Summary
Elden Ringhas drawn copious amounts of praise from fans and critics for a number of reasons, and one of its most significant achievements is its sprawling, dense open world. The Lands BetweenteachesElden Ringplayers valuable lessons, provides countless opportunities for gratifying exploration and combat, and is chock-full of surprises, but it might be best for FromSoftware to take a step back from the open-world structure with the upcomingShadow of the ErdtreeDLC.
BeforeElden Ring, FromSoftware was not known for creating traditional open-world games. While games likeBloodborne,Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and those in theDark Soulsseries offer a sort of semi open-world experience, they are still mostly linear, with most major areas being revealed through a predetermined sequence and not nearly as much optional exploration or side content as inElden Ring. So, whenElden Ringrevealed its enormousopen-world map, it was a major departure for the famed developer, and most players would likely agree that the landing was stuck. Although The Lands Between has become one of the most iconic open worlds in gaming, FromSoftware could makeShadow of the Erdtreemore effective by returning to its roots.
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FromSoftware’s Linear Design Approach Would Make Shadows of the Erdtree a More Refined Experience
In all of its games,Elden Ringincluded, FromSoftware has displayed a mastery of environmental design. The developer has birthed countless iconic levels and areas, such as Anor Londo, Cainhurst Castle, Senpou Temple, and so much more. WithElden Ring, most of its best areas are also its most contained and linear, like Crumbling Farum Azula, Academy of Raya Lucaria, and Miqulla’s Haligtree.
The overworld areas ofElden Ringare dangerous, beautiful, and packed with interesting secrets to uncover, but it serves mostly as a sort of connective tissue between these bespoke, tailored environments. It’s in these environments, more typical of those found in olderFromSoftwaregames, that the game can exercise its mastery of tone and storytelling. The environmental storytelling present in an area like Leyndell, for example, is filled with suggestion and subtle hints at the past, which stimulates the player’s imagination and intellect far more than the wide, grassy fields of Limgrave or the barren stretches of Caelid.
WhenShadow of the Erdtreereleases, it will likely contain a great deal of narrative content, possibly evenchanging some ofElden Ring’s lore. Considering that this is FromSoftware, it’s likely that most of this new narrative content will come by way of item descriptions and environmental storytelling rather than through cutscenes or dialog. Because of this, a linear and focused environment would suit the DLC much better than a large, open expansion to The Lands Between. This shift would allow FromSoftware to develop the game’s narrative, better control the game’s pacing, and craft more of the stunning, memorable environments and set pieces that games likeElden Ringare known for.
A semi-open expansion area, similar to DLC likeThe Old HuntersandThe Ringed City, would also provide some novelty to players who are not experienced with other FromSoftware games. IfShadow of the Erdtreeadded more beautiful, straightforward areas to the game, it could serve as a nice alternative to the massive open-world of The Lands Between, keeping the experience concise and to-the-point rather than meandering and hundreds of hours long.
There’s no question thatElden Ring’s The Lands Between is a design marvel. It proved that there is still so much to do with the open-world format, which many gamers were feeling fatigued by. However, it doesn’t need to be a replacement for FromSoftware’s traditional, linear approach to environment design. FromSoftware is returning to a more level-based style of game withArmored Core 6, so a non-open-worldShadow of the Erdtreedoesn’t seem totally out of the question.
Elden Ringis currently available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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