The action RPG Elden Ring is hard. The new DLC “Shadow of the Erdtree” is even harder. In an interview, the boss of Elden Ring explains why this has to be the case. Because even though compromises were made in Elden Ring to give players some breathing room – it is not meant to be a game for everyone. Only when it is really tough do players get that satisfying feeling of having achieved something.
That was the question: In an interview with “The Guardian” the head of Elden Ring, Hidetaka Miyazaki, is confronted with the difficulty level of Elden Ring. This may sound a bit cynical, given that the DLC is now so hard, but the interviewer asks Hidetaka Miyazaki:
- Whether he believes Elden Ring is so successful because it is more accessible than other games from FromSoftware. Instead of repeatedly facing an unbeatable boss, you can go elsewhere.
- In Elden Ring, at least you are not constantly having your face pushed into the dirt.
- Whether the head believes Elden Ring is more successful than Sekiro because it is more accessible?
“The point is that it is so hard”
This is the answer: The head admits that Elden Ring gives players more freedom than other games from the developer.
They did not want players to feel claustrophobic or constrained in their options. Elden Ring does not have the dark fantasy of other FromSoftware games, but the same coolness. However, they want to give players the feeling of being able to breathe. That is just part of the “High Fantasy” genre.
“If we wanted the whole world to play the game, we could reduce the difficulty”
According to the head, there is this discussion about the difficulty level with every new game from FromSoftware. Other developers would introduce an easy mode, some enemies would even be removed completely. But for a game like Elden Ring, that is out of the question. The fact that it is so challenging is exactly the point, and dialing back the difficulty would compromise it creatively:
If we really wanted the whole world to play the game, we could simply keep reducing the difficulty. But that wasn’t the right approach. If we had chosen that approach, I don’t think the game would have turned out the way it is, because the sense of achievement players have when overcoming these hurdles is such a fundamental part of the gaming experience. Reducing the difficulty would take that joy away from the game – which in my eyes would destroy the game itself.
For those who want to catch a breath from Elden Ring, we have a little story that at least offers some warmth: A mother wants to buy her son the Elden Ring DLC, even though she has little money – the community rushes to help
