How was From Software perceived before Soulsborne?

Oreiller · Aug 23, 2018

boi said:
Lol thats funny because I hated Dark Souls the first 10 hours. I kept playing because the game fucking ignored me. It did not pay me any attention. It had no respect for me as a player. Then after ten, lonesome, frustrating hours in which between I asked for a refund (but did not get any) I saw the value of the game. So its crazy for me to see how someone instantly can observe that game and see the quality in it.

I bought a PS3 to play Demon's Souls after a single gameplay video of the first level of the game. Got hooked instantly and I knew it would be one of my favorite games of all time after beating the first boss. I had never played a Fromsoft game before.

Mr.Branding · Aug 23, 2018

Knew their Tenchu games. Great dev even then

MZZ · Aug 23, 2018

I know them from Armored Core but never knew what King's Field was or any other game they have.

I loved Armored Core.

Sanctuary · Aug 23, 2018

Before they were "big", they were always one of my favorite, not as well known studios. King's Field (here, it was actually the second game of the series) on the PSX was the first RPG I played on the system, bought the second King's Field that was released here too. I was also completely blown away by the demo of the first Armored Core in '97 so much that I bought the game as soon as it was released. Played it split screen for months on end, then the second on the PS2.

I had not even heard of Demon's Souls until a WoW guildmate asked me if I was getting it when it was released a few weeks later. I had yet to buy a PS3 either. When I watched the trailer for it, it struck me right away how familiar it was, but I didn't realize why at the time until I looked up FROM's history. I ended up buying a PS3 for it and Uncharted 2. One of those games was worth the price of the system.

Fliviuart said:
Knew their Tenchu games. Great dev even then

They didn't actually develop the majority of the Tenchu games, and certainly not the first two. They published them, but I'm not sure if publishers are entirely hands off with the development in Japan.

Deleted member 19218 · Aug 23, 2018

"Who?" That's how. I didn't even know they made games before Demon Souls. I'm glad their hard work paid off though, they deserve the recognition that they now have.

MidiPour · Aug 23, 2018

I had known about their games such as Otogi, Lost Kingdoms, Echo Night, Armored Core and Adventures of Cookies and Cream, but had never associated those games with the studio. So their name was probably less known on message boards than pre-P3 Atlus, NIS or Gust. Heck, the only reason I even knew half of those games was because I had started digging deep into the PlayStation library for gems before the console was phased out from brick and mortar stores. The only reason I checked out King's Field at all was because the previews for Demon's Souls fascinated me at the time.

Bishop89 · Aug 23, 2018

Armored Core is still their best franchise, even if the last couple were stinkers.

88E146FE7CF929D925C9DD43F7BD865CC71A999E

Deleted member 4021 · Aug 23, 2018

There's no such game as "Soulsborne" so I don't know what they were like before something that doesn't exist

MilkBeard · Aug 23, 2018

I had played Lost Kingdoms before, and had seen some of their other games like Armored Core. I always just saw them as a niche developer that made flawed but interesting games.

HBK · Aug 23, 2018

wrowa said:
Most people didn't know they were a thing. Others considered them as somewhat of a cult studio that developed interesting but most of the time rather flawed games.

Should have been first post. Era disappoints :(

Yeah they were barely a blip on the radar, but had a few series of games with a niche following, such as Armored Core or even King's Field.

Deleted member 17952 · Aug 23, 2018

Fliviuart said:
Knew their Tenchu games. Great dev even then

Developer of Tenchu was Acquire. They also did the Shinobido games which were fantastic.

LiK · Aug 23, 2018

They made weird niche games. I loved their games before Demon's Souls even existed.

MaitreWakou · Aug 23, 2018

boi said:
Interesting. Do you think they will now never leave that type of game?

They just did. Sekiro ain't a soulsborne.

joylevel11 · Aug 23, 2018

Most people probably didn't know who they were. Lol at all the people pretending they knew about them before Souls.

Sanctuary · Aug 23, 2018

Bishop89 said:
Armored Core is still their best franchise, even if the last couple were stinkers.

