FromSoftware’s games are known for being tough, though Elden Ring director Hidetaka Miyazaki doesn’t want to stress fans out needlessly.
In an interview on the PlayStation Blog, Miyazaki says he’s familiar with the ongoing discussion surrounding Dark Souls, Sekiro, and now Elden Ring’s difficulty. However, Much to the surprise of hardcore challenge enthusiasts, those demanding peaks and valleys in FromSoftware titles don’t exist for bragging rights.
“I feel like our approach to these games, not just Elden Ring, is to design them to encourage the player to overcome adversity,” Miyazaki said. “We don’t try to force difficulty or make things hard for the sake of it. We want players to use their cunning, study the game, memorize what’s happening, and learn from their mistakes.”
The storyteller speaks. Learn the history of the world of ELDEN RING, as crafted by Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R. R. Martin.
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The famed director also claims that Elden Ring’s open-world nature will make the action RPG more accessible without hindering the (sometimes) mountainous challenge.
“We have not intentionally tried to lower the game’s difficulty, but I think more players will finish it this time,” Miyazaki continues. “The player’s level of freedom to progress through the world or return to a challenge later are all elements that I feel will help people get through the game at a more leisurely pace.”
That flexibility is probably for the best since Elden Ring’s core story takes roughly 30 hours to finish. The side-content will dramatically increase the runtime in all likelihood, though.
According to Miyazaki, Elden Ring is the culmination of FromSoftware’s many years of experience. So expectations are at an all-time high, especially with George R.R. Martin’s involvement.
Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.
