Technology

Even Elden Ring’s game director knows Erdtree is too hard

Published

2 years ago

June 22, 2024

Even Elden Ring’s game director knows Erdtree is too hard

As I work my way through Shadow of the Erdtree, the new DLC for Elden Ring, I can’t help but think that game director Hidetaka Miyazaki is trolling the shit outta me.

Speaking with him at Summer Game Fest two weeks ago, Miyazaki said that Erdtree is “by far the biggest in scale in volume” than any other FromSoftware DLC before it. But he also said Erdtree is “about the same volume as the Limgrave part of the base game,” the starting area of Elden Ring, containing “slightly more content.”

I don’t buy it. While it’s impossible to accurately compare scale in game, I’ve played the game for 30 hours and have already found the new areas in the DLC to be more expansive than Limgrave. Not only is the map itself large, it’s layered, with huge areas propped up on plateaus above, in deep valleys below, and on islands that take some creative platforming to reach.

I’d say it’s far, far larger than Limgrave, with plenty more to do as well. Shadow of the Erdtree honestly feels like it’s big enough to be its own game with its own story — one that was originally intended for Elden Ring but wound up being cut for time before being added back as DLC content.

Erdtree follows the story arc of Miquella, brother of uber boss Malenia and one of the demigods important to Elden Ring lore. To focus on Miquella was, Miyazaki told me, born of the desire to honor George R. R. Martin’s contributions to the game. “[He] gave us all this great mythology to work with,” Miyazaki said. Packaging Miquella’s story as a standalone DLC was essentially “closing the loop” on Martin’s involvement in the game. “It’s really about completing Elden Ring’s circle,” he said.

But understating the size of Shadow of the Erdtree is just one of the ways it feels like Miyazaki is misleading me. I know he’s trolling me when it comes to difficulty.

I cannot beat Rellana, Twin Moon Knight, the boss ensconced in Castle Enis that players can face five or 50 hours in depending on their exploration choices. (I met her after about 15.) None of my strategies nor any of the game’s built in assistance features — using Mimic Tear Ashes, summoning help from an NPC, changing my weapons or spells, inflicting damaging status effects — seem to work. My best attempt got her down to half of her health and I cannot seem to progress further. And she’s only major boss number two.

According to Miyazaki, this is by design. He said that Erdtree contains “10 plus boss encounters” — honestly, another hilariously absurd understatement, I’ve seen estimates of 55 bosses and up to 80. Thankfully only a small handful of those bosses are necessary to progress the story, while the rest are optional.

“And the ones that [are optional] are especially difficult,” Miyazaki said.

Whenever a new FromSoftware game releases, there’s nearly always a discussion of difficulty. With the DLC, other reviewers have suggested that its difficulty is too extreme. “It’s true that this distinct type of FromSoft-engineered frustration is an indispensable part of the Souls experience,” wrote Alexis Ong in Eurogamer. “This, however, feels like difficulty for difficulty’s sake, turned up to eleven.”

I agree. But while I think Shadow of the Erdtree could better straddle the line between pleasantly challenging and frustratingly impossible, the game was tuned to Miyazaki’s intentions, representing the lessons the development team learned from the original game’s feedback.

“Traditionally we’ve always liked the higher difficulty curve type of games and experiences, but I think that nature in and of itself alienates a good portion of the game playing audience,” he said.

A contradictory thing to say considering his comments in a recent interview with The Guardian: “If we really wanted the whole world to play the game, we could just crank the difficulty down more and more, but that wasn’t the right approach. Turning down difficulty would strip the game of that joy, which, in my eyes, would break the game itself.”

He’s not wrong. Elden Ring ceases to be the game of the year it was if it lacks the kind of difficulty FromSoftware is known for. So Erdtree must be hard, but not so hard that it’ll turn players off. But it also can’t be too easy because that will break the game. What to do? The answer, according to Miyazaki, is freedom.

“The amount of freedom that we give players helps offset that difficulty curve and makes the game more accessible and engaging,” he told me.

I think that worked for Elden Ring, less so for this DLC. In the base game, difficulty could be circumvented with leveling up — the player freedom, as it were. But with the addition of the new DLC-exclusive consumables that increase your attack and defense, becoming more powerful is now dependent on your ability to find those scarce items. As a result, I’ve often found myself fearful of the simplest enemies as encountering more than one at a time will kill me outright.

“I try to imagine different ways I would want to die as a player or be killed.”

In addition to ensuring that players die a lot, Miyazaki also said that how players die is just as important.

“I try to imagine different ways I would want to die as a player or be killed,” he said, explaining that those thoughts manifested in Elden Ring and in other FromSoftware games as his signature poison swamps. But for Erdtree, he confessed to cutting back on that indulgence — “In the original Elden Ring, I went a little too far.”

There are still poison swamps in Erdtree, “but in other parts of gameplay, there are still many ways to die.”

One of Hidetaka Miyazaki’s signature poison swamps in Shadow of the Erdtree.

