Game Infarcer: Hidetaka Miyazaki Masterfully Dodges Elden Ring Criticism, Saying, "No, That's A Feature"

gameinformer.com:

Speaking to Game Infarcer, Hidetaka Miyazaki, director of Dark Souls and Bloodborne, among others, and president of From Software, shed light on his creative process – specifically saying criticisms of his most recent directorial effort, the lauded Elden Ring, were misunderstandings of deliberate design choices.

«I've seen people on the internet say the lock-on feature in Elden Ring is bad, that it never seems to choose the closest enemy to the player, leaving them completely vulnerable to attacks while they try and correct it» Miyazaki said. «Have you ever been in a fight? Ever had to deal with the threat of getting your ass kicked in? Do you think you'd be singularly focused on one opponent? No, in the rush of the moment, your lizard brain takes over, and your mind oscillates between the numerous threats surrounding you. It's hard to concentrate. We kept this in mind when designing Elden Ring. We implemented a very complex algorithm that makes your lock-on miss the target you want nine out of ten times.» 

While Elden Ring's boss fights are generally fantastic, many have pointed to the Fire Giant as an outlier. Due to the creature's immense size, accurately reading attacks proves difficult for many players, who have taken to various social platforms to voice their frustration. The main issue is: if you have to be directly under the giant to attack at its ankles, then you can't see when the Fire Giant is swinging down upon you. 

Again, Miyazaki balked at the idea that this was somehow a design flaw on From Software's part. 

«Is this a real complaint,» Miyazaki asked incredulously. «I guess we all can't have shared life experiences, but every time I've fought a Fire Giant, this is the risk I've had to take. When you take