Immediate correction that is the hill I have chosen to die on: It is not a giant lobster, it’s a giant crayfish, because fresh water.

I'm really loving the diversity of filming locations recently, from dodgy-looking alley where steph goes to throw bricks sometimes, to beautiful green sunlit field

"Elden Ring reminds us that an open world is a world, not a genre." Most eye opening quote in the video, and perfect summation of your video.

"Elden ring reminds us that an open world is a world, not a genre" Nailed it

The thing I find hilarious is that Elden Ring has both parts of radio towers, but absolutely nailed them. The vague map becoming distinct (not to mention totally gorgeous) when you find map fragments, and then the process of finding the great towers to activate your shards of the elden ring once you've attained them. Towers and map revealing done oh so right.

I always wondered why off-brand SoulsBornes failed to capture that Fromsoft magic for me. Then in an interview I read that Miyazaki's favorite hobby was map making, and it all made sense. It's careful world design that ties these games together. Now in retrospect, it looks obvious that Fromsoft would blow every mass produced open world out of the water.

The only acceptable version of "climbing radio towers" I've ever seen is the Tallnecks from Horizon Zero Dawn/Forbidden West, because the process of hunting down those towers is made 100% cooler by them being giant dinosaurs you have to hunt down and scale like it's Shadow of the Colossus.

I'll say this much about Spider-Man PS4 as an open world: the fact that you're constantly distracted from your main objective with all sorts of "side quests" (i.e. crimes to stop and people to help) truly helps with the immersion, since Spider-Man can't help but stop to solve every problem he comes across even if it costs him. It truly makes you FEEL like Batman.

The sense of discovery in Elden Ring is just incredible, for example - I was absolutely stunned when I went into what looked like a small mausoleum from afar and turned out to be a trip to a beautiful underground realm, with a ceiling so tall and dotted with glowing crystals it looked like the sky, ghost barbarian enemies hunting me down and mysterious ruins filled with secrets.

Open worlds are great. They have also ruined people's expectations; when I saw people expecting Kirby to be open world, I openly face palmed.

I love the sweaty palm wipe after defeating the enemy. That's a legitimately relateable experience for me.

I love running around and having interesting side quests that aren't just "get me 3 cow hides" or "kill 10 deer".

All things aside It's good to see a game that genuinely interests and excites you. It's far too rare these days.

I never understood the open world fatigue that came with Assassins Creed until Valhalla. I was willing to excuse it up to that point, but that was when I finally had enough. Even a game like Ghost of Tsushima had me groaning when I’d discover the 40th Fox Den to follow

The color grading on the field shot was absolutely gorgeous - great job!

I love how the director lied about the size of the map, making it out to be smaller than it actually was, and said that the playtime would only be around 30 hours, as to not build hype around the size of it, only for the game to dwarf our expectations in size but also be incredibly dense and full of meaningful content aswell. I'm now 117 hours into the game and still haven't finished it and it the game lasted another 100 hours I still wouldn't be tired of it. These other open world chore games usually get boring after 20 hours, I usually skip most of the side content in other games for that reason because other devs/companies seem to think scale means "theres over 200 bandit camps in this game and the map is 6x bigger than our previous game" expecting some kind of trophy for just being big, even though most locations will usually all be the same loop of kill the enemies, burned the supllies, kill a ring leader for some generic loot... I don't have that issue with Elden Ring. I went into a cave in the Mountain of Giants and walked out with a weapon that looks and feels like a boss weapon with a completely unique playstyle, just from some random miniboss in the middle of nowhere. If this was another open world game, that weapon would just be a "legendary weapon" and it would function identically to every other weapon of that type and just have better stats or something... there wouldn't have been a unique boss encounter either.

6:52 there is a small castle full of enemies you have to clear out for an NPC, and it has one of these golden pumpkin guys guarding the stairs. On the way in if you time it right, some demi-humans will chase you and they can start a fight with the golden pumpkin head guy. It was very neat.

I appreciate the dedication with which Stephanie always pronounces "Triple A" with an audible sneer

Favorite quote: "I don't care how big your open world is. I care about how many things I can do in it."

Finding an open world game that isn't empty or overwhelming is difficult. The perfect open world game is great but that's a rare thing.

