Two days ago (Tuesday), I heard tell that certain games journalists got to play the closed network test that will be available for certain players on consoles this weekend (I assume it’ll be the same.) I was green with envy as they coyly said they weren’t allowed to talk about it yet. Then yesterday (Wednesday), the dam opened, and the flood came pouring out. Suddenly, everyone was doing
I was conflicted. I liked to play the games as unspoiled as possible. Part of the joy of playing these games is the discovery of the incredible world.
Side Note: Ian told me that he was starting a new Dark Souls Remastered playthrough because he never finished it–or any of the Souls games. He figured it was time to get properly into the games before Elden Ring comes out in February. I tweeted this:
Welp. @iboudreau told me he started a new game in Dark Souls Remastered. He really, really, shouldn't have told me that! pic.twitter.com/olRe1NjQUK
— Minna Hong (@asiangrrlMN) November 10, 2021
I am so excited when anyone gets into the Souls game. Any FromSoft game, really, but especially the Souls games. I started a new character in Dark Souls Remastered (Mulan Rogue, what I always name my characters) and I have the hair up in two high ponies to mimic my current hairstyle. I normally do a high bun. There are not the Chun Li twin buns, sadly. I am following Ian around the game. He’s currently making his way to the Undead Parish bonfire where I am sat waiting.
I have a rule about these games. I will give all the help that is wanted, but I am not in the business of trying to tell people how to play or spoiling the game for them. Therefore, I will keep my mouth shut until he asks for help or until he gets so frustrated, I’ll ask if he wants any tips. I am on the extreme side of not wanting spoilers so I try to be scrupulous in not spoiling things for others. It’s tricky in FromSoft games because part of the joy is discovering things for yourself. But, it’s nearly impossible to discover everything on your own. And if it’s your first FromSoft game, it’ll probably seem impenetrable as well.
There is an area in the first game that is hidden behind TWO illusory walls. In the middle of the Blighttown swamp, which is the worst area of the game for many people. In part because it slowed down to 2 FPS on the consoles. I never minded it as much, in part because I played it with dsfix on the PC, but I hated the next area–Sen’s Fortress. It still messes me up even though I’ve played the game several times. Anyway, this hidden optional area is called Ash Lake and you have to go down a humongous, treacherous tree to get there. And if you go down when you’re first able, you have to climb back up because you can’t warp yet. It’s a whole area with a hydra, a dragon covenant, and giant angry clams. The Onion Knight’s quest ends here–tragically, as almost all the NPC stories end–and it’s a somber feeling every time I finish it. You can go through the whole game without ever seeing this tree or this area.
There is another optional area that is accessed through a painting in Anor Londo. It’s the Painted Worldof Ariamis and it’s where Anor Londo dumps all their trash. The disease-ridden, the dangerous spells/miracles/pyromancies, etc. This is a meaty area as well with a boss whom you do not have to fight in order to leave. But, if you do decide to engage in combat with her, then you have to kill her or be stuck in the painting forever. Hey, them’s the rules. I don’t make them; I’m just reporting them.
This is emblematic of all FromSoft games–there are optional areas that you don’t have to explore in order to beat the game. And the bosses of the optional areas are often some of the hardest in the games. Black Dragon Kalameet in the first game’s DLC. All the so-called co-op bosses in the DLCs of the second game. And, sigh, The Nameless King and Midr is the third game (Main game and 2nd DLC, respectively).
As much as I hated banging my head against the walls that were these bosses over and over again, I loved that they were there. You didn’t have to take them on in order to finish the game, but you could if you wanted to. There’s a lot of talk about the difficulty of FromSoft games (which is one of the most boring takes on the games, honestly), but there have always been ways to make them easier (except Sekiro). You can over-level yourself and your weapons, use the collective to get the tips you need, and, of course, summoning. Always be summoning! Now that I’ve beaten every boss solo, I don’t care about summoning. I’ll summon all day long! Funnily, though, when I played Dark Souls Remastered for the first time, I played it offline because when I started it online, someone invaded and killed Andre. I didn’t need him, but I didn’t like him dead. That’s the downside to the PC, fucking hackers.
Anyway, Elden Ring looks like it’s going to be the most accessible game of all time. Er, FromSoft game, I mean. There are spirit summons and human summons (with a summoning pool). You can go anywhere you want and sometimes, there are golden dust lines that direct you where you’re supposed to go. There is your horse, Torrent, and fast travel from the start. You can fast travel anywhere you want as long as you’ve activated the Touch of Grace (bonfire) in that area. And, for the first time, there is a map! Well, not the first time technically as there was a map in Sekiro ,but it was a troll map that I feel like FromSoft was forced to put into the game by (ugh) Activision. It’s simply an map of the overview world that is hidden in options somewhere. When I found it, I cracked up. I can imagine FromSoft thinking, “You want a map? Fine. There’s your map!”
Many of us FromSoft fans were nervous when we heard there was a map. One of the beautiful things about the games is exploring and finding things for yourself. I firmly believe one of the reasons I know all the areas of all the games so well is because, well, I died in them so much. But also because no map to tell me where to go! So when I heard there was going to be a map in Elden Ring, I was worried it would take away the exploration aspect of the game. But I also understood that with as huge a world as it was going to be, there had to be some guidance. So the compromise FromSoft came up with is great. You get map fragments as you go about the world and they fit into your map one by one. So you don’t get the whole world from the start (as I understand it). I think this is a terrific compromise.
More than one games journalist has commented on how the demo has changed the way open world has been done to this point. In many open world games, there are side quests and fetch quests that seem to be there just to pad things out. In Elden Ring, however, this doesn’t seem to be the case. I wouldn’t think it would be because From doesn’t pad their games for the most part. Whatever is in the game has a purpose and a reason. So in the demo, there were hidden areas that could only be found by truly exploring. And a few journalists commented favorably on this because it gave them incentive to go everywhere (not that they wouldn’t have, anyway). An intrinsic reason rather than an external one.
The reviews across the board have been outstanding. The closed network test for select players will be this weekend. It’s supposed to release on February 25th, 2022. I cannot wait.