While their wait for information regarding Elden Ring is increasing, fans have been speculating what they might see in FromSoftware's upcoming action RPG. It's been rumored to replicate the style of the popular Dark Souls games; a mouth-watering thought for fans who want a return to form after Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice stepped into brand-new territory. However, FromSoftware should definitely focus on trimming the fat from the Souls titles if Elden Ring is going to replicate them as heavily as it is rumored to.
While it didn't become as well-known until its gorgeous PS5 remake, Demon's Souls was the first Soulslike FromSoftware game released back in 2009 on the PS3. It was the blueprint for Dark Souls' gameplay, which exploded into a successful series filled with engaging combat and practically endless lore. They also created an innovative multiplayer system in which PvP and PvE were seamlessly combined into each other. Dark Souls is much more than a generic medieval adventure game, and FromSoftware proves this with all of the unique concepts it brought to the table.
Since the series has spanned multiple entries and the rest of FromSoftware's games share so many elements of it, Dark Souls has a plethora of mechanics that have remained consistent throughout. Players explore the world looking for new items and bosses to slay. Each game features a similar stat spread with a nearly identically level-up system. Each game also threatens players with losing their souls upon death, which is a major part of why the franchise has its signature difficulty, but which features can be tossed aside when Elden Ring finally shows up?
Dark Souls Features Elden Ring Should Axe
One of the most consistent features in the Souls series is the inclusion of a general hub in which many characters gather in one place. This specific part is fine, but what's obnoxious about them is the inclusion of a designated level-up NPC which forces players to warp back there just for level-ups. Dark Souls didn't have this feature, but all of its sequels, Bloodborne, and Demon's Souls do. Elden Ring is rumored to be massive, so it would be a nuisance if players were forced to warp to level up instead of being able to level up at any checkpoint.
On the topic of leveling up, each Souls game has a handful of stats that simply aren't very useful to invest into. Putting points into Resistance is something very few players do, for example, and other stats like Adaptability are more complicated than they need to be. Elden Ring should simplify stat allocation by bundling the effects of these redundant stats into things like armor or just boosting them all slightly after each new level instead.
If there's any stat that's confusing in Dark Souls, it's the poise stat. It's responsible for controlling how much super-armor players have during their attacks, but it's hard to notice in most games. It's active nearly constantly in Dark Souls, but it's only active during attacks that take advantage of it in its sequels. Because it was over-powered in the original and redundant in the sequels, Elden Ring should just have designated amounts of super-armor for each attack much like a fighting game.
Since it's likely to have a much larger world, Elden Ring could also benefit from more musical scores throughout its areas. Dark Souls games rarely include music outside of boss fights, so Elden Ring could experiment with this by adding atmospheric tracks that still build tension like the silence of its prior entries. There are endless possibilities for what Elden Ring might do, but hopefully it can take what worked from the Souls series and refine that experience even further.