The latest issue of Edge magazine features a 16-page interview with Elden Ring director Hidetaka Miyazaki, in which the FromSoftware head speaks extensively on the upcoming title’s development. As it turns out, the 2020 Bluepoint remake of Demon’s Souls put added pressure on the development team, as the hit title put such a massive focus on graphical fidelity. FromSoftware hadn’t made this a top priority, and after seeing what was possible with the PlayStation 5, the graphics creation staff began really feeling the heat.
“Yes, I’m pretty sure our graphics-creation staff felt that pressure more than anyone else,” Miyazaki said. “And not just with Elden Ring, but with all the games we make. Graphical fidelity is not something we put as the top priority. What we ask for on the graphics side depends on the systems and requirements of the game itself, and it takes less priority compared to the other elements of development. So this is always an area where I feel a little bit apologetic towards my graphics team because I know they work extremely hard. And they’ve worked extremely hard on Elden Ring – our graphics-systems team and our programmers have been pushing a lot of new features to create the best-looking games we’ve ever made.”
Miyazaki hasn’t played the remake of his 2009 title and doesn’t plan to do so in the future. “It brings up a lot of old emotions, a lot of old memories, and this gets a little bit overwhelming,” he said. “It was an old game, so to see it get remade in this way and have new players playing it was obviously something that made me very happy. It was a rough game back in the day, with a relatively rough development, so I was anxious that new players would not enjoy it in that same way. That was a cause of concern for me when it was re-released but, you know, in the end, I’m just happy to see the reaction and happy to see people enjoying it.”
Elden Ring is now scheduled to release on February 25, 2022, and will be available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Last month, George R.R. Martin detailed his experience working with Miyazaki to create the game’s world and lore.
