Dark Souls
is a series of action role-playing games created by Hidetaka Miyazaki of FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The series began with the release of ''Dark Souls'' (2011) and has seen two sequels, ''Dark Souls II'' (2014) and ''Dark Souls III'' (2016). ''Dark Souls'' has received critical acclaim, with the first title often cited as one of the greatest in video games, with the series as a whole being both praised and criticized for its high level of difficulty. By 2022, the series had shipped over 33 million copies. Other FromSoftware games, including ''Demon's Souls'', ''King's Field'', ''Bloodborne'', '' Sekiro'', and ''Elden Ring'', share several related concepts and are commonly grouped together as Soulslikes. Setting The games take place within a dark, medieval fantasy setting, where the player's character fights against knights, dragons, phantoms, demons, and other monstrous or supernatural entities. The accretion, loss, and recovery of souls ar ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Action Role-playing
An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG) is a subgenre of video games that combines core elements from both the action game and role-playing genre. Definition The games emphasize real-time combat where the player has direct control over the characters as opposed to turn or menu-based combat while still having a focus on character's Stats in order to determine relative strength and abilities. These games often use action game combat systems similar to hack and slash or shooter games. Action role-playing games may also incorporate action-adventure games, which include a mission system and role-playing game mechanics, or MMORPGs with real-time combat systems. History 1970s and early 1980s Allgame listed the following games released prior to 1984 as action RPGs: ''Temple of Apshai'' (1979) and its sequel ''Gateway to Apshai'' (1983), ''Beneath the Pyramids'' for the Apple II (1980), '' Bokosuka Wars'' (1983), and '' Sword of Fargoal'' (1983). Jerem ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Game Difficulty
Game balance is a branch of game design that is described as a mathematical-algorithmic model of a game’s numbers, game mechanics, and relations between the two. Game balance consists of adjusting values to create a certain user experience. Players’ perception and experience are the objectives of game balancing. Overview and development Similar to game design, the definition of game balance is different between various game designers and developers. Game balance is present in every type of game in some form, so there are no existing comparable interpretations of the concept. Even so, game balance is generally understood as introducing a level of fairness for the players. This includes adjusting difficulty, win-loss conditions, game states, economy balancing, and so on to work in tandem with each other. The concept of game balance depends entirely on the type of game being discussed. Most game designers agree that game balancing serves towards providing an engaging player expe ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Skill (role-playing Games)
A statistic (or stat) in role-playing games is a piece of data that represents a particular aspect of a fictional character. That piece of data is usually a (unitless) integer or, in some cases, a set of dice. For some types of statistics, this value may be accompanied with a descriptive adjective, sometimes called a ''specialisation'' or ''aspect'', that either describes how the character developed that particular score or an affinity for a particular use of that statistic (like ''Specialisations'' in ''Ars Magica'' or ''Attribute Aspects'' in ''Aria''). Most games divide their statistics into several categories. The set of categories actually used in a game system, as well as the precise statistics within each category, vary greatly. The most often used types of statistic include: * Attributes describe to what extent a character possesses natural, in-born characteristics common to all characters. * Advantages and disadvantages are useful or problematic characteristics that a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Character Creation
Character creation (also character generation or character design) is the process of defining a game character or other character. Typically, a character's individual strengths and weaknesses are represented by a set of statistics. Games with a fictional setting may include traits such as race, class, or species. Games with a more contemporary or narrower setting may limit customization to physical and personality traits. This is usually used in Role-playing games. Role-playing games Character creation is typically the first step taken by the players (as opposed to the gamemaster) in preparation for a game. The result of character creation is a '' direct characterization'' that is recorded on a character sheet. In its most comprehensive form it includes not only a game-specific representation of the character's physical, mental, psychological and social properties in terms of statistics, but also often less formal descriptions of the character's physical appearance, personalit ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Non-playable Character
A non-player character (NPC), or non-playable character, is any character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster or referee rather than by another player. In video games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer (instead of a player) that has a predetermined set of behaviors that potentially will impact gameplay, but will not necessarily be the product of true artificial intelligence. Role-playing games In a traditional tabletop role-playing game such as ''Dungeons & Dragons'', an NPC is a character portrayed by the gamemaster (GM). While the player characters (PCs) form the narrative's protagonists, non-player characters can be thought of as the "supporting cast" or "extras" of a roleplaying narrative. Non-player characters populate the fictional world of the game, and can fill any role not occupied by a player character. Non-pla ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Boss (video Games)
