9 Lessons All Video Game Developers Can Learn From Dark Souls

1. Hidden Content

One of the major problems with modern game developers Is their lack of faith in the player. In some cases, the player is treated as a genuine idiot who can’t think for themselves and naturally the developers feel the need to sign post every detail of their game to ensure that every single player sees everything they’ve done. And that’s a fair way of developing a game. It makes sense that a game developer wants a player to see every part of what they put in.

Hence why it speaks volumes when a developer has the guts to hide away a lot of their content.

To that end, FromSoftware aren't afraid to have portions of their game never be seen by the average player, locking away major portions of the game, but still retaining a focused central narrative and game is an art-form. And the fact that FromSoftware are willing to hide the objectively better levels of their game away and include their worst in the main progression, speaks volumes to their attention to their game.

By hiding away their content, the game becomes incredibly large and rewards exploration in the most meaningful of ways. The best moments of any game is discovering a secret that has been incredibly well hidden. The joy of accidentally stumbling onto the double illusionary walls leading to Ash Lake was an incredible sensation, adding depth to the world that can’t be had by throwing all the content at the player.

I just wish that more developers had the guts to not wave banners around every single piece of content their game has to offer.

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Do you think there are lessons to be learnt in Dark Souls and if so, what? Or is it complete drivel with no discernible points of quality? Let us know in the comments below!