If you found Elden Ring difficult on your first play, then don’t worry, the game was actually designed that way. FromSoftware’s 2022 action role-playing game, Elden Ring shook the industry when it was released in February 2022 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. The game was crucial for the creators, especially for director Hidetaka Miyazaki. In a past interview, he explained the reason why the game is so difficult.
The game was very similar to Dark Souls and Bloodborne, which are also made by FromSoftware, but that means Elden Ring also featured a similar difficulty, leading to quite a few smashed controllers. Miyazaki once explained that the game was designed in that way in order to make the experience more “enjoyable.”
Also read: Elden Ring Fan Learns Not to Mess With a Dragonfly in Ridiculous Circumstances
The director of Elden Ring, Hidetaka Miyazaki, explained why the game is so difficult
In an exclusive interview for PlayStation Blog, Hidetaka Miyazaki, the director of 2022’s Elden Ring explained why the Souls-like games, including Elden Ring, are so difficult,
“I feel like our approach to these games, not just Elden Ring, is to design them to encourage the player to overcome adversity. 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 – We understand that Souls-like games are regularly associated with impossible levels of difficulty with high barriers to entry. But we try to design the games to make the cycle of repeatedly trying to overcome these challenges enjoyable in itself.”
The game is indeed very challenging but as per Miyazaki, that is a crucial part of the gaming experience. He further added that they have not tried to lower Elden Ring’s difficulty intentionally but claimed that gamers wouldn’t have a hard time beating it.
Also read: Cut From Dark Souls 2, One Elden Ring Gameplay Feature Broke Consoles
Hidetaka Miyazaki wants gamers to beat Elden Ring at their own pace
In the same interview, Miyazaki explained how one should approach Elden Ring when playing for the first time,
“Mainly, we want players to feel the importance of the level of freedom that we’re focusing on this time. We want them to enjoy the game in their own way and feel liberated in this new open world that they can explore at their own pace – If possible, we want players to try and steer clear of spoilers or guides and go in with a completely fresh, open mind and enjoy that initial sense of adventure.”
Elden Ring is very similar to the Dark Souls series, Bloodborne, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice but there is something different: the open world. Miyazaki mentioned multiple times in the interview that their main goal was to expand the level of freedom. All these efforts paid off as Elden Ring was a massive success and is among the most awarded games in history.
