The Japanese video game companyFromSoftware is known for its iconic games, such asDark Souls,Bloodborne,Demon Souls,and more. The latest addition to the developer’s roster,Elden Ring, has kept fans of the franchise in high anticipation since 2019, with the release originally planned for 2021 before shifting to this year’s February 25 date after a delay.
Even though the FromSoftware fans tend to enjoy challenging enemies, some believe them to be too stressful.Souls games' difficultycan stop many from enjoying their story and beauty. However,Dark Souls, alongsideBloodborneand games alike, have revolutionized the gaming industry due to their distinctive gameplay.
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In the recent overview ofElden Ringat Taipei Game Show, Yasuhiro Kitao, producer atFromSoftware, explained to the audience that the development team focused on making the adversaries within theElden Ringless challenging, and therefore less stressful, without removing the difficulty FromSoftware games are known for.
“With the game’s world being so large, that can produce real depth and breadth of enjoyment, but it can also lead to unnecessary stress for some players,” Kitao explains, “the development team has been very careful to avoid that where possible.” This and further explanation allowed the community to understand that the game focuses on high-quality immersion, which will be achieved through the limited provision of stressful challenges. Elimination and alteration of certain features of various bosses make themas fearsome as one would expect from the creators ofDark SoulsorBloodborne, yet with broader abilities to discover various means slay them.
One of the innovative abilities within the franchise is summoning and riding a mount, which provides a peaceful traveling method across great distances that players shall be required to cover during their gameplay. This shall allow the players to explore the Lands Between in theElden Ringwith far more accessibility and easement.
This focus for comfort was also considered when implementing an option for easier fast-traveling to the already discovered locations, which proved a distinctive challenge inDark SoulsorBloodborne, where the fast-traveling point had to be discovered first, leaving certain players unable to discover them in certain areas at all. With that considered, there are even somechallenging boss areas inElden Ringthat can be entirely avoided, similar (yet simpler) to Darkeater Midir of Ringed City inDark Souls 3.
Kitao has also pointed out that due to the extensive map of theElden Ring, enemies were placed accordingly to keep the players interested - not too swarmed with foes, neither too freed of them. The in-game time might also affect the location of certain enemies, yet to a limited degree, still creating an innovative sensation in certain areas as the night turns to day, and otherwise.
Even thoughElden Ringwill take a significant amount of time to conclude, the focus of the developers was to provide an unforgettable experience to the players, with comfort to explore the incomparable world of theElden Ringwith relatively less stress, as some players adapted to inDark SoulsandBloodbornebut still with the expected amount of challenges.
Knowing FromSoftware,Elden Ringhas all the promises to live up to all the expectations and provide a truly unforgettable gaming adventure to both veterans of the franchise and novices.
Elden Ringis set to release on February 25 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
