Just days before the release of Elden Ring: Nightreign, director Junya Ishizaki has revealed that he has been wanting to work on game like this since Dark Souls 3. In an interview with GamesRadar, Ishizaki spoke about how he originally conceptualised a Dark Souls game that would focus on co-op, especially during the development of Dark Souls 3, but how these ideas were just fragmented ideas and concepts.
“It was a long time ago,” Ishizaki said. “I had this very vague image from this kind of game I wanted to make while in the company, and I think maybe even around the time of Dark Souls 3 development, I had these very fragmented ideas and concepts going.”
However, according to Ishizaki, seeing Elden Ring back when the game had entered full production is what ultimately made the fragmented concepts and ideas come together in his mind. The scope of the world of Elden Ring was an especially notable thing, he said, as well as the variety the game offers in weapons and enemies.
“Of course, it wasn’t until Elden Ring was in full production that these ideas cemented and things started to take shape in my mind,” Ishizaki continued, “seeing the scope of the world of Elden Ring, the enemy variety, the weapon variety, the build variety of the players, and this felt like a really good place to expand on and to develop these ideas with. So that’s kind of the timeline of the conception of this game.”
Ishizaki also spoke about how when work on Elden Ring: Nightreign first started, he didn’t really see himself in the director’s role. Rather, FromSoftware president Hidetaka Miyazaki – known for heading up other major projects for the studio like Dark Souls and Bloodborne – was the one to push for Ishizaki to take up the mantle. Working on Nightreign, according to Ishizaki, has given him the confidence to be a director on future projects as well.
“I’d love to try my hand at directing another title in future,” he says. “Of course, for Nightreign, Elden Ring was a big cornerstone for this project. So in the future, I’d love to try maybe a different approach going forward.”
Ishizaki has also spoken about feeling excitement for the impending launch of Elden Ring: Nightreign, saying that he was a little nervous, but still confident. He also spoke about how work on the game hadn’t really stopped despite the title’s upcoming release. Rather, the studio is now working on making sure that game balance is on point.
“We really try to tweak things until the last minute,” Ishizaki said. “We’re busy fine-tuning, getting the most out of any single session. We want players to feel happy and comfortable in each session, so we’re really trying to get that player comfort and that play feel just really fine-tuned until the very end.”
Elden Ring: Nightreign is coming to PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on May 30. Check out our detailed overview of the playable characters in Elden Ring: Nightreign for more information.