In video games, a boss is a significant computer-controlled opponent. A fight with a boss character is commonly referred to as a boss battle or boss fight. Bosses are generally far stronger than other opponents the player has faced up to that point. Boss battles are generally seen at climax points of particular sections of games, such as at the end of a level or stage or guarding a specific objective. A miniboss is a boss weaker or less significant than the main boss in the same area or level, though usually more powerful than the standard opponents and often fought alongside them. A superboss (sometimes 'secret' or 'hidden' boss) is generally much more powerful than the bosses encountered as part of the main game's plot and is often an optional encounter. A final boss is often the main antagonist of a game's story and the defeat of that character usually provides a positive conclusion to the game. A boss rush is a stage where the player faces multiple previous bosses again i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Third-person (video Games)
In 3D video games, a virtual camera system aims at controlling a camera or a set of cameras to display a view of a 3D virtual world. Camera systems are used in video games where their purpose is to show the action at the best possible angle; more generally, they are used in 3D virtual worlds when a third-person view is required. As opposed to filmmakers, virtual camera system creators have to deal with a world that is interactive and unpredictable. It is not possible to know where the player character is going to be in the next few seconds; therefore, it is not possible to plan the shots as a film maker would do. To solve this issue, the system relies on certain rules or artificial intelligence to select the most appropriate shots. There are mainly three types of camera systems. In ''fixed camera systems'', the camera does not move at all and the system displays the player's character in a succession of still shots. ''Tracking cameras'', on the other hand, follow the characte ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Medieval Fantasy
Historical fantasy is a category of fantasy and genre of historical fiction that incorporates fantastic elements (such as magic (fantasy), magic) into a more "realistic" narrative. There is much crossover with other subgenres of fantasy; those classed as Arthurian, Celtic, or Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages could just as easily be placed in historical fantasy. Stories fitting this classification generally take place prior to the 20th century. Films of this genre may have plots set in biblical times or classical antiquity. They often have plots based very loosely on mythology or legends of Greek-Roman history, or the surrounding cultures of the same era. Overview Historical fantasy usually takes one of four common approaches: # Magic in fiction, Magic, mythical creatures such as dragons or other supernatural elements, such as magic rings co-exist invisibly with the mundane world, with the majority of people being unaware of it. In this, it has a close similarity to conte ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dark Fantasy
Dark fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy literary, artistic, and cinematic works that incorporate disturbing and frightening themes of fantasy. It often combines fantasy with elements of horror or has a gloomy dark tone or a sense of horror and dread.Stableford, Brian, "Dark Fantasy", in ''The A to Z of Fantasy Literature'',(p. 97), Scarecrow Press,Plymouth. 2005. Definition A strict definition for dark fantasy is difficult to pin down. Gertrude Barrows Bennett has been called "the woman who invented dark fantasy". Both Charles L. Grant''The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Themes, Works, and Wonders'', Volume 1, edited by Gary Westfahl, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005. and Karl Edward Wagner are credited with having coined the term "dark fantasy"—although both authors were describing different styles of fiction. Brian Stableford argues "dark fantasy" can be usefully defined as subgenre of stories that attempt to "incorporate elements of horror fiction" i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Soulslike
A Soulslike (also spelled Souls-like) is a subgenre of action role-playing and action-adventure games known for high levels of difficulty and emphasis on environmental storytelling, typically in a dark fantasy setting. It had its origin in ''Demon's Souls'' and the ''Dark Souls'' series by FromSoftware, the themes and mechanics of which directly inspired several other games. Soulslike games developed by FromSoftware themselves have been specifically referred to as Soulsborne games, a portmanteau of ''Souls'' and ''Bloodborne''. Soulslikes have been adopted by a number of critics and developers. However, it has also received questions whether it is a true genre or a collection of shared mechanics. Concepts Gameplay Soulslike games typically have a high level of difficulty where repeated player character death is expected and incorporated as part of the gameplay, losing all progress if certain checkpoints have not been reached. Soulslike games usually have means to permanentl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Elden Ring
is a 2022 action role-playing game developed by FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki with worldbuilding provided by fantasy writer George R. R. Martin, it was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on February 25. In the game, players control a customizable player character on a journey to repair the titular Elden Ring, and become the new Elden Lord. ''Elden Ring'' is presented through a third-person perspective, with players freely roaming its interactive open world, featuring locations such as dungeons, catacombs, and caves. Gameplay elements include combat using several types of weapons and magic spells, horseback riding, and crafting. FromSoftware wanted to create an open-world game with gameplay similar to ''Dark Souls'', intending ''Elden Ring'' to act as an evolution of the first game in the series. Miyazaki admired Martin's work and hoped his contributions would pro ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |