GamesAction RpgElden RingElden Ring’s newcomer discovery is just one reason its legacy will outlive the best RPGs of all time – including SkyrimWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesAction RpgElden RingElden Ring’s newcomer discovery is just one reason its legacy will outlive the best RPGs of all time – including SkyrimWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: FromSoftware)
In order to access Shadow of the Erdtree – the first (and almost certainly last) slice ofElden RingDLC – you must first defeat Mohg, Lord of Blood.
In order to defeat Mohg, you must first reach Mohgwyn Palace. In order to reach Mohgwyn Palace, you must first complete a totally-missable early game questline after which you’ll reach the optional area depressingly under-powered. Or, failing that, you must first access a secret Waygate located in one of the farthest-flung corners of the late-game area, Consecrated Snowfield.
In order to access the Consecrated Snowfield, you must first locate both halves of the Hildtree Secret Medallion. In order to locate both halves of the Hildtree Secret Medallion, you must first travel to Village of the Albinaurics, and then Castle Sol – the latter of which requires you to overcome optional boss Commander Niall, who is as hard as fucking nails.
And all of this is merely toaccessElden Ring’sadditionalcontent.
Now try explaining all of that to someone who’s just emerged from the Cave of Knowledge starting area, with a save file minutes-long and who fancies their chances against that first roaming Tree Sentinel making its way down the grassy hill in the distance on horseback. Oh, you sweet summer child, you’ve no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into.
Root and branches
(Image credit: Bandai Namco)
Bad memories(Image credit: FromSoftware)Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree has the same crippling claustrophobia I haven’t felt since this 27-year-old console horror slasher scared the crap out of me
Bad memories
(Image credit: FromSoftware)Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree has the same crippling claustrophobia I haven’t felt since this 27-year-old console horror slasher scared the crap out of me
(Image credit: FromSoftware)
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree has the same crippling claustrophobia I haven’t felt since this 27-year-old console horror slasher scared the crap out of me
Which is the essence of Elden Ring’s beauty. It is absolutely massive, and eschews everything we once knew about typicalFromSoftwaregames in terms of level design, pacing and environmental storytelling.
Once hailed for their compact interconnectedness and deft vertical world-building – traits especially well-executed in Dark Souls (2011) andBloodborne(2015) – Elden Ring leverages the hardware it runs on to spread itself horizontally over a humongous world map that puts any action RPG released in the last 30 years to shame.
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Given Elden Ring landed in 2022 on high-end PCs and the most cutting edge consoles, that’s maybe to be expected – but the size of the sprawling world within which its story unfolds is only notable if it’s filled with interesting things to see and do. And Elden Ring isbrimmingwith questlines, side ventures, stunning vistas, quaint backwater burghs, quirky NPCs who never once forget a single double-crossing, taxing enemy battles, lore-specific item placement and so much more.
I may not be saying anything revolutionary here. GamesRadar+’s five-starElden Ring reviewlaid bare everything that makes this game great almost three years ago, after all. But as we reflect on the highs and lows of 2024, the long-anticipated arrival of the base game’sShadow of the Erdtreeexpansion back in June is surely a crowning feature of the last 12 months, so much so, The Game Awards has made thecontroversial decision to include the added content among its GOTY contenders.
(Image credit: FromSoftware)
Whether or not that anecdote applies to anyone but me is yet another conversation, but there are no action-RPGs out there right now that include the same bang for their buck when taking the Elden Ring base game and Shadow of the Erdtree as one single entity. I’d concede thatBaldur’s Gate 3offers comparable choice-driven gameplay in the more traditional role-playing space, but for me there’s no question which game excels through the lens of spectacle.
When you throw in the vast and growing library of creative, player-made mods that exist to bolster FromSoftware’s foundations, as well as the enduring headline appeal of dream team Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R.R. Martin in the writer’s room, I firmly believe Elden Ring is on course to surpassSkyrimas the longest-lasting, most important action role-player of all time. People are still talking about the genius of the original Dark Souls some 13 years on, and it held cult status right up until the launch of Dark Souls 3 five years after the fact.
But if FromSoftware games have taught me nothing else, it’s that history is forever doomed to repeat itself. And from hereon and henceforth, it’s Elden Ring’s turn to rule atop the action RPG throne.
Ready to move on? Here are 10games like Elden Ringfor when you’ve conquered The Lands Between
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