Elden Ring is a masterpiece. From its expertly crafted open-world design that rewards the player for taking the chance to explore to its riveting lore, FromSoftware has delivered what can only be described as a deliberate and thoughtful experience. While some of its visual stylings are starting to show its age already, Elden Ring’s gameplay is the result of years of fine-tuning to be as rewarding as it is challenging. Many wondered if FromSoftware could put the level of detail into an open world that they have with their previous games. They’ve achieved that, and so much more.
Elden Ring is astounding. From its deliberate open-world design that incorporates Soulsborne gameplay mechanics, to its bountiful and intriguing lore, Elden Ring is able to deliver a game that shows a spectacular amount of restraint. Trust in a player’s ability is paramount to Elden Ring, as it gives the player everything they need to succeed; they just need to utilize it. The game knows when to reveal its hand, and when to keep an objective ju
Nothing but a Tarnished
Starting as nothing but a mere Tarnished, one who is assigned the task of assuming the title of Elden Lord, players find themselves with very little to their name. Tarnished, visually human, are typically looked down upon by the world and by their Demi-god masters; most amounting to very little in life and are treated as such. With only a singular task handed to them, players are thrown into the world with very little means of direction.
Most of the story and lore in Elden Ring, as with past FromSoftware games, is told directly through item descriptions and sparse dialogue conversations with various NPCs. Elden Ring does a great job at encouraging players to read through all of their items to determine what’s going on in the world around them, especially in terms of where they should head next. As daunting as it is to enter a massive open-world with no apparent direction to head, a quick look through the items you already have on your person is a great first step in figuring everything out.
The open-world itself is ripe with lore. Every nook and cranny of Elden Ring’s world is filled to the brim with story, and every dungeon or ruin is meaningful in its placement. While most open-world games seem to fall into the trap of sprinkling insignificant objectives across their maps to occupy a player’s interest, FromSoftware has taken deliberate care to ensure every monument found throughout the world has a reason for being there. Whether a dungeon is placed to teach a gameplay mechanic or to simply be a spot for players to resource farm, everything fits perfectly together to form a world that feels exciting to explore.
The story itself is a mixture of contributions by George R.R. Martin and Hidetaka Miyazaki, with everything that comes with it. Fans of the Soulsborne games will undoubtedly recognize Miyazaki’s trademark ambiguity when it comes to Elden Ring’s story, while George R.R. Martin’s influence can be felt through its NPCs and underlying foundations. Elden Ring is by no means a straightforward story, but it has an ability to unravel its mysteries in a way that no other Soulsborne game has been able to manage thus far. With every new thread of lore, the world starts to come together to form a tale that is nothing if not epic.
Though wide vistas and huge monuments can be found throughout, FromSoftware has managed to make its open-world feel bigger than it is. Shockingly, Elden Ring’s world is deceptively small. While certainly larger than its more linear titles, once I got a lay of the land I was able to navigate it with ease. Utilizing fast travel points that can be used instantly with no restrictions meant jumping to where I needed to be for any given task was a breeze.
As daunting as it was to enter the open world with seemingly no specific direction to head in, there is a guiding force to direct players to where they should head next. Quite literally a “Golden Path”, players will see a golden light emanating from Sites of Grace (Elden Ring’s version of bonfires) to give a generalized sense of direction. These beams of light can even be seen on the open-world map once you start chaining together various Sites of Grace.
The open-world map from the start of the game is void of any information, including topographical information. Players are tasked with locating various Guide Steeles throughout the world and acquiring map fragments that slowly piece together the map. Acquiring these map fragments, and not being able to see the entire size of the open-world lends itself to Elden Ring’s ability to make the game’s scope feel larger than it is.
These map fragments don’t reveal all information for any given area, however. Topographical information is the only piece that is revealed, encouraging players to continue exploring the world to discover its secrets. Dungeons and ruins aren’t highlighted on the map until players discover and clear them. Even though I cleared the first two major areas of the game in 35 hours of gameplay, I feel as though I missed quite a few significant dungeons that could be hidden among cliff sides or behind waterfalls.
Navigating Elden Ring’s open-world is beautiful. Given a mount named Torrent, players can ride through the hillsides and valleys of The Lands Between with ease. Torrent can double jump, even though it uses the player’s stamina meter to do so, which makes the navigation of Elden Ring’s plentiful cliffs easy to traverse. While Torrent is a useful mount to navigate the world, it also boasts its gameplay mechanics that lend themselves to Elden Ring’s combat. Torrent itself has its own health bar that can be replenished with berries found throughout the world. Should Torrent fall, players simply need to use one of their healing flasks to resurrect it. Utilizing Torrent in mounted combat is an effective strategy when taking on Elden Ring’s various enemies and bosses. A well-timed drive-by swing with an ax feels satisfying, as Torrent’s speed is usually too much for non-mounted combatants to keep up with… Or when tasked with taking down a dragon.
