Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice's protagonist will speak
From Software is telling a more intimate story about a set cast of characters in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
With this shift from the lore-heavy, world-based storytelling style From adopted in the past, comes much greater emphasis on characters and their relationships in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
In a new interview with Game Informer, the developer said it wanted to build the game's story around its characters, including that of the protagonist; The Wolf. Having a fixed protagonist is part of how it hopes to achieve this.
"We’re trying to tell more of a drama, if you will, of these characters," said marketing and communications manager Yasuhiro Kitao.
This includes The Young Lord, and his relationship with the protagonist. Failing to protect him is what sets the game's main events in motion, of course. Interestingly, From Software revealed that The Young Lord will even accompany the player on one mission, but stressed it won't be "[an] escort mission in the typical sense."
The other major change in Sekiro's storytelling is that the protagonist will speak. This is another benefit of locking players to a single option. "He'll say a few things here and there, but yeah, he won't bore you to tears with constant monologues," added Kitao.
The developer also clarified that this newfound approach to narrative won't forgo the long-standing tradition of leaving bits of story for players to discover in item descriptions, and through examining the world. Kitao called it "fragmented storytelling", and promised it's very much still part of the game.
There's more in the full interview, which you can read at the link above.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is out March 22 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.