One of my favorite things about elden ring is that it rewards exploration, there is no direction you can go that you will not find something. Even if you don’t find something you need right away you’ll find something sooner or later. A lot of open world games don’t do that. I love stumbling onto stuff at my own pace and adding it to my collection even if I won’t use it but asking me to find a bunch of feathers or some bullshit like that isn’t fun. Most likely due to a combination of my adhd and autism I lose interest in a game if it doesn’t continuously offer new experiences. Elden ring really scratches that itch

Elden Ring actually does a little bit of copy and pasting when it comes to the Mine and Catacomb dungeons, but they generally differ enough and are spread far enough apart that they feel like fresh experiences 🙂

It helps that after a while, you can recognize landmarks and what to expect and know you'll be rewarded. Ruined churches? High chance of a very useful tear for your flask. Ruined village? High chance of a art of war to find in a small dungeon. Equipment or more if it's behind an imp/boss. Minor Erdtree? Boss and crystal tears.

One thing I didn't realize until this video is the wonderful lack of backtracking in the game. Yes some quests will have it but those are quests you go out of your way to do. Otherwise most of the time if you find an it will just allow you to continue forward and enjoy it. There's not some annoying level cap barrier, missing item, or fetch quest (there are a couple of places you need a specific item for but they're in the minority). Even with places needing imp stones I at least ended up having enough by the time they became more common that it never kept me from moving forward or I'd just go buy some. You don't have to go to base camp, find the right person to start a quest, go to a number of specific places to get or do the things an arbitrary amount of times, and then go back to base camp to talk to the quest giver to end it. 9/10 times the only thing keeping you from progressing is an enemy that has the ability to knock your ass all the way back to Demon's Souls, so it's up to you if it's worth doing or trying other things first. I know BOTW really started this trend and I'm glad From took inspiration from it. Just let me enjoy the world and keep moving forward. Though weirdly I miss the interlocking level design of the old games, that joy of finding a shortcut was one of my favorite moments (though there are levels with that still).

There is also one thing I admire about Elden Ring, it isn't afraid of players missing the fun bits! It doesn't feel the need to mark off where it's fun bits are, and it just lets you loose on the world to find your own fun. Because if you are looking for the fun bits there isn't a wrong direction you can take that won't take you somewhere fun and interesting.

I just want a compilation of James Stephanie being cocky in ER and then immediately backpedaling when the enemy notices them. I could watch that all day.

This was essentially me after I played Breath of the Wild but Elden Ring is the first game to give me that feeling since, absolutely incredible experience so far.

"...Also, it has a horsie and the horsie can doublejump!" Nice change to see you happy about something.

The Open World is not enough... but what a perfect place to start, my love.

When I came across those Lobsters, I had to shout about it in my D&D discord. The way that Elden Ring does all the cool actual game design people talk about all the time like removing game placed waypoints and giving the player a map that they can fill with their own markers. I wanna hear Mark Brown talk about it; Its got its issues, there's that Kotaku article about how players keep missing the tutorial because it's a big pit in the ground. But it's such a good experience as someone who's used to how games normally treat their players. It just lets me rely on my knowledge of how systems interact and how games normally progress, and then it surprises me when it decides to turn that information on its head. This was a good video and I love your stuff! Keep it up.

J double S continues to sum up the souls Bourne games in single sentences. "I want some of this! I want some of I WANT NONE OF THIS I WANT NONE OF IT!"

I've kept saying this about Elden Ring, it goes back to what open world games once were. One of the first proper open world games is Morrowind as far back as 2003. It feels like a proper world, where towns are scattered but placed near something of importance, the quests are given via reams of information from a character and you have to figure out where to go. If you are tasked with speaking to someone specific, you have to ask where they are, the directions to that place, and so on. Your journal keeps track of key words to make it easier to look through. But you're not handheld to go to this place or that place to continue the game. If you want to go to caldera or vivec or anywhere from the getgo, you can. You can go level up yourself your own way. Quests give you money and that's pretty much it. You can grind for cash or do quests for money, but the world is your oyster. Side quests are placed everywhere, along roads or in towns, waiting for you to find them on your own. They're not on the map, you'll just find people on the side of roads and have to make up your own mind. Alchemy as well is something you experiment with, getting help and hints from books but you are tasked with experimenting with what works and what doesn't. No waypoints or fast travel, besides silk striders which costs money per trip. If you want a pure open world experience, Morrowind is there.

It's quite amazing listening to the passion of James Stephanie when they find a game they enjoy with a passion.

I think one of the big things that Elden Ring does to set itself apart from the rest is that it's fun. Imagine that, a fun game. Not a set of chores to distract you from the fact that you aren't enjoying your time. And now other developers are pouring scorn on the idea that we should like Elden Ring, maybe they should have tried harder to make their own games fun.

