FromSoftware says that it’s seeking to balance Elden Ring’s difficulty, with one particularly frustrating Network Test among the elements being tuned for the final version. But there will still be some difficult bosses, some of which will reportedly rank among the most difficult the series has ever seen.
Speaking with Gamer Braves, Elden Ring producer Yasuhiro Kitao covered a variety of topics pertaining the final release, which is due later this month. Among them, he discussed the difficult balance, saying that the Network Test’s showcase boss, Margit the Fell Omen, was “just too hard.”
Nevertheless, Elden Ring will have a myriad of optional bosses to test the skills of top players, some of which will be very difficult.
“In terms of bosses that are unessential and optional and hidden, there are some of these that we have deliberately increased the challenge for those players who want to seek out this kind of experience. Hopefully if you’re that way inclined, you can seek out some really tough challenges hidden away in the world,” Kitao said.
FromSoftware’s Souls games have a long history of very difficult optional bosses. They include the likes of Bloodborne’s Martyr Logarius, who will test your ability to parry attacks while heavily punishing mistakes. The DLC bosses are even nastier, with expansions like The Old Hunters notably featuring some of the toughest bosses in FromSoftware history.
As Elden Ring is open world and FromSoftware’s biggest game to date, there may be more of these secret bosses than ever before. Game director Hidetaka Miyazaki recently commented that he expects more players to finish Elden Ring than the studio’s previous games, perhaps because its biggest challenges are off the beaten path.
Elsewhere in the interview, Kitao addresses issues like the HUD and other changes from the Network Test. It’s worth reading in full if you’re a big fan of the series.
In our final preview ahead of the game’s release on February 25, IGN said Elden Ring “encourages and rewards exploration — and now has much more room for creativity than simply giving you more than one corridor in a castle to check out.”
Ryan Dinsdale is a freelancer contributor at IGN
