FromSoftware’s Dark Souls series and Bloodborne are the two gothic videogames that birthed the Soulsborne genre. This generation’s Elden Ring has run with the genre’s dark fantasy lore and hair-pulling combat while implementing tabletop RPG levels of exploration to evolve the niche. However, Bloodborne stands as the ultimate game of this ilk in the minds of fans and devs alike – despite the notion of a PC port being left in the dust.

This month will see Elden Ring fans dive into the uncharted Land of Shadow within the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion for more grueling boss battles, and we’ve compiled the release time details so you can jump in straight away. While promoting the DLC, director Hidetaka Miyazaki has been discussing the development process behind FromSoft’s latest project and why Bloodborne remains prolific in the lead’s mind nearly 10 years on.

Hidetaka Miyazaki Says Bloodborne Is Right Up His Street

In an interview with Game Informer, Miyazaki talked about FromSoft’s catalog, from Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice to Demon’s Souls. Directing nearly every game from the developer, Miyazaki touched on the games’ balance between offense and defense with the promise of even harder titles to come.

Describing Sekiro’s combat as “something much more fluid and active”, the creator believed this was “a very defining characteristic” of the feudal Japan-based game and “the clearest form that I think that philosophy can embody”. Miyazaki had been pondering this evolution since his Bloodborne days and teased “I think there’s one more level we can crank it up to and sharpen that and hone in on that mechanic even more, but I think Sekiro was a big turning point.”

The interviewer later proclaimed Bloodborne to be the first game that clicked, which prompted Miyazaki to name the 2015 title as “a special game for me”. The director also discussed why the adventures through Yharnam stood out amongst FromSoft’s other games, saying “A couple of reasons. The first one being it was probably one of the most challenging development cycles we’ve had from a studio perspective.”

Another reason Miyazaki gave was his personal connection to Bloodborne, sharing “I’ve imparted a lot of my own ideas into this game, whether it be story, the world-building component, or even the game mechanics and game systems that are in place. It is perhaps the strongest reflection of my type of flavoring of a game that one can experience.”

If you’re looking for more punishing Soulslike experiences, check out our hands-on preview of Black Myth: Wukong, due for release this August.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree will be released on Thursday, June 20 or Friday, June 21, 2024, depending on your timezone.

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