Elden Ring has a completely different “game-language” because you could say it is part of a completely separate Fromsoft genre of souls games. By game-language I mean the rules and assumptions that go along with a game (like a glowy object means that it can be interacted with and so on).
Struggle to learn soulslikes language
Some say that the struggle to learn the souls-language is part of the experience, but for newcomers like me this is very much an uphill battle. This is especially true for the huge departure of a direction in the form of an open world as opposed to a linear path like their previous games. I think this creates even more confusion in tandem with it’s already very different game-language that is now put onto open world which traditionally creates a lot of assumptions for players that have played other open worlds. For me, I could not understand why people hyped the immersion of Elden Ring. Sure it’s vast map, mesmerizing landscape and art direction are absolutely amazing, but the NPCs are dumb as bricks. They walk back and forth in the same places all the time and usually have a vision up to 30m at most. Which for me, is not immersive. Most times, it does not feel like “a living, breathing world” as they usually would say to the best open worlds.
It is not an exploration game, it is a combat game
I realized too late that it is not supposed to be anything like what I assumed from other open worlds with similar settings. It is first and foremost a combat game:
- The NPCs are supposed to be opponents to overcome that all have their own tactics.
- All of the resources to be found are meant to aid your character overcome even stronger and stronger opponents.
- Struggle is supposed to amplify the growth and how far you’ve become.
- It’s all about crafting the best build, with equipment that all plays together to create.
More specifically, it is a build crafting combat game
Interestingly there is a lot more emphasis on creating good character builds rather than strategy - learning opponents, figuring out when and how to strike. There are a ton of opponents with blatantly “unfair” attacks, which are not possible to be overcome with reflex alone (especially for newcomers and those who are not frame perfect combat game speedrunners). I guess this fits a lot better into the open world game, but is a lot harder for newcomers who might believe they can employ strategy to overcome their foes.
There is still a large part in strategy and growth
Despite putting emphasis on builds, it is still very much a souls game. In my opinion what defines souls games is the respect with which they show to the player by inviting them to grow and improve. Not giving an option mind you, inviting and then forcing you to grow and overcome difficult opponents if you do accept the invitation. There is much to be said about how souls games improve self-efficacy with struggle (Do not chase happiness, become antifragile).