Miyazaki Struggled With Elden Ring In Preparation For The DLC

In the last few weeks leading up to the release of Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, many players rushed through the base game to reach Mohg, Lord of Blood, which is required to access the DLC. It seems we weren't alone in our efforts. FromSoftware President Hidetaka Miyazaki also warmed up his character to take on the DLC, and he even admits he struggled a little with the base game.

He then went on to share some of his experiences as he prepared for the DLC and provided some details on how he interacts with games he's worked on and released. So, let's discuss everything that Miyazaki shared about his experience getting ready for Shadow of The Erdtree.

Miyazaki Himslef Struggled With Elden Ring In Preparation For The DLC

During a recent interview with The Guardian, Miyazaki went on record to state, "In preparation for Shadow of the Erdtree, I played through the main story of Elden Ring." He detailed his experience, which might sound similar to many of ours: "I want to preface this by saying I absolutely suck at video games, so my approach or play style was to use everything I have at my disposal, all the assistance, every scrap of aid that the game offers, and also all the knowledge that I have as the architect of the game... the freedom and open-world nature of Elden Ring perhaps lowered the barrier to entry, and I might be the one who’s benefiting the most from that, as a player, more than anyone else."

Hidetaka Miyazaki doesn't usually play his own games - but before Erdtree, he struggled through Elden Ring. "I absolutely suck at video games, so my approach was to use every scrap of aid offered, and also all the knowledge I have as the architect.' More: https://t.co/NNKzy6ecJ3

— Keza MacDonald (@kezamacdonald) June 26, 2024

While many of the "hardcore" Souls players might see using summons, Mimic Tears, a Bleed build, etc. as a bit of a "cheese", I’ve personally never considered any style of play less valid than another, unless you’re using hacks or cheats. Generally speaking, players should play the game any way they want to take on the challenges ahead of them, and it seems Miyazaki shares this sentiment, which is nice to know.

Miyazaki then stated that he doesn’t spend too much time with a new game he’s released because it's hard for him to take off his producer/developer hat and enjoy the game fully. "After the release, I tend to not want to touch it because I know I’m going to either find things that I left on the table or issues that will bug me. And once I become a player, I’m powerless to do anything significant to change it. So once a game is out in the wild, I tend to not play."

But it seems that he has spent enough time away from the base game to give it a less critical try, and likely will be doing so for the DLC at some point as well. And while there are still some issues he might not be too happy with, such as the recent performance issues noted by many players, with the latest patch of the game and likely more patches to come, we're sure even Miyazaki will be quite satisfied with the direction that Shadow of the Erdtree has taken, as many Tarnished players are right now.