FromSoftware Thinks There’s ‘Room for Improvement’ in Its Game Design if Players Can’t Get By Without a Guide

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Elden Ring creator Hidetaka Miyazaki has said that using guides to beat FromSoftware titles is “a perfectly valid playstyle” in a new interview with PC Gamer, but that the Japanese studio has “room for improvement” if players who want to go in fresh can’t beat the game “organically”.


"Of course players are going to consult guides, and there's going to be a wealth of information on the web and in their communities where they have access to the secrets and the strategies,” explained Miyazaki ahead of the release of Elden Ring’s one and only DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, later this month. “We expect that."

Elden Ring’s open world map and legacy dungeons are packed full of easy-to-miss collectibles and brutally difficult bosses that render the use of guides all but mandatory to some degree for all but the most determined of players. During the interview, the FromSoftware president made it clear that moving through Elden Ring and other games guide-in-hand was a “perfectly valid playstyle”, but that the studio also hadn’t designed its titles with that approach in mind.


"We obviously understand [players use guides], but we don't make or plan anything with that as a prerequisite,” said Miyazaki. “If anything, we try to cater to the player who is completely blind and wants to go through organically. If they can't do it, then there's some room for improvement on our behalf, and we'd like to try to embrace those players more in the future."

That same design ethos will certainly be seen in the upcoming DLC Shadow of the Erdtree, which is coming to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, and PC on June 21. However, in order to access the new content players will first have to defeat Mohg, the Lord of Blood - a task that many Steam gamers have yet to complete - and gain access to the withered arm hanging from a split cocoon, which acts as the starting point for the DLC.

Thankfully, IGN has prepared a handy guide to help you beat Mohg, and get you ready to face everything that the Shadow of the Erdtree has to throw at your tarnished warrior. For more Elden Ring content why not check out our first impressions of the DLC, or scour our comprehensive and perfectly valid guides for anything else you may need to know about The Lands Between.


Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer