Helldivers 2 Director Defends Elden Ring Difficulty: 'Always Cater to a Select Audience'

God I'm sick of having this stupid discourse every time Elden Ring is in the news.

I just wish that select audience didn't act like you said you don't like puppies when you say the series isn't for you because of the difficulty.
You do you but fighting the same boss 100 times for that serotonin hit on the 101st try isn't my thing.

It's the topic that keeps on giving. Fromsofts games are always going to be tough experiences..its a given so by now anyone who purchases one or is planning to will know this. Either you relish the challenge or you don't. Why does it need reporting on every other article? Because there is obviously no new news and I suppose a space needs filling or somebody's position needs justifying so "I'd better write something even if its already been written 100 times before." I would like people to have an option to make the games a bit more forgiving but it's obvious this is not going to happen. Tune in tomorrow folks for another discussion about how tough these games are..

This coming from the team that always caves to Reddit PC mobs and rebuffed weapons that were OP.

I mean it's their identity, why would they change that. I'm always offline so haven't got the calibrations, wonder if it's even that big of a difference, there's been a ton of these calibrations for ER since 2022. Souls games aren't a problem, Sekiro - now that is a real problem. Met Sword Saint and gave up and got my save deleted to make matters worse. But I've accepted Sekiro for what it is, you'd realize the Souls formula is even fair in comparison.

Some people like it, some people don't.
Not everything has to be for everyone.

If you ordered sushi don't get upset that it's not a hamburger. The From games are what they are, if they are not for yourself, play a different game.

My wife left me after she found out I played games on easy mode.

Not everything has to be for everyone though.
The difficulty adds greatly to the atmosphere of FromSoftgames, it can generate a real feeling of fear, angst or dread in the right moments. Take that difficulty away, and you take away an important part of the experience the developer wants their players to have. For example, playing the original BioShock on hard gives it a fantastic horror-survival vibe, whereas playing it on easy it becomes a run&gun boomershooter.
Even so, there are tips, tricks and exploits aplenty for these games to aid you, and if all else fails, you can watch a let's play, or play a soulslike game which does offer a more laidback experience.
Not really gatekeeping if there are so many backdoors or alternatives available imo.

Fromsoft games development is almost perfect in terms of pitching its difficulty to cater for gamers who want a tough experience that is rewarding to play and succeed at.

Gamers who wish for difficulty levels are lazy, selfish and are unable to appreciate mastery of game design. From games are so well conceived, and received by gamers, that they've birthed an entire new genre.

And yet there are gamers who only want to suit themselves and needlessly complain about the game being inaccessible to them, as if all games need to be all things to everyone.

The irony is, From games gives the players all the tools within the game mechanics to make the game 'easier' by understanding enemy tactics and using weapons and items that will help with the challenge. All people have to do is invest time into understanding the systems, but those who ask for difficulty options want to be spoon-fed, which totally goes against the reason the game exists in the form that it does.

Elden Ring isn’t difficult. It’s only difficult if you choose to ignore the things that make it easier, like multiplayer.

If you play multiplayer, you power level your character with zero risk and then other players come and kill the bosses for you. It’s easier than almost any other action RPG you can name.

All the ‘easy mode’ you could ever need is incorporated into the design and world building. The completion and platinum trophy rates reflect this, as do the sales.

It is insane how this topic continues to creeps up every single time Fromsoft launches anything. Fromsoft has been making challenging games for basically their entire existence. It's what they do. Simple as that.

Most of the time a hard mode just consists of making enemies hit harder and take more hits to take down. With Fromsoft games however, the challenge always feels so much more...deliberate than the rest. Enemy placement, behavior, move set, enemy type, and map layout all feed together to make an experience that is just so distinct from the rest of the industry.

That distinction is what draws me to their games. It isn't for everyone, but it absolutely is for me.

Just beat the final boss of the DLC and my god the rush I felt. No game ever comes close to evoking a physical reaction as fromsoft games can. I let out a cry of joy, felt my heart beating in my throat and was shaking till 5 minutes after the fact. Yesterday I was cursing the boss, but that feeling I had today (which I had many times before playing souls games) has never been rivalled in any game.

