How is it possible to create a project in five years that does not claim to be a next-gen, but is stunningly picturesque and diverse? Not having a clearly structured plot, but interesting and encouraging to explore the mysteries of the world and characters? A project whose predecessors were distinguished by intimacy of events, winning the hearts of the audience with one of the best open worlds in the gaming industry? Specific answers will be lost behind the doors of the talented Japanese from From Software, and we will only have a living embodiment of the above – almost perfect in everything Elden Ring.
The story of the world of Elden, where the events of the game unfold, is not far removed in its signature style from the plots of Bloodborne, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and the Dark Souls series. The Interearth here, like the lands of Yharnam, Drangleic or Lordran, once flourished under the shadow of the Great Tree and thanks to the power of the Ring of Elden. However, the artifact was split into pieces and divided among the demigods-heroes, whose brains soon swam from the new power, and their bodies underwent monstrous changes. The world has changed to match them. It was at this moment that the protagonist of the game, belonging to the “extinguished”, once deprived of the divine grace of the Tree and the Ring, the exiles, enters the Interearth. It will ultimately depend on the decisions of the hero (or heroine) whether the agony of the world will end, or whether he will finally perish in the abyss of fire and death. Although the general motive of what is happening evokes memories of any part of Souls, old Martin comes to the rescue of originality. Willing to do anything to avoid sculpting a sequel to A Song of Ice and Fire, the legendary writer took on the project to the best of his ability. His pen is especially noticeable in some of the events of the game and the relationships of the characters, mostly tragic and bloody. It turned out well and not to the detriment of corporate style.
Of course, the story in From Software games is important, but it will only work because of the gameplay. And this is the best and most powerful organ in the body of Elden Ring. The open world, which first appeared in the creations of developers, surprises with its details and fullness. Cutting through the starting location, Graveyard, the tenth hour of the game, opening more and more dungeons and quests from NPCs, you might think that the final is just around the corner. And then the map begins to move away, and Elden Ring throws out one of the main trump cards: it turns out that the adventure area is several times larger than it seems. And even that’s not all: there are plenty of underground locations and secret lands, like Cainhurst Castle from Bloodborne. And where we scold the conveyor franchises of other developers for “copy-paste” from the same camps and towers, we only want to praise the Japanese. Even at the hundredth hour, exploring the plateaus gilded with autumn foliage, the snow-capped peaks of giants, the dangerous streets of the capital Leindell or the city of Azul destroyed by tornadoes is just as interesting as the initial locations. The general atmosphere of adventure within the open world makes the game not even with older brothers, but with some kind of “Gothic 2: Night of the Raven”. She once gave the same impressions of a difficult journey with the ability to drag herself into some wilderness with strong enemies and get a nice artifact as a reward for curiosity.
From the point of view of the mechanic, Elden Ring did not invent anything fundamentally new, taking the good from the old, slightly improving it and simplifying it. Today, for example, it is not necessary to look for certain stones to harden weapons to the desired element – just change the so-called Ashes of War on your blade, and now it already pours fire on opponents and can make a new move. Moving around the world has also been noticeably simplified – there are plenty of local “bonfires”, there are separate resurrection points next to the bosses, and you can teleport to the recreation area at any time if you are not in battle or special catacombs. Also, combat stances with a weapon in each hand are back in fashion here, which we loved from the second part of Dark Souls and were seriously curtailed in the triquel. Shredding enemies with any combination of found katanas or curved swords is a special pleasure. Long overdue non-combat mechanics like crafting consumables or sewing have been added, and for those who consider the game to be a purely solo adventure, a variety of ghost bots have been introduced to help with difficult areas.
Separately, I would like to praise From Software for local bosses. Yes, many of them do not pose a serious danger, but none of them can be denied entourage and style. Take, for example, the crazed General Radan or Astel, Born of the Abyss, who lives in an incredibly beautiful cave. The developers can only be blamed for the fact that some of the powerful villains come across in the game more than once: the Apostle of Pale Skin meets at least three times, entertaining as a boss either in the open world, or in the dungeon, or even in the company of a friend. A similar approach to “cloning” content in the world is gradually visible in the structure of the ruins and catacombs under investigation, but the language does not dare to call it a disadvantage. Painfully deftly, the Japanese shuffle their structure and the events taking place there. And, no joke, these rare self-repetitions are perhaps the only more or less serious drawback of the game.
Everything is fine with Elden Ring and with the visual-sound component. The graphics, which by no means claim to be a next-gen, draw stunning landscapes, prompting you to take screenshots over and over once more. The wardrobe and arsenal are bursting with stylish samples, for the sake of a close acquaintance with which you want to go through the game once more to see a different ending. The sound in general did not let us down either, but it cannot be called outstanding – in Bloodborne, for example, the musical themes were more memorable and beautiful.
And in order not to turn the text into a continuous sugar compliment, you need … no, not to grind out non-existent shortcomings, but to round off. Elden Ring will definitely be a contender for the GOTY 2022 title. This is a prime example of a project that shows what years of development have been spent on. For the first time in many years, a game has been released in which you can finally spend a hundred hours on one playthrough and not get tired of it, which in itself is a criterion for a great game. Now there would be a sequel to Bloodborne, created in the same spirit, and it would be just right to come up with a double gold medal.
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