An open world soulslike game, with a horse companion that can double jump, in a diverse open world written by George R.R Martin, where you can climb every mountain, sounds like a concept an unfunny gamer would come up with to post in 9gag. The post in question, would be called “The most EPIC souls game of all time”, and it would manage to get 32 upvotes and, a single comment saying “Why not at trending, sir?”, by a username with the ever so infamous Ugandan Knuckles as their profile pic.
Elden Ring is in fact a real game that was released just the other day, and made me and many others simply addicted to it, even if it feels unfinished and straight up broken sometimes. The foundation and feel of Elden Ring are so absurdly strong and well made that even when fighting the same optional boss with 3 attacks for the 4th time, or spending 10 minutes looking for invisible walls in a place that you will never go back to, or just wandering with your horse for 5 minutes looking for something cool besides a bunch of weak enemies scattered in the overworld to grab my attention, I never actually felt bored. To properly explain how they achieved this secret formula, which we’ll be seeing more in the future for sure, we have to talk about how and why they decided for a more open world approach.
“Nintendo hire this man” was a comment made by an anonymous on July 6, 2018, in a 4chan thread dedicated to mocking pseudo photorealistic renders and HD mods of Nintendo characters. The expression became iconic mostly for sounding like something an overly enthusiastic Nintendo fan would say, hoping that the company would change their usual conservative game and visual design approach for a more modern and intricate one, similar to what the majority of triple A’s were doing for years until that point. These feelings have existed before, but were never as prevalent, like with those "This will be x graphics in 2013" memes who mocked people who thought Nintendo would eventually invest more in the hardware side of the consoles during the Wii and Wii U gens, in order to produce more exuberant graphics. The term started to be later used to make fun of fan projects that implemented that lifelike aesthetic, and eventually moved on for even those that didn’t.
3D open world games exploded in popularity in the late 00’s, which drove fans to take their own unique take on some Nintendo franchises that didn’t get the proper treatment. The Zelda franchise was the company’s closest shot at it, as games up until that point were almost ideally open world, however you always had to do certain stuff in a specific order, similarly to a progression in a metroidvania title, which surely fulfilled the need of exploration for some, but many others still asked for a progression system around that instead of it being relegated to just side content. The idea of an ideally open world with Mario, Metroid, and most noticeably Pokémon, became the targets of multiple concepts, fan games, hacks, and even tech demos that tried to break the usual design conventions, mostly focusing around player freedom and diverse replayability.
One title that was famous during the fangaming period although not influencing much on the topic, was Demon Souls. Released in 2009, this PlayStation 3 classic uses what might resemble to be a chapter structure at first, however, utilizes inner-connectivity between places in a more similar structure of a crossroad, as in the player can choose to which road they will delve into, with subsequent paths leading for more areas in the same road. You could and sometimes should, go back to the point of origin and follow a different base direction than before while still not finishing the one you started, as those roads never connected to each other. It might not be as much of an open field when compared to previous Zelda games like Wind Waker or Ocarina of Time, but the branching paths gave a lot more progression flexibility and expression that Nintendo titles lacked.
Released 2 years after the game that ironically had one of the most “soulless” remakes of all time, Dark Souls requires no introduction at this point. The game allowed the player to go to a variety of areas early on, with somewhat contrasting levels of difficulty to the point that the path you chose was entirely up to you, eventually becoming a question of how much are you willing to challenge yourself. The intricacy of Dark Souls connectivity became a major selling point, as areas were tightly attached to each other, giving this atmospheric sensation that made the world feel more vivid. The way in which you’d reach some places like Valley of Drakes or Darkwood Basin depended entirely on what trajectory you wanted to follow this time.
Although that might seem as a definitive and unquestionable upgrade, the clarity in where you can and can’t go can be infuriating at times, as well as the frustrations of wandering aimlessly. However, just the knowledge in the back of your head that you could travel the entire map without the use of a fast travel system, a necessary mechanic utilized by games with this caliber, like The Legend of Zelda for example, ended up adding a lot to the atmosphere, as those games rarely ever went for such a pragmatic approach in most areas.
One sector that I think most will agree was a direct improvement however, was the fact that the areas in Dark Souls gave you, sometimes, multiple options in reaching their destination. Sure, some places like the Catacombs and Anor Londo may have one definitive manner in reaching their destination, but other locations like Blighttown or Darkwood Garden offer a multitude of inner ways, the first offering a variety of inner places to run from the chaotic domain, and the latter just being so open with different enemies scattered around, to the point that if you are aware of their placement, you could avoid every single encounter.
