[warning: not done writing this] (80 hours logged)
a bloated masterpiece that calls into question what masterpieces are and how they are defined.
Elden Ring has proven to be some kind of monstrosity. i can walk in any direction and be encountered, and everything in this world was made for me to commit terrible gamer violence. it boasts the most expansive world ever designed for this medium of game, the most expansive retinue of abilities, equipment, crafting, bosses, characters, questlines...yet, something continues to feel rotten at its core.
it's an easy claim to make. Big Games, in the sense that they are stuffed to the brim with Content, have to handle problems of scale. you will see: the same enemy recast into new models, textures, and movesets many times over; the same level reconfigured into new (and interesting!) pathways; the same animation set retooled and kitted with new hitboxes. these are fantastic production choices for handling the issues that scale comes with. we see great examples of similar design in Breath of the Wild, a game that arguably has less to do (and in my opinion is more fun to play).
the primary issue is that this fundamental design choice, of making a Big Game, comes into conflict with FromSoftware's precedent for tightly-designed games that focus on hand-crafted detail, semi-linear level design, impactful bosses, and other specific minutiae that have made Dark Souls et al. classics in gaming lore. i argue that FromSoftware's strength is in creating tight constraints on the player, which Elden Ring lacks as a fundamental design choice. insofar as the game is concerned, this conflict highlights itself in almost every encounter i see.
a bloated masterpiece that calls into question what masterpieces are and how they are defined.
Elden Ring has proven to be some kind of monstrosity. i can walk in any direction and be encountered, and everything in this world was made for me to commit terrible gamer violence. it boasts the most expansive world ever designed for this medium of game, the most expansive retinue of abilities, equipment, crafting, bosses, characters, questlines...yet, something continues to feel rotten at its core.
it's an easy claim to make. Big Games, in the sense that they are stuffed to the brim with Content, have to handle problems of scale. you will see: the same enemy recast into new models, textures, and movesets many times over; the same level reconfigured into new (and interesting!) pathways; the same animation set retooled and kitted with new hitboxes. these are fantastic production choices for handling the issues that scale comes with. we see great examples of similar design in Breath of the Wild, a game that arguably has less to do (and in my opinion is more fun to play).
the primary issue is that this fundamental design choice, of making a Big Game, comes into conflict with FromSoftware's precedent for tightly-designed games that focus on hand-crafted detail, semi-linear level design, impactful bosses, and other specific minutiae that have made Dark Souls et al. classics in gaming lore. i argue that FromSoftware's strength is in creating tight constraints on the player, which Elden Ring lacks as a fundamental design choice. insofar as the game is concerned, this conflict highlights itself in almost every encounter i see.