One of the most important things in this game's world over others, in my opinion, is the fact that it is almost *impossible* to get lost. Based on the layout of the world, landmarks and position of the Erdtree, you always have a pretty solid idea of where you are. Genius design, considering it is something that should really be common sense in any open world.

Looking fantastic, Sterling!! Your transition has been fantastic, and you look so happy!! From one Enby to another, I'm glad to see how your story is going!

To be fair, in my experience so far, Elden Ring does reuse some assets and enemies. But to prove your point further, Fromsoft uses the old JRPG trick of reusing enemies with higher health and damage, but also goes the extra mile to give them something unique to that area that makes complete sense. Those common soldiers you see everywhere may now throw a magic crystal to throw off your dodge or block which could leave you open. That crystal is an item you can get yourself, so it fits in the world perfectly, increasing (however slightly) the complexity of the encounter despite using the same enemy you've fought a ton of while also drawing you more into the world you're exploring.

I think it's clear that a hybrid model is very effective. Open world to choose where you want to go and tackle, but in that open world is the hand crafted more "linear" experience. Horizon's Cauldrons for example, and many of its story missions as well.

Seeing a game come out that makes Sterling express such genuine joy for it, makes me feel hopeful for the future of gaming

That intro in the field was amazing and beautiful. And so was the scenery.

I always appreciate you pointing out the flaws in the video game industry, but as an added blessing the lobster was in this video so many times

"It's not enough to have an open world game anymore, justify it's existence." that was cool.

Those bits with the lobster where just brilliant. Such a good game.

I feel Horizon gets away with it because A) robot dinosaurs, and B) the amount of effort they put into detailing each tribe and environment type makes it a much more believable world than most (actually more based in reality) open worlds. The stories in the desert aren't the same as the culture you're dealing with in the jungle, the massive underwater areas are nothing like the the mountain areas, etc. And, again, robot dinosaurs. I'm playing it and Elden Ring on alternate days and enjoying both about equally. I do have criticisms of both games, but not anything that is due to the open world nature of either of them. I'd actually say that Elden Ring, Horizon, and Pokémon Legends Arceus are, together, a trio showcasing the best of what open worlds can and should be. Whether you're hunting giant lobsters, giant machines, or giant Snorlax, you're going to have a good time with any of them. (Unless you have substantial cognitive disabilities, in which case Elden Ring and Horizon both might be a stretch; as someone who can't read maps and has zero short-term memory, they're certainly both pushing me to my limits.) They're all fully-developed, fleshed-out worlds, each offering a vivid sense of exploration which justifies their massive scales. Pick your poison. Which is not to say open world isn't a red flag for me, either. For me the breaking point with open world games was Final Fantasy 15, which relegated its story to a film and DLC so the game itself could waste players' time driving across vast stretches of nothing. Not even generic enemies to fight, just lots of nothing. I'm generally wary of any open world game as a result. (I would say that UbiSoft drove the format into the ground, too, except I haven't played the last few AC and Far Cry games, and even when it's a gross company like UbiSoft, I'm not comfortable judging a game which I've literally never touched.) I also played Spider-Man recently and that, too, was too much of absolutely nothing; if it had been an entirely linearly-structured story it would have been much more engaging. "Open world" certainly isn't enough any more and games absolutely do need to try much harder. Elden Ring is one good example; I don't agree that Horizon is in any way lacking, though, and as I said, I'd throw Pokémon in with them as three, equal, shining examples of how to justify a giant map and what future open world games should aim to emulate. edit: I just want to add, I really like your outdoor excursions here. Reminded me of the Fast Show "brilliant" and "rubbish" sketches. Also that coat is superb.

When I was in my single digits of age, I would spend most of my day drawing up graph paper maps for planned jRPGs (autistic - no friends, no internet). I became obsessed with the idea of allowing a player to explore every detailed nook/cranny of the world. This started with a town built at the base of a few hundred stories tall tower that connected with another town on the cliffs above. "I'll draw out every single floor for the player to explore!" - I said... in an even mousier voice. I made it, maybe, half-way up the tower before I realized it was the most boring thing I had ever done. I came to the conclusion that playing such a game would be even more boring and miserable. Years later, I tried my first 'open-world' game... then eventually my second, third, and even my fourth. I couldn't bring myself to finish a single one. Not one. Then I recalled that tower, that town, that entire world I had been brewing as a child. They'd call that an open world now.

Skyrim had a perfectly fine open-world 10 years ago, and yet the industry keeps coming back to the Ubisoft formula.