Sequels also came for the “Soulsborne” franchise, with Dark Souls 2 attempting something similar to Demon Souls, this time with an area, funnily enough, actually called crossroads. There were sections that lead to some other ones, like Huntsman’s Copse or Doors of Pharros, but most areas lead to places that mostly didn’t go anywhere beyond themselves, the only exception being Lost Bastille that could be accessed by 2 different ways, but it’s likely only there for show. Bloodborne came one year later and tried to improve and streamline a bit of it’s Dark Souls inheritance, expanding it's connected pathing while also not forcing the player to venture through the entire map as much, having almost half of its areas being completely optional.
Despite taking inspiration from different philosophies, both of these titles decided to keep the approach of having multiple ways available to walk in a designated section, with their own unique ideals of course. Bloodborne improved the previously somewhat used shortcuts, unlocking ladders and elevators in areas like Cathedral Ward or Forbidden Woods felt like making genuine progress not only by unlocking new areas, but also by connecting them, creating your own crossroads of some sort. Dark Souls 2 tried a more pragmatic approach, with levels requiring you to pass through the completely opposite directions to obtain one specific item or perform some sort of task, so that you can go back and advance normally, which leads to levels giving a weirdly retro vibe, as they seem similar to unlocking puzzles in old point and click video games.
Dark Souls 3 tried a more streamlined approach aimed towards beginners of the series with an overall universal balance, which gives an extremely simplified feeling that the navigation built throughout the years received a direct and undisputable downgrade. However, despite only having 3 branching points that lead to non connected places with 2 standalone optional ones, the areas themselves are made to be more open ended, like Smoldering Lake that gave you a multitude of options and allowing you to fight the boss without the need for exploration, and my favorite area in the series: Grand Archives. This late game section allows you to unlock different layers of elevators and stairs, while still using the bonfire in the bottom floor, giving a feeling of grandeur and conquering whenever you return to where you started, eventually reaching its top, from which you can still see the arduous path you took.
With the Launch of Sekiro a couple of years later, From Software decided to just improve in what they had with Dark Souls 3, improving in its highs with layers of verticality being available with the use of a grappling hook, but also adopting its lows as they just borrowed the same map philosophy. Another deliberate choice that may explain why they went for a more linear approach is the fact that the game was made to feel more cinematic, with beautiful sequences that are way more in-your-face about their magnitude, like the fight against Giant Serpents or Divine Dragon, a story told directly that everyone would be able to follow, and a complete overhaul in sound design and music genre to feel more authentic with the aesthetic.
Eventually, as the years would tell, gamers who leaned toward soulslike games would rather have freedom than gameplay balance. In conclusion, they appreciated having places being connected, and an option to neglect the use of fast travel as the definitive way of progressing, and approaching areas in multiple ways. Few people knew however, that being developed while Sekiro was midway through production, was a title that instead of trying to revolutionize their approach to combat, would attempt something even more daring.
Breath of the Wild, released in 2017, was the culmination of every knowledge that Nintendo gathered through the years, directly addressing the crowd that wished for a more exploratory experience, having only a somewhat intended first path that the game suggests you to give you a feeling of what’s to come, while still being just suggested. Whenever possible with modern design conventions, Nintendo would simplify it, gamify it, and make it look more distinct to the player, which we still appreciate and feel the impact years later. There are some elements that can be attributed as a souls influence, mostly with parry focused combat or the Lynels, but when asked about it, the series director Hidetaka Miyazaki, stated in an interview to Glixel that his game series weren’t even comparable to the sheer magnitude of Hidemaro Fujibayashi’s masterpiece, and claimed that any resemblance was just the Zelda franchise setting the footprints for 3D action games once again. We know for a fact that Elden Ring started development in the same year Breath of the Wild was released, which means that there is a chance that the following sentence might have been said:
“ From Software, Hire this Man “ - Hidetaka Miyazaki, regarding George R.R. Martin.
The answer to how to design areas allowing for more player freedom and expression while still being accessible for newer players became clear after taking a glance in Zelda’s first sandbox world: conurbation with path suggestion. From the very start of the game you have access in theory to 8 out of 11 areas without ever needing to fight a boss, however, for most players the number will be reduced to 5, as it requires advance knowledge in the game’s pathing. Besides rewarding players for mastering the game’s routes, which is good in its own right, the replayability of Elden Ring became by nature absurdly higher than those of previous titles, and allows players from every skill level to have a blast navigating in whichever choice they see fit.
