„A Game for Everyone Is a Game for No One.” Helldivers 2 Dev Defends Difficulty Level of Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
Helldivers 2 developer Johan Pilestedt took aim at the Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, which has been criticized for being too difficulty, claiming that „a game for everyone is a game for no one”.
Despite making an impressive debut, the expansion Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree received negative feedback from players. The expansion for the popular soulslike game from FromSoftware studio has been criticized, among other things, for - as some claim - too high level of difficulty. Of course, not everyone shares this view - even many players claim that these are greatly exaggerated opinions. Interestingly, the dev of Helldivers 2, Johan Pilestedt, stood up in defense of Shadow of the Erdtree.
It all started with a post published on X by an Internet user nicknamed Rurikhan. The user included video footage of one of the streamers bursting with joy after defeating a boss in Elden Ring. Furthermore, the post was accompanied by the following opinion:
Some people think From Software design hard bosses for difficulty's sake. They are wrong. The game is challenging because they want you to feel this. But you can't feel this without being challenged.
Pilestedt agreed with Rurikhan's opinion and wrote: "Indeed, this 1000% - good game design is evoking emotions more than anything."
The developer then responded to several other people, including a player who stated that he had abandoned FromSoftware games because defeating opponents gave him no joy, but only a sense of relief. Pilestedt explained to him in a comment that "a game for everyone is a game for no one," and the developers design titles for specific audiences. Then, the former head of Arrowhead studio added that FromSoftware games aren't that difficult, they just require more focus and patience.
