From Elden Ring review by Carl takes you to The Lands Between.
What if you placed Dark Souls in an open world? The idea sounds like wonderful ‘fanfiction’, but with Elden Ring that fantasy has actually become reality. Moreover, you do not have to fear that developer FromSoftware will lose control of its unique formula. Quite the contrary: Elden Ring builds on the well-known pillars, but adds its own unique twist. The end result is a true triumph in how you design an open world.
The open world is the biggest eye-catcher and also the greatest asset of Elden Ring. The tight level design and sublime pace of the Souls games translate perfectly to The Lands Between. Masterfully, FromSoftware gives you freedom of movement that directs you as a player in subtle ways: clever use of sight lines, cryptic clues like statues pointing you in a certain direction, threatening enemies that indicate that you better be well prepared before you take your chance. .. It all reminds me a bit of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and that’s a huge compliment. As with that series, the open world in Elden Ring feels like a logical next step for the formula.
Elden Ring review – The open world is masterfully constructed.
As far as the actual gameplay is concerned, Elden Ring is playing it safe. You have a light attack, a heavy attack, a shield, and a role, just like in the Souls games. You won’t find the more aggressive approach of Bloodborne and Sekiro anywhere. Your arsenal also largely corresponds to the weapons in the Souls games. The animations of rolling, drinking health and opening doors are identical. The only really big innovation in gameplay is the fact that you now have a horse. Your trusty steed Torrent not only makes long distances faster to bridge, but also has a handy double jump and can jump high through wind currents. Elden Ring is therefore not surprising in terms of gameplay, but the basis remains excellent. After all, the course of fighting and exploring in Elden Ring never bores.
The Souls games have a reputation for their high difficulty and that remains part of the identity of Elden Ring. Boss fights require your utmost concentration and it is no exception to try half a dozen times. Yet you notice that FromSoft is taking clear steps to make Elden Ring a more accessible game. You now have so-called Ashes with which you can ‘summont’ ghosts that assist you in battle. They are not big damage dealers, but they take the pressure off during the stressful boss fights. You will also find ‘summoning pools’ that collect co-op signs to make it easier for you to find comrades in arms. And important concepts such as the online component are now explicitly explained in a separate tab in the menu. Everyone is welcome.
Elden Ring review – The Lands Between are a visually very impressive location.
At release, it was loudly announced that the story of Elden Ring was co-created with author George RR Martin (whose work is the basis of TV series Game of Thrones). You don’t notice that much in practice. In good FromSoft’s habit, you often explore the story through descriptions of items in menus and cryptic dialogues with NPCs. You will also find the same elements that have fascinated director Hidetaka Miyazaki for some time: a disappeared king(ess), the corrupting aspect of power, and mythical heroes. Still, Elden Ring has plenty of surprises of its own – such as a bizarre obsession with fingers – that will make you blink every now and then. The more effort you put into understanding everything, the more enjoyable it becomes.
Elden Ring regularly manages to amaze with his presentation, but at the same time struggles with a few problems. On the one hand, The Lands Between are an impressive and memorable location. Wherever you are, you can see the golden-hot Erdtree for miles on the horizon. Castle Stormveil amazes with the splendor of its towers, ramparts and courtyards. And at night you can see hundreds of lights floating slowly through the sky as the wind then slightly sway the bushes and grass. On the other hand, the frame rate in Performance Mode does not reach a stable 60 frames per second – on Xbox Series X, nor on PlayStation 5. The PC version is poorly optimized, so that even powerful devices regularly drop frames. And the clipping and anti-aliasing problems you already knew from the Souls games are also present here. It never ruins the experience, but they are flies in an otherwise delicious soup.
Elden Ring review – As usual, the story remains extremely cryptic.
Finally, there are numerous interesting and in-depth elements that would take this review too far, but deserve a little mention. Ashes of War give your weapons special abilities that are not only useful, but also affect the upgrade path. You can now jump more flexibly and as a result, FromSoftware has a lot of fun with complex and treacherous level designs, with the roofs of Castle Stormveil as the highlight. There is an oversized crafting system that is very streamlined and that calls on the dozens of resources in the world. Roundtable Hold is a new hub that replaces Firelink Shrine and the Nexus and contains many surprises. And the Great Runes can give you significant buffs, if you find very rare consumable items.
Elden Ring offers an almost inexhaustible supply of creative, surprising and impressive situations. The foundations of the Souls series support an open world that will leave you jaw dropping in amazement time and time again. There are so many secrets to be found that the internet will undoubtedly be discovering new things for months to come. Don’t let the minor technical issues put you off. Elden Ring is an absolute masterpiece.
The Elden Ring review took place on the Xbox Series X.
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