Director Elden Ring says lowering the difficulty level will “break the game” as Shadow of the Erdtree sparks debate

The expansion Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree has been released on PC, PlayStation and Xbox platforms, returning players to the dangerous world of the famous action RPG. The DLC, which was released on June 21st, is currently being tested by Elden Ring players, many of whom have complained of difficulty. However, according to game director Hidetaka Miyazaki, setting up the Elden Ring for relief would “break the game itself.”

Elden Ring difficulty

Miyazaki, in an interview with The Guardian published on the day of the release of the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, said that lowering the difficulty level would not be the right move for games like Elden Ring, even if players complain about the grueling nature of the game. title.

“If we really wanted the whole world to play the game, we could just lower the difficulty more and more. But it wasn’t the right approach,” Miyazaki told The Guardian.

“If we had taken that approach, I don’t think the game would have done what it did because the sense of accomplishment that players get from overcoming these obstacles is such a fundamental part of the experience. Abandoning difficulty would rob the game of that joy – which, in my opinion, would destroy the game itself,” he added.

All of FromSoftware’s games are infamous for their steep learning curve and lack of difficulty settings that give players the option to make things easier. Titles like the Dark Souls trilogy, Bloodborne and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice give even hardened players a run for their money in fierce boss battles.

Elden Ring is no different. Released in 2022, the game is the developer’s first attempt at open-ended gaming, but retains the grueling complexity that FromSoftware is known for. The recently launched Shadow of the Erdtree expansion also features some of the most challenging boss encounters the studio has ever produced. In fact, Miyazaki said in a separate interview before the DLC’s launch that FromSoftware had “pushed the limits” when it came to what the player could endure in the game.

Is Shadow of the Erdtree too difficult?

However, this approach doesn’t seem to sit well with Elden Ring players. Some complained about the heavy difficulty of the latest DLC, while others even highlighted the inconsistent performance on PC. Shadow of the Erdtree currently has mixed user reviews on Steam. At the time of writing, out of 34,181 user reviews on the Valve platform, 27,581 are positive and 15,137 are negative.

Publisher Bandai Namco also weighed in on the difficulty debate, advising struggling players to tackle Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree’s hardest challenges. In Sunday’s X post, the publisher suggested players “level up your Scadutri’s Blessing.”

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree was released on June 21 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X. The expansion debuted to wide acclaim, earning an overall score of 95 on Metacritic, becoming the highest rated DLC of all time in the process.