Whenever you think about an open world in terms of a game, you generally have to call back to Breath of the Wild; its massive world, with its bigger focus on atmosphere than delivering a story, while still having its cake and eat it too. It's no wonder such a game paved the way to creating what would become the de facto version of open world games, having countless games take notes from it, creating their own versions of it in ways that work, and ways that don't. But Breath of the Wild is not perfect; it's an empty game, with a lot of repeating content that becomes stale when your focus is a 100% completion. Sure, it is a very open game where you can go straight to Ganon, but there's not much of an unique experience to be found. At the end of the day, it's good, but it's not what open world games can be. Elden Ring is that absolute zenith of an open world experience that Breath of the Wild couldn't, and can't be, although the reasons why are not exactly fully about the design of the open world.
Coming from MIyasaki, a man who has already made games that embrace freedom, such as Dark Souls 1 and its continuously convoluted labyrinth of a world, and George R R Martin, which while I do not have experience with his works, I have heard countless praise, and their conjoined efforts makes an amazing world, and a game to accompany that world. The lore of Elden Ring is unique as it has a lot of things that scream Miyasaki; it's a world stuck in that transition point of death and rebirth, with someone needing to create a change. It's this kind of worldbuilding that brings the "Dark Souls IIII" joke around, but regardless of the similarities, I think the actual parallels end there, because while Dark Souls is closer to the end of an era, Elden Ring is focused on what comes after this.
Elden Ring is a triumphant story that's hidden behind its layers of depressive, character-specific plotlines. You are the one heading for change. Originally, just a graceless Tarnished, that ends up being able to kill a god and leads to the creation of what comes next, all with your power. Sure, slaying these demigods can become a sad ordeal at times, but more than anything, you are fueled to become a champion of The Lands Between, becoming stronger, taking down the remnants of the previous order, and taking back the land that was ripped from you. The music of Elden Ring fits this perfectly, with strong, triumphant tracks but with some that still display danger. You CAN be strong, but the enemies you face are still threatening.
Elden Ring's gameplay also demostrates this point well. I'll expand this a bit more after the open world part, but at the core of it, it's still Soulsborne. It's a tried and true method that despite it being similar, it's still pretty damn fun. I do have to respect it much more for how open-ended the game can become with the builds, something that's a lot more limited in other Souls games, as well as just the immense variety of weapons. I think it makes specific experiences much more unique in ways I love, and the structure of the open world especially helps, and is part of why I think it's such an amazing open world.
The variety of this open world also creates a way to have a pretty big variety of NPCs. There's a lot of standouts. I love Ranni, Blaidd, Alexander, and Rogier especially. Fia, while I never finished her questline, I think she was very good, and Hewg and Roderika's somewhat of a father daughter dynamic was absolutely stellar, although how they ended up depressed me in some ways, and made me glad in other ways. Things like Varre and the Three Thingers, and the Volcano Manor are also great factions, although, honestly? I miss Covenants. It's a bit nitpicky, and I do think some covenants are kind of useless and weird to get in Dark Souls, but so much of it screams as if it were to have Covenants originally, but were removed. It's a shame, since having a bit of a longer, permanent stay with the Volcano Manor residents would have been neat, and the Three Fingers stuff for me was more or less just a way for me to get through Moghwyn without dealing with the actual level lol.
The open world of Elden Ring has so much care and specialty crafted in it in ways that is absolutely amazing and a joy to see being in an actual game. Each location feels distinct and unique, with the usual From Software magic with all the locations being visual spectacles, but also having some great music to accompany it, and unique fights fitting with the location itself. I think the only location I'm not a fan of is Liurnia of the Lakes, with it being a bit of an empty, kind of a swamp? I liked the Academy, sure, but the things surrounding it were less than interesting to me, but outside of that? Limgrave, Caelid, Mountaintop of the Giants, the Atlas Plateau, Farim Azula, and especially Leyndell are all amazing, unique locations. The areas of the open world are vast, but not a slog to go through due to the horse, and has a lot of smart placement and world design to reward you for yout exploration and keeping an eye out, while the legacy dungeons are some of the best designed areas I've arguably seen in video games at all. I LOVE Leyndell, and Stormveil Castle, and the Academy, all these locations are amazingly huge and reward your exploration, but are still dangerous. The jump button especially allows for great world exploration, allowing for some tried and true platforming that isn't very hard to do, but still creates much more interesting world layouts. Leyndell, for example, allowing you to jump through roofs? Absolute genius. The catacombs are similar to Bloodborne Chalice Dungeons, but I think they work much better than the chalice dungeons, thanks to the general scarcity of them, as well as the rewards you gain from them.