Elden Ring features quite a few bosses and encounters, not including dungeons spread throughout its open-world. These bosses offer more than just typical crafting fare and often reward loot that is meaningful to Elden Ring’s story. Just in the first area alone, players face quite a few bosses that can give them a run for their money if not taken seriously. Dungeons are the traditional experiences FromSoftware fans should be familiar with, complete with white-mist boss rooms and all. What’s new are Stakes of Marika, a new checkpoint system within Elden Ring that allows players to respawn further into any given dungeon than simply respawning at a Site of Grace. While certainly a quality of life feature, Stakes of Marika alleviate much of the frustration death may cause. They’re unable to replenish flasks and health, but they do offer a better alternative over needing to clear a dungeon once over again to return to a boss.
Elden Ring’s combat has slowly evolved from past Soulsborne titles with several great new additions. Guard counters, a new way to stagger enemies, is a great new combat mechanic that makes staggering enemies a breeze for strength-based builds. Simply block an enemy’s swing with a shield or other weapon, hit R2 to retaliate with a critical swing to break your opponent’s poise for an easy visceral attack. Poise returns to Elden Ring as a stat that can be increased with various armor builds and skill allocations. While some enemies have high poise, like Sekiro, these values can be whittled down with well-placed blows to stagger them. Unlike Sekiro, the poise meter is not visually represented, so facing an enemy several times over to know their resistances are necessary.
Stealth is a great new mechanic that is a viable strategy in many scenarios. Tall grass is littered throughout Elden Ring and opens up several avenues to attack unsuspecting enemies with a backstab. You can sprint while in a stealth crouch, which alleviates any frustration that may come with needing to slowly sneak around. Elden Ring’s AI isn’t necessarily the smartest, as direct line of sight was the only thing that seemed to play a factor in being seen while in stealth.
A big aspect of Elden Ring is determining what build you want to play from the very start. While I chose the Hero starting class and focused strictly on a strength/melee build, Elden Ring does its very best to sway players into taking a faith-based/magic-based class throughout the first two large areas of the game. Magic in Elden Ring is highly effective, much like it was in Demon’s Souls. Even some boss encounters can be made easier if you choose to take a magic-based build over a melee one, as many of the bosses move too quickly to get any melee hits effectively.
Speaking of weapons, Elden Ring takes its weapon systems a step further from previous Soulsborne titles. While the standard upgrade path is still available (find smithing stones to upgrade your weapons), Ashes of War allow players to customize their weapons to have various special abilities. Once unlocked or acquired, different Ashes of War can be attached to a player’s weapons to unlock various abilities like parrying or summoning a storm of wind to knock back enemies. These Ashes of War can further be customized with their various affinities, allowing players to specifically build out their weapons to match whichever class build they’re crafting. As I was a melee build, I typically used the Ashes of War that granted a slight boost to physical damage for a period of time and found it to be highly effective in key moments. Some Ashes of War affinities are also key in taking out specific groups of enemies, so experimentation is key when facing the undead versus regular soldiers.
Item crafting is also a huge feature in Elden Ring, although it only seems to favor specific class builds in the early game. Utilizing the various resources found in the world, players can craft anything from bombs to arrows at a moment’s notice with a crafting kit. I never seemed to utilize crafting with my melee build, as many of the early game items are once again focused on assisting those that utilize magic builds, but it’s a system that is entirely useful.
Spirit Ashes are another great new addition to Elden Ring’s combat loop. Acting as summons on-command, Spirit Ashes are the spirits of legendary combatants to aid the player in various scenarios. While only able to be summoned in specific combat areas, these spirits can complement any sort of build. From the early game, a pack of wolves can be equipped and summoned forth to tear enemies apart. A floating jellyfish that spits acid and a horde of angry nobles can also come to a player’s aid. But be warned: not every spirit summon is useful. Some can be unlocked that merely serve as a piece of lore that further fleshes out Elden Ring’s world, but are entirely useless otherwise. These Spirit Ashes can be upgraded eventually in Elden Ring’s hub area, allowing players to further strengthen whichever build they choose.
Such Sights to See
Elden Ring is a bit of a conundrum when it comes to its visuals. While looking like a dark fantasy painting, Elden Ring’s aesthetic is on-point in comparison to FromSoftware’s previous Soulsborne games. On the other hand, Elden Ring is by no means the prettiest looking game when stacked up to even BluePoint’s remake in 2020s Demon’s Souls. Some textures are flat, draw distances aren’t always the greatest and the character creation options are somewhat lacking in terms of visual fidelity.
That being said, Elden Ring is unapologetic in its aesthetic styling. The world breathes with a sorrowful hollowness that feels depressing yet beautiful. Its striking contrasting colors clash to deliver powerful imagery that delivers the dark fantasy epic Elden Ring is trying to unfurl. While dark, secluded moments are somber in tone, Elden Ring’s epic boss battles explode in a cacophony of music, visual flair, and monumental moments. Elden Ring is a sight to behold, even if it isn’t the most technically detailed game out there.
Go, Now, Become the Elden Lord
Elden Ring is a masterpiece. From its expertly crafted open-world design that rewards the player for taking the chance to explore to its riveting lore, FromSoftware has delivered what can only be described as a deliberate and thoughtful experience. While some of its visual stylings are starting to show its age already, Elden Ring’s gameplay is the result of years of fine-tuning to be as rewarding as it is challenging. Many wondered if FromSoftware could put the level of detail into an open-world that they have with their previous games. They’ve achieved that, and so much more.
