Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. Features

Instead of getting lost in Elden Ring, I’m just plain lost

By

After spending a few hours with FromSoftware’s latest, I can say that Elden Ring is not for me. A combination of its intense difficulty, lack of direction, and clunky menus mean it has not immersed me in the same way as games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or even Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

“Immersion” is a buzzword often associated with open-world games, as developers try their hardest to enthrall players in the dense universes they create. FromSoftware’s Souls titles always try to engross players through macabre fantasy worlds and intense difficulty curves that demand players dedicate themselves to the game to get the most out of it.

Recommended Videos

Mixing that formula with a Breath of the Wild-like world is working for many people, but for me, a few elements in my first hours of playing Elden Ring made it quite challenging to care about seeing this experience through. 

The messages

Elden Ring has a dark, dreary opening that’s not afraid to dump a bunch of lore and game-specific terms on the player before pitting them against an enemy they are destined to lose to. FromSoftware intricately crafted this opening, but playing it in the days after launch meant that these opening areas were graced with lots of bloodstains of people jumping off ledges and helpful messages like “try fingers, but hole.”

Any intrigue this opening had was immediately dispelled for me when I saw several messages saying some sort of variation of that same lewd comment with tons of positive appraisal. Yes, it’s pretty funny, but I had trouble taking George R.R. Martin’s world and dense lore seriously as I was bombarded with player-driven trolling right at the start of the game. 

Messages and bloodstains, admittedly, are optional features that players really concerned about worldbuilding can opt out of, even if it’s at the cost of other online features that are fun to use. It’s the non-optional quirks of the game that really created a problem for me.

A merchant screen selling Lost Ashes of War in Elden Ring.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The user experience

Elden Ring‘s menus aren’t great. The text is small, and their intricacies aren’t explained. It took hours of play and consulting friends to learn how to use summons or call Torrent without going through multiple menus during combat. That isn’t discovery; it’s frustration. Players also can’t pause, which is a series staple but still outright inconvenient. 

The developers could add features like quest tracking or a mini-map that would make Elden Ring more approachable for people like me who are quickly bouncing off. And adding them wouldn’t negatively impact the experience, especially if implemented in an optional way. 

The latest discourse surrounding Elden Ring has come from a doctored image showing what the game would look like had Ubisoft developed it, complete with overbearing UI. While the joke image definitely overdoes it with a flood of on-screen text, I certainly wouldn’t mind if players had the option to toggle at least some of these. They could even be off by default, but I’d at least like more approachability and accessibility options. 

"If Ubisoft developed Elden Ring" via https://t.co/ZhRK3Oz2zY pic.twitter.com/N0np0yyFlh

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) March 6, 2022

Directionless

The lack of direction outside of Sites of Grace is supposed to encourage players to take notes and explore the world at their own pace. Unfortunately, it ended up leaving me confused and directionless after early game bosses like Margit stonewalled me before Elden Ring could genuinely get rolling.

Though I respect those who enjoy the lack of direction in Elden Ring‘s menus and maps, for me, it can be demoralizing. Breath of the Wild was a bit easier and had a quest tracker that players could reference if they wanted a bit of guidance. I’d actually like Elden Ring more if it held my hand a little bit more. Yes, a guided path pointing me in the direction of an objective on a mini-map isn’t very immersive, but neither is stopping the game and looking up a cryptic sidequest on my phone so I can find out what the heck the game wants me to do. 

One day, I might get over the hump of these user experience frustrations and discover the captivating, immersive FromSoftware game that everyone on social media is obsessing over. But right now, I just don’t have the energy to invest myself in a game where the user experience for uninitiated players is so poor.

I’m happy for those who like it, but Elden Ring just simply isn’t immersing me, even after giving it ample time to do so. 

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Tomas Franzese
Tomas Franzese
Gaming Staff Writer
Tomas Franzese is a Staff Writer at Digital Trends, where he reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree finally arrives this June
A furnace golem looms in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree.

We finally got our first full look at Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, the expansion for FromSoftware's critically acclaimed 2022 open-world game. Thankfully, we don't have to wait too much longer for it, as publisher Bandai Namco Entertainment confirmed a June 21 release date.

The Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree trailer is full of gameplay, showing the new area that players can explore, many different bosses and combat encounters, and some awesome new weapons. Standouts include a boss that's a giant burning wicker man, a large hippo-like creature that can grow sparks out of its body, and a powerful-looking flaming crossbow weapon. The trailer also shows the player dying many times, so it looks like Shadow of the Erdtree will feature a lot more of the satisfying, yet difficult gameplay loop that the original offered.

Read more
Armored Core VI lives up to post-Elden Ring FromSoftware expectations
A boss fight in Armored Core 6.

I don’t envy the position FromSoftware is in with Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon. It’s the first title since the release of Elden Ring, a monumental, critically acclaimed title considered one of the studio’s best. It’s also reviving a series that hasn’t been seen in a decade for modern platforms and game audiences. On top of those things, because this isn’t a Souls game, a microscope will be on the title as FromSoftware fans scrutinize if it’s as good as other games, while Souls haters will wonder if this is finally a good FromSoftware jumping on point for them.

ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON — Gameplay Trailer

Read more
Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon follows up Elden Ring in August
A mecha fights a giant mechanical worm in Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon.

FromSoftware and Bandai Namco Entertainment revealed when we can expect Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon to release at the end of a new trailer. After getting a first look at some of the game's bombastic mecha fights, we learned that Armored Core VI will come out on August 25.
Before Demon's Souls and Dark Souls became popular and increased FromSoftware's notoriety exponentially, Armored Core was the series the Japanese developer was best known for. This series of intense mecha shooters haven't seen a new entry since September 2013, though. That's why it was a nice surprise to see Armored Core VI announced at The Game Awards last year. It not only revived a long-dormant series but provided a nice change of pace for FromSoftware after it had perfected the Souls formula with Elden Ring.
ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON — Gameplay Trailer
As for the gameplay trailer, it begins with a massive rocket making planetfall by the command of a "Handler Walter". After that, we see some environmental shots of many of the levels players will be able to explore before hearing that augmented human C4-621, presumably the player, has awakened. The trailer is a non-stop action fest after that, as we see mecha boosting around levels fighting each other with powerful gunfire, rockets, and other weaponry from the ground and air. It certainly looks nothing like Elden Ring, but that makes us all the more excited.
A press release following the trailer also revealed more information about the game's story. It takes place on a planet called Rubicon 3, where an energy source called Coral was discovered but ultimately caused a planet-wide catastrophe. Armored Core VI takes place almost fifty years after that and follows a mercenary in the middle of corporations and resistance groups fighting over what remains of Coral.
Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon will be released for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on August 25.

Read more