The problem with the 'fan-fiction', and why I do not subscribe to the sorts of VaatiVidya mental masturbation, is that it conflates a lot of artistic intent, specifically as a means for the developer to instil a certain feeling in the player, with their storytelling intent ie. "that the level of ornamentation on a castle or fortress wall has to be treated as sacrosanct for lore reasons". I do not believe that the decision making at From was as granularly thought out as that.
Many of the things being criticised in the remake are ones which we can see, on face value, change the feeling of the game, and it's perfectly easy to argue why much of that is negative without relying on lore theorising to back any of it up.
I'll use the Tower of Latria sound design example from the video. The video creator goes into great depths about why it was a mistake to have Return to Slumber playing in the background of Latria, because for lore reasons this is meant to only play during the ending, and it has deep significant meaning, and and and - I don't really find that argument interesting. What is more important is how it changes the
feel of the level. The original version has no music, relying purely on SFX to create a sense of dread in the player. Via the ambient insect noise and, much more importantly, the periodical sound of the bell chimes, there is the sense that you are trapped in an insect nest which is being punctuated by the sound of your impending doom. The remake, on the other hand, now has a sort of ethereal quality due to the singing. The once sinister bell chimes just sort of blend in amongst that introduced music. They are front and centre in the original so that the player makes the connection very rapidly that if they hear that bell chime among the relative silence, it's very likely all going to be over soon. It highlights how a good sound mix which places more emphasis on certain sounds above others can heighten tension.
The other example of the Fat Official is another one to mention. I still do not know, or really care much, about who this character actually is or what he represents like the video speculates. But it's very apparent what sort of feeling the different designs create:
No fan-fiction voice over in the video, just a clear presentation of the designs. There is a sadistic glee to the character in the original with the grinning death mask, the jovial laugh, as well as the almost comical running animation. It's creepy in the way that an evil clown is. The remake on the other hand replaces that with something that just looks explicitly threatening, like a fat footie hooligan who's upset that Gregg's ran out of sausage rolls. A clear difference in feeling.
It isn't even a case of the original being far too ambiguous because of a lack of polygons and Bluepoint just didn't know what to do with the material - they've chosen to go in the opposite direction of the source here. Turn that frown upside down, Bluepoint:
On the subject of ambiguity in the games, of course there is some level of that in the storytelling. One of Miyazaki's game's greatest strengths is how fans can spin these elaborate theories out of what seems like nothing. Miyazaki himself said in an interview regarding storytelling:
So there is a lot of wiggle room, with Demon's Souls in particular, in how people can interpret who someone like the Fat Official is, what his back story is, who he represents, etc. It's VaatiVidya fodder and Miyazaki knows it. But I do not think everything behind From's design ethos is rooted in ambiguity. Miyazaki's other quotes in the video indicate that there is a certain feel which he wanted to create:
I take from that quote a few things:
First, that there
was intent behind the designs in the game. Even if what that was is not explicitly spelled out in the interview ("a certain level of refinement and elegance"
is vague), and it may not exactly align with the reasoning that fan theories try to later give, Miyazaki still had a specific idea of what he wanted. We might never know his exact thought process but we also can't just say it's all ambiguous, or unfinished, or whatever, so Bluepoint should therefore just do whatever they want to the designs.
Second, it suggests that artists were not simply given free reign. They were explicitly instructed by Miyazaki on what he wanted (or rather didn't want) when creating the designs. It's one thing to write off someone's silly elaborate theory, like the Elden Ring color theory one, as something vague they pulled out of their ass. It's very different to say that the original character designs are similarly malleable and open to interpretation by others, when there were explicit instructions and feedback given by Miyazaki during their creation.
And finally, when Miyazaki says that this carries through the entire game, it's a sign that this instruction also likely applied to things like level design and architecture. Miyazaki is not shy that the design of his games is all just his personal preference. Very likely the castle battlements look the way they do because Miyazaki saw that design in a medieval book and wanted to recreate it in the game. But that was still intent, for a specific feel, and Bluepoint deciding to change that into a Gothic looking structure from hundreds of years in the future would be going against that.
So the game was a technical let down on PS3 which was only saved by Miyazaki's incredible artistic direction, yet you've been whining the whole thread whenever people bring up instances of that artistic vision being changed.
Right...
