'Elden Ring' Will Be More Accessible To Players Than Dark Souls Or Bloodborne

In an interview with the official PlayStation Blog, director of the Soulsbourne series of games, Hidetaka Miyazaki, spoke about his approach to developing his new game Elden Ring. Aside from the title being given a completely new setting written by Game Of Thrones author George R. R. Martin, Miyazaki also tried to add a very different feel to Elden Ring's gameplay.

Throughout the interview, Miyazaki emphasised the new sense of freedom he created when making the latest From Software offering. That's not just by letting them choose their path through the new world, but in how they play the game.

"We want players to feel the importance of the level of freedom that we’re focusing on this time. We want them to enjoy the game in their own way and feel liberated in this new open world that they can explore at their own pace."

If you don't know much about the latest game from FromSoftware you can check out some gameplay footage in the video below.

When clarifying what he meant, he went on to say that he wanted new players to work with the abilities and classes which have been added to give players more flexibility in their approach.

"I don’t want to enforce any playstyle or particular route because I’d like them to experience that sense of freedom. And I realize that while we offer games with a high level of challenge, we design them in a way that feels fulfilling to overcome. But I don’t want new players to worry or stress about that difficulty too much, - 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."

Miyazaki also says that they have lowered the barrier for multiplayer entry meaning that players who find Elden Ring too challenging will be able to call on their friends for help.

"Like our previous games, we have multiplayer elements, but the barriers to entry have lowered to make it a lot more accessible. So we hope players take full advantage of that."

None of this means that Elden Ring will be easier than Miyazaki's other games. He calls the discussion surrounding difficulty in games "valid", and feels that the way he designs games should never feel punishing or unfair.

"I feel like our approach to these games, not just Elden Ring, is to design them to encourage the player to overcome adversity. We don’t try to force difficulty or make things hard for the sake of it, - We understand that Souls-like games are regularly associated with impossible levels of difficulty with high barriers to entry, - But we hope that with Elden Ring and the new options it provides, it will be a success in that respect."

In his closing words Miyazaki reiterates how with Elden Ring he wishes to remind players that they should approach the game in anyway that feels good to them.