Elden Ring Creator Miyazaki Thinks More People Will Finish The Game Than Dark Souls

Dark Souls and Elden Ring creator Hidetaka Miyazaki has said he thinks that more people will be able to finish Elden Ring, than his previous games.

Speaking in an interview with the PlayStation Blog, Miyazaki was asked about the ongoing conversations around difficulty and accessibility. In response, he said he believed more people would be able to see Elden Ring through to the end, thanks to the more open nature of the game offering players more choice.

“In Elden Ring, we have not intentionally tried to lower the game’s difficulty, but I think more players will finish it this time,” Miyazaki explained. “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.”

Elsewhere in the interview, the Elden Ring director said that he wanted new players to feel “unpressured” and able to approach the game at their own pace.

“This time in Elden Ring, we have many options at the player’s disposal to confront challenging situations and use their cunning to outsmart enemies and bosses. They can come back to something later when they’re at an impasse so that they can have this freedom of progression and not have to bang their head against a wall over and over. They can figure out what to do and how to approach it again, at their own pace.”

Miyazaki also wants players to take “full advantage” of the multiplayer options, which should help players get through tough sections, similarly to games like Dark Souls and Bloodborne.

If you're interested in the games of Hidetaka Miyazaki, it's definitely worth reading the full interview over on the PlayStation Blog, where he praises It Takes Two, and talks about collaborating with another creator outside of the video game industry.

In other recent Elden Ring news, it was revealed that the game has now gone gold, and that Elden Ring's critical path can be completed in around 30 hours. You can also check out our video preview for the game down below, or read our written thoughts here.

Elden Ring is coming to Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC on 25th February 2022.