Elden Ring Director Believes the Game Will Be Easier to Finish

01/29/2022 12:58 pm EST

Elden Ring director Hidetaka Miyazaki believes that FromSoftware's upcoming action-adventure game will be easier to finish when compared to many of the studio's previous projects. While this news is sure to make many fans happy who often struggle with the difficulty seen in FromSoftware titles, Miyazaki made clear that this isn't because Elden Ring is necessarily an easier game to play. Instead, he simply believes that the game's format will simply make it more manageable than before. 

Speaking to the PlayStation Blog, Miyazaki talked about how accessible Elden Ring will be when compared to some of his past games. As a whole, Miyazaki said that the studio's penchant for creating a game that forces players to "overcome adversity" hasn't been lost here in Elden Ring. However, Miyazaki did point to a handful of new features that will be seen in Elden Ring as a reason why the game might be easier to see through to the end when compared to titles like Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro. 

"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," Miyazaki said of the game's change in structure. "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."

Despite believing that more players will finish Elden Ring this time around, Miyazaki still said that this game will be one that forces players to learn over time. "We want players to use their cunning, study the game, memorize what's happening, and learn from their mistakes," he explained. "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. So we hope that with Elden Ring and the new options it provides, it will be a success in that respect."

It remains to be seen if Miyazaki's hypothesis regarding clear rates in Elden Ring will be accurate, but we luckily won't have to wait much longer to find out. Elden Ring is set to release later next month on February 25th and will come to PlayStation, Xbox, and PC platforms. 

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