Hidetaka Miyazaki says lowering Elden Ring difficulty would ‘break the game’

The Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree expansion is out now on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox platforms, bringing players back to the dangerous world of the acclaimed action-RPG. The DLC, which released on June 21, is now testing Elden Ring players, many of whom have complained about the difficulty. However, according to game director Hidetaka Miyazaki, it would “break the game itself” to tune Elden Ring to make it easier.

Difficulty level Elden Ring

Miyazaki, in a interview with The Guardian published on the day of the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion’s release, said that lowering the difficulty wouldn’t be the right move for games like Elden Ring, even as players complain about the grueling nature of the title.

“If we really wanted the whole world to play the game, we could have lowered the difficulty level more and more. But that 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. Lowering the difficulty would strip the game of that joy – which, in my view, would break the game itself,” he added.

All FromSoftware games are notorious for their steep learning curves and lack of a difficulty setting that gives players the option for an easier experience. Titles like the Dark Souls trilogy, Bloodborne, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice have put even seasoned players through their paces with brutal boss battles.

Elden Ring is no different. The game, due out in 2022, is the developer’s first attempt at an open-world title, but retains the grueling difficulty that FromSoftware is known for. The recently launched expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, also features some of the toughest boss fights the studio has ever designed. In fact, Miyazaki said in a statement ahead of the DLC’s launch separate interview that FromSoftware had pushed the boundaries when it came to what the player could tolerate in a game.

Is Shadow of the Erdtree too hard?

That approach doesn’t seem to be going over well with Elden Ring players, though. Some have complained about the punishing difficulty of the latest DLC, and others have even highlighted its inconsistent performance on PC. On Steam, Shadow of the Erdtree is currently on the verge of Mixed user reviewsAt the time of writing, of the total 34,181 user reviews on Valve’s platform, 27,581 are positive and 15,137 are negative.

Publisher Bandai Namco has also weighed in on the difficulty debate by offering struggling players a tip for tackling Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree’s toughest challenges. In an X-post on Sunday, the publisher suggested players “level up their Scadutree Blessing.”

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