Line #46 Creator/FromSoftware


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fromsoftware_blacklogo_1434385630_1.png]]
2	->''[[ResurrectiveImmortality To emerge and to breathe anew]]\
3	[[JigsawPuzzlePlot For a purpose so far from my own]]\
4	[[BeautifulVoid And this world I've awoken to]]\
5	[[SpiritualSuccessor Seems familiar, yet somehow unknown]]''
6	-->--''[[VideoGame/EldenRing Fallen Leaves]]'' by '''Music/MiracleOfSound'''
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8	[=FromSoftware, Inc.=] 『株式会社フロム・ソフトウェア』 is a Japanese game developer founded in 1986. Originally founded as an office productivity software company (thus the company's name), From would decide to shift gears and move into making video games after members of the staff played the ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}}'' series, leading to the development and eventual release of ''VideoGame/KingsField'' in 1994 for the Sony Platform/PlayStation.
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10	Through [[MediaNotes/TheFifthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames The Fifth]] and MediaNotes/TheSixthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames, they were largely known for their highly difficult HumongousMecha and DarkFantasy games that had small but dedicated cult followings. However, starting in MediaNotes/TheSeventhGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames, they gained worldwide popularity for their [[TropeMaker trope-making]] DifficultButAwesome [[SoulsLikeRPG Souls-like RPGs]], including ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'', the ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' trilogy, and ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}''; all helmed by the now company President, Creator/HidetakaMiyazaki. This popularity led in 2014 to the Japanese media conglomerate Kadokawa acquiring an 80% stake in [=FromSoftware=], ending nearly 20 years of independence. Eight years later, following the success of ''VideoGame/EldenRing'', both Tencent and Sony Interactive would each buy approximately 15% shares in the studio.
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12	Generally speaking, their games tend to go against the grain, with weighty, punishing mechanics and stories with dark themes in many of their releases ever since the original ''VideoGame/KingsField''.
13	----
14	!!Games developed by [=FromSoftware=]:
15	[[index]]
16	* ''[[VideoGame/KingsField King's Field]]'' (1994)
17	** ''King's Field II'' (1995)
18	** ''King's Field III'' (1996)
19	** ''King's Field IV'' (2001)
20	** ''King's Field Mobile'' (2004)
21	*** ''King's Field Mobile EX'' (2004)
22	*** ''King's Field Mobile II'' (2005)
23	** ''King's Field Additional I'' (2006)
24	*** ''King's Field Additional II'' (2006)
25	* ''[[VideoGame/ArmoredCore1 Armored Core]]'' (1997)
26	** ''[[VideoGame/ArmoredCoreProjectPhantasma Project Phantasma]]'' (1997)
27	** ''[[VideoGame/ArmoredCoreMasterOfArena Master of Arena]]'' (1999)
28	** ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore2'' (2000)
29	*** ''[[VideoGame/ArmoredCore2AnotherAge Another Age]]'' (2001)
30	** ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore3'' (2002)
31	*** ''VideoGame/ArmoredCoreSilentLine'' (2003)
32	*** ''VideoGame/ArmoredCoreNexus'' (2004)
33	*** ''[[VideoGame/ArmoredCoreNineBreaker Nine Breaker]]'' (2004)
34	*** ''[[VideoGame/ArmoredCoreFormulaFront Formula Front]]'' (2004)
35	*** ''[[VideoGame/ArmoredCoreLastRaven Last Raven]]'' (2005)
36	** ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore4'' (2006)
37	*** ''VideoGame/ArmoredCoreForAnswer'' (2008)
38	** ''VideoGame/ArmoredCoreV'' (2012)
39	*** ''VideoGame/ArmoredCoreVerdictDay'' (2013)
40	** ''VideoGame/ArmoredCoreVIFiresOfRubicon'' (2023)
41	* ''VideoGame/EchoNight'' (1998)
42	** ''Echo Night 2: The Lord of Nightmares'' (1999)
43	** ''Echo Night: Beyond'' (2004)
44	* ''Shadow Tower'' (1998)
45	** ''Shadow Tower Abyss'' (2003)
46	* ''Frame Gride'' (1999)
47	* ''Eternal Ring'' (2000)
48	* ''VideoGame/{{Evergrace}}'' (2000)
49	** ''Forever Kingdom'' (2001)
50	* ''VideoGame/TheAdventuresOfCookieAndCream'' (2000)
51	* ''Murakumo Renegade Mech Pursuit'' (2002)
52	* ''VideoGame/OtogiMythOfDemons'' (2002)
53	** ''Otogi 2: Immortal Warriors'' (2003)
54	* ''VideoGame/LostKingdoms'' (2002)
55	** ''Lost Kingdoms 2'' (2003)
56	* ''VideoGame/{{Kuon}}'' (2004)
57	* ''VideoGame/MetalWolfChaos'' (2004)
58	* ''VideoGame/AnotherCenturysEpisode'' (2005)
59	* ''VideoGame/EnchantedArms'' (2006)
60	* ''VideoGame/{{Chromehounds}}'' (2006)
61	* ''VideoGame/NinjaBlade'' (2009)
62	* ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'' (2009)
63	* ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsI'' (2011)
64	** ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'' (2014)
65	** ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'' (2016)
66	* ''Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn'' (2012)
67	* ''VideoGame/SteelBattalion: Heavy Armor'' (2012)
68	* ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'' (2015)
69	* ''VideoGame/{{Deracine}}'' (2018)
70	* ''VideoGame/SekiroShadowsDieTwice'' (2019)
71	* ''VideoGame/EldenRing'' (2022)
72	[[/index]]
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74	----
75
76	!!Recurring tropes in [=FromSoftware=]'s works:
77	* ArcSymbol: Symbols feature heavily in [=FromSoftware=] games, especially those of the Soulsborne series, and often consist of very simple iconography, often circles, and often featuring flare that makes them look like part of the world; The nexus glyphs of ''Demon's Souls'', the Darksign for ''Dark Souls'', the Hunter's rune for ''Bloodborne'', the death kanji for ''Sekiro'', the queen's runestone from ''Lost Kingdoms'' and the shattered ring for ''Elden Ring''.
