From Software’s Hidetaka Miyazaki on the secrets behind the development of the Elden Ring

When By Software elden ring Launched in February, it took the gaming world by storm. Bringing fans of From’s past games together with new players elden ring provided one of the most streamlined and accessible experiences the team had ever created. Additionally, for the first time in a From game, everything was wrapped in a beautiful, sprawling open world just waiting to be explored. The game was a smash hit from the start, with millions of players aspiring to sit on the Elden throne.

We recently had the chance to speak with Hidetaka Miyazaki, the longtime From Software director who has been instrumental in making games like Dark Souls, Axe: Shadows die twiceand elden ring to fans around the world. He gave us a glimpse of how elden ring was designed, which bosses were his favorites and how to deal with the nightmarish fingercreepers.

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Xbox Wire: How has designing for an open world changed your creative process compared to your previous games?

Hidetaka Miyazaki: In terms of overall game design, the sense of accomplishment is a theme that’s been around since Dark Souls and the like. In addition, we placed great emphasis on an “adventure feel” that allows the player to engage in this vast world with its many unknowns and threats at will.

From a production point of view, the game became a lot bigger than anything we’d done before, so you could also say that the responsibility given to people other than me was a lot bigger this time.

To put it another way, there are a lot of staff here now who have grown and gained experience over the years, and the fact that they could be trusted with so much was one of the reasons we decided to join Elden Ring do when we did.

Xbox Wire: What was the thinking behind the Ashes of War system? Was it designed for flexibility?

Hidetaka Miyazaki: Flexibility was definitely part of it. We wanted to focus on giving the player more freedom in a number of ways, and Ashes of War is one link in a series of such efforts.

The goal was to increase the degree of freedom related to strengthening your weapons and customizing them in your own way, and I think that sense of weapon customization ended up being something very rich and fun.

The skill system itself was also developed with Dark Souls 3 to enhance the different characteristics of each weapon category. It anchored the nuance of power required for combat in a fantasy world steeped in myth and legend, resulting in a greater choice of flashy or idiosyncratic abilities in Elden Ring.

Xbox Wire: How did you design the different types of Ashes you can summon?

Hidetaka Miyazaki: The Spirit Ashes were essentially chosen by enemies, but it all came down to how they worked in gameplay. Wherever possible, during the selection and design process, we have tried to remain aware of the unique qualities of each summon and its contribution to the game.

In addition, a personality layer has been added from an RPG perspective. While that’s not true for everyone, personally I’m a little involved with roleplaying aspects, so I hope players will enjoy it in that sense as well.

Xbox Wire: Are there any design decisions that helped determine which boss resides in a specific area in the open world?

Hidetaka Miyazaki: When we start designing an area, the setting dictates from the beginning which boss will appear in that area, especially the big ones.

In this way, the boss character’s gameplay forms a premise for the area design, and also the boss gameplay can be customized based on the map it appears on.

Xbox Wire: Who is your personal favorite boss in the Elden Ring?

Hidetaka Miyazaki: It’s very difficult to decide, but I have to say Radahn. I find him fascinating as a single character and like the Radahn Festival as a situation. Not only does it literally capture that festive vibe and sense of grandeur, I suppose it also has that lonely and oppressive feeling that you might associate with our games.

It seems like just yesterday we talked about the idea of ​​the “Radahn Festival”… Nobody in the team took me seriously at the time! (laughs)

If there is a second place award, it would go to Godrick and Rykard.

Xbox Wire: Have you used specific open-world games as inspiration for your design choices in Elden Ring?

Hidetaka Miyazaki: There was no specific game that served as inspiration, but we have enjoyed many classic open-world games from a player’s perspective, and each one has given us a unique and wonderful appeal.

The list of titles is endless, but The Elder Scrolls series and The Witcher 3 are there, plus The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild as a more recent example.

Xbox Wire: Is there a way to make the Spider Hand enemies invisible? I see her every time I close my eyes…

Hidetaka Miyazaki: What can I say about that… I’m really sorry… The fingercreeper is actually one of my favorite designs…

I think a conscious effort not to see them will have an adverse effect. If you want to overcome your trauma, you must keep your gaze straight at them and never look away when you knock them down. Maybe that will work…?

Xbox Wire: Has Elden Ring’s Hit Status Affected Your Mental State?

Hidetaka Miyazaki: As a member of the production team, the fact that so many people are playing Elden Ring gives me great joy and surprise.

I speak both for myself and on behalf of everyone at FromSoftware: As game developers, we’ve always felt very lucky, and this time, that feeling really carried home.

I’m not sure if you would call it a mental state, but it didn’t really affect our attitude towards game production.

So far we’ve made the games we enjoy ourselves and I don’t think that will change in the future.

This is how we will continue to create new fun games. I think that’s the best way to convey our joy and appreciation to the players.