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Is Miyazaki’s run since Demon Souls the best 4+ game run for a single game director?

Doom85

Member
We are going to act like mikami don’t exist ?

For 4 games in a row as director? Well, let’s see:

Resident Evil 1 (OG) - hit
Dino Crisis 1 - hit
REmake - hit, oh shit, almost there!
P.N.03 - ooh, looks like a swing and a miss there!
Resident Evil 4 - hit
God Hand - hit
Vanquish - hit
Evil Within 1 - and here it’ll be divided, as some would consider EW great, some consider it good but VERY flawed (myself included), and some would consider it meh.

For the criteria the OP listed, I would personally not put Mikami above Miyazaki. Honestly only REmake and RE 4 would I put on the level of Soulsborne games (minus DS 2, but that wasn’t Miyazaki’s). I like Dino Crisis 1 and Evil Within 1 but not to THAT high of an extent. So Mikami might have made 4 games of at least good quality in a row, just not on the level of Miyazaki’s run IMHO.
 
For 4 games in a row as director? Well, let’s see:

Resident Evil 1 (OG) - hit
Dino Crisis 1 - hit
REmake - hit, oh shit, almost there!
P.N.03 - ooh, looks like a swing and a miss there!
Resident Evil 4 - hit
God Hand - hit
Vanquish - hit
Evil Within 1 - and here it’ll be divided, as some would consider EW great, some consider it good but VERY flawed (myself included), and some would consider it meh.

For the criteria the OP listed, I would personally not put Mikami above Miyazaki. Honestly only REmake and RE 4 would I put on the level of Soulsborne games (minus DS 2, but that wasn’t Miyazaki’s). I like Dino Crisis 1 and Evil Within 1 but not to THAT high of an extent. So Mikami might have made 4 games of at least good quality in a row, just not on the level of Miyazaki’s run IMHO.
What ? Mikami made genre defining games. Games. Not saying that isn’t the case for miyazaki but all of his games are very similar compared to the risk the others had to take sometimes to do some things new.
 

Doom85

Member
What ? Mikami made genre defining games. Games. Not saying that isn’t the case for miyazaki but all of his games are very similar compared to the risk the others had to take sometimes to do some things new.

But the OP listed specific criteria (4 hit games in a row on the level of Miyazaki’s run) they were looking for. It’s even in the thread title. Also, Miyazaki invented a completely unique style that led to a TON of future non-From games taking inspiration from it.

Also, only two of Mikami’s games could be called genre-defining. The original Resident Evil and Resident Evil 4. None of his other games made anywhere near an impact on the video game medium. Not saying Mikami’s had a bad career by any means, but you make it sound like he revolutionized a ton of genres which he most certainly did not, he did that to two at the most.
 

Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
There are plenty more. This thread could be remade to point out the Hall of Fame of game directors. Here are two more good picks.

Amy Hennig



Jason Rubin

Crash Bandicoot1996PlayStationDirector
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back1997PlayStationDirector
Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped1998PlayStationDirector
Crash Team Racing1999PlayStationDirector
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy2001PlayStation 2Director, writer
Jak II2003PlayStation 2Director, writer
Jak 32004PlayStation 2Director, writer
Crash 1 and Jak 2 and 3 all sucked though.

Crash 2 up to Jak 1? Amazing, well designed, and near perfect titles in their respective genres. Rubin Did well. Amy Hennig would have beaten him if it wasn’t for that mistake of Jak 3 in the middle.
 
But the OP listed specific criteria (4 hit games in a row on the level of Miyazaki’s run) they were looking for. It’s even in the thread title. Also, Miyazaki invented a completely unique style that led to a TON of future non-From games taking inspiration from it.

Also, only two of Mikami’s games could be called genre-defining. The original Resident Evil and Resident Evil 4. None of his other games made anywhere near an impact on the video game medium. Not saying Mikami’s had a bad career by any means, but you make it sound like he revolutionized a ton of genres which he most certainly did not, he did that to two at the most.
Re1 ,Dino crisis 1, RE4 , vanquish meet that criteria the resident evil remake is not going to blemishes that.
 

Doom85

Member
Re1 ,Dino crisis 1, RE4 , vanquish meet that criteria the resident evil remake is not going to blemishes that.

Aaron Paul What GIF by Breaking Bad


In a row was the criteria. And Resident Evil remake was not a miss, what are you talking about? P.N.03 was the miss.

You do know what the term “in a row” means right? As in “consecutive”?
 
