Because I hope “Elden Ring” is as hard as “Dark Souls”

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Elden ring

Credit: FromSoft

I want Elden Ring to be just as challenging, frustrating and inaccessible to the masses as Dark Souls, Demons Souls, Bloodborne, and, well, maybe just a little less challenging than Sekiro.

There is a tendency in our culture to create art that is easy, it’s just background noise, stereotyped and safe. Basically the whole MCU (minus a couple of outliers) takes this approach. Safe and easy, the kind of movie you might see in the other room. Lots of pop music fits the bill. And video games keep getting easier. In Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart you can skip every puzzle with the click of a button, for example.

There are very few games that require your attention. FromSoftwares Souls games are a rare exception to the rule. Not only do they provide players with a real challenge, but they insist that we invest ourselves in the experience. You cannot go through Boletaria or Yharnam or Anor Londo, which is perhaps the reason we remember the names of these places. They reside in our solid and almost real minds because we have fought so hard to make our way through each of them.

Elden ring

Credit: FromSoftware

In Elden Ring, players will go through The Lands Between and its various legacy dungeons and hopefully it’s as brutal and memorable as FromSoftware’s past games. This isn’t because I don’t want more people to play. In reverse.

After all, the point of the challenge in the SoulsBourne games is not the challenge itself, but the satisfaction of winning. Overcoming challenges by learning something in a game is a very rewarding feeling, and that’s what I wanted to prioritize in “Dark Souls” and “Demon’s Souls,” Elden Ring / Dark Souls mastermind Hidetaka Miyazaki told IGN years ago. .

So these games won’t be for everyone, but they certainly can be people who often save themselves too quickly, thinking they can’t beat a boss who, in fact, could with a little patience. I’ve played and beaten all the Dark Souls, Demons Souls, and Bloodborne games, but I freely admit I reached a point in Sekiro where I just ran out of steam. I’m fine with that. Sekiro was enormously difficult and my time and patience ran out.

Elden ring

Credit: FromSoftware

But I wouldn’t want it any other way. I would not want to make the game easier just to be able to finish it, thus depriving those players who have overcome these enormous challenges of their satisfaction.

Yeah, sometimes I wanted to summon another player to take down some of those ridiculous bosses (to hell with the headless monkey forever). But I’m glad Sekiro didn’t throw any punches. There are countless easy games or easy mode games out there and so very few that stick to their guns and give everyone the same universal experience, same gauntlet to run, no matter who you are. It is special, unique and rare.

So when I read an article like this I feel a slight wrinkle of despair. Games Radar’s Alyssa Merchant writes:

I played a FromSoftware game: the Dark Souls remaster, and for me it was akin to psychological torture. I’m a run-and-gun type of player with the same patience as a kid, so limited crossing options mean I constantly run into a type of enemy who repeatedly and relentlessly kicks my ass, sending me back to a bonfire that I turned on 30 minutes ago. Boss battles with Estus Flasks limited, to no, have me trapped in what feels like an endless cycle of death, like Tom Cruise in The Edge of Tomorrow, except I never got better at dealing with enemies. I absolutely hate losing, and Dark Souls wants you to lose, a lot.

Elden ring

Credit: FromSoft

The trader continues:

The latest updates of Elden Ring show how FromSoftware is trying to improve some of the more punishing features of its games. The Lands Between is an absolutely huge open world space that will give players more choices when it comes to crossing. Elden Ring won’t force you to choose between one of two equally brutal paths like other FromSoftware games, where one path features a Lovecraftian demon waiting behind a shimmering veil and the other is just a swamp full of septic skeletons.

First of all, the idea that all paths in Dark Souls are equally brutal is simply not true. When you first arrive at Firelink Shrine in Dark Souls you really have more than one path to choose from. Basically, you have three. Two of these paths will lead you to areas that are almost certainly far away, too deadly for a new player (uneven, untested) to traverse with any hope of survival.