For convenience purposes, the suggested path for a usual non turbulent progression in the map is displayed by arrows pointing in the map towards the next “recommended one”. As a treat for those who want a challenge or a change of pace, the game gives you plenty of ways to go other areas, like for example, reaching one of the game’s hardest areas by following the first road displayed in your map in a direction that’s opposite of the arrow in the bonfire pointing at. The areas have a clear and distinct cut between them, best exemplified in places like Caelid, which is neighbor of the starting area, that display a red crimson sky the moment you step in, showing that the following path will lead to suffering while also taunting you to give it a shot at its misery.
Just like Breath of the Wild, Elden Ring has a gigantic map full of curious locations, begging for you to find them, explore them to the maximum, and repeat the process with other ones. Instead of having an insane amount of shrines as the game's small dungeons, Miyazaki opted for fewer locations that feel more complete and fully realized, sometimes even having connections to other similar places like with the underground cave system. One of my favorite examples, without spoiling it, is what happens with Sifora Well after some specific pseudo-optional boss is defeated, genuinely some mind blowing exploration.
A proper jump button was also finally added this time, which made the very idea of leaping a tool that gives you more to work with while exploring and fighting, instead of a frustrating mechanic only ever used in brief and janky platforming sections. The area's verticality also increased dramatically, which can be perfectly seen in the game’s very first castle area, Stormveil castle. I’ve spent 2 hours in this castle, exploring the best I could as it took me a considerable time to realize I could jump higher to reach some areas that could only be accessed if you were playing Sekiro. There could be more, but I ended up finding 4 ways to reach the castle’s final area, where the inevitably oppressive boss fight awaited me. One of those routes can be accessed by walking normally throughout the area, other will require you to walk the same path but perform a platforming section that wouldn’t have been able to in previous titles, one will require you to take a completely different road that you can unlock with the use of an elevator in the middle of the first route, and the final one can be accessed by doing somewhat of a NPC side quest available the moment you reach the castle’s entrance.
Another thing important to mention is the overwhelmingly positive reception Elden Ring received when the foundation of how they would allow their areas for navigation was made public knowledge, obtaining 2 awards in the infamous yet sometimes adequate Game Awards, being the “Most Anticipated Game of the Year” in both 2020 and 2021. Elden Ring can be seen more clearly nowadays as a passion project from a director that grew up being inspired by Zelda Games, receiving another blessing in a time of need and arguably surpassing what he was inspired from. Under no other context, would a writer as prestigious as George R.R. Martin be invited to assist with a fantasy setting world building, his specialty, particularly after the devastating backlash from the adaptation of his most notorious work, Game of Thrones.
And now that we have finally established how we reached this point in approaching areas, and allowing the player to carve their own path, how’s the game beyond that?
Idk I think it's pretty good :)
Elden Ring is in fact a real game that was released just the other day, and made me and many others simply addicted to it, even if it feels unfinished and straight up broken sometimes. The foundation and feel of Elden Ring are so absurdly strong and well made that even when fighting the same optional boss with 3 attacks for the 4th time, or spending 10 minutes looking for invisible walls in a place that you will never go back to, or just wandering with your horse for 5 minutes looking for something cool besides a bunch of weak enemies scattered in the overworld to grab my attention, I never actually felt bored. To properly explain how they achieved this secret formula, which we’ll be seeing more in the future for sure, we have to talk about how and why they decided for a more open world approach.
“Nintendo hire this man” was a comment made by an anonymous on July 6, 2018, in a 4chan thread dedicated to mocking pseudo photorealistic renders and HD mods of Nintendo characters. The expression became iconic mostly for sounding like something an overly enthusiastic Nintendo fan would say, hoping that the company would change their usual conservative game and visual design approach for a more modern and intricate one, similar to what the majority of triple A’s were doing for years until that point. These feelings have existed before, but were never as prevalent, like with those "This will be x graphics in 2013" memes who mocked people who thought Nintendo would eventually invest more in the hardware side of the consoles during the Wii and Wii U gens, in order to produce more exuberant graphics. The term started to be later used to make fun of fan projects that implemented that lifelike aesthetic, and eventually moved on for even those that didn’t.
3D open world games exploded in popularity in the late 00’s, which drove fans to take their own unique take on some Nintendo franchises that didn’t get the proper treatment. The Zelda franchise was the company’s closest shot at it, as games up until that point were almost ideally open world, however you always had to do certain stuff in a specific order, similarly to a progression in a metroidvania title, which surely fulfilled the need of exploration for some, but many others still asked for a progression system around that instead of it being relegated to just side content. The idea of an ideally open world with Mario, Metroid, and most noticeably Pokémon, became the targets of multiple concepts, fan games, hacks, and even tech demos that tried to break the usual design conventions, mostly focusing around player freedom and diverse replayability.
