Elden Ring‘s Hidetaka Miyazaki commands respect by mentioning his name. Starting from Demon’s Souls, all the way to his latest release, he’s made a name for himself as the face of the Soulslike genre.
Being someone deeply involved in his projects, you’d be surprised to hear that he draws a line somewhere. After hearing his explanation for it, it just goes to show that even a highly reputed artist like him is still human.
Elden Ring’s Director Avoided Playing the Game
In a candid interview with The Guardian earlier this year, right after the release of Shadow of the Erdtree, Miyazaki shared some interesting insights about his involvement in the creative process for his games and their limits post-launch.
He explains that he plays his games a lot leading up to their launch, but only then.
…after the release, I tend to not want to touch it, because I know I’m going to either find things that I left on the table or issues that will bug me.
Miyazaki mentions that as the player, he’s powerless to make any more changes. To avoid having to confront these mistakes, he doesn’t play his games at all.
While preparing for the new DLC, however, he broke his own rule and played through the base game again. Miyazaki confesses that he isn’t the best player, and used “everything [he has] at [his] disposal” to get through the game.
Elden Ring has a lower barrier to entry compared to his other releases, and Miyazaki unabashedly admits from a player perspective that he might be the one benefiting the most from that.
Miyazaki Is a Treasure Trove of Knowledge
Hearing Hidetaka Miyazaki doesn’t play his games after launch due to a fear of finding mistakes he didn’t see earlier is relatable to anyone who has ever created anything.
However, the kind of effort he puts into each project before launch is something not many people can say the same about. He can’t direct projects forever, and sensing the future, has been trying to pass down his knowledge to the up-and-coming talent in FromSoftware.
Things aren’t as easy now as they were before, though. When Miyazaki was handed over Demon’s Souls to lead over a decade ago, it was in such a terrible state that nobody would’ve cared if his ideas completely flopped.
The studio has grown immensely since then, thanks to Miyazaki’s creative direction. Unfortunately, that also comes with its caveats:
Budgets, scale, scope, everything has grown to a point where room for failure isn’t tolerated as much as I think it was in the past.
The pressure to perform is much higher. You’ve got more stakeholders involved, financing partners to impress, and a reputation at risk.
The next non-Miyazaki director to release a game under FromSoftware’s name bears a heavy weight on their shoulders.
What do you think of Miyazaki’s approach to game direction? Would his potential successors have any chance of living up to his legacy? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
