Elden Ring and Dark Souls creator Hidetaka Miyazaki has discussed FromSoftware's focus on difficulty, saying "hardship is what gives meaning to the experience."
Ever since Demon's Souls, one of the core tenants of FromSoftware games is their massive difficulty curve and how they give the player little to work with unless they're willing to learn all of the mechanics back to front. Although Elden Ring is aiming to be a bit more friendly to newcomers, that focus on challenge has remained, causing creator Hidetaka Miyazaki to discuss what difficulty means to FromSoftware.
As reported by GamesRadar+, Hidetaka Miyazaki was interviewed by The New Yorker, taking the time to open up about some of the main philosophies behind his games, "I’ve never been a very skilled player. I die a lot. So, in my work, I want to answer the question: If death is to be more than a mark of failure, how do I give it meaning? How do I make death enjoyable? I do feel apologetic toward anyone who feels there’s just too much to overcome in my games. I just want as many players as possible to experience the joy that comes from overcoming hardship."
It seems like that won't change with future games from the studio either, as Miyazaki added, "We are always looking to improve, but, in our games specifically, hardship is what gives meaning to the experience. So it’s not something we’re willing to abandon at the moment. It’s our identity."
Miyazaki continued to open up about why his games are difficult, emphasizing that the message behind the challenge is a positive one, rather than just for challenge's sake, “I wouldn’t say that my life story, to put it in grandiose terms, has affected the way I make games. A more accurate way to look at it is problem solving. We all face problems in our daily lives. Finding answers is always a satisfying thing. But in life, you know, there’s not a lot that gives us those feelings readily.”