FromSoftware's newest game Elden Ring takes inspiration from other open-world games such as Skyrim, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. This is the developers’ first open-world game, as previous entries include the likes of Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. None of the studio's previous games have had a truly open world, so FromSoftware is delving into some uncharted territory.
Breath of the Wild was released to critical acclaim in 2017. While it was not without its issues, it offered a fresh take on the open-world formula. Most notably, it trimmed away a lot of the bloat that plagued other open-world games, such as a map filled with icons. Instead, the way the world was designed rewarded exploration.
It is true that visually, Elden Ring bears little resemblance to Breath of the Wild. Like FromSoftware’s earlier games, Elden Ring has a dark, lugubrious aesthetic as opposed to Breath of the Wild’s bright, cartoony cel-shaded art style. Still, Elden Ring found plenty of inspiration with Breath of the Wild, and the games are more similar than they would first appear to be.
Gameplay Similarities Between Elden Ring & Breath of the Wild
There are several obvious comparisons that can be drawn between Elden Ring and Breath of the Wild. Both are open-world games, populated with a few friendly NPCs and a whole host of enemies. Combat is a major part of both games, and there are all sorts of weapons that players can collect which offer different approaches to fighting enemies. Players can move through the world of Elden Ring on a mount, just like in BOTW, but there are sections where it is a better idea to go on foot. To travel extremely long distances, players can use fast travel to go between points once they have been unlocked. One interesting comparison between the two games is how they encourage exploration. They both accomplish this in similar ways, and that frequently comes down to the rewards associated with doing so.
Part of the reason that weapons break so easily in Breath of the Wild is that it is tied in with exploration. Players need to keep searching for weapons because they will run out otherwise. Even if they already have some of the best weapons in the game, they won’t be able to use them forever. Still, having weapons repeatedly break is frustrating, and weapon durability in BOTW can mean that players will sometimes avoid enemy encounters because they feel that it’s not worth the cost of losing an important weapon.
Weapons in Elden Ring can break, but generally, it isn’t a concern like in Breath of the Wild. So while players will be exploring for new weapons and armor, a new reward for exploring is Ashes of War. These act in a similar fashion to the weapon arts from Dark Souls 3. The system is more developed in Elden Ring, allowing players greater choices in how they want to customize their build.
While getting loot is great, part of the fun of exploring is seeing something interesting on the horizon and going there to see what it is. It is human nature, after all, and those who got to Eventide Island in Breath of the Wild will be familiar with this. Getting to the island is a challenge in and of itself, but then once the player gets to the island, they are stripped of all their gear and must find what they can on the island to survive. The best part of all, it’s a completely optional area. Nothing tells the player to go there other than their own curiosity, yet it is one of the more memorable areas of the game. FromSoftware has done a similar thing in its previous games, as there are many optional areas with dangerous enemies and deadly bosses that players will explore anyway. Sure, there’s the promise of treasure, but much of the fun comes from exploring, getting into danger, and managing to survive, even if it takes a few tries.
Elden Ring's Map Compared To Breath Of The Wild's Open World
The other concept that the games share is in how players fill out the map. Initially, the maps in both games are incomplete, and players must climb to the tops of towers in Breath of the Wild or find map fragments in Elden Ring. These will unlock new sections of the map, which is a reward itself. Not every open-world game is like this. Many simply begin with their maps already revealed, though there are still places to explore within. Since both the worlds of Elden Ring and Breath of the Wild are broken lands, it makes sense that players will have to draw in the map, so to speak. This serves to bring order back from the chaos that plagues these lands. It’s also likely more exciting than a map that’s filled to the brim with icons, question marks, or other distractions.
A map is a big deal in Elden Ring. Previous games in FromSoftware’s lineup didn’t even have maps at all, which meant that players needed to navigate the games’ worlds by memory. Now the game’s world is so large that it needs one. Elden Ring does point in the direction that players should go, but they are free to ignore it and go explore elsewhere instead. Many players will likely do this anyway in the hopes of stumbling upon something interesting.
That is another thing that Elden Ring shares with Breath of the Wild: a world that tells a story. Both lands have a long history, and players can stumble upon lore through the land itself. While there is some exposition in parts, players can still uncover the story through exploration, rather than reading about it in books like in Elder Scrolls games, or having characters explain it in long-winded monologues like other games. In essence, the worlds of both games are mysterious, and players will uncover their mysteries as they traverse the landscapes. Not only will players sometimes find weapons, armor, or other items that help them survive, but they learn more of the story along the way in little chunks. They gain knowledge in both Elden Ring and BOTW, and knowledge may be the greatest treasure of all.