I don't know why, but at the time of release, the first Armored Core utterly blew me away with the animation of the mechs. I think it was the first fully polygon game on the system that animated not just well, but exceptionally well.

boi said:
With the success of the Soulsborne games, From Software looks like they have cemented themselves in the games industry. I started playing From Software games with Dark Souls Remastered (so very recently) but after completing the game, I immediately bought Dark Souls III, Bloodborne, Dark Souls 2 and I have yet to play Demon's Souls. And gosh, what rollercoaster ride it has been. It reignited a passion for games in me I did not had before.

Demon's was exactly the game I needed at the time of release that did similar for me. Aside from Lost Odyssey, Mass Effect, Street Fighter IV, Dead Space and Arkham Asylum, I was really apathetic to most of the last gen releases up until then. Even the aforementioned games didn't do it for me like Demon's did.

joylevel11 · Aug 23, 2018

MaitreWakou said:
They just did. Sekiro ain't a soulsborne.

definitely not part of that but it looks to be heavily inspired from it.

NekoFever · Aug 23, 2018

I only really knew them for Armored Core and occasional other mech games like Chromehounds and Metal Wolf Chaos. Well-regarded in that niche but it wasn't ever something I cared for so I never paid much attention.

Khrol · Aug 23, 2018

I messed with a few of the Armored Core games but FROM was always just kinda there for the longest time.

Didn't they do Kings Field on the PS1? I always remember seeing that at Blockbuster but never checked it out.

Deleted member 11038 · Aug 23, 2018

Never heard about them before Demon's Souls. I remember years ago i saw Otogi and was amazed by its animations but didn't know it was From Software since i never bought the game, i didn't have an Xbox.

Scubamonk · Aug 23, 2018

I was a pretty big fan of the Armored Core series. Thats really about the extent of how familiar I was with them.

LiK · Aug 23, 2018

Khrol said:
I messed with a few of the Armored Core games but FROM was always just kinda there for the longest time.

Didn't they do Kings Field on the PS1? I always remember seeing that at Blockbuster but never checked it out.

Yes they did. US one was technically the sequel.

PaulloDEC · Aug 23, 2018

I don't think they really were perceived by most people. I'd certainly not heard of them until the Souls games started gaining attention.

Mr.Vic20 · Aug 23, 2018

Armored core? How soon we forget.

Sanctuary · Aug 23, 2018

PaulloDEC said:
I don't think they really were perceived by most people. I'd certainly not heard of them until the Souls games started gaining attention.

If you were big into RPGs and around for the launch of the PSX, you would have certainly heard of them. I don't even remember any other RPGs for the system before the release of King's Field.

Ironically, I didn't even realize that it was developed by "FROMSOFTWARE" due to the Asciiware logo that pops up at the start of the game until later. The first game that I actually remembered being from them was Armored Core.

marrec · Aug 23, 2018

Armored Core was one of my favorite titles and when they released Otogi it solidified From as a top tier developer for me, was actually disappointed in them when they released Demons Souls because I thought it didn't play as well as Otogi or AC.

boi · Aug 23, 2018

MaitreWakou said:
They just did. Sekiro ain't a soulsborne.

Come on

Dennie Dee · Aug 23, 2018

Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven was the first full FROM game I played. Really enjoyed it back in the day. Loved those hokey x-ray stealth kills Tesshu did.

I remember playing a lot of the Armored Core demo's too.

Syril · Aug 23, 2018

You would be surprised to find out they did so many unrelated games but they were mainly known for Armored Core.

djplaeskool · Aug 23, 2018

Bishop89 said:
Armored Core is still their best franchise, even if the last couple were stinkers.

Hooking up a headset and going in on 4v4 online in Verdict Day was amazing, seriously elevated V/VD past 4/4A for me personally.
I remember when Verdict Day was free on PS Plus and people were logging back in only to find the game was heavily populated by high-powered Japanese hit squads. Fun times.

Echo · Aug 23, 2018

I loved, Armored Core and Tenchu.

I actually hate that Soulsborne has effectively buried these and FROM's previous legacy. Would love a Tenchu reboot, but instead we get Sekipoo, another souls inspired hack and slash. yay.

MasterSummerSmith462 · Aug 23, 2018

I only knew them from the Kings Field games which I liked but I never played attention to much else they made.