78	* AssociatedComposer: Music/KotaHoshino was responsible for much of the music in the ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore'' series, while Yuka Kitamura played a large part in soundtracks for most of the Creator/HidetakaMiyazaki-directed projects.
79	* {{BFG}}: The Karasawa Gun, often used as one of the strongest rifles available (''Armored Core'' usually has it as an InfinityPlusOneSword).
80	* {{BFS}}: The Moonlight Sword, a regular among the strongest blades available (laser blades in ''Armored Core'', magic swords in the ''Souls'' series, bazookas in the ''VideoGame/MetalWolfChaos'').
81	* CallForward: ''Dark Souls''[='=]s Ring of Sacrifice and ''Elden Ring''[='=]s Golden Seed make debuts in ''Eternal Ring''.
82	* ContinuingIsPainful: A common mechanic is to have the protagonist drop all their EXP/money (usually the same thing) when they die. Have fun fighting your way back and getting it again. How ''much'' this hurts depends on the game.
83	* CrapsackWorld: The setting for ''Armored Core'' is less than optimistic, with each new installment escalating the global conflict and the pathos of war. The same can be said for the ''Souls'' series, with a recursive plot involving the fall of a great kingdom and the inexorable rise of darkness. ''Bloodborne'' adds CosmicHorror to classic torch-and-pitchfork GothicHorror using epic amounts of corrupted chum upon the stunningly bleak cities- and landscapes.
84	* CreatorThumbprint:
85	** MysteriousWaif companions. Many of their games feature one as your main ally, serving primarily as your means of leveling up.
86	** [[{{BFS}} The Moonlight Sword]], mentioned above, is a massive sword with an immaterial blade of blue-green light. In the ''King’s Field'' games, it's a magical claymore of great power. In ''Armored Core'', it's the most potent LaserBlade, balancing length and intensity. In ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'', its blade ignores physical barriers: namely shields. The ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' games allow it to be blocked, but grant it a SwordBeam ability, and ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'' makes it a seemingly ordinary claymore that may adopt the ''Dark Souls'' traits on command. In the ''VideoGame/MetalWolfChaos'', it's a very powerful bazooka-type weapon, which looks like a sword with handle and shoulder rest from "Super Bazooka" and shoots slow-moving vertical lightning discharges. There's also a ''King's Field'' game maker tool for Windows they have developed that was also named after it as ''Sword of Moonlight''.
87	** Patches, an NPC who will attempt to trick you into getting yourself killed, and then beg for mercy and offer to sell you things. He will always fight in the most cowardly way possible (usually a greatshield-and-spear combo) and with one exception will hate the clergy.
88	* DoubleMeaning:
89	** ''Eternal Ring'' refers to a MagicRing of great power, and [[spoiler: the prison of the BigBad, the [[GooGooGodlike child-god]] Solus]].
90	** ''Dark Souls'' refers to both people cursed to undeath, and [[spoiler: the fact that humanity's souls are born from primordial darkness]].
91	** ''Bloodborne'' refers to the power carried within paleblood, and [[spoiler: the MysticalPlague that ''is'' paleblood]].
92	* MoneyIsExperiencePoints: In many of their role-playing games, such as ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'', ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'', and ''VideoGame/EldenRing'', the game's currency doubles as the only method for leveling up the player's avatar. If the player dies, they drop all their money in the spot they died, which is lost permanently if the player is killed again before retrieving it. This makes it beneficial to buy as many items as possible in between leveling up so that you have less to lose in the event that you die trying to retrieve your lost money.
