Elden Ring is a game that positively shaped 2022. It gave many gamers the opportunity to finally play something fresh and new, and above all, fun again. So why do I take the game from FromSoftware as a prime example of what an AAA title must offer today? You can find out here.
Despite the “variety” that currently exists in gaming, I occasionally look back nostalgically at Elden Ring and miss the time when a game could captivate me like this one.
It has become increasingly rare, and that surprises me because we have so many AAA titles on the market, yet I pass by them yawning. Elden Ring showed me why.
Elden Ring has been a successful risk
The gaming market is a boring bunch that keeps repeating itself. Many games from well-known IPs, such as Assassin’s Creed, CoD, or FIFA, flood the market with their presence.
They have been a staple of the industry for a long time and are almost impossible to imagine without. The problem is that they hardly evolve in terms of gameplay. They offer few innovations, remain true to their patterns, and only seem like reheated dishes served over the years.
With Assassin’s Creed 2, Ubisoft was able to captivate me back then. The story surrounding Ezio and his quests for revenge appealed to me, but after the story surrounding Desmond ended, my interest faded.
However, Ubisoft remained true to its successful series, ensuring that Assassin’s Creed, like FIFA, resembles nothing but a lifeless copy of one after another, without taking risks or experimenting.
In contrast, Elden Ring deviates from the principle of stagnating innovation and was released at the right time.
Elden Ring has impressed many despite its niche genre. The game punishes everyone, whether professional or beginner. It is relentless, offers no straightforward narrative, and overwhelms many players with its countless possibilities to reach the end of the game.
Nevertheless, Elden Ring reached second place among the best-selling games of 2022 according to Forbes, even though we are talking about a new IP (via forbes.com).
The success of Elden Ring had a good reason, as FromSoftware not only took advantage of the drought in which gamers found themselves in 2022 due to a lack of games, but they also tried new things and took the risk of failing.
FromSoftware is known for its “Dark Souls” series. Hardcore games usually played only by fans due to their difficulty. Hidetaka Miyazaki, the father of the Souls games, had something different in mind for Elden Ring.
It was meant to offer not only a new story but also to mix familiar elements of the Souls games and come together into something new with an open world. This risk of possible failure was taken and is now evident thanks to the sales figures and the success.
Familiar games lack experimentation
Elden Ring was a fresh start. A new title without a prehistory, where players could approach it without expectations. This was well received, and big studios should take this to heart. Familiar formulas like FIFA and CoD will always sell well because there are no adequate titles to offer exactly what these titles can.
However, in my opinion, resources should still flow into experiments. New ideas or formulas should be tested that no one has seen before. What would a hack and slay made by Ubisoft look like? Or a loot shooter from Nintendo? There are so many possibilities to finally create more excitement in our yawning bubble; developers just need to dare to take a risk.
But enough about me, how do you find the current situation in gaming? Do you also find it yawningly boring, or can you not complain? Let us know in the comments!
The game that has captivated me again after a long time was Dredge, and it is not an AAA title:
