Elden Ring is the anti-Ubisoft open-world game and I love it for it

Comparing Elden Ring to the other open world games in the last 10 years or so that are not BOTW, discredits Elden Ring

I very much agree with your opinion. Comparing ER/BotW and AC is like comparing tigers and cats.

Certainly, just as both tigers and cats belong to the same feline with sharp claws and four legs, both ER/BotW and AC belong to the same open world action genre with some similar features.

However, just as the real athletic abilities of tigers are overwhelmingly superior to that of cats, the depth of level design of ER/BotW that motivates players to explore more and always gives them a surprise and fun is overwhelmingly superior to that of AC, like you mentioned.

It doesn't make much sense to argue that "they are similar," ignoring these essential differences and looking only at their superficial similarities. And this is not just our "personal tastes," but many critics and gamers agree with us.

@Pedro: I discovered the entire map so I cannot test but that’s a bummer. I liked looking around for the map now you’re telling me I didn’t have to?

@Juub1990: It is not a big deal. You don't have to use towers in Ubi games and some people play without using them.

@st_monica: Gamers don’t seem to agree. Elden Ring has very low user scores compared to the other ones. It’s the lowest user reviewed Fromsoft game ever made. It’s the Skyward Sword of the series.

no its not. Im over 50 hours into the game and it feels less of the same old. yes it still has some things like the first one but they managed to make feel less same mission after the same mission. each side mission has its own story like the witcher 3.

even the long necks(towers) have different ways to solve them. one I had to use the rope to get him on its knees so I can climb him.

even the reviews say this that the game was made for those who are warier about open world games.

someone give mesome a hug. he's not handling this well. popping up in every elden ring thread making this same skyward sword comment lol. it's a cry for help

The game follows the traditional Ubisoft formula to a T. That is not necessarily bad. However, they made it worse with the need for travel packs. Long necks had variations in the previous game and is not a unique feature in this one. The map has more icons than any game I have played. The stories for the sidequests are interesting but the actual sidequest is the same ole same ole. That is expected in a game that is this large. The world is beautifully constructed with high levels of detail but there is a lack of meaningful intrigue. I play games mostly for exploration and this game while beautiful, doesn't have much meaningful use of the space. It just boils down to stuff to do instead of "this seems interesting". Not all games need to have "this seems interesting" but a game this large would have strongly benefited from it. All those high ratings are just inflated scores for a game that feels more like a downgrade gameplay wise than an upgrade.

I'm surprised Juub didn't mention Monster Hunter: world as I find that to be a better done well open-world and that was before Elden Ring came along. Its really Monster Hunter meets Elden Ring.

PSA...

Interactive Elden Ring Map Will Keep You From Getting Completely Lost

It might be a massive spoiler, but this map for exploring the Lands Between in Elden Ring is very useful.

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/interactive-elden-ring-map-will-keep-you-from-getting-completely-lost/1100-6501263/

You know, if those video game Guide Books were still around, I would've bought me on of those Guide Books just for the maps alone.

@davillain: Oh man, I loved those guide books. The Brady Games ones were my favourites. Have a bunch of them still, mostly for JRPGs. Love all the artwork and very thorough detail in them. Would have been awesome to have one of those for this game.

@davillain: that's not an open world game...

@howmakewood: Yeah, it's more like God of War which is a semi-open world game with large self-contained zones that you can explore. Monster Hunter World is a great game, though, and I had a lot of fun playing it.

yes about the travel packs but going from one camp fire to the other does not use up travel packs were the first one did. you only us travel packs if its not a camp fire. I feel like the exploration has more meaning this time finding things that are not marked on the map with a question mark. like loot and things. I love the glider that was not in the first one.

the gameplay is a step up from the first one. melee combat for sure. plus i find the sliding much more satisfying than the first one because you slide further than the first one.

the bow feels more responsive than the first one to.

I just beat the first one again the same week I got the second one so i felt the difference as soon as I picked up the controller.

there is so much more to do in the second one to.

underwater exploration adds to it to.

I don't know im just loving it and I feel its less of a boring fetch open world game like valhalla felt to me.

also god of war 2018 also did open world differently.

GOW is not an open world.

Yes. I mean, I'm loving the game and it is excellent in its own right, but the game absolutely would be better and more immersive if it had more than the static NPCs that it does, with villages, factions, etc.

I decided to pick up Elex for $8 instead of picking up Elden Ring.

wow you keep putting out bs topics recently. Even miyazaki said himself that he took HEAVY inspiration from zelda BoTW. Basically he copied the shit out of it.

bruh...why are you talking shit about skyward sword?? Its one of the best zelda games out there?

Literally both of you

Sign up for a few lists on Twitter and keep an eye on them. You'll find an XSX watch channel or something that gives you alerts. That's how I got my PS5 which I later discovered I didn't need since nearly everything is on PC now lolz.

It takes a bit of effort but it's worth it. You really don't want to be playing modern AAA titles on an X1X. Series X is light years beyond X1X, better in every way and the price is very good for what you get in hardware.

@fedor: it is and then it isn't. The hub world is open world were the rest isn't. That's were it breaks away from the ubisoft formula. It feels open without being hugely open world.

It's like last of us 2. It has small areas that are open so it doesn't feel like a corridor game like uncharted one. Kind of like the last tombraider game.

@Pedro: I think I seen you say you was playing the game. If so how far are you? What I noticed technically so far that it does the best in any open worlds that I seen and I mean just open world. The weather that affects the world stands out. Heck it even affects the water like rain drops. The clouds or the top canopy with the stars and moon is so detailed and sharp.

