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the famously challenging dark fantasy epic, Elden Ring, was the second best-selling game in the world in 2022, and the release of its expansion Shadow of the Erdtree last Friday once again has everyone arguing about whether it’s too difficult. Every single game developed by FromSoftware since 2009’s Demon’s Souls has inspired this discourse, and I’m not going to go into detail because it’s neither interesting nor particularly momentous: these games are what they are, and you can participate or, quite rightly , get away.
This vision is conveyed by the game’s director, Hidetaka Miyazaki, also president of FromSoftware since 2014, and made his name (and the developer’s) with Dark Souls in 2011. It’s tough, sure, but there’s also an element of faith and encouragement in this approach to game design: Elden Ring and its other games trust that if you simply persevere and ask other players for help, you will eventually succeed and feel even sweeter.
Miyazaki is an interesting character and one of the most influential artists in gaming and indeed entertainment; he made time magazine 100 most influential people last year. I first interviewed him in 2010, shortly before Demon’s Souls was released in Europe, and following his career has been one of the highlights of my own. I interviewed him again in Los Angeles recently, and some of us may take comfort in knowing that playing his games is sometimes torturous for him, too.
“Before the release of any game, I will be very hands-on in playing it and spend as much time as possible on it,” he told me. “But after launch, I tend not to want to touch it, because I know I’m going to find things I left on the table or problems that will bother me. And once I become a player, I can’t do anything significant to change it. So once a game is available, I tend not to play it.
“But while preparing for Shadow of the Erdtree, I played the main story of Elden Ring. I want to start by saying that I am absolutely terrible at video games, so my approach or style of play was to use everything I have at my disposal, all the assistance, every bit of help the game offers and also all the knowledge I have. “I have as a game architect… the freedom and open-world nature of Elden Ring perhaps lowered the barrier to entry, and I might be the one to benefit the most from that, as a player, more than anyone else.”
I was very amused by the image of Miyazaki, controller in hand, tormented by the world he created (and all its imperfections, which only he would notice). That’s a true commitment to his game design philosophy of improving through failure, a credo he seems to permeate throughout his life. Miyazaki is an extremely hands-on director and all of his games bear the unmistakable imprint of his influence, but he has also attempted to pass on his knowledge and artistic approach to others at FromSoftware in the 10 years he has been its president, ensuring that they too have room to fail. .
“The budgets, the scale, the scope, everything has grown to a point where the room for failure is no longer tolerated as much as I think it was in the past,” he told me. “FromSoftware has its own way of hedging risks, so to speak, in the sense that most of our projects have a partner who finances the project… From a business management perspective, we are not betting everything on one project. At the same time, you have to find the right project to allow for failure: whether it’s smaller in scope or scale, or a small module within something larger, there needs to be room for that. I think that’s where a lot of young game directors will rise to the challenge and be able to learn from it. Making sure we understand and identify where those pockets of failure can be allowed is how we try to grow our talent.”
Miyazaki sees Elden Ring as a “turning point” for FromSoftware: “Before and after Elden Ring, there will be a clear difference… you could see that in (2023 mech game) Armored Core VI, I would say.” He hopes that we will soon see games from other company directors, not just himself. “Where FromSoftware is right now, in terms of scale, I would say Elden Ring is really the limit. We have taken advantage of all the resources and talents we have access to…if we expanded it further, I would have my concerns. Maybe having multiple projects is the next stage, where some of the other younger talent can have the opportunity to manage and direct the game design for a smaller project.”
Shadow of the Erdtree is the end of Elden Ring for now; Dark Souls is an exception to the rule, but in general Miyazaki doesn’t make sequels. Demon’s Souls, Sekiro, Bloodborne, and now Elden Ring are all independent works, and it seems like he likes it that way. But interestingly, he wouldn’t mind if someone else did more with The Lands Between, in a different medium.
“I see no reason to deny another interpretation or adaptation of Elden Ring, a movie for example,” he told me. “But I don’t think that either I or FromSoftware have the knowledge or ability to produce something in a different medium. That’s where a very strong partner would come into play. “We would have to build a lot of trust and agreement on whatever we are trying to achieve, but there is certainly interest.”
If any nerdy Souls readers work for arthouse film production companies, consider this your chance to strike.
What to play
And now something completely different, as they say: Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD comes out this week, a welcome blast from the past (I I reviewed it for IGN, back in my day). Originally released in 2013 for the Nintendo 3DS, this spooky, wonderfully character-filled caper is better than any Ghostbusters game ever made.
Mario’s clumsy and cowardly younger brother has five detailed diorama mansions to purge ghosts and secrets. The animation here is unparalleled: each ghost oozes personality along with all the ectoplasm, and Luigi himself is an underrated star of slapstick comedy.
Available in: nintendo switch
Estimated playing time: 12 hours
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what to read
Remember Paradox’s next competitor in The Sims, life for you? She was supposed to come out this month, but it was delayed indefinitely a few weeks ago, and then… abruptly canceled – and now its developer has been close. The Sims has been uncontested in the life simulation genre for decades: perhaps it will now remain so for another decade.
The very popular streamer Dr. disrespect – real name Guy Beahm – was permanently banned from Twitch in 2020 (he has since been streaming on YouTube). For years no one knew why, but now The edge informs who was caught sending inappropriate messages to a minor using Twitch’s Whispers chat system, two former Twitch employees claim. After Midnight Society, a studio co-founded by the streamer, cut ties with him On Monday night, Beahm, 42, was released a long statement about admitting “informal and mutual conversations” with a minor, but flatly denying any criminal offense. One of his sponsors, Turtle Beach, also abandoned him.
Ringer off this explosive feature about fleeting multiplayer connections forged by games like Elden Ring and Dragon’s Dogma, from regular Guardian games contributor Lewis Gordon.
What to click
Block of questions
I am going to shamelessly exploit the newsletter format to get in one last quote from Hidetaka Miyazaki the answer to a question I always wanted to ask him:
“When we talk about artistic inspirations, we often ask about things: movies, books, games, visual arts. But often it’s the people in our lives who inspire us. Is there a person in your life like that, someone you respect?
His response: “One that comes to mind is the former president of FromSoftware, (Naotoshi) Zin-san. He directed the first game that FromSoftware produced, which was (a grim medieval action game) King’s Field, around the launch of the PlayStation 1. I really like his world-building and his way of thinking, his approach to things. So even now, when we catch up or chat, there’s always something to learn there. Of course, I’ve never told him to his face that I respect him and feel the same way, so if this interview is somehow translated into Japanese and he sees it, I don’t know what he’s going to say…”
If you have a question for the ask block, or anything else to say about the newsletter, hit reply or email us at pushbuttons@theguardian.com.