PaulloDEC · Aug 23, 2018

Sanctuary said:
If you were big into RPGs and around for the launch of the PSX, you would have certainly heard of them. I don't even remember any other RPGs for the system before the release of King's Field.

Ironically, I didn't even realize that it was developed by "FROMSOFTWARE" due to the Asciiware logo that pops up at the start of the game.

Looking at their wiki page, I'm baffled that they weren't already a household name by the time of the first Souls game, at least among hardcore types. Their list of developed titles is freakin' huge.

isahn · Aug 23, 2018

From Software , who? Honestly, I discovered they were the Otogi authors only after I became a soulborne addict

Bishop89 · Aug 23, 2018

Denzar said:
Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven was the first full FROM game I played. Really enjoyed it back in the day. Loved those hokey x-ray stealth kills Tesshu did.

I remember playing a lot of the Armored Core demo's too.

apparently this dev K2 LLC developed tenchu 3.

Either way, it's still a fantastic game.

Iscariot · Aug 23, 2018

Azoor said:
Xbox players knew them for this little gem.

This right here. I also knew of King's Field and some other titles like Armored Core, but I'd say even among enthusiasts they were considered a good AA dev... Now they're in a rather venerated position as a studio.

molnizzle · Aug 23, 2018

John Bender said:
Mediocre studio with some nice gems every now and then.

Basically.

Joshbob1985 · Aug 23, 2018

Lynd said:
Lost Kingdoms on the Cube!

Oh shit! I loved that and didn't realise it was From.

marrec · Aug 23, 2018

Iscariot said:
This right here. I also knew of King's Field and some other titles like Armored Core, but I'd say even among enthusiasts they were considered a good AA dev... Now they're in a rather venerated position as a studio.

My friends and I always just assumed everyone else loved the Armored Core series as much as us. I was shocked to find out it was relatively niche.

Otogi 1 and 2 are some of the best character action games ever made tho full stop.

sheaaaa · Aug 23, 2018

Branduil said:
There's no such game as "Soulsborne" so I don't know what they were like before something that doesn't exist

Lol what?

Tibarn · Aug 23, 2018

Knew about Tenchu and Armored Core, but never played any of those games tbh.

Syril · Aug 23, 2018

Shadow Assault Tenchu was the only Tenchu game that was wholly made by From. With the exception of the DS game, the rest of the series was developed by Acquire and K2. From made the PSP ports of Wrath of Heaven and Fatal Shadows and was the series'Japanese publisher from Wrath of Heaven onward.

Philly Cheesesteak · Aug 23, 2018

Knew them from Armored Core and King's Field. Kinda sad hey didn't blow up until after they made Demon's Souls and Dark Souls.

Dennie Dee · Aug 23, 2018

Bishop89 said:
apparently this dev K2 LLC developed tenchu 3.

Either way, it's still a fantastic game.

UNK? Was erroneously engraved in my memory then.

Apparently FROM did the PSP version... But I played the PS2 game so erm... NVM, I guess.

boi · Aug 23, 2018

Denzar said:
Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven was the first full FROM game I played. Really enjoyed it back in the day. Loved those hokey x-ray stealth kills Tesshu did.

I remember playing a lot of the Armored Core demo's too.

But were Tenchu games considered good (triple A)?

vMagix · Aug 23, 2018

I first knew them from Otogi: Myth of Demons (or something akin to that - not sure of the name) and I loved that game...

SCB360 · Aug 23, 2018

I remember Otogi, Armored Core and Chromehounds being good games, Dark Souls was the real game changer though

Deleted member 1839 · Aug 23, 2018

Knew them for their mech games and other titles like Otogi, King's Field, etc.

Torpedo Vegas · Aug 23, 2018

I liked Armor Core and King's Field.

Didn't they only publish Tenchu games?

Dennie Dee · Aug 23, 2018

boi said:
But were Tenchu games considered good (triple A)?

Probably not, but I thoroughly enjoyed the first 3 outings.

Jingo · Aug 23, 2018

Didnt knew they existed before Bloodborne despite having played all tenchus, im a douche.

How was From Software perceived before Soulsborne?

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