One title that was famous during the fangaming period although not influencing much on the topic, was Demon Souls. Released in 2009, this PlayStation 3 classic uses what might resemble to be a chapter structure at first, however, utilizes inner-connectivity between places in a more similar structure of a crossroad, as in the player can choose to which road they will delve into, with subsequent paths leading for more areas in the same road. You could and sometimes should, go back to the point of origin and follow a different base direction than before while still not finishing the one you started, as those roads never connected to each other. It might not be as much of an open field when compared to previous Zelda games like Wind Waker or Ocarina of Time, but the branching paths gave a lot more progression flexibility and expression that Nintendo titles lacked.
Released 2 years after the game that ironically had one of the most “soulless” remakes of all time, Dark Souls requires no introduction at this point. The game allowed the player to go to a variety of areas early on, with somewhat contrasting levels of difficulty to the point that the path you chose was entirely up to you, eventually becoming a question of how much are you willing to challenge yourself. The intricacy of Dark Souls connectivity became a major selling point, as areas were tightly attached to each other, giving this atmospheric sensation that made the world feel more vivid. The way in which you’d reach some places like Valley of Drakes or Darkwood Basin depended entirely on what trajectory you wanted to follow this time.
Although that might seem as a definitive and unquestionable upgrade, the clarity in where you can and can’t go can be infuriating at times, as well as the frustrations of wandering aimlessly. However, just the knowledge in the back of your head that you could travel the entire map without the use of a fast travel system, a necessary mechanic utilized by games with this caliber, like The Legend of Zelda for example, ended up adding a lot to the atmosphere, as those games rarely ever went for such a pragmatic approach in most areas.
One sector that I think most will agree was a direct improvement however, was the fact that the areas in Dark Souls gave you, sometimes, multiple options in reaching their destination. Sure, some places like the Catacombs and Anor Londo may have one definitive manner in reaching their destination, but other locations like Blighttown or Darkwood Garden offer a multitude of inner ways, the first offering a variety of inner places to run from the chaotic domain, and the latter just being so open with different enemies scattered around, to the point that if you are aware of their placement, you could avoid every single encounter.
Sequels also came for the “Soulsborne” franchise, with Dark Souls 2 attempting something similar to Demon Souls, this time with an area, funnily enough, actually called crossroads. There were sections that lead to some other ones, like Huntsman’s Copse or Doors of Pharros, but most areas lead to places that mostly didn’t go anywhere beyond themselves, the only exception being Lost Bastille that could be accessed by 2 different ways, but it’s likely only there for show. Bloodborne came one year later and tried to improve and streamline a bit of it’s Dark Souls inheritance, expanding it's connected pathing while also not forcing the player to venture through the entire map as much, having almost half of its areas being completely optional.
Despite taking inspiration from different philosophies, both of these titles decided to keep the approach of having multiple ways available to walk in a designated section, with their own unique ideals of course. Bloodborne improved the previously somewhat used shortcuts, unlocking ladders and elevators in areas like Cathedral Ward or Forbidden Woods felt like making genuine progress not only by unlocking new areas, but also by connecting them, creating your own crossroads of some sort. Dark Souls 2 tried a more pragmatic approach, with levels requiring you to pass through the completely opposite directions to obtain one specific item or perform some sort of task, so that you can go back and advance normally, which leads to levels giving a weirdly retro vibe, as they seem similar to unlocking puzzles in old point and click video games.
Dark Souls 3 tried a more streamlined approach aimed towards beginners of the series with an overall universal balance, which gives an extremely simplified feeling that the navigation built throughout the years received a direct and undisputable downgrade. However, despite only having 3 branching points that lead to non connected places with 2 standalone optional ones, the areas themselves are made to be more open ended, like Smoldering Lake that gave you a multitude of options and allowing you to fight the boss without the need for exploration, and my favorite area in the series: Grand Archives. This late game section allows you to unlock different layers of elevators and stairs, while still using the bonfire in the bottom floor, giving a feeling of grandeur and conquering whenever you return to where you started, eventually reaching its top, from which you can still see the arduous path you took.
With the Launch of Sekiro a couple of years later, From Software decided to just improve in what they had with Dark Souls 3, improving in its highs with layers of verticality being available with the use of a grappling hook, but also adopting its lows as they just borrowed the same map philosophy. Another deliberate choice that may explain why they went for a more linear approach is the fact that the game was made to feel more cinematic, with beautiful sequences that are way more in-your-face about their magnitude, like the fight against Giant Serpents or Divine Dragon, a story told directly that everyone would be able to follow, and a complete overhaul in sound design and music genre to feel more authentic with the aesthetic.