The water is like nothing i seen.

I haven't even seen the beaches like in the preview yet. Very detailed world even the mpc.

I just got to the snowy mountains and seeing that fog roll in. Any way I hope you are enjoying it like I am.

@gifford38: I finished the game. The strongest point is the graphics but the gameplay is unfortunately mediocre. The sidequests' stories are interesting but they are just fetch quest for the most part. What makes the experience poor is many small annoyances.

Primarily due to performance issues (which I have not had). The game itself is easily a 95%~. One of the GOATS, love it.

@gifford38: Its not open world.

Not surprised to see triangle man having a hard time grasping "open world", he prob a flat 🌎 gang too

I have yet to play it, but sounds great. I love blind exploration and sense of discovery, that why i stopped buying Ubisoft games a decade ago.

That said, i'm now playing Horizon Forbidden West. It may not be fully anti-Ubi, but it's still a step in the right direction (unlike the previous game). There are still icones marked in the map, but they come smoothly through NPC conversations, stuff you read, etc. On the top of that side stuff is fun and unique...no more checklist stuff, repetitive tasks, etc.

@fedor: well it's not corridor type game. So what is it then? If you can explore the world how can it not be open world. Key word world map. It not like uncharted were all you can do is move forward.

Yeah game is great. Very positive on steam and if you look at ppl who played more than 10 hours it's at 94% positive.

If you are okay with BotW performance on Switch then Elden Ring on any platform runs like a dream by comparison.

@Pedro: already beat it? Lol it was a poor experience yet you beat a game with more than 30 hours if you only do main quest?

@gifford38: Oh, man. The beaches are awful. They are all cliffs where the water goes from ankle deep to a bottomless pit instant death.

Yes. The non-linear, non-guided exploration is a breath of fresh air that only BOTW gave me. It's my game of the generation for sure.

Are you really trying to argue that someone cannot finish a game even if they found the experience to be mediocre?🤔

I have no idea what you are trying to say in the second portion of your question.

i've thought about this a bit whilst playing er. how much, if any, of that sort of thing could you add without compromising what makes these games so great.

i mean the game is already very immersive, one of the most i've played in a long time. open world survival. everywhere is hostile territory, danger and death around every corner, high risk / high reward type gameplay. it does really grip you.

throwing civilisation in there could really change that. you'd have safe zones. and they would have to be done in a way that fits with the game lore. believable people with believable lives are hard to do. potentially you'd do more damage to immersion if they didn't feel authentic and fit well with the game design. truman show style npcs like so many other open worlds suffer from.

and you'd have to rethink the way the story's told too. maybe a clearer overarching narrative, one which links these towns / people. souls "plots" have always been mysterious, told anecdotally. more of a back story. like a lot of cryptic secondary sub plots vaguely interlinked. you'd probably have to go less implicit and more explicit in the story telling.

maybe you could change when these games are set. they're always post apocalypse or catastrophe. civilisation in tatters, evil running amok by the time you're introduced to fix things. maybe if the game was set just pre-catastrophe and you were there to save these great dynasties, locations and civilisations from being destroyed, maybe that could work. but still think it could risk compromising on too much of from's fundamental game design philosophy.

it's interesting to think about

@PurpleMan5000: they had to make that way to fit the game. Why is awful because of that? So they look awful because it goes shallow to deep?

I loved Botw but honestly Elden Ring is the best game I have ever played.

The more I play, the more it feels like Oblivion but without Level Scaling.

Especially with all the copy paste encounters and rooms all over the place. So many boss fights I have faced now, even seemingly main story ones, are just 2 older bosses put together without any interesting new gimmicks. This game is just as copy paste as prior Ubisoft games, only difference is that they put it a neat reward at the end of the dungeons to conceal the fact that the journey there is just as samey as it is in any Ubisoft game.

I will still probably try to force myself to finish it but... yeah.

Valid criticism. Could be put towards BotW as well. I think how ok you are with it comes down to how much you enjoy the gameplay. I can forgive ER for making me fight the same stone statue 20 times, because I still find it fun. And I can try new weapons or spells if I want to spice it up. I'm beginning to tire of the design of smaller dungeons though. They look the same, and even level layouts are the same often. I said before the game was released that I was worried about the smaller dungeons being samey or boring, and both turned out true. BotW's shrines had more originality, and I complained about those too. But again, I enjoy ER a lot as a whole, so I can forgive that too.

In Ubisoft games case, everything I do feels monotonous and pointless, and there's no enjoyable gameplay to back it up.

That is an accurate summary of the game's core design. It is very reminiscent of Skyrim.

Well, a couple of days ago, I delivered a letter to an NPC in a fort. To reach him, I killed every single moving thing outside and inside the fort, including both the besieging force and his own soldiers. He thanked me for the letter, but said that he had to remain at the fort. Said nothing about his soldiers all being dead. Nothing about the interaction made a single bit of sense. Why would there be a fort without a village to defend? Why would the mindless army this man leads attack me when their leader doesn't seem to be bothered at all by my presence?

They didn't have to make it that way to fit the game. That's ridiculous. Have you ever been to a beach? They don't work that way.

Well have you ever been to The Lands Between after the Shattering? That's def how beaches work there.

True, and water also provides no buoyant force there.

And the rock is made out of unobtanium because conventional material would crumble under the weight of such vertical structures.

And wtf is up with those birds with blades instead of feet???

What the heck have you been playing?

How is it remotely reminiscent of Skyrim?