As I work my way The shadow of the Erdtreethe new DLC for Fire ringI can't help but think that the game's director, Hidetaka Miyazaki, is giving me shit.
talking with him at the Summer Game Fest two weeks ago, Miyazaki said that Erdtree It is “by far the largest in scale and volume” than any previous FromSoftware DLC. But he also said Erdtree is “approximately the same volume as the Limgrave part of the base game”, the initial area of Fire ringthat contains “a little more content.”
I do not buy it. While it's impossible to accurately compare the scale in the game, I played for 30 hours and already discovered that the new areas in the DLC are larger than Limgrave. The map itself is not only large, but also layered, with huge areas shored up on plateaus above, deep valleys below, and islands that take some creative platforming to reach.
I would say it's far away far bigger than Limgrave and with a lot more to do too. The shadow of the Erdtree Honestly, it seems like it's big enough to be its own game with its own story, one that was originally intended for Fire ring but ended up being cut for time before being added back as DLC content.
Erdtree follows the story arc of Miquella, brother of the super boss Malenia and one of the important demigods for Fire ring science. Focusing on Miquella, Miyazaki told me, was born from a desire to honor George RR Martin's contributions to the game. “(He) gave us all this great mythology to work with,” Miyazaki said. Introducing Miquella's story as a standalone DLC was essentially “coming full circle” on Martin's involvement in the game. “It's really about completing Fire ring“The circle,” he said.
But underestimate the size of The shadow of the Erdtree It's just one of the ways I feel like Miyazaki is cheating on me. I know he is trolling me when it comes to difficulties.
I can't beat Rellana, Twin Moon Knight, the boss installed in Castle Enis in which players can face five or 50 hours depending on their exploration choices. (I met her after about 15.) None of my strategies or any of the game's built-in support features (using Mimic Tear Ashes, calling for help from an NPC, changing my weapons or spells, inflicting damaging status effects) seem to work. My best attempt got her to half health and I can't seem to progress any further. And she's just boss number two.
According to Miyazaki, this is by design. He said that Erdtree contains “over 10 boss encounters”; Honestly, another hilariously absurd understatement, I've seen estimates of 55 bosses And till 80. Fortunately, only a small handful of those bosses are needed to advance the story, while the rest are optional.
“And the ones that (are optional) are especially difficult,” Miyazaki said.
Every time a new FromSoftware game is released, there is almost always a discussion about the difficulty. With the DLC, other critics have suggested that its difficulty is too extreme. “It is true that this different type of frustration designed by FromSoft is an indispensable part of the souls experience,” wrote Alexis Ong in eurogamer. “This, however, seems like difficulty for difficulty's sake, when turned up to eleven.”
I agree. But while I think The shadow of the Erdtree could better straddle the line between pleasantly challenging and frustratingly impossible, the game suited Miyazaki's intentions, representing the lessons the development team learned from feedback on the original game.
“Traditionally, we've always liked higher difficulty curved games and experiences, but I think the nature itself alienates a good portion of the gaming audience,” he said.
Something contradictory to say considering his comments in a recent interview with The Guardian: “If we really wanted everyone to play the game, we could simply lower the difficulty lower and lower, but that wasn't the right approach. Rejecting difficulty would strip the game of that joy, which, in my opinion, would break the game itself.”
Is not wrong. Fire ring It stops being the game of the year if it lacks the kind of difficulty that FromSoftware is known for. So Erdtree It should be difficult, but not so difficult that it discourages players. But it also can't be too easy because that would ruin the game. To do? The answer, according to Miyazaki, is freedom.
“The freedom we give players helps offset that difficulty curve and makes the game more accessible and engaging,” he told me.
I think it worked for Fire ring, except for this DLC. In the base game, difficulty could be avoided by leveling up – the player's freedom, so to speak. But with the addition of new DLC-exclusive consumables that increase your attack and defense, becoming more powerful now depends on your ability to find those scarce items. As a result, I often find myself fearful of simpler enemies, as encountering more than one at a time will outright kill me.
“I try to imagine different ways I would like to die as a player or get killed.”
In addition to ensuring that players die a lot, Miyazaki also said that as players die is equally important.
“I try to imagine different ways I would like to die as a player or get killed,” he said, explaining that those thoughts manifested themselves in Fire ring and in other FromSoftware games while its characteristic venom sinks. But for Erdtreeconfessed to having reduced that indulgence: “In the original Fire ringI went too far.”
There are still poisonous swamps in Erdtree“but in other parts of the game, there are still many ways to die.”
It seems like there are too many. I have been beaten, bled, frozen and burned. I've fallen off cliffs, been knocked off cliffs (watch out for the fiery rocks the Furnace Golems throw), and even accidentally killed myself by eating an item that refilled my HP and at the same time inflicted poison on me.
Despite my tribulations, Miyazaki, like a benevolent god, has faith in me and his players, and only presents us with the trials he believes we can endure.
“We've really pushed the limits in terms of what we think the player can handle,” Miyazaki said.
He clarified that one of the greatest lessons learned Fire ring in Erdtree It was what the public found funny about stressful. “We're trying to make that the basis of the DLC's boss encounters, so we hope players will find it a lot more engaging and fun,” he said.
“But that's not the case,” he added. “Then I'm sorry.”
