No game is perfect. Many have expressed concerns about the second half ofElden Ring, its camera use, and more, but despite its flaws, gamers the world over have fallen in love withFromSoftware’s take on an open-worldSoulsgame. Indeed, perhaps the reception could be most comparable to 2011’sSkyrim.
Skyrimis, by no means, a perfect game. It was incredibly bugged at launch, although not to a broken extent, and anyone can pick out a few more flaws on top of that. However, whatSkyrimhas is character and that character has influenced the past decade of decision-making in video games. Many games have tried to be the nextSkyrim, to have that same sort of impact, but eventhat idea is daunting forThe Elder Scrolls 6, its sequel. The nextSkyrimis often hyperbole in the same vein as the concept of “Destiny-killers,” but truly, it feels likeElden Ringis the nextSkyrim.
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How Skyrim Defined Open-World RPGs Over the Past Decade
When someone outside the gaming sphere talks about games, the one they’re likely to imagine isSkyrim.Fans may laugh about how many times Bethesda has re-releasedSkyrim, but that’s because a decade later, people are still buying it. One could argue that it doesn’t have as broad of an appeal asGrand Theft Auto 5,the most profitable entertainment product of all time, butSkyrim’s success has nonetheless found its way into other games. Both games are essentially household names, and there’s no telling how many people have playedSkyrimmultiple times.
Severaldevelopers will citeSkyrimas inspiration; sometimes these comparisons are obvious but sometimes not so much. Still, whatSkyrimdid wasn’t change the game of open-world RPGs, but it finely iterated upon it. The faction storytelling, the deep lore, the worldbuilding, and even the jumping up mountains to get to a location faster all added to the charm that defined Skyrim.
It’s hard not to look at howSkyrimhas influenced games likeThe Witcher 3, which in and of itself is hailed by some as one of the greatest games of all time, whileDragon Age: Inquisitionis beloved by BioWare fans to a similar, if not exact degree. The open-world freedom, the living and breathing environment, the mystery, and the charm are all things games have tried to replicate time and again.
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Elden Ring is Asking Questions That Require Decisions
Elden Ringdoes have one leg up overSkyrim, from the get-go.Skyriminherits the beloved legacy ofMorrowindandOblivion,which had long cementedThe Elder Scrollsfranchise as a series of great RPGs.Skyrimjust pushed through that boundary. On the other hand,Elden Ringinherits the legacy ofDemon’s Souls, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and more all before it. FromSoftware has always been a trail-blazing developer, inspiring a genre of games known as the Soulslike, andElden Ringtakes all of that in stride.
Furthermore, whileSkyrimiterated,Elden Ringexperimented.Elden Ringshows players don’t need the main character reiterating the objective every minute or so to stay on track. It shows that, while open-world games with activities and more scattered everywhere are fine, throwing players into a huge mystery is fine too. Letting players exploreElden Ring’s mapand slowly open it up, with the players often feeling no certainty if they’ve discovered it all yet, is fine.
Skyrimoffers thousands of hours of content, and even to this day, players on multiple playthroughs fine something. As players dig throughNew Game Plus inElden Ring, the same holds true. There are things inElden Ringno developer would ever do, and that in and of itself poses a challenge. The art and beauty of games cannot be boiled down to marketing, statistics, and safe practices—it has to experiment and stand out. That’s exactly whatElden Ringdoes.
For all thecomparisons that can be made betweenElden RingandBloodborne, Elden RingandDark Souls,and so on,Elden Ringestablishes its own identity.Skyrimcompared to its predecessors show a successfully iterated upon sequel;Elden Ringcompared to its predecessors shows an experimental new approach to open-world RPGs, where adventure, mystery, fun, and exploration are not just bumper sticker phrases.
Because of this,Elden Ringwill be a hot topic for quite some time. Soulslike games will likely try to replicate its approach, and perhaps parts of its approach will influence games for a year, or decade, to come.Elden Ringdoesn’t seem like it will eventually be the nextSkyrim; it feels like it already is.
Elden Ringis available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
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