Crash 1 and Jak 2 and 3 all sucked though.

Crash 2 up to Jak 1? Amazing, well designed, and near perfect titles in their respective genres. Rubin Did well. Amy Hennig would have beaten him if it wasn’t for that mistake of Jak 3 in the middle.

Your math is a bit odd to me. In your opinion, you're stating that Rubin has 3 duds while Amy has 1, but she still did a worse job?
 

Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
Your math is a bit odd to me. In your opinion, you're stating that Rubin has 3 duds while Amy has 1, but she still did a worse job?

We are talking about streaks. Jak 3 is in the middle the list provided for her, so she has less of a streak of quality games compared to Rubin. She has 3 fantastic games, 1 dud, then 3 fantastic games. Rubin has 1 dud, 4 fantastic games, and 2 more duds.
 
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Aaron Paul What GIF by Breaking Bad


In a row was the criteria. And Resident Evil remake was not a miss, what are you talking about? P.N.03 was the miss.

You do know what the term “in a row” means right? As in “consecutive”?
I know what it means and I think he’s still up there. Again making different things is what makes them great to me not playing it safe.
 

Rival

Gold Member
His output has been incredible no doubt. One of the absolute best. I suck at his games but I give them all a ton of time and cannot wait to try out Elden Ring.
 

Player Respawn

Neo Member
Leslie Benzies at Rockstar North. from Space Station Silicon Valley to Grand Theft Auto V, every game he put out was a bigger hit than the previous one.
 

Handel

Member
Several of the Nintendo directors have had runs of a similar/greater quality but the exact labeling they do for the positions of their games makes it less clear cut. Miyamo was the creator of many of the biggest names in gaming like Mario, Zelda, and Donkey Kong, along with relatively smaller but still solid franchises like Pikmin and Star Fox.

Yoshiaki Koizumi was one of the main creative minds behind Zelda Link's Awakening, Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, as well as Super Mario Sunshine and Galaxy.

Eiji Aonuma was a director for Ocarina, Majora's Mask, Wind Waker and Twilight Princess, and has been a part of the process for many other Zelda games.

Hideki Kimayi directed RE2, Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe, Okami, Bayonetta and Wonderful 101 pretty much all in a row, and that's more impressive than Miyazaki's for sure given the variety of styles/genre on display.

Fumito Ueda has directed three games, and made three masterpieces. I would only say Bloodborne is a masterpiece out of DS, DaS, DS3, BB and Sekiro. Elden Ring might be Miyazaki's second masterpiece though.
 

Handel

Member
But the OP listed specific criteria (4 hit games in a row on the level of Miyazaki’s run) they were looking for. It’s even in the thread title. Also, Miyazaki invented a completely unique style that led to a TON of future non-From games taking inspiration from it.

Also, only two of Mikami’s games could be called genre-defining. The original Resident Evil and Resident Evil 4. None of his other games made anywhere near an impact on the video game medium. Not saying Mikami’s had a bad career by any means, but you make it sound like he revolutionized a ton of genres which he most certainly did not, he did that to two at the most.
Completely unique is a no, though the combination of elements is sure. Ico's/Fumito Ueda's style was a big inspiration on Miyazaki's, primarily in level design, minimalism and atmosphere.
 

Hugare

Member
Helps that it's the same game every time.
I'm playing (and enjoying) Elden Ring right now, but yeah, this

Anything not Sekiro or Bloodborne from FROM is just the same shit with a different lore.

You start as a dead body getting revived, then you die right at the start from the miniboss, wake up to a lady that you'll have to talk to in order to upgrade your "totally not Estus Flasks" item. Same gameplay.

And people would have a hard time pick which screenshot is from Elden Ring or Dark Souls, 'cause their art is so alike.

Miyamoto alone is on a completely different league. Have been on the industry for more than 3 decades, pumping innovative games every goddamn time.
 
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yurinka

Member
Since Demons souls Miyazaki has directed Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Dark Souls 3, Sekiro and now Elden Ring.

Is there another game director who has had this many superb games in a row?

I can think Maybe Kojimas run from MGS2 -Death Stranding or Todd Howard’s Morrowind - Skyrim.
I'd say Kojima with Metal Gear Solid series (including Peace Walker) to Death Stranding.

Btw Miyazaki also directed Déráciné, a PSVR game. I don't know if it's good or not. We also have to consider that Miyazaki pretty often codirects or overviews games.

