“More players will finish” Elden Ring compared to Dark Souls, Hidetaka Miyazaki predicts

Hidetaka Miyazaki, director of Elden Ring and president of FromSoftware, expects that more people will clear FromSoftware’s open-world RPG than in previous games.

Miyazaki stated that Elden Ring is more flexible than FromSoftware’s games and that more people will finish it this time.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is FromSoftware’s latest game. It is considered to be one of its most difficult games because it is more linear and action-heavy that the likes Dark Souls or Bloodborne. You will need to master the Sekiro play style, but you have some flexibility in the items and gadgets you use to fight.

Its achievement data shows that just 23% of Steam customers have reached Sekiro’s most popular ending. The three other endings range between 19% to 15%. PlayStation Network data shows a 44% average clear rate, which only reinforces how difficult the game can be. It will be interesting to see how Elden Rings’ stats compare over time.

Miyazaki believes that Elden Ring’s more RPG elements, open multiplayer and freeform open-world will allow for more players to complete the game. However, he insists that the “game’s difficulty has not been intentionally reduced.”

Miyazaki states that “I believe our approach to these gaming, not just Elden Ring”, is to design them in a way that encourages the player to overcome adversity. We don’t force difficulties or make it difficult for the sake. We expect players to be clever, use their memory, learn from their mistakes, and study the game. We don’t want players feeling unfairly punished by the game. Instead, we want them to see that there is a chance to win difficult encounters and move forward.

He adds, “We hope that the players embrace the idea of receiving help from other people.” These things will lead to an increase in the clear rate.