in the scene. If the player discovers the collectible item too early, they might run towards it and be ambushed by the enemy.
In conclusion, to help beginners quickly learn Dark Souls' combat system, the game is packed with a large number of guiding elements in a small space. To reduce the difficulty of combat, most battles are fought in large open spaces, and there are official admonitions customized based on the enemy's state around each enemy.
Source:
http://theoryofthemeparks.blogspot.com/2015/08/wayfinding-in-themed-design-weeni...
