Finally, the time has come: Elden Ring is finally here. MeinMMO author Tarek Zehrer has already had the opportunity to play the action RPG from the Dark Souls developers in advance. For him, the big star is the open world, which even tramples other giants in the category.
Almost 7 years after Dark Souls 3, it’s here, Elden Ring has been released worldwide. This is the latest game from the creators of the Soulslike genre, which was established in 2009 with Demon’s Souls. FromSoftware, the studio behind it, is also known for other critically acclaimed titles like Sekiro and Bloodborne.
Like Dark Souls and Bloodborne, Elden Ring is an action RPG played from a third-person perspective. You choose a class, create a character, and venture into the open game world.
- Elden Ring is one of the most anticipated games of 2022 and has been longed for by fans for years.
- This game also relies on a challenging difficulty level and is not for players looking for absolute relaxation.
I was able to play the PC version for around 50 hours and got a fairly extensive impression of Elden Ring. I had the full version of the game available, so I could play without restrictions. Only the already announced day one patch was not yet available.
Elden Ring claims the throne of open-world games with its game world, even surpassing genre giants like Zelda: Breath of the Wild or The Witcher 3.
The Witcher 3 and Breath of the Wild are considered some of the best open-world games in recent years and I feel similarly. However, other titles are also drawn into comparison.
Besides that, he has a lot of experience with open-world games. From numerous Assassin’s Creed titles to The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Horizon: Zero Dawn, The Witcher 3, Ghost of Tsushima, Breath of the Wild, Red Dead Redemption 1-2, The Division 1-2 – these are just a few examples.
Just a small note: In this review, I avoid spoilers as much as possible because Elden Ring has held back a lot before release. It is advisable to play the game beforehand with as little information as possible.
Our preview focuses mainly on the open-world aspect. More extensive tests of all mechanics can be found with our colleagues at GameStar with a very good score of 91 and GamePro with an even better score of 94. On Metacritic, Elden Ring also boasts fantastic numbers:
But let’s get started with my report on the game world and why it outshines the competition.
Everything you do in the game world of Elden Ring is worth it
Before the release, the question that arose for me was: Is the step to an open game world really the right one for Elden Ring? Because until now, the game worlds of Dark Souls and the others were large, but mostly confined and convoluted.
My answer is clear: Yes! The open world is even the star of Elden Ring for me. Not the fantastic gameplay or the RPG mechanics, which I have already touched on in my preview. No, the most impressive aspect is the game world, “The Land Between,” the interstitial land.
I have never seen such a large game world, where the activities and content feel so natural. Nothing feels forced, nothing is a mere laborious task.
And there are quite a few optional activities:
- Ruins
- Castles
- Optional dungeons in various forms like caves, mines, catacombs, etc.
- 6 large areas with additional hidden locations
- Various treasure maps lead you to cool places
- NPCs await discovery and often have side quests for you
Experts can compare the optional dungeons in length and gameplay feel to the Chalice Dungeons from Bloodborne, only without the random level design generation.
In the game world, there are also numerous mini-bosses and hidden loot to discover. Where there isn’t any equipment or other valuable items to collect, you’ll find intriguing points of interest or even NPCs who can provide you with information about the game world, story, or other things.
In the best case, there’s even a new quest or a new merchant to be found. And even if you just ride straight ahead, you could still pick up some crafting materials along the way.
It also relies on the virtues typical for FromSoftware games:
- RPG mechanics
- Third-person perspective
- Dark, mysterious fantasy setting with quirky characters
- Numerous weapons, armors, and types of magic
- Complete, lore-rich stories that are, however, told very modestly with only a few but epic cutscenes
- A high, challenging difficulty level
- Nested level labyrinths with smaller and larger areas
- Unconventional multiplayer with co-op and PvP
- No fixed quest structure
The biggest and best innovation is the gigantic open world.
I have never had the chance to explore a better open world
The open-world aspect is one of the biggest differences from Dark Souls and Bloodborne. In Elden Ring, the principle is: Almost everything you see on the horizon, you can usually explore for yourself somehow.
The effect at the start of the game is similar to when you first step out of the cave in Breath of the Wild and see the vast Hyrule before you:
So I often found myself in situations where I strayed off the path. I had my next goal right in front of me, but on the horizon, I saw a ruin in the opposite direction. So I set off there first.
On the way, however, I stumbled upon two giants pulling some sort of mausoleum on wheels. Behind them followed a whole company of enemies. After a successful battle on horseback, I found a valuable treasure on the strange wagon.
I continued my way to the ruin but stumbled upon a dungeon and got lost there during my first mini-boss fight.
After an hour of aimless wandering, I suddenly found myself in a completely different area, in front of another dungeon and wondered: “How and why did I actually end up here and where am I?”
That was one of many key moments, and it eventually became “explore, explore, explore.” The competition offers almost nothing comparable. In very few open-world games does one have the feeling of really getting lost – and wanting to get lost.
But Elden Ring is designed so that even the map only helps to a limited extent in finding your goal and you have to find your own paths.
Furthermore, you must uncover them first. If you also follow quests and explore the landscape, you learn more about the story and usually also receive valuable rewards.
Especially in direct comparison, many competitors look old here.
- Breath of the Wild has many side activities, but the variety is limited. Repetitive shrine puzzles, the same weapons and items as rewards, or even somewhat cheeky tasks like the 999 Korok seeds have evolved into agonizingly long grind tasks.
- Red Dead Redemption 2 offers side activities as well, but they are more designed to stage the game world and are a fun distraction. However, they do not motivate in the long run.
- The Witcher 3 remains one of the best open-world representatives in terms of side quests. However, in terms of variety, it cannot keep up with Elden Ring, and the rewards are seldom as comparably useful.
I don’t really want to start here with games like Far Cry or Assassin’s Creed, which established the notorious Ubisoft formula.
How the new weather system affects the gameplay and why the PC performance has somewhat dulled the experience, you can read on page 2 – as well as my and colleague Irina Moritz’s conclusion.
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