Eventually, as the years would tell, gamers who leaned toward soulslike games would rather have freedom than gameplay balance. In conclusion, they appreciated having places being connected, and an option to neglect the use of fast travel as the definitive way of progressing, and approaching areas in multiple ways. Few people knew however, that being developed while Sekiro was midway through production, was a title that instead of trying to revolutionize their approach to combat, would attempt something even more daring.
Breath of the Wild, released in 2017, was the culmination of every knowledge that Nintendo gathered through the years, directly addressing the crowd that wished for a more exploratory experience, having only a somewhat intended first path that the game suggests you to give you a feeling of what’s to come, while still being just suggested. Whenever possible with modern design conventions, Nintendo would simplify it, gamify it, and make it look more distinct to the player, which we still appreciate and feel the impact years later. There are some elements that can be attributed as a souls influence, mostly with parry focused combat or the Lynels, but when asked about it, the series director Hidetaka Miyazaki, stated in an interview to Glixel that his game series weren’t even comparable to the sheer magnitude of Hidemaro Fujibayashi’s masterpiece, and claimed that any resemblance was just the Zelda franchise setting the footprints for 3D action games once again. We know for a fact that Elden Ring started development in the same year Breath of the Wild was released, which means that there is a chance that the following sentence might have been said:
“ From Software, Hire this Man “ - Hidetaka Miyazaki, regarding George R.R. Martin.
The answer to how to design areas allowing for more player freedom and expression while still being accessible for newer players became clear after taking a glance in Zelda’s first sandbox world: conurbation with path suggestion. From the very start of the game you have access in theory to 8 out of 11 areas without ever needing to fight a boss, however, for most players the number will be reduced to 5, as it requires advance knowledge in the game’s pathing. Besides rewarding players for mastering the game’s routes, which is good in its own right, the replayability of Elden Ring became by nature absurdly higher than those of previous titles, and allows players from every skill level to have a blast navigating in whichever choice they see fit.
For convenience purposes, the suggested path for a usual non turbulent progression in the map is displayed by arrows pointing in the map towards the next “recommended one”. As a treat for those who want a challenge or a change of pace, the game gives you plenty of ways to go other areas, like for example, reaching one of the game’s hardest areas by following the first road displayed in your map in a direction that’s opposite of the arrow in the bonfire pointing at. The areas have a clear and distinct cut between them, best exemplified in places like Caelid, which is neighbor of the starting area, that display a red crimson sky the moment you step in, showing that the following path will lead to suffering while also taunting you to give it a shot at its misery.
Just like Breath of the Wild, Elden Ring has a gigantic map full of curious locations, begging for you to find them, explore them to the maximum, and repeat the process with other ones. Instead of having an insane amount of shrines as the game's small dungeons, Miyazaki opted for fewer locations that feel more complete and fully realized, sometimes even having connections to other similar places like with the underground cave system. One of my favorite examples, without spoiling it, is what happens with Sifora Well after some specific pseudo-optional boss is defeated, genuinely some mind blowing exploration.
A proper jump button was also finally added this time, which made the very idea of leaping a tool that gives you more to work with while exploring and fighting, instead of a frustrating mechanic only ever used in brief and janky platforming sections. The area's verticality also increased dramatically, which can be perfectly seen in the game’s very first castle area, Stormveil castle. I’ve spent 2 hours in this castle, exploring the best I could as it took me a considerable time to realize I could jump higher to reach some areas that could only be accessed if you were playing Sekiro. There could be more, but I ended up finding 4 ways to reach the castle’s final area, where the inevitably oppressive boss fight awaited me. One of those routes can be accessed by walking normally throughout the area, other will require you to walk the same path but perform a platforming section that wouldn’t have been able to in previous titles, one will require you to take a completely different road that you can unlock with the use of an elevator in the middle of the first route, and the final one can be accessed by doing somewhat of a NPC side quest available the moment you reach the castle’s entrance.
Another thing important to mention is the overwhelmingly positive reception Elden Ring received when the foundation of how they would allow their areas for navigation was made public knowledge, obtaining 2 awards in the infamous yet sometimes adequate Game Awards, being the “Most Anticipated Game of the Year” in both 2020 and 2021. Elden Ring can be seen more clearly nowadays as a passion project from a director that grew up being inspired by Zelda Games, receiving another blessing in a time of need and arguably surpassing what he was inspired from. Under no other context, would a writer as prestigious as George R.R. Martin be invited to assist with a fantasy setting world building, his specialty, particularly after the devastating backlash from the adaptation of his most notorious work, Game of Thrones.
And now that we have finally established how we reached this point in approaching areas, and allowing the player to carve their own path, how’s the game beyond that?
Idk I think it's pretty good :)
hellnawdude
2 years ago