Look back on Breath of the Wild; what did you get from completing a shrine? You'd get a Spirit Orb, maybe sometimes a weapon, right? The former's always a standard, and while it helps, it's a bit of a monotonous experience thanks to it, and you can't really keep using the latter thanks to the durability system (one of the worst concepts ever created, let's be real). What do you get from a catacomb in Elden Ring? You can get a talisman, or a weapon, or a rune arc, or some extra runes to help you level up. All of these things are ALWAYS useful, despite the fact that maybe your current build isn't made for it, a talisman always stays and depending on the boss, can be a huge help, and a weapon might be strong and good for a future build, rune arcs and runes are always useful as well. Everything you get from a catacomb will always be useful, which creates actual motivation to go through these small dungeons, but it's never the same reward, which leads to the question of "what will I get this time?", in a way that WORKS and INCENTIVIZES exploration much more than its contemporaries. It helps that the world is designed for this exploration, with a good eye being able to see these things with stronger ease.
Small side note, I know some people are using Elden Ring to shit on the handholding nature of Ubisoft Open World and I wanna say that I think both are completely valid ways of making a game. Fromsoft has always been one to be inherently cryptic, and while I think that this creates the same sense of wonder older games had with their exploration, think the original The Legend of Zelda, I can't be completely against a hand-holding philosophy when the story that is extracted from such an experience can, at times, be really good.
The bosses of Elden Ring I think are generally standouts. I'd say I loved most of them, really? Malenia, Mohg, Radahn, Rykard, Morgott, and Hoarah Loux are all standouts and I love all of these; the rest of the Remembrance bosses I also really liked. The issue with the bosses do come more from the optional Catacombs, where it can be extremely infested with unbalanced 1v2 fights, or flat out bad enemies like Crucible Knights. I... don't mind that TOO much? I think that sure, the unique fights are all generally pretty amazing, and the others can be hit or miss, but I can't be too mad about these when I think they're such a minor part of the experience. I hated the Gargoyles in Nokron, and the Misbegotten/Crucible fight in Caeld, but that's as far as pure hatred goes when the rest are generally either really good, or a kind of a non-issue.
The inclusion of a respec as clean as it is in Elden Ring is one of, if not, the best addition this game has. I know that Dark Souls 3 also has one. I have not played Dark Souls 3, and I do not think the addition of a respec goes far in such a game because what I applaud Elden Ring for here is NOT the addition of it purely, but the absolute creative freedom you have on your build thanks to it. Sorcery and Faith builds have finally become interesting, for once, with a lot of tools for hybrid builds. In one run, I respecc'd four times. My first build was a curved greatsword dex build; then it was dex/int with moonveil, then dex/arc with Rivers of Blood, and then finally, for postgame, a str/faith build. All of these? Extremely fun. I loved them all. So much work was put into making such an immensely huge variety of weapons, builds, all to incentivize immense flexibility in how you want to play, and how you want to represent yourself in the game. Coming from Bloodborne, which is a very homogenous experience in multiple ways, and Dark Souls 1, which does have some variety, but its lack of respec and unappealing sorcery creates a specific route for you to follow from the start without the ability to attempt to remove yourself from your original decisions, it makes for such a breath of fresh air and something I'm sure to play around with countless more times. In some ways, sure, boss design ends up taking a hit from this thanks to such a huge variety of builds meaning a boss can't be designed for everything, but the appeal in Elden Ring is no longer the same boss rush of Bloodborne and Dark Souls 1.
