When it comes to titles by FromSoftware, especially those that have come out in the last decade or so, they are punctuated by the fact that they are incredibly difficult. While video games have been hard in the past, including during the 2D sprite era, FromSoftware took that kind of difficulty to new heights by creating not a terrifying overworld that was hard to traverse but creatures and bosses that could easily wipe players out if they weren’t careful. The “git gud” perspective was one that they used in all games, including the Elden Ring Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC, which is now out.
From the moment of its release, people were excited about the game. It wasn’t just expanding the game’s lore; it was giving players an entirely new area to have fun in, multiple new bosses to fight, several new fighting classes to use, and so on. The game broke ratings records on Metacritic, and as the game’s director happily noted, it’s a hard game. In fact, when asked if the team considered making Elden Ring Shadow Of The Erdtree any easier than the main title, the answer was an emphatic “no.”
Director Hidetaka Miyazaki noted to The Guardian:
“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. 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.”
At first, that might seem like a basic reason not to lower the difficulty, but the director is actually speaking to the nature of not just this game but past titles by FromSoftware. Yes, the company’s titles are extremely difficult, especially if you’re someone who doesn’t particularly enjoy having to repeat boss fights multiple times over to get the win. However, just like in other games with big difficulty spikes, there are ways to defeat every boss in the game.
The trick is using your head and coming up with the right strategy to overcome. Sometimes, it’s all about having the right strategy going into the fight. Other times, it’s about having the right build or having someone fight at your side.
No matter how you do it, once you defeat that boss you struggled against, you will feel relief! Then, you will feel pain because there’s another boss to take down.
