Elden Ring Director Says Lowering Difficulty Would ‘Break the Game’ as Shadow of the Erdtree Sparks Debate

The Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree expansion is now available on PC, PlayStation and Xbox, taking players back to the dangerous world of the acclaimed action role-playing game. The DLC was released on June 21 and is currently being tested by Elden Ring players, many of whom have complained about its difficulty. However, tweaking Elden Ring to make it easier would “break the game itself,” according to game director Hidetaka Miyazaki.

Eldon Ring Difficulty

In an interview with The Guardian on the day Shadow of the Erdtree expansion was released, Miyazaki said that lowering the difficulty of a game like Elden Ring was not the right approach, despite players complaining about the game’s difficulty.

“If we really wanted the whole world to play the game, we could keep lowering the difficulty. But that’s not the right approach,” Miyazaki told The Guardian.

“If we took this approach, I don’t think the game would achieve what it does, because the sense of accomplishment the player gets from overcoming these obstacles is a fundamental part of the experience. Lowering the difficulty would take the fun out of the game – which, in my opinion, would undermine the game itself,” he added.

All FromSoftware games are notorious for their steep learning curves and difficulty settings that lack options to provide players with an easier experience. Games like the Dark Souls trilogy, Bloodborne, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice allow even hardcore gamers to fight their way through tough boss fights for a run for their money.

“Elden Ring” is no exception. Released in 2022, the game is the developer’s first attempt at an open-world game, but retains the grueling difficulty that FromSoftware is known for. The new expansion pack Shadow of the Trees also contains some of the most difficult boss encounters the studio has ever designed. In fact, Miyazaki said in a separate interview ahead of the DLC’s launch that FromSoftware has “pushed the envelope” when it comes to what players can endure in the game.

Is Shadow of the Tree too difficult?

However, this approach doesn’t seem to be entirely popular with Elden Ring players. Some have been complaining about the difficulty of the latest DLC, and others have even highlighted inconsistent performance on PC. On Steam, Shadow of the Erdtree currently has mixed reviews from users. As of this writing, there are 27,581 positive reviews and 15,137 negative reviews out of a total of 34,181 user reviews on the Valve platform.

Publisher Bandai Namco has also weighed in on the difficulty debate, offering struggling players tips on tackling Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree’s toughest challenges. In an X post on Sunday, the publisher advised players to “upgrade your Skardu Tree Blessing.”

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree releases on June 21st for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series S/X. The expansion received critical acclaim upon release, earning an overall score of 95 on Metacritic, becoming the highest-rated DLC of all time in the process.

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