The appeal of Elden Ring is its world, and how you insert yourself into it. You can be absolutely anything you wish to do. With such a wide variety of endings, weapons, builds, armor, and NPC plotlines, immersing yourself in its world is easier than ever, and the amount of effort that must have been put to put yourself in the Tarnished's shoes must have been endless. This is what makes it a TRUE open world; the tools have always been in front of you, it's just a matter of how you use them to shape your own experience, and shape yourself, and I'm sure that this level of detail, love, and passion is to be enjoyed by everyone for the years to come, and whatever comes next for The Lands Between, I'm here for it.
you can also be a woman and marry Ranni lgbt rep for the win miyasaki the strongest ally very me and makcore
Coming from MIyasaki, a man who has already made games that embrace freedom, such as Dark Souls 1 and its continuously convoluted labyrinth of a world, and George R R Martin, which while I do not have experience with his works, I have heard countless praise, and their conjoined efforts makes an amazing world, and a game to accompany that world. The lore of Elden Ring is unique as it has a lot of things that scream Miyasaki; it's a world stuck in that transition point of death and rebirth, with someone needing to create a change. It's this kind of worldbuilding that brings the "Dark Souls IIII" joke around, but regardless of the similarities, I think the actual parallels end there, because while Dark Souls is closer to the end of an era, Elden Ring is focused on what comes after this.
Elden Ring is a triumphant story that's hidden behind its layers of depressive, character-specific plotlines. You are the one heading for change. Originally, just a graceless Tarnished, that ends up being able to kill a god and leads to the creation of what comes next, all with your power. Sure, slaying these demigods can become a sad ordeal at times, but more than anything, you are fueled to become a champion of The Lands Between, becoming stronger, taking down the remnants of the previous order, and taking back the land that was ripped from you. The music of Elden Ring fits this perfectly, with strong, triumphant tracks but with some that still display danger. You CAN be strong, but the enemies you face are still threatening.
Elden Ring's gameplay also demostrates this point well. I'll expand this a bit more after the open world part, but at the core of it, it's still Soulsborne. It's a tried and true method that despite it being similar, it's still pretty damn fun. I do have to respect it much more for how open-ended the game can become with the builds, something that's a lot more limited in other Souls games, as well as just the immense variety of weapons. I think it makes specific experiences much more unique in ways I love, and the structure of the open world especially helps, and is part of why I think it's such an amazing open world.
The variety of this open world also creates a way to have a pretty big variety of NPCs. There's a lot of standouts. I love Ranni, Blaidd, Alexander, and Rogier especially. Fia, while I never finished her questline, I think she was very good, and Hewg and Roderika's somewhat of a father daughter dynamic was absolutely stellar, although how they ended up depressed me in some ways, and made me glad in other ways. Things like Varre and the Three Thingers, and the Volcano Manor are also great factions, although, honestly? I miss Covenants. It's a bit nitpicky, and I do think some covenants are kind of useless and weird to get in Dark Souls, but so much of it screams as if it were to have Covenants originally, but were removed. It's a shame, since having a bit of a longer, permanent stay with the Volcano Manor residents would have been neat, and the Three Fingers stuff for me was more or less just a way for me to get through Moghwyn without dealing with the actual level lol.
The open world of Elden Ring has so much care and specialty crafted in it in ways that is absolutely amazing and a joy to see being in an actual game. Each location feels distinct and unique, with the usual From Software magic with all the locations being visual spectacles, but also having some great music to accompany it, and unique fights fitting with the location itself. I think the only location I'm not a fan of is Liurnia of the Lakes, with it being a bit of an empty, kind of a swamp? I liked the Academy, sure, but the things surrounding it were less than interesting to me, but outside of that? Limgrave, Caelid, Mountaintop of the Giants, the Atlas Plateau, Farim Azula, and especially Leyndell are all amazing, unique locations. The areas of the open world are vast, but not a slog to go through due to the horse, and has a lot of smart placement and world design to reward you for yout exploration and keeping an eye out, while the legacy dungeons are some of the best designed areas I've arguably seen in video games at all. I LOVE Leyndell, and Stormveil Castle, and the Academy, all these locations are amazingly huge and reward your exploration, but are still dangerous. The jump button especially allows for great world exploration, allowing for some tried and true platforming that isn't very hard to do, but still creates much more interesting world layouts. Leyndell, for example, allowing you to jump through roofs? Absolute genius. The catacombs are similar to Bloodborne Chalice Dungeons, but I think they work much better than the chalice dungeons, thanks to the general scarcity of them, as well as the rewards you gain from them.
