Elden Ring has everything a classic Souls-game should have
- Really long ladders
- Invisible path ways
- Poisonous swamps
- Annoying dogs
- Grab attacks that will one shot you
- Multiphase boss fights
Elden Ring does however bring a couple of new things to the table
- Open world
- Crafting
- Ash Spirit Summons
- Ashes of war
- Horse battles
- Merika Statues
In short it is very much a Dark Souls 4 as I imagined it to be, but there has been a major change in the way From Software approach its audience. In Elden Ring they have focused on making the game accessible to a wider audience.
It is a hard balance to walk, making the game more accessible and still painful enough that killing bosses feel like an achievement. New players should come into the game feeling like they accomplished something great, while old players shouldn’t feel like the wine is being watered out.
In a game like Bloodborne there is only one difficulty, and it is the difficulty intended by From Software. In Elden Ring they handed over the difficulty setting to the player by using several techniques.
The huge open world with its many enemies, side missions and bosses, makes it easy to level up and become overpowered for the main path. If you’re ready to invest in the game, you will make the game easier for yourself. If you get stuck on a boss, go do something else and come back later and you’ll easily overpower it.
The crafting system makes it trivial to always have the correct arrows, bombs or boluses to cure ailments. If you just take a second to invest into crafting you’ll always have the correct tools to deal with the fight in front of you. You quickly learn which enemy is weak to fire, and can craft firebombs on the spot to deal with them. This makes the game much easier compared to previous games where you had to suffice with the items you found on your way to the boss.
One way previous games helped with bosses was to offer help by NPC summons. In this game you carry an NPC summon with you. It is a quite cool concept where you have many summons that you can choose from depending on the situation. I ended up favouring the Mimic Tear Ashes that is completely overpowered and can solo half the game’s bosses without breaking a sweat.
Weapons have always been a central part of the souls experience, with the promise that you can finish the game with any weapon if you just upgrade it. I picked up the Bloodhound Fang at the start of the game, and liked its moves enough to play the whole game with it. With ashes of war you can buff your weapon with a new move making it fit your play style even better.
The horse is an interesting addition, making it easier than ever to run past enemies. In previous games, when you died you had to fight your way back to your souls and retrieve them. In Elden Ring you can just jump on your horse and grab your runes by a hit-and-run. Merika Statues let you revive after death close to where you died. Dying in Elden Ring has never been so convenient. There is almost no downside. You used to feel dread from walking into an unknown fog gate not knowing what you’d find on the other side, but in Elden Ring you know that if you die you will just respawn right outside. This makes the game less scary as dying is no longer such big deal.
With all this said, what did I think of the game?
I think it is too long. There is too much to do, and when I find another area close to the end of the game, it is not amazement I feel, but dread. I were so much looking forward to it ending.
They have done a great job of imagining new places and enemies that I haven’t seen before. I loved the Nokstella part of the game, that was more like a classic Dark Souls dungeon, but I got bored with the huge empty areas like Liurnia of the Lakes and Altus Plateau.
The reuse of assets from previous games does make Elden Ring feel like a Best of Soulsborne compilation at times. The Erdtree Avatar moveset probably hearkens back to Demon’s Souls Vanguard enemy, or Dark Souls Asylmn Demon.
I actually think that From Software get away with lots of bad design, with the justification it is the souls borne formula. Like, why are NPCs not lip synched? Why can I not pause the game? Why is the story not told so you can understand it? Why is my coat sticking out the side of my shield? While a developer like Guerrilla Games make sure that Alloys eyebrows are just perfect, From Software gets away with invisible bridges.
I’ve played this game for 100 hours, reached level 147, got the platinum trophy with all the four endings, and I don’t want to see another From Software game for a very long time.
I rate this game as GREAT.
Replay 