Making Elden Ring easier would "break the game itself," says Miyazaki

Hidetaka Miyazaki, the director of Elden Ring, has stated that lowering the game's difficulty would "break the game" due to its design.

The details:

In an interview with The Guardian, Miyazaki discussed how the notorious difficulty of FromSoftware's titles is a key component of their design, with the challenge intended to provide players with a sense of accomplishment after defeating the bosses. "If we really wanted the whole world to play the game, we could just crank the difficulty down more and more. But that wasn't the right approach," he said. "Had we taken that approach, I don't think the game would have done what it did, because the sense of achievement that players gain from overcoming these hurdles is such a fundamental part of the experience. Turning down difficulty would strip the game of that joy - which, in my eyes, would break the game itself."
Souls games, including Elden Ring and the recently released Shadow of Erdtree expansion, have earned a reputation for being difficult over the years. Enemies can deal serious damage, dodging and blocking attacks requires stamina management and good timing, and players lose experience points upon death, which can vanish entirely if they die again without collecting them.
Despite Miyazaki's comments, he previously stated in an interview with Eurogamer that FromSoft is not opposed to incorporating accessibility features into its games and that the team will "continue to look into it and see how we can do those features in our future titles."

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