Elden Ring boss Hidetaka Miyazaki respects players who use guides, but FromSoftware games are built for fans who go in blind: "We'd like to try to embrace those players more"
Jun. 12, 2024If you’re ready for Shadow of the Erdtree, Miyazaki and co “have faith” you should be fine
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Elden Ringdirector Hidetaka Miyazaki says he doesn’t want his games to be too hard to navigate without getting help.
In an interview withPC Gamer, Miyazaki said thatFromSoftware"expect" that players will get outside help; “Of course players are going to consult guides, and there’s going to be a wealth of information on the web and in their communities where they have access to the secrets and the strategies.”
But even with that in mind, he goes on to say that “we don’t make or plan anything with that as a prerequisite. If anything, we try to cater to the player who is completely blind and wants to go through organically.”
There’s a potential distinction to be drawn here between how difficult a game is and how hard it is to navigate. A player might attempt to beat Dark Souls or Elden Ring and come up against a boss that’s simply too difficult for them to beat, but while I never came up against a fight I couldn’t (eventually) win, I know that I never would have made it through Blighttown without a map to guide my way. Miyazaki seems to be leaning closer to the accessibility to a game to those players coming in with no help, but he suggests that there might still be work to do.
If someone coming in with no help “can’t do it,” he says, “then there’s some room for improvement on our behalf, and we’d like to try to embrace those players more in the future.” Thankfully, that shouldn’t be something that experienced Elden Ring players should have to worry about withShadow of the Erdtree- if you’ve completed enough of the base game to access the DLC, the devs “have faith” that you’ll be set for what’s to come. Though that might not be great newsfor the two-thirds of players who haven’t managed to beat the bosses who are guarding the gateway to the expansion.
The Elden Ring DLC is way bigger than we thought with over 10 bosses and “around 100” new weapons coming in Shadow of the Erdtree.
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I’m GamesRadar’s news editor, working with the team to deliver breaking news from across the industry. I started my journalistic career while getting my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also worked as Games Editor on the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I’ve run the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and also regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might be able to tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can regularly find me playing League of Legends or Steam’s latest indie hit.
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