Why Sekiro and Dark Souls work better than Elden Ring!
Kolumne Add as a preferred source on Google
Here I explain, why Dark Souls and Sekiro work better than Elden Ring, the first time we play it and every replay after.
In the later parts of the game, starting from Farum Azula and Maliketh, the balance of the game is all over the place anyway. I immediately noticed that in my first playthrough. Actually Maliketh should be my favourite boss. I love his lore, his design and his moveset. Sadly I didn't have much fun fighting him, because every touch in his second phase could prove fatal for me. Maybe that's intentional though, he is holding the rune of death after all.
There, my high-level character felt like I just picked my starting class. Because it is an important story boss later in the story, the developer had no choice but to pump up his numbers. At this point, players could have the strongest builds in the game, and the devs need to consider that.
At the same time, players who didn't read an online guide, or whose favourite weapon or playstyle isn't overpowered, could reach this point. At least that was my experience with the Cipher Pata, probably still my favourite weapon.
And considering all that: Why even use an open world at this point? The balancing can quickly be destroyed in both directions, which damages the beautifully designed bosses and the overall player experience.
That's why I don't want an Elden Ring 2 - or anything open world by FromSoftware. The difficulty curve in the developers' other games is, throughout all of those games, nothing less than perfect. Until boss X, you can only option smithing stones up to level 6.
And we probably reach that boss X at a character level, which the devs can predict. Sure, you can always grind, but that becomes more ineffecient with every level, because enemies usually drop way less souls in comparison to the ones waiting for us in the next areas.
Source: buffed
When reaching Maliketh, I thought, I did something wrong. He simply CANNOT deal that much damage. Turns out he can. And he does.
Why linear FromSoftware games just work better
The best example for this perfect curve is not a souls-game, but Sekiro! There FromSoftware has proven that they can design fair, but difficult bosses. And part of why that works is that Sekiro always gives you a general direction and progress is always locked behind calculated achievements.
Sure, as with the Souls series, you can unlock some optional areas and power-ups, but generally the dev team knows pretty well, how strong we are at every point in the game, and especially what our maximum strength is at every point in the game. That's why in Sekiro, no enemy seems out of place, overly strong, or unfair. Here counts, what souls-elitists always preach: git gud.
And I love to git gud! That's why I fell in love with Dark Souls back in the day, even before I knew how sick the lore behind the world is. And on top of that FromSoftware is especially good in building these closed areas, and to connect them with each other. That worked in Demon's Souls, Dark Souls 1-3, Bloodborne and Sekiro.
Source: mobygames
In Sekiro, every upgrade comes at the right time.
Especially with FromSoftware's focus on hard, but fair fights, an open world simply makes no sense, because it simply cannot be balanced right. Neither The Witcher 3, Crimson Desert nor Skyrim provide consistently working open worlds, but the difference is, these games are more narrative-driven. If I don't read item descriptions, what is left is a series of confusing cutscenes and the gameplay, which is why it is more obvious to me in Elden Ring than in any other game.
And last but not least: replayability. I've read countless times that people argue Elden Ring has high replayability - especially because of the open world and the many possibilities. But in my opinion, replays of Elden Ring are incredibly boring. Almost from the start of the game I can get an overpowered build, because I roughly know where every item is placed. Even if it is fun to break the game, it becomes monotone to do so pretty quickly. And the whole aspect of exploration falls flat in a replay anyway.
Source: PCGH
With a blood build, you can explore the DLC easier because they are so strong. But even with this build, we can run into a problem or another.
If I replay Dark Souls in comparison, I need to overcome some challenges, before I get my hands on all the items I need to finish a build, just because a lot of items are locked behind bosses or areas I need to beat first. And the smithing stones are placed so my weapon is never too strong for the area I'm currently in. Even if a friend drops me some endgame weapon, I can enjoy a balanced playthrough from start to finish.
And that's why I hope Fromsoftware does anything, anything but an open world, anything, that isn't Elden Ring 2. If that is something like Bloodborne, Dark Souls or something completely different like Armored Core 6 or Sekiro, I couldn't care less. Just give me something - just, please, not another open world.