Image: FromSoftware / Ash Parrish

Too many it seems. I’ve been bludgeoned, exsanguinated, frostbitten, and burned. I’ve fallen off cliffs, had cliffs fall on me — beware the fiery rocks the Furnace Golems spew — and I’ve even accidentally killed myself eating an item that refilled my HP while also inflicting poison.

Despite my tribulations, Miyazaki, like a benevolent god, has faith in me and his players, only giving us trials he believes we can bear.

“We’ve really pushed the envelope in terms of what we think can be withstood by the player,” Miyazaki said.

He clarified that one of the biggest lessons brought forward from Elden Ring into Erdtree was what the audience found fun over what was stressful. “ We tried to make that the foundation of the boss encounters of the DLC, so hopefully players will find it much more engaging and fun,” he said.

“But if that is not the case,” he added. “Then I’m sorry.”

Technology

Amazon’s smart shopping cart for Whole Foods gets bigger, lighter, and adds tap-to-pay

Published

7 hours ago

January 7, 2026

Press Room

Amazon’s smart shopping cart for Whole Foods gets bigger, lighter, and adds tap-to-pay

Amazon is launching a revamped version of its smart shopping cart, which it plans to bring to dozens of Whole Foods locations by the end of this year, according to an announcement on Wednesday. The new Dash Cart features a “more responsive” item scanner that’s now located next to the built-in display, along with a new NFC reader that lets you tap to pay with your credit card or phone.

Amazon’s previous Dash Cart design put scanners beneath and in front of the handle, potentially making them harder to spot. It also only let you pay with the credit card attached to your Amazon account.

With the upgraded Dash Cart, you’ll find a new scale alongside the cart’s handle, which Amazon says “works in tandem with on-cart cameras, weight sensors, and deep learning models to ensure accurate pricing for every item.” The upgraded Dash Cart eliminates the large sensors facing inside the cart as well, offering a 40 percent larger capacity and a 25 percent lighter weight.

The Dash Cart shows an interactive map of the store on its display, similar to Instacart’s smart Caper Cart. You can sync your shopping list created with Alexa, too, and see how much you’re spending as you add more items to your cart. The cart uses built-in sensors and computer vision to detect when you’ve removed an item, allowing it to automatically update your total. When you’re done shopping, you can skip the checkout line and leave the store in a designated Dash Cart lane.

Amazon is launching its new Dash Cart as the company shakes up its grocery business, which has tied Whole Foods more closely to the Amazon brand. The company has already brought its new Dash Cart to three Whole Foods stores in McKinney, Texas; Reston, Virginia; and Westford, Massachusetts, along with two Amazon Fresh stores.

Technology

Fake error popups are spreading malware fast

Published

7 hours ago

January 7, 2026

Press Room

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

A dangerous cybercrime tool has surfaced in underground forums, making it far easier for attackers to spread malware.

Instead of relying on hidden downloads, this tool pushes fake error messages that pressure you into fixing problems that never existed. Security researchers say this method is spreading quickly because it feels legitimate. The page looks broken. The warning feels urgent. The fix sounds simple.

That combination is proving alarmingly effective for cybercriminals.

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How fake error malware attacks actually work

These attacks begin with a compromised website. When a visitor lands on the page, something looks wrong right away. Text appears broken. Fonts look scrambled. Visual elements seem corrupted. A pop-up then appears claiming the issue can be fixed with a browser update or a missing system font. A button offers to repair the problem instantly.

Clicking that button copies a command to the clipboard and displays instructions to paste it into PowerShell or a system terminal. That single step launches the infection.

MALICIOUS CHROME EXTENSIONS CAUGHT STEALING SENSITIVE DATA

Fake error popups make a website look broken by scrambling text or fonts to create urgency and panic. (Jens Büttner/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Why this new tool changes the threat landscape

The tool behind these attacks is called ErrTraffic. It automates the entire process and removes the technical barriers that once limited cybercrime operations. For about $800, attackers get a full package with a control panel and scripted payload delivery. Analysts at the Hudson Rock Threat Intelligence Team identified the tool after tracking its promotion on Russian-language forums in early December 2025.

ErrTraffic works through a simple JavaScript injection. A single line of code connects a hacked site to the attacker’s dashboard. From there, everything adapts automatically. The script detects the operating system and browser. It then displays a customized fake error message in the correct language. The attack works across Windows, Android, macOS and Linux.

MOST PARKED DOMAINS NOW PUSH SCAMS AND MALWARE

The popups often claim a browser update or missing system font is needed to fix the problem. (Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Why security software struggles to stop it

Traditional malware defenses look for suspicious downloads or unauthorized installations. ErrTraffic avoids both. Browsers see normal text copying. Security tools see a legitimate system utility being opened manually. Nothing appears out of place. That design allows the attack to slip through protections that would normally stop malware in its tracks.