The only correct choice, then, is to enter Undead Burg where you have a chance and hopefully you might learn a thing or two about how the game works. You will hone your skills here, test your courage and improve enough to move forward. One lesson you might learn is when to run. You don’t have to fight the Black Knight yet, and you probably shouldn’t fight the Red Wyvern (unless you plan on shooting his tail from under the bridge). If you’ve been paying attention in the tutorial level, you’ll be able to handle the first real boss pretty quickly just by jumping him off the watchtower a couple of times.

Elden ring

Credit: FromSoft

These are by no means equally brutal paths. They are all brutal for a newcomer, but not in the same way. But yeah, the game wants you to lose to die and do it a lot. It is part of the Zen of Dark Souls. You have to learn to let go, to lose your souls, to fight again and again until you learn to do it right. When you do, it’s far more rewarding than any other type of game, similar to finally mastering Mario Kart at 150cc or top of the charts in Call Of Duty, but somehow even more of a race because you’re battling against such terrible odds so desperate and horrible premises.

I think the ways that FromSoftware has traditionally made some of its games more accessible are fine. Giving players the ability to summon allies is basically a simple mode and there will be plenty of multiplayer in Elden Ring and summonable spirits. There will also be stealth à la Sekiro (although when I think of that game I mostly remembered all the ways the developers have actually limited the choice).

Merchant writes: FromSoftware games have always felt like they existed on an island surrounded by murky waters representing play skills I don’t have: parry, patience and perseverance. They are notoriously brutal and instruct the player to lose a lot to gain some, which acts as a giant barrier to entry for a large chunk of the gaming community.

But Elden Ring, he concludes, will be different.

As someone who struggled with Dark Souls, shunned Bloodborne, and mocked Sekiro, writes Merchant, Elden Ring offers an accessible FromSoftware title that is ripe for play. With built-in difficulty options, a team of NPCs, a searchable map and a wide range of choices, Elden Ring will welcome a whole new group of players. I can’t wait to get my ass kicked.

I’m still not at all convinced that this will be the case, that this is going to be a game that will appeal to people who have found Dark Souls torturous.

Elden ring

Credit: FromSoft

It might make some aspects of the experience less punishing (even Dark Souls did after Demons Souls) but it will still be very difficult according to game director Hidetaka Miyazaki, who adds that it can be managed.

Fast travel is back in Elden Ring and that’s what really worries me, although I’m happy to learn that you can’t fast travel out of a dungeon. One of my biggest complaints about the second and third Dark Souls game was the fast travel, the ease with which you can jump from bonfire to bonfire, something you had to unlock with great pain in the original Dark Souls.

But the lack of fast travel in that game created something special, forcing the developers to build such a fascinating and brilliantly intertwined world. There have been times in Dark Souls 3 where I laughed out loud when I arrived at a new bonfire, almost a scream away from the last one. Too many checkpoints and fast travels really detract from the level design and experience of traversing these strange worlds.

In Dark Souls you had to rely on shortcuts. But unlocking shortcuts after fighting tooth and nail to reach them is far more satisfying than just fast-traveling anywhere. The ladder you go down to return to the bonfire under the Red Wyvern, or the elevator you unlock that takes you up and down between the Firebound Shrine and the Parish of the Undead are far more rewarding and intelligent than any fast travel. Maybe fast travel will be important in Elden Ring because the world is so big and so open, but maybe the big open world isn’t as beautiful or wonderful as the way FromSoftware built the Undead Burg.

Elden ring

Credit: FromSoft

I still remember the first time I looked up from Darkroot Garden and saw the Red Wyverns bridge much higher, not a separate level, but just part of this sprawling, labyrinthine ruin.

Fast travels, too many bonfires, or too much focus on making these games accessible rather than hard, gritty, and tangible all threaten to dilute this sense of awe and wonder.

It’s not really about the difficulty, after all. It’s about those moments of triumph and awe that only a game like Dark Souls can evoke.

Elden Ring is out on January 20, 2022.

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