Elden Ring has been out for more than a month now, and both novice and veteran FromSoftware fans have been sinking dozens or even hundreds of hours into the game. With so much time spent exploring Elden Ring's iconic locations and fighting its multitudinous enemies, some players might be thinking that they've seen all that the game has to offer. However, as anyone who has truly sunk their teeth into the game knows, countless hours of playtime alone isn't always enough to see all this open-world adventure has to offer.
Even before it was released, it was clear that Elden Ring would not be a typical sandbox game similar to those from studios like Ubisoft or Bethesda. Instead, the game looked a lot like open-world Dark Souls - a prospect that excited many gamers. The game's true scale, however, is something that likely surprised even the most optimistic fans.
Indeed, Elden Ring is one of the most expansive, sprawling video games ever released, and its innumerable secrets continue to show up long after credits roll. Elden Ring's many historically inspired armor sets, gear, spells, Ashes of War, and more serve as valuable collectibles that many gamers will be motivated to find, but its vastness extends far beyond these pick ups. In fact, many players might feel that Elden Ring's items are just a small part of the overall experience.
Elden Ring's Lore Is Constantly Unfolding
One of the biggest points of interest during the leadup to Elden Ring was the fact that its world was created with the help of renowned fantasy writer and Games of Thrones mastermind George R.R. Martin. Although Martin has stated that he only wrote the history of Elden Ring, which was subsequently expanded upon by Hidetaka Miyazaki and the rest of FromSoftware's writers, the Song of Ice and Fire author's signature tone and fondness of rich history can be felt through the game's characters, locations, items, and more.
The story of Elden Ring has spawned lore videos, blog posts, and social media discussions thanks to its complexity and breadth, and the discussion surrounding the world of the Lands Between is sure to continue in the coming weeks, months, and perhaps even years. The typical way that FromSoftware disseminates its story through things like item descriptions and cryptic dialog remains in place in Elden Ring, and the vagueness of this lore means that it is endlessly interpretable.
The Elden Ring Map Is Bigger Than It First Appears
One glance at Elden Ring's huge map might recall other famously large open-world titles like The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim and Red Dead Redemption 2, but the worlds of those games may appear paltry in comparison to the Lands Between. Setting aside the square mileage of the game's surface world, Elden Ring solved the boring sandbox problem with varied environments that lead to constant winding paths, detours, and hidden locations. In typical FromSoftware fashion, there are also several hidden entrances and illusory walls obscuring an assortment of caverns, tombs, and other expansive areas, making it nearly impossible to definitively uncover every location in a single playthrough.
After collecting all of Elden Ring's map fragments, it might be easy for some players to think that they've conquered the game's map. However, this is quite literally only scratching the surface, as there is an entirely separate set of map fragments for the deep underground zones of Elden Ring (which are separate from many of the game's self-contained underground caves). This underground area as a whole, while not exactly as large as the overworld, also contains a mass of forking roads, legendary items, intimidating bosses, and mind-blowing secrets to discover. Certain quests, including the popular Ranni the Witch Elden Ring storyline, center on parts of the underground world, which gives it narrative weight in addition to exploratory value.
Conversely, there is Crumbling Farum Azula, a sky-bound late-game location that players will discover shortly before the story's climax. For many players, this area will be reached just as they think they are reaching the finale of the game, which makes it all the more surprising. This zone isn't gigantic, but neither is it small, and it's far from a linear path.
Combat In Elden Ring Is Constantly Evolving, & NG+ Expands Options Further
For the first few hours, players might think that Elden Ring's combat is something of a carbon copy of Dark Souls or other FromSoftware games, but Elden Ring has more combat options than any other game from the legendary Japanese studio. Elden Ring's myriad weird weapons offer a wealth of choice in combat encounters, as they extend far past what most would consider traditional or predictable. There are assorted melee weapons and ranged armaments like bows and crossbows, which can carry unique properties such as inflicting bleed or poison damage. On top of this, there is a seemingly endless amount of sorceries and incantations, each having unique effects and gameplay implementations. Elden Ring also has Ashes of War that can be applied to weapons, and these can drastically change how the game plays and feels.
Elden Ring's build diversity also means that players can't get a full understanding of the game through just one playthrough, as the combat experience of a magic-focused player is markedly different than that of a sword-and-shield tank. Given the astounding amount of options Elden Ring gives its players through unique weapons, spells, Ashes of War, and other assorted items and buffs - not to mention its multiple endings - two whole playthroughs may not even be enough.
The dizzyingly large scale of Elden Ring is something that will require hundreds of hours of gameplay to fully comprehend. As such, the game could wind up birthing tons of supplemental content, as merchandise like an Elden Ring lore book might be essential purchases for hardcore fans of the game. However the game is viewed in the years to come, however, one thing is clear: a whopping one-hundred hours of playtime is not even close to enough to see all that Elden Ring has to offer.