FromSoftware's Miyazaki Thinks 'More Players' Will Finish Elden Ring

Can you believe we're less than a month away from Elden Ring? FromSoftware's latest effort releases February 25th, and it's safe to say it's one of the most anticipated games of the year. Well, it may also be a little more accessible this time out.

In a new interview on the PlayStation blog, Hidetaka Miyazaki talks all things Elden Ring ahead of launch. When asked about the 'difficulty discourse' often surrounding games, he has some interesting things to say about the team's approach with Elden Ring.

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"In Elden Ring, we have not intentionally tried to lower the game’s difficulty, but I think more players will finish it this time. As I mentioned, 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.

Also, there isn’t a focus on pure action. The player has more agency to dictate their approach against, for example, the field bosses in the overworld and how they utilize stealth in various situations. We’ve even reduced the number of hoops that you have to jump through to enjoy it in multiplayer. So we hope the players embrace that idea of receiving help from others. And we feel like the overall clear rate will go up this time because of these things."

To be honest, this just sounds like you have more options at your disposal, which is always welcome news to us. A more open world brings more freedom, and it's pretty exciting to see a 'Souls' game go that route. Miyazaki also touched on this:

"There were two major challenges we faced developing Elden Ring. The first was expanding upon the level of freedom. More so than our previous games, Elden Ring has a vast world with an open overworld, so we were faced with the ordeal of how we maintain our gameplay style while offering a renewed sense of openness. So with elements like balancing the player’s exploration alongside boss fights, the order of progression that players go through the game, and the progression of the events themselves throughout the map–trying to expand on player freedom while balancing all of this was a significant challenge. But we learned many great lessons attempting to achieve this.

Another challenge making an open world game is the tempo and pacing of the player’s progression, essentially trying to balance how the player paces themselves as they explore this vast open-ended map and how that factors into the scope of freedom and progression they provide. So we also learned some valuable lessons while making adjustments in that regard."

Do you think open world will make things easier in Elden Ring? Let us know below.

[source blog.playstation.com]