Summary
For Japanese developer FromSoftware,Elden Ringrepresents the culmination of many year’s worth of hard work and perseverance. Beginning with 2009’sDemon’s Souls, Hidetaka Miyazaki and his team created the Soulslike blueprint, which gradually evolved and grew in popularity with each iteration. From theDark Soulstrilogy toBloodborneandSekiro: Shadows Die Twice, FromSoftware has released a string of critically acclaimed games in the last decade. Despite all of this success though, the 2022 release ofElden Ringquickly proved to eclipse anything the developer had achieved before, winning Game of the Year and selling over 20 million copies to date, with many considering it among the greatest games of all time. With this in mind, FromSoftware will want to take some of the key learnings with it into its next project.
Elden Ring’s success can be credited to a number of individual factors that came together perfectly to produce an action-rpg the likes of which had never really been seen before. Despite the genre already having a large following thanks to itsbrutal difficulty and rewarding combat,Elden Ringwas able to penetrate the mainstream thanks to several accessibility options that, while stopping short of offering difficulty settings, allowed the more casual gamers to engage with it on a level that theDark Soulsgames just don’t cater for.
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Elden Ring Sets a High Bar For Future FromSoftware Games
When word got out thatElden Ringwould be an open-world game, many fans were skeptical about how the Soulslike formula would translate to this new setting. The semi-open-world format of theDark Soulstrilogy perfectly aligns with the sub-genre’s strengths, and there were no guarantees that this switch in format would work. Any skepticism quickly disappeared as soon as the game launched, however, and fans discovered just how rewarding and engagingElden Ring’s Lands Betweenreally are. Every corner of the map is packed with things to discover, hidden bosses to fight, and powerful gear to find. While there is no guarantee that the next game will feature a world of the same high quality, FromSoftware should absolutely strive for this, as it clearly makes the whole experience so much stronger.
The impressivebuild variety inElden Ringensures that various play styles are catered for. While this is nothing new forSoulsfans, the introduction of mounted combat, as well as several other tweaks to the mechanics, ensured the game was as strong in the combat department as any of the previous titles. Any future installments should useElden Ringas the blueprint when building the combat system.
FromSoftware’s entireSoulsseries is known for its spectacular boss fights. In this particular department, however, arguablyElden Ringfalls short when compared to some of the developer’s other entries. The freedom players are given to explore the world in almost any order they like means that, depending on exactly when they encounter certain bosses, some of these fights can be almost trivial. The lack of structure to the boss encounters takes away some of the sense of achievement and reward that usually goes hand in hand with overcoming a particularly tough fight. Reintroducing some linearity, at least when it comes to the order in which the bosses are fought, should help elevate any future game’s selection of bosses to new heights.
Whatever FromSoftware has in store for its fans next,Elden Ringhas set a ridiculously high bar that may prove difficult to top, at least for a while. That being said, FromSoftware’s track record shows that it consistently delivers on fan expectations, and there is no reason to believe this won’t continue. WithElden Ring’s DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, in development, fans will be hoping this isn’t the onlySoulsproject FromSoftware has up its sleeve for the future.
Elden Ringis available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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