93	* MysteriousWaif: A RecurringElement in their fantasy games. Each game features a young woman with a mysterious past (usually completely unexplained), and frequently magical powers, who stays in the HubWorld and helps the hero however she can, often by leveling up. She is usually a BlindSeer, and has MysticalWhiteHair. In ''Demon's Souls'' she's the Maiden in Black; In ''Dark Souls I'' and III she's the Fire Keeper(s); In ''Dark Souls II'' she's [[spoiler:Shanalotte]], the Emerald Herald; In ''Bloodborne'' she's the Plain Doll, in ''Sekiro'' she's Lady Emma, who takes an unusually proactive role by being [[spoiler:the Penultimate boss in the ''Shura'' ending]], and in ''Elden Ring'' she's Melina, who also takes an unusually proactive role by giving the Tarnished their horse, having her own offscreen quest, [[spoiler:helping the player against Morgott, and finally sacrificing herself to allow you to reach the final boss]].
94	* MythologyGag: A number of them appear between [=FromSoftware=]'s titles
95	** [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder Patches]] appears in ''Armored Core: For Answer'' as Patch the Good Luck, a [[DirtyCoward cowardly]] sniper who [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere abandons his faction]] as soon as he notices his life is at risk. In ''Demon's Souls'', he's Patches the Hyena, a [[RobbingTheDead grave robber]] who promises treasure to unwitting adventurers, only to kick them into a pit full of dangerous enemies so he can rob their corpses for things to sell. In ''Dark Souls 1'', ''3'' and ''Elden Ring'', he's Trusty Patches, Unbreakable Patches and Patches the Untethered respectively (the first two seem to be the exact same person) and does the same thing as his ''Demon's'' counterpart. The same goes for ''Bloodborne''’s Patches the Spider, with the minor change that [[spoiler:he's literally a spider]]. He is absent from ''Dark Souls 2'', however an {{Expy}} named Mild-Mannered Pate is present instead, who has a different look and voice as well as a slightly different MO -- he still tricks people into getting killed by traps by promising them treasure, they're just not ''his'' traps. He just wants a guinea pig to sacrifice to the trap and get rid of the danger so that he can have the treasure all to himself. He also doesn't seem to rob corpses.
96	*** And a notable side-note: Patches always uses the most cowardly fighting style possible when confronted. In ''Armored Core'', he snipes from great heights, avoiding direct combat entirely. In the ''Souls'' games and ''Elden Ring'', he tries to avoid confrontation entirely, preferring to dispatch his marks with trickery and kicking people into enemy-filled pits, and if forced to fight, he wields a spear from behind a greatshield (and in ''Demon's Souls'' especially, he uses the health-regenerating Adjudicator's Shield along with the Scraping Spear which causes massive equipment degradation). Pate uses this fighting style as well.
97	*** What’s more, Patches always has a special (and usually mutual) hatred of the clergy, whoever they may be in the game's universe. Except in ''Bloodborne'', where he pretty much ''is'' a clergy member in all but name (to Amygdala).
98	*** Also, falling for Patches's tricks usually gives you an opportunity to forgive him for tricking you. Usually choosing "no" will result in him giving you extra rewards as a way of sucking back up to you, but either way he becomes a merchant for the rest of the game.
99	** Both Seath and Gurya, the villains from {{VideoGame/Kings Field}} end up reappearing in ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsI'', except Gurya ends up renamed to Kalameet (although both Gurya and Kalameet basically look identical).* ProductionForeshadowing:
100	** The design of Marvelous Chester from ''Dark Souls''' DLC area served, with his top hat and longcoat, as foreshadowing for the by-then in-production ''Bloodborne''.
101	** The design of Yamamura the Wanderer from ''Bloodborne'''s DLC area similarly served as foreshadowing for the by-then in-production ''Sekiro''.
102	* ProductionThrowback: You enter the ''Dark Souls'' DLC area by getting, as Chester describes it, "snatched by a shadowy limb and dragged off to the past." Come ''Bloodborne'' you access the DLC area by getting snatched by a shadowy limb and dragged off to the past. At the spot where this happens you even find a top hat and longcoat, quite similar to Chester's own get-up.
103	* SceneryGorn: When they want bleakness... let's say nausea isn't too strong a word to apply.
104	* SceneryPorn: When they want to convey the greatness of a scene, they do so with every cent of their budget.
105	* SignatureStyle: There's a lot of variety in their catalog, but in general their games are known for being unforgivingly difficult while still allowing a wide latitude of player freedom, having extremely confusing stories, and being at least a little bit janky. Also, complicated menus.
106	* WhoWantsToLiveForever: The main theme of ''Dark Souls'', ''Bloodborne'', and ''Sekiro.'' To elaborate, ResurrectiveImmortality is a mechanic used just for the player, but said power is painful to go through and especially in the latter, this combines with ImmortalityImmorality, where many of the people are willing to commit various crimes to obtain it.
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Context Creator / FromSoftware