Highlights

  • FromSoftware President Hidetaka Miyazaki says Elden Ring is not his "ideal fantasy RPG."
  • Nevertheless, the hit 2022 soulslike is close to Miyazaki's dream game.
  • One thing that makes it difficult for the industry veteran to achieve his ideal is the lack of surprises when playing his own games.

Elden Ring is still not the "ideal fantasy RPG" that Hidetaka Miyazaki has been trying to make for years, the FromSoftware boss said. Nevertheless, the industry veteran believes that he's not far away from that goal, suggesting that whatever comes after Elden Ring may bring him even closer to his dream game.

Miyazaki is currently on a press tour of sorts, having been deeply involved in publisher Bandai Namco's efforts to promote Shadow of the Erdtree. The first and last Elden Ring expansion is scheduled to reach PC and the latest two Xbox and PlayStation console generations on Friday, June 21.

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Elden Ring Is 'Getting Close' To Miyazaki's Dream Fantasy RPG

As part of these ongoing promotional efforts, Miyazaki recently sat down with PC Gamer's Wes Fenlon, who visited him at FromSoftware's HQ in western Tokyo, located in the glittery Shinjuku City ward. During the ensuing interview, the famous game designer reflected on some of the comments that he made prior to Elden Ring's critically acclaimed release, when he said he was still in the process of creating his "ideal fantasy RPG." That endeavor continues to this day, with Miyazaki opining that the 2022 soulslike is "not quite" his dream game, though "it's getting close."

Miyazaki Would Like His Own Games to Surprise Him, Somehow

Pressed for more details, the industry veteran laughingly said that it's difficult to divulge any without spoiling his "next idea" or even FromSoftware's "next games." But he did reveal one thing that continues to keep him from achieving his ideal: the element of surprise, or lack thereof. Granted, that is an extremely personal perspective on FromSoftwares soulslikes that's unique to the person in charge of overseeing their creation from start to finish. Miyazaki acknowledged as much, saying that he'd rather have someone else make his ideal fantasy game so that he can enjoy it as a player instead of knowing everything that's going to happen in advance.

Until that happens, he will keep trying. But whether that means he'll somehow attempt to steer the studio's future games in a direction that could make them surprising even for him is unclear. The most obvious way of doing so would be to introduce some sort of randomness in the vein of procedural generation. However, such techniques are completely at odds with FromSoftware's design philosophy, which rose to prominence due to its heavy emphasis on hand-crafted and meticulously planned content.

Fans can expect to learn more about the Japanese studio's next project in the near future, possibly by early 2025. That's largely because FromSoftware never stays radio silent for long between releases, having historically announced new projects less than a year after whatever game or DLC that immediately preceded them was out.