Almost two years after its announcement at E3 2019, From Software’s upcomingElden Ringis still nowhere to be seen. While various leaks, rumors, and reports have come out regarding the game, including one fromXbox’s Phil Spencer himself, gameplay and story details are scarce. What little is known paints the picture of the biggest game From Software has worked on — but not big in the same way as its AAA contemporaries.
From Software president Hidetaka Miyazaki once describedElden Ringas an “open field” game, and that while it would be more sprawling than From Software’s other titles, the company was distancing itself from true open world terminology and design. Described as more akin toShadow of the ColossusthanThe WitcherandSkyrim, this approach would blend From Software’s famous level design with wide-open spaces, creating a patchwork of unique locales. The speculation of what this means for the game has been running rampant ever since.
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Defining The Open Field
Key to these speculations is the definition of what, exactly, an “open field” is, and where it has shown up before. If an open world is a world that the player can traverse in its entirety (typically consisting of a country or island-sized map), then an open field is a large field, or several connected fields, that players can traverse. This doesn’t typically make for a particularly gameplay-rich experience, so open field games tend to surround their fields with offshoot paths and dungeons for more linear, tightly designed gameplay to take place. This also has the side effect of making open field games tend towards strict linear progression, as opposed to an open world’s looser restrictions on the player’s progress. With that in mind, it’s not too hard to picture whatElden Ringcould look like.
Examples of open field games date all the way back toThe Legend of Zeldafor the Nintendo Entertainment System. While players may be able to roam freely and find multiple dungeons or areas of interest, they’ll only be able to progress through one or two of them at the start. In this way, developers can make players feel like they’re exploring a wide, open world, while focusing most of their development resources towards bespoke locations that represent the highs of player engagement. Such design has been fairly common in the action-adventure genre over the years, withcritically-acclaimed games likeShadow of the Colossus,Okami, and evenDarksiders 2joining in on the trend. It looks likeElden Ringis the latest to pick this tried and true design method up (likely with its own twist though), and it has everything to gain from doing so.
Open Field Can Be Better Than Open World
One of the primary benefits of going with an open field approach rather than open world is that From Software’s development style can stay completely intact, with no visible effect on the final game. As an open field action-adventure instead of a linear action-RPG,Elden Ringwill be able to properly build onthe formulaDark Soulshas pioneered. The sheer scope of an open world, combined with the necessity of most of its content being present on the world map, would instead necessitate that any content made for the game, with occasional exceptions, would need to be placed somewhere just to fill space.
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Also, open world games have had something of a problem with repetitive collectibles and markers dotting the map. For all the right it did in its new genre,The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildstill needed to have slightly tweaked Korok puzzles all over Hyrule, just to fill its titanic space. And if a game with Nintendo’s level of granular design and polish had to do it, one can only imagine how much the formerly-annualAssassin’s Creedfranchise fill its worldsthis way. That’s not to say open-world itself is bad, many fans obviously love it, but it would be harder to capture the signatureSoulsfeel with it. For From Software’s known approach to development, open fields that give plenty of chances to adhere to old design paths are the smarter option.
The Results Of An Open Field
From Software is clearly interested indoing things a little differently withElden Ring, and if this experiment is a success, there is an opening for many more open field-style games in the future. While theSoulsgames aren’t a stranger to large areas, they tend to just be on the road to progress.Elden Ringis posed to integrate them into a sprawling complex full of side paths and entrances to more linear locales, and with them, a wide variety of environments and enemies.
Indeed, what enemies one can find in an open field and how they are fought may be much different than whatSoulsveterans are used to.Elden Ring’s more open areas will alter combatby providing new opportunities for multi-enemy encounters, and more directions to flee from said enemies. ShouldDark Souls 3’s multiple swamps provide any further hints, larger enemies that persistently chase the player may become more prevalent. In addition, ifZeldaandShadow of the Colossus’ formula is adhered to closely enough, there could even be frequent chances for mounted combat and archery.
A slightly more open world could mean infinitely more possibilities for From Software’sSouls-like games, andElden Ringseems to be the grand experiment where that is put to the test. IfElden Ringis received well, there could be a push for more hardcore 3D Metroidvania-like games with a more open concept. A number of fields, forests, ruined cities, and swamps peppered with linearSouls-esque levels sounds like a wonderful idea, and From Software is the best to pioneer it. This should breathe new life into theSouls-like genre, though fans are still waiting onElden Ring’s release date and more to manifest in 2021.
Elden Ringis currently in development, with PC, PS4, and Xbox One as confirmed platforms.