What about Miyamoto.
He didn't direct most of the games of the series he's known for. In fact didn't even work in many of the games of these series. He retired from game development while ago, even if people keep giving him he credit for new games he didn't develop.
 
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Mark Cerny basically created every game made along with the much anticipated magnum opus closing to his trilogy, Knack 3.

Anyways this “Souls” fanbase is cute.
 
Not saying it's the best run but people sleep on Godd Howard because how bad fallout 4 was. Morrowind, oblivion, fallout 3 and skyrim is a hell of a run
 

DelireMan7

Member
Helps that it's the same game every time.
As a hardcore Soulsborne fan, I see why you say that and I can partially agree.

That being said, the same statement can be said for Assassin's creed game and majority of the gaming community will not praise them like that...

You can like or dislike the Souls but it's undeniable they brought something new to the gaming media and are inherently (very) good games
 

OZ9000

Banned
Demon's Souls, Blood Borne, Elden Ring. What a crazy legacy.
They all have the same formula. There is nothing fundamentally special about these games. Just the same game with a new layer of paint. Combat/bosses/RPG elements virtually identical.

I'm more impressed with Kojima.

Metal Gear Solid 1/2/3/4 all feel like fresh experiences.

In fact, Uncharted 2 is more different to Uncharted 1 than Miyazaki's games are to each other.
 
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Iorveth

Banned
Weird how no one mentions indie developers. Jonathan Blow with Braid and The Witness?
The Witness is the most impressive indie project of all time and it isn't even close. The way he gamified every element of a modern 3D engine is still mindblowing and we haven't gotten anything remotely similar since.

Kojima is a hack btw. Miyazaki one trick pony.
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
Miyazaki is very good for sure, but I do find it a bit disappointing that he's basically given all the credit for FROM's recent output. Its a pretty big studio (300+ staff) that's been around since 1986, putting out many (often janky but definitely noteworthy) titles and franchises.

A lot of the impact of the Souls' franchise is due to its art direction and overall design quality, now naturally as director he has the role of overseeing all this, but the real talent at FROM remains pretty obscure.

Say what you want about Kojima and his ego, but he's never been shy about giving the spotlight to Yoji Shinkawa for his contribution to the identity of the Metal Gear franchise.
 

K' Dash

Member
Dude's got talent, he made Sekiro.

All the other games are basically the same shit over and over again with small tweeks here and there.

Also, how come he hasn't made a boss battle as epic as Smough and Ornstein in a souls game? (Sekiro doesn't count, it already has the most epic final battle ever) here's hoping Elden Ring has one.
 
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Y0ssarian

Banned
Itagaki.

Dead or Alive -> Dead or Alive 2 -> Dead or Alive 3 -> Ninja Gaiden -> Dead or Alive Ultimate -> Ninja Gaiden Black -> Dead or Alive 4 -> Ninja Gaiden II

Even throw in DoA Xtreme in there.

Kamiya is also good
 
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sankt-Antonio

:^)--?-<
There has been way to few changes to the formula to deserve this title. BB was the most radical in the souls series. I am/was a massive fan but just like AC/DC, after a while its just more of the same.

Souls game start to remind me of FIFA or COD inkl. a fanbase that can't take the slightest criticism.
 
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AJUMP23

Member
He didn't direct most of the games of the series he's known for. In fact didn't even work in many of the games of these series. He retired from game development while ago, even if people keep giving him he credit for new games he didn't develop.
HE still Directed a ton of great games on the NES and SNES and N64.
 

Phase

Member
"Is Miyazaki's run since Demon Souls the best 4+ game run for a single game director directing games I like?" Fixed the title for you.

As other posters have pointed out, there are others that have accomplished several good game releases in a row. I mean, we could approach it from the franchise perspective too for games released by the same director: Mario, God of War, Gran Turismo, MGS, Zelda, Smash Bros, Mario Kart... The list goes on and on.

Miyazaki is one of the greats, for sure but I don't think he is the best.
He's (as well as From) one of the only ones holding gaming to a higher standard lately. I'm sure there are a few others but I can't think of them off the top of my head outside of the ones you mentioned. There aren't many out there at the moment, besides maybe some smaller indie devs.
 
Demon Souls
Dark Souls
Bloodbourne
Dark Souls 3
Sekiro
Elden Ring

Single-handedly saved modern gaming .
Idk if that’s saving modern gaming those are great games in concept and player agency. But we can’t gloss over the some of the performance issues in those from games even from 2 gens ago on 360. That has to be counted for in some capacity when talking about this no?
 
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