Sekiro Environments Were Designed to Reflect Culture

During the CEDEC + KYUSHU 2021 conference, FromSoftware delved into the process of creating the environments for Sekiro. Several members of the graphics team were part of the presentation. The presentation detailed the process of creating textures, environments, and maps for Sekiro. Additionally, it revealed that the environments in Sekiro were clearly created to reflect Japanese culture. The presentation used Ashina Castle as an example. [Thanks, Famitsu!]

The developers noted that they placed certain items through specific rooms. The room where players meet Isshin Ashina is specifically mentioned. Items like cushions and maps were intentionally included to give the player the feeling that something important happened in the room. The developers wanted to create something reflective of Japanese culture during the time period the game takes place.

Additionally, the developers go into the framing of certain landmarks on the map. With Sekiro relying so heavily on mobility and jumping, they wanted to make sure to clearly convey to players which areas they could reach. They wanted to make sure that areas were made without “ambiguous gaps,” as to not disappoint players if they couldn’t reach an area that seemed possible to scale.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is immediately available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. A free update to the game was made available in October 2020.