Elden Ring: Exploring The Open World and Legacy Dungeons

Elden Ring:

Elden Ring: Exchanging Bonfires for Grace

Elden Ring: Exploring The Open World and Legacy Dungeons

Elden Ring: The Infamous Difficulty of Dark Souls Is Ashes

Elden Ring: PvP Lacks Grace, While Combat is Divine

Elden Ring: Goldmask's Revelation Can't Mend the Ending

Another method of travel is instant travel between Sites of Grace. This mode of transportation has evolved across the Dark Souls series. In Dark Souls travel between bonfires was only possible after acquiring the Lordvessel halfway through the game. In Dark Souls III teleportation was enabled between bonfires from the very beginning. But in both of these, the player had to be at a Bonfire to teleport to another Bonfire. Both also had a reusable item that let the player teleport to the last bonfire they had rested at, but they lost all the souls in their possession. Elden Ring allows the player to teleport at any time to any Site of Grace. They can teleport from anywhere, to any Site of Grace. They don't lose any runes, and the only limitation is the player can't be under attack.

I don't like the many ways Elden Ring softens exploration. The ability to teleport to a Site of Grace, without losing runes, removes a critical element of Dark Souls; risk. Reducing risk eliminates tension, a key element of exploration in Dark Souls. In previous games the player always had to weigh the risk versus the reward. Do they venture a bit further to see if they can find the next bonfire? Or do they retreat, and have to replay through this area again? Do I drop down off this ledge, without any idea if I can climb back up, or return to the Bonfire because I am running short of Flasks? With the ability to retreat at any time, the player travels further without worry. The player can teleport even with dangerous statuses effects like poison or scarlet rot eating away at their health. For the same reason I don't appreciate the Stakes of Marika, though they bother me less. These broken statuettes scattered across the Lands Between feature an armless, headless version of the Queen. If the player dies in the vicinity of one they can choose to respawn at it. The player can never fast travel to one, and they have no other benefit or penalty. They are often seen near open world bosses, to enable repeated attempts, without having to travel from a site of grace. Stakes of Marika in dungeons were rarer, but these cheapened the crawl, by reducing the risk as described above. 

Exploration, one of the two main mechanics, always leads to the other; combat. In the wilderness of the Lands Between the player encounters a variety of wild animals, like sheep, turtles, and birds. Some players might be inclined to kill these harmless creatures, because they drop crafting items. I never harmed anything that didn't attack first. There are also many enemies that attack the player on sight. Sometimes the player encounters two enemy armies engaged in mutual combat. The player can join, or enjoy the spectacle.

Like past FromSoftware games, every experience is a scenic wonder. Elden Ring, with the newest graphics, and a truly massive scale, features the most panoramic scenes ever. The multitude of diverse regions (underground, fields, forests, castles, ancient ruins, swamps, and more) constantly craft a fantastic atmosphere. It's creepy and beautiful, wondrous and decaying, despairing and uplifting. While there are gruesome sections with horror elements featuring torture and mutilation, these depictions are toned down compared to some sections of Dark Souls III. Every moment is momentous. As I've mentioned previously about Dark Souls III and Sekiro (but not Nioh or Fallen Order), it's amazing that anywhere the player looks, no matter how distant, how different the elevation, how beautiful, or horrific, it's certain they'll travel there eventually. In Elden Ring the player sees like an eagle, able to perceive distant vistas, with their height, expanse, and panorama. The game seems like one cinematic effect. The actual cinematic, properly interspersed, are excellent as well. The change in time, from day to dusk to darkness, and to dawn each highlights and draws forth new wonder and beauty. Recognizing the evocation of the setting, the developers added a new puzzle. In seven locations the player sees a painted canvas. The first, located in the Artist's Shack, depicts a grave site back grounded by an arch. Each painting shows a picture of a location in the Lands Between. Finding the location rewards the player with an item. It's a cool mechanic, employing a strength of Elden Ring. My only complaint? The player can look at the picture in their inventory, but it is too small.Exploring every centimeter of soil leads to cliffs and dead ends, but they also lead to locked doors, mini dungeons, secret areas, and caves. Caves are very short areas, with a single mini-boss or one room with a couple enemies, and a treasure chest at the end. Mini-dungeons are longer affairs, six to twelve rooms, with a host of enemies and traps. Secret areas might be a single hallway and room, lacking any enemies. All of them reward the courageous adventurer with some item; weapon, armor, or spell. Some insert puzzles. Puzzles are haphazardly introduced and vary wildly in type and quality. One puzzle requires the player to find and kill three wise beasts. At Chelona's Rise I looked for a long time, only to realize a bug had prevented the beasts from spawning. Reloading solved this problem. Another puzzle requires the player to wear a specific helmet and make a specific gesture. A third puzzle requires the player to cast a specific incantation. For a fourth, the player needs to walk across an invisible bridge. A common puzzle requires the player to have a specific enemy attack them to break some terrain. The broken terrain reveals an item or a secret area. When they aren't asking for a specific trick, many of the mini-dungeons have a unique theme. The Azuria side tomb is a horrific maze. One has respawning enemies. Another makes liberal use of fake walls. Or fire traps. Or trick treasure chests that teleport the player to a different location when opened. This variety is excellent. It makes every dungeon feel different, and it keeps the player tense, because they never know what to expect.

