Elden Ring will be less stressful than Bloodborne, but not in the way you think

techradar.com:

It sounds like Elden Ring may not run up your blood pressure as high as Bloodborne, Sekiro or Dark Souls 3, as producer Yasuhiro Kitao explains that elements of the game have been developed to actively keep player stress levels low.

As reported by IGN, Kitao stressed this notion in a lengthy interview during the Taipei Game Show 2022. «With the game's world being so large, that can produce real depth and breadth of enjoyment, but it can also lead to unnecessary stress for some players,» said Kitao. «The dev team has been very careful to avoid that where possible.»

Interviewer Misuzu Araki added that this was understandable: «With battle already being fairly difficult, I can understand wanting to reduce stress elsewhere.» Kitao agreed, adding «especially as the enemies are so strong.»

But how exactly has stress been reduced?

FromSoftware's intention to create a stress-free environment does seem counter to the hostile nature of the worlds in its back catalog. From the poisonous, framerate-destroying swamps of Blighttown to the parasitic infestations of Senpou Temple, From's games are for the most part rife with danger.

However, Elden Ring being an open world title changes things. And as Kitao explains, that low-stress design mostly pertains to traversal of the game's world: «Horses provide a stress-free method of traveling across the long distances the player needs to travel in the game.»

Kitao also suggested that air currents exist for that same reason – to provide players an easy way to ascend cliffs with ease: «That system was introduced as a means of quickly and enjoyably moving vertically upward in order to explore those higher areas.»

Additionally, we've already seen some of these stress-free elements of Elden Ring in