Look back on Breath of the Wild; what did you get from completing a shrine? You'd get a Spirit Orb, maybe sometimes a weapon, right? The former's always a standard, and while it helps, it's a bit of a monotonous experience thanks to it, and you can't really keep using the latter thanks to the durability system (one of the worst concepts ever created, let's be real). What do you get from a catacomb in Elden Ring? You can get a talisman, or a weapon, or a rune arc, or some extra runes to help you level up. All of these things are ALWAYS useful, despite the fact that maybe your current build isn't made for it, a talisman always stays and depending on the boss, can be a huge help, and a weapon might be strong and good for a future build, rune arcs and runes are always useful as well. Everything you get from a catacomb will always be useful, which creates actual motivation to go through these small dungeons, but it's never the same reward, which leads to the question of "what will I get this time?", in a way that WORKS and INCENTIVIZES exploration much more than its contemporaries. It helps that the world is designed for this exploration, with a good eye being able to see these things with stronger ease.
Small side note, I know some people are using Elden Ring to shit on the handholding nature of Ubisoft Open World and I wanna say that I think both are completely valid ways of making a game. Fromsoft has always been one to be inherently cryptic, and while I think that this creates the same sense of wonder older games had with their exploration, think the original The Legend of Zelda, I can't be completely against a hand-holding philosophy when the story that is extracted from such an experience can, at times, be really good.
The bosses of Elden Ring I think are generally standouts. I'd say I loved most of them, really? Malenia, Mohg, Radahn, Rykard, Morgott, and Hoarah Loux are all standouts and I love all of these; the rest of the Remembrance bosses I also really liked. The issue with the bosses do come more from the optional Catacombs, where it can be extremely infested with unbalanced 1v2 fights, or flat out bad enemies like Crucible Knights. I... don't mind that TOO much? I think that sure, the unique fights are all generally pretty amazing, and the others can be hit or miss, but I can't be too mad about these when I think they're such a minor part of the experience. I hated the Gargoyles in Nokron, and the Misbegotten/Crucible fight in Caeld, but that's as far as pure hatred goes when the rest are generally either really good, or a kind of a non-issue.
The inclusion of a respec as clean as it is in Elden Ring is one of, if not, the best addition this game has. I know that Dark Souls 3 also has one. I have not played Dark Souls 3, and I do not think the addition of a respec goes far in such a game because what I applaud Elden Ring for here is NOT the addition of it purely, but the absolute creative freedom you have on your build thanks to it. Sorcery and Faith builds have finally become interesting, for once, with a lot of tools for hybrid builds. In one run, I respecc'd four times. My first build was a curved greatsword dex build; then it was dex/int with moonveil, then dex/arc with Rivers of Blood, and then finally, for postgame, a str/faith build. All of these? Extremely fun. I loved them all. So much work was put into making such an immensely huge variety of weapons, builds, all to incentivize immense flexibility in how you want to play, and how you want to represent yourself in the game. Coming from Bloodborne, which is a very homogenous experience in multiple ways, and Dark Souls 1, which does have some variety, but its lack of respec and unappealing sorcery creates a specific route for you to follow from the start without the ability to attempt to remove yourself from your original decisions, it makes for such a breath of fresh air and something I'm sure to play around with countless more times. In some ways, sure, boss design ends up taking a hit from this thanks to such a huge variety of builds meaning a boss can't be designed for everything, but the appeal in Elden Ring is no longer the same boss rush of Bloodborne and Dark Souls 1.
The appeal of Elden Ring is its world, and how you insert yourself into it. You can be absolutely anything you wish to do. With such a wide variety of endings, weapons, builds, armor, and NPC plotlines, immersing yourself in its world is easier than ever, and the amount of effort that must have been put to put yourself in the Tarnished's shoes must have been endless. This is what makes it a TRUE open world; the tools have always been in front of you, it's just a matter of how you use them to shape your own experience, and shape yourself, and I'm sure that this level of detail, love, and passion is to be enjoyed by everyone for the years to come, and whatever comes next for The Lands Between, I'm here for it.
you can also be a woman and marry Ranni lgbt rep for the win miyasaki the strongest ally very me and makcore