Miyazaki's Masochistic Game Design

Isomura: During development, was the whole team thinking on how the player would die with a smile? Miyazaki: That's not the case. I sometimes get this question from foreign media, and I answered with a no. I was "why are you so sadistic?" Miyazaki: I don't know about the other staff members, but I'm actually a masochist. Miyazaki: I'm a huge masochist, so when I make games like these... this is how I want to be treated! Murohashi: Ooh... Miyazaki: "I want to be killed this way!" That's how I make it! Isomura: Amazing! That's some really extreme masochism! Miyazaki: It's just that sometimes other people don't understand it; it's for my pleasure. Murohashi: Really? You want to be killed deep in the forest, getting punched by a huge mushroom? Miyazaki: Yes, yes. And the curse area... When I get cursed... Isomura: You want to die from a barrage of arrows?! Miyazaki: It's gratifying. I like that, I just wanted to emphasize it! Murohashi: Incredible! Miyazaki: I don't know about the other staff members' fantasies, but I'm not making it from a sadistic stance, but from a masochistic one. I want this done to me!

Hidetaka Miyazaki discusses designing punishing games around his own masochistic tastes, enjoying deaths by mushrooms, curses, and barrages of arrows. The joke exaggerates the difficulty and cruelty associated with his games, presenting brutal player deaths as the creator’s personal pleasure and fantasy.

• @eternalclassic / 4998 2021-12-15