Elden Ring is out, and of course the first question is, can it overcome the hype? But that’s usually the case for big AAA games.
One important question that a lot of people are asking however is this: is it a Souls game? Depending on the answer, you can excite some, and immediately put off others.
Let’s define what makes a Souls game first though, for those that aren’t familiar with the terminology.
Bring forth the brutality!
Back in 2009, game studio FromSoftware published a little game called Demon’s Souls, with the help of Hidetaka Miyazaki.
Demon’s Souls was made intentionally difficult, especially compared to other games at the time. It was dark, death was potentially around every corner, and dying had brutal consequences. While the later Souls games got more difficult overall for the most part, death was most punishing in Demon’s Souls.
In a typical Souls game, bosses are often massive creatures that can destroy you in a single hit or two without proper gear, and to be honest.. sometimes with proper gear.
If you wander into the wrong area unprepared, you may lose all of your current level progress, as you have to retrieve your body in order to retain it. Overall, it makes for a pretty brutal gaming experience, and there’s a clear skill gap to overcome. This is exactly what some of the fans love about the game however, because you almost certainly have to “git gud” to some degree in order to progress in a Souls game.
Fast forward to 2022 and there are a whole slew of Souls games with diehard fans, and a fair share of haters as well. While a mere mortal such as myself has a mountain of anxiety just trying to find the next bonfire, others beat the games using a Rockband drum kit.
Either way, Souls games have a large following, good or bad. Let’s get back to the question now that we’ve answered what makes the bones of a Souls game.
What is Elden Ring then?
Elden Ring is considered a “spiritual successor” of the Dark Souls franchise by its creators, FromSoftware. That’s not to say it is a sequel however, as none of the Souls games have been verified to be connected (with the exception of the Souls sequels of course) by the developer, so anything past that we can’t consider to be true.
Elden Ring does check a lot of Souls game checkboxes however:
- Very little tutorial, you’re left to your own devices.
- Bonfires are now Sites of Grace, which let you rest and heal, level up, fast travel, etc.
- Souls are now Runes, you gather them from things you kill.
- Runes are dropped to the ground upon death, gone forever if you don’t retrieve them before your next death.
- Bosses are large and obvious with a ton of health, and massive damage.
- Big feeling of accomplishment when you beat a difficult encounter.
That’s a lot of similarities, because those are a lot of the defining stamps of a Souls game. Steep learning curve, interesting and fluid combat, a darker theme and atmosphere.
There are a couple things that Elden Ring does well that has made the game a little more appealing to humans with standard reflexes however.
The world is more open
The open world of Elden Ring defintely changes the feel of the game. Souls games are typically linear, with some varying paths that you can take, but none have the wide open space that Elden Ring gives you right from the start.
You’re given a mount early in the game, which is a blessing. The map is large, and I’d much rather traverse it with four legs than two. Plus mounted combat is a lot of fun.
Enemies are scattered all over the map, and there are mini-bosses galore that typically stand out well, making it obvious that you shouldn’t go near that area until you plan for it.
Save near boss fights
In most Souls games, you rarely found a bonfire right outside a bosses door that you could save your game with. Nope, you would end up running through that slog of enemies again, the one that took you five tries just to reach the boss one time and die in the first thirty seconds. That’s not as much the case in Elden Ring.
A lot of the bosses have a Site of Grace nearby, allowing you to attempt the boss as many times as needed. The bosses are still no pushover though, so don’t get your hopes up there.
Feeling of progress
The reason I have given up on a Souls game before was because I didn’t feel like I could progress any further. Without beating that really hard boss, I was stuck in progression. Sure I could go back a little and cut those skeletons over and over for a few more levels, but was that going to magically make me get better? Sadly no, it didn’t.
In Elden Ring, I don’t feel like I have a wall to climb without any rope. If I hit a wall, I turn around find several things that I can be doing to get a little better armor, work on my combat more, at a pace that seems less demanding and more free reign.
So is it a Souls game or what?
At the end of the day, I would say that Enden Ring is a Souls game at it’s heart, with a small sugar coating that makes it more friendly for beginners.
If you have played a Souls game before and it wasn’t your cup of tea, you should give Elden Ring a second look. In the mean time, I’m going to keep trying to beat Margit, the Fell Omen. So many times I’ve lost count. Seriously, what day is it?