In addition to the mini-dungeons, Elden Ring contains Legacy Dungeons. These replicate the classic dungeons of the Dark Souls series. The main mechanic of a Legacy Dungeon remains the same; fight enemies, explore, avoid traps and ambushes, traverse hazardous terrain, all in the hope of reaching the next Site of Grace. Or die trying, and try again. Unlock elements of the castle or area with shortcuts to progress forward. Defeat mini-bosses along the way, before eventually reaching the culminating boss. Elden Ring claims it contains six Legacy Dungeons and another ten areas that are similar but smaller. Unfortunately, of the six legacy dungeons, four of them are not until the second half of the game, and two are right at the end. Unlike the open world, which contains too much unfocused content, the dungeons are reminiscent of the tense atmospheres crafted by Dark Souls.

All of these secrets, caves, Legacy Dungeons, and mini-dungeons are scattered across the regions of the Lands Between. The difficulty of each region differs wildly. Partly this is based on the path of the player. I went directly from the opening region of Limgrave (and its minor region of the Weeping Peninsula) to Caelid. I've been led to believe this was a mistake. I found the opening region very easy. But Caelid was the most difficult. Players are advised to travel north to Liurnia of the Lakes instead. According to the map there are only six regions above ground: Limgrave, Liurnia, Caelid, Altus Plateau, Mountaintops of the Giants, and Crumbling Farum Azula. Other minor regions of interest are Mt. Gelmir, the underground (which itself could be broken up into separate areas), the Consecrated Snowfield, and the Haligtree. In Elden Ring, locked doors, impassable gates that block the way, or impossible enemies, are rare. The player is free to roam as they wish. For example, there is a path that completely bypasses the first legacy dungeon, Stormveil Castle. But beware, Dark Souls has always been famous for its ambushes, and Elden Ring deploys these phenomenally in the open world.

Traveling across the regions is likely to bring the player into contact with a horde of NPCS. These various humanoids are friendly, until they descend to madness, despair, or desires of power. On a mechanical level, it's nearly impossible to follow the stories of NPCs without looking up their secrets online. They appear and disappear, traveling great distances before reappearing again. They only move if the player properly interacts with them. This can be giving them an item, activating some unrelated element in the world, or merely talking to them. When talking to an NPC, be sure to exhaust all dialogue options, otherwise their story won't progress. Progression may require talking to an NPC, talking to a different NPC, and then returning to resolve the conversation with the initial NPC. Even more complex chains of interactions, which make acquiring the Biggoron Sword look simple, may occur. When an NPC moves they may, if the player is lucky, be gracious enough to hint about their next location. But finding them in the wilderness, even with a clue, is again, near impossible.The stories and personalities of the NPCs are well crafted. They all run a similar course. Each has a goal. Each enlists the player in achieving their goal. With the help of the player, nearly all achieve their goal. But achieving their goal ends in tragedy, They suffer, they perish, they learn their desires were misplaced or impossible. This is not universally true. Diallos achieves a heroic redemption by sacrificing his life to protect others. Millicent accepts death peacefully as she writhes from the Scarlet Rot. Jar Bairn sets off on a grand adventure to be like his Uncle Alexander. Even these upbeat scenes are undercut by the player's foresight. Diallos died so Jar Bairn could survive. But the player has seen that Iron Fist Alexander's quest came to a pathetic end. The player intuits Jar Bairn will fail as well, rendering Diallo's sacrifice pointless. The player also encounters cruel NPCs, like Sorceress Sellen, who ask for the player's aid. They don't fare better than their kinder brethren. Some NPCs invade and attack the player, like the violent Knight Bernahl. They must perish on the player's blade. Finally, there is Boc, the hapless demi-human who only wants to be beautiful. For Boc, my faithful companion, I would become Elden Lord!