Miyazaki is a genius and I get that it's not for everyone, but my god is he able to evoke real emotions from me like no other game designer can.

I don't understand why is this even a topic of discussion. Not everything needs to be for everyone. It doesn't matter what anyone else think about accessibility, if the creator feels that providing those options tarnishes the artistic integrity, so be it. It's also not as straight forward implementing these options as people think it is especially when you want everything to gel well together. Just turning down hit boxes and life bars and whatnot is such a lazy way of doing it to begin with.

@Korgon agree with all that

Given that I've seen people with physical disabilities play DS1~3, Sekiro, BB and ER I guess this really isn't about difficulty.

One thing that I noticed is that people who complain about this kind of game have either no avaiable time to sit down and learn or have a shorter attention spam, and sometimes they have both.

The issue stems from the main person syndrome that seems to be afflicting many gamers these days. Everything has to be made to their liking or they will feel personally offended for being excluded.

@Korgon

I am 50/50 on their games
Some I like and some I hate, as I’m in it for the level design and atmospheres primarily.

I think the bosses and enemies are the weakest part for different reasons
The field enemies for the most part range from very stupid ai to a decent challenge.
And the boss designs are usually good but the controls in all fs game aside from maybe sekiro are the drawback that i fight with every single time, all I wish (which they will never do) is have a more responsive dodge not that half a second input delay that’s literally the only reason these games are “hard” to me and that is more frustrating that anything.

In older souls where the enemies are slower it’s okay but Elden is rough 😂😂😂

I know others don’t find it an issue but daaaamn I hate it

That’s why FS games are the masters at level design but poop at combat (to me)

but helldivers 2 has difficulty levels seems your telling one developer to do one thing while you do another

I agree with helldivers guy though not everything is for everyone(the irony isn’t escaping me that hd2 bench the knee because of steam reviews but whatever)

But in the same breath they have to accept that some people will buy their game and hate it and review it poorly because they find it frustrating (frustrating as it may be for souls fans you can’t expect people that are annoyed by the game to just to shut up, so your favourite game can get even more praise, that also entitlement guys it works both ways 😂😂😂)

All the devs have to do is stick to their vision and accept that it will be review decisively.

@ATaco Send her a screenshot when you defeat the final boss. She'll come back to you. 😉

I find their games too hard personally, but that's because i get frustrated easily still don't think they should dumb down their games to please everyone. I've just accepted that From's games aren't for me.

so far I finished Demon´s Souls remake, Bloodborne and Elden Ring (currently playing DLC), but gave up on Dark Souls 1 (played remastered version) because I simply was not motivated enough to be honest. Anyway plan to give DS3 a try some day, definitely don´t plan to play Sekiro - this would be very frustrating for me, I know myself

I play maybe 1 or most 2 souls games a year and change them with some easier games, story driven games where I can choose normal or even easy difficulty, but sometimes I´m just in the mood to try something more challenging and if I´m motivated enough then I happily embrace the challenge. I like FS souls games, they are really special in my opinion and hope Miyazaki will not change anything how FS make them

It shouldn't be a conversation about difficulty, it should be about accessibility. Routinely excluding gamers with disabilities by not putting in any options, when it's entirely possible to do so, as a design philosophy, just makes you an *****. Like an architect that scoffs at wheelchair ramps in the building designs because it's not part of their precious artistic vision.

It's hard because people can't play. I played Elden Ring and it felt purposeless because the learning curve was huge. But once you get past that, the difficulty is no longer questionable, because now you're assessing what you're doing wrong in relation to what the boss is doing. These people play Elden Ring like it's Kingdom Hearts 3. You'll struggle with that, this is not a combo game, it's see and react game.

Agreed with Pilestedt.

I'm all for accessibility options for disabled players. But asking From Soft to tone down the difficulty for their games that is intended to be challenging is just disrespectful towards their philosophy and artistic freedom.

And it's a fact that not every game is for everyone. It's the reason why we got multiple genres and sub-genres as well rating. But gaming journos keeps promoting this idea as if every games can be play by everyone :/

Thank god games don’t cater to everyone. There are too many games to play as it is!