The success rate is deeply concerning

Data pulled from active ErrTraffic campaigns shows conversion rates approaching 60%. That means more than half of the visitors who see the fake error message follow the instructions and install malware. Once active, the tool can deliver infostealers like Lumma or Vidar on Windows devices. Android targets often receive banking trojans instead. The control panel even includes geographic filtering, with built-in blocks for Russia and neighboring regions to avoid drawing attention from local authorities.

What happens after infection?

Once malware is installed, credentials and session data are stolen. Those compromised logins are then used to breach additional websites. Each newly hacked site becomes another delivery vehicle for the same attack. That cycle allows the campaign to grow without direct involvement from the original operator.

FAKE WINDOWS UPDATE PUSHES MALWARE IN NEW CLICKFIX ATTACK

Following the on-screen instructions can quietly trigger malware that steals passwords and personal data. (Kurt Knutsson)

Ways to stay safe from fake error malware

A few smart habits can significantly reduce risk when facing fake error pop-ups and browser-based traps.

1) Never run commands suggested by a website

Legitimate websites never ask you to copy and paste commands into PowerShell or a system terminal. Fake error malware relies on convincing messages that pressure you into doing exactly that. If a page instructs you to run code to fix a problem, close it immediately.

2) Close pages that claim your system is corrupted

Fake error campaigns often use broken text, scrambled fonts or warnings about missing files to grab attention. As a result, these visuals create urgency and trigger fear. In reality, a real system problem never announces itself through a random website, so close the page right away.

3) Install updates only through official system settings

Real browser and operating system updates come from built-in update tools, not pop-ups on websites. If an update is needed, your device will notify you directly through system settings or trusted app stores.

4) Install strong antivirus software on every device

Strong antivirus software can help block malicious scripts, detect infostealers and stop suspicious behavior before damage spreads. This is especially important since fake error malware targets Windows, Android, macOS and Linux systems.

The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have strong antivirus software installed on all your devices. This protection can also alert you to phishing emails and ransomware scams, keeping your personal information and digital assets safe.

Get my picks for the best 2025 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices at Cyberguy.com.

5) Use a data removal service to reduce exposure

Stolen credentials fuel the spread of fake error malware. Removing personal information from data broker sites can reduce the impact if login details are compromised and limit how far an attack can spread.

While no service can guarantee the complete removal of your data from the internet, a data removal service is really a smart choice. They aren’t cheap, and neither is your privacy. These services do all the work for you by actively monitoring and systematically erasing your personal information from hundreds of websites. It’s what gives me peace of mind and has proven to be the most effective way to erase your personal data from the internet. By limiting the information available, you reduce the risk of scammers cross-referencing data from breaches with information they might find on the dark web, making it harder for them to target you.

Check out my top picks for data removal services and get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web by visiting Cyberguy.com.

Get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web: Cyberguy.com.

6) Treat font and browser update pop-ups with suspicion

Claims about missing fonts or outdated browsers are a hallmark of these attacks. Modern systems manage fonts automatically, and browsers update themselves. A webpage has no reason to request manual fixes.

If a real update is needed, the operating system will request it directly. A random webpage never should.

Kurt’s key takeaways

Fake error malware works because it plays on a very human reaction. When something on a screen suddenly looks broken, most people want to fix it fast and move on. That split-second decision is exactly what attackers are counting on. Tools like ErrTraffic show how polished these scams have become. The messages look professional. The instructions feel routine. Nothing about the moment screams danger. But behind the scenes, one click can quietly hand over passwords, banking access and personal data. The good news is that slowing down makes a real difference. Closing a suspicious page and trusting built-in system updates can stop these attacks cold. When it comes to pop-ups claiming your device is broken, walking away is often the smartest fix.

Have you ever seen a pop-up or error message that made you stop and wonder if it was real? Tell us what it looked like and how you handled it by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.

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Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on “FOX & Friends.” Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.

Technology

Intel is planning a custom Panther Lake CPU for handheld PCs

Published

19 hours ago

January 7, 2026

Press Room

Intel is planning a custom Panther Lake CPU for handheld PCs

Intel announced yesterday that it’s developing an entire “handheld gaming platform” powered by its new Panther Lake chips, and joining an increasingly competitive field. Qualcomm is hinting about potential Windows gaming handhelds showing up at the Game Developers Conference in March, and AMD’s new Strix Halo chips could lead to more powerful handhelds.

According to IGN and TechCrunch, sources say Intel is going to compete by developing a custom Intel Core G3 “variant or variants” just for handhelds that could outperform the Arc B390 GPU on the chips it just announced. IGN reports that by using the new 18A process, Intel can cut different die slices, and “spec the chips to offer better performance on the GPU where you want it.”

As for concrete details about the gaming platform, we’re going to have to wait. According to Intel’s Dan Rogers yesterday, the company will have “more news to share on that from our hardware and software partners later this year.” The Intel-based MSI Claw saw a marked improvement when it jumped to Lunar Lake, and hopefully the new platform keeps up that positive trend.