It honestly reminds of the first time I played Skyrim and explored it's open world. Elden Ring's world very much reminded me of Skyrim's world design and the density of it, where it actually felt like it was being lived in.

You can almost hear the sweet sounds of the lobster as it fights you: "order and chaos"

If I'll be honest I think From Software has more experience with connected worlds than we realize, the open world just basically means, hey you can travel from anywhere to anywhere now instead of what Dark Souls did which was, kind of an open world but not in the way in which we imagine, you see the only part that you technically cannot go to in Dark Souls is Anor Londo for the first game. Yes you do have to follow more linear paths but the worlds are connected to each other in interesting ways, so Dark Souls itself is the base for an open world experience. Elden Ring just takes the original Dark Souls game formula and gives it a nudge with a world that is connected and you can go anywhere in that world from the beginning. Because it's connected by land you can travel on all the time and isn't limited by the height of the world, basically if you fall off any area in the first Dark Souls, it is realistic that you would die.

I reached this conclusion when I first played Mario Odyssey years ago. A map doesn't need to be massive and sprawling to feel open. It just needs to be well designed and hold enough points of legitimate interest. You can do that with a small map. Heck, Toem felt comfortably big enough, and those screens were practically tiny. They were interestingly designed and had enough to do in them, though, and that's what matters most.

I would also like to put out there that FromSoft is pretty much the only company that understands what DLC is supposed to be, and their ability to use additional content to give fans what they want (a.k.a new gear, more story and answers to questions about the world) makes sure that it always feels like something extra, rather than something pointless or something that should have been in it from the start. As of writing this I'm 80 hours into Elden Ring and still playing, and the overwhelming feeling I get everytime I finally save and quit is that it's not enough. I want more of that incredible world, the tight combat and amazing weapons. I want to see what the next deformed monstrosity or legendary warrior awaits me at the top of the next mountain. And I can tell that that feeling is going to be amplified a hundred times at the end of my first playthrough. If devs want to make money, this is how; don't build a game that hooks you addictively with systems designed to appeal to our sense of winning, build a game that hooks you primally, led by your drive to explore and overcome. Once I have seen everything the game has to offer me, you had best believe that top of my prayers will be a future DLC, as well as at least a solid 60% of the player base as well.

As much as skyrim is memed on for being released too many times (and it has been.) It is one of the few examples i can think of of a open world that feels like it was actually made with the feeling of discovery and exploration in mind. If more developers/publishers could just realise that it's not about the amount of stuff to do, but is instead about how it feels to uncover it, games would advance so much further.

James Stephanie: "And that is a giant fucking lobster." Me: "Dinner has arrived."

The thing that really gets me in Elden Ring is the feeling of going to areas i'm not meant to be in yet but the option is there it's far more open than the usual fare.

Sterling you come across as much more comfortable in your skin and glowing nowadays. Great video too, echos my sentiments exactly.

when talking about open worlds i'm always reminded of shadow of the colosseus. it had NOTHING but a huge empty map and bosses and it did it beautifully and masterfully. the open world was a carefully considered decision serving a greater purpose - reinforcing isolation and anticipation of the battles. it was a lonely, semi depressing game and everything was designed to reinforce that. which brings me to my conclusion: open world games works best when the focus is on it's isolation and emptiness. on nature and beasts instead of civilisations and rigid storylines. on environmental storytelling. on quality and good design over quantity. on efficient traversal through desolate fields. elden ring, breath of the wild, shadow of the colossus: all taking place in destroyed worlds overtaken by nature and dungeons and mystery. all bleak in nature but beautiful in imagery. the only other good solution to open world is just filling it up with stuff to fuck up and making the players gods of chaos.

I've also yet to see many games explore time much. In _Saints Row: The Third_ there are some events that permanently affect the world at certain plot points. Zombies infest one of the islands near the end of the second act. STAG (a comic-book super-agency) comes in for the third act and occupies and later locks down the downtown region. It'd be exciting to me to see a game that explored seasons, political shifts, maybe even technological advancement (payphones? electric-vehicle charging stations? Designated landing zones?) as time and story progress. I think that much the way we did more with linear games as they progressed, we need to keep doing more with open world.

Elden ring has taken the standard open world format and basically said “fuck you here’s a turtle pope.”

What (I think) what people want is an open world that the player has actual agency in a living, breathing world that has an existence independent from the player.

You’re channel is a gem, great video!

I think it speaks volumes that whenever I watch footage of elden ring I know exactly where the peaple are on the map if its somewhere I've been myself.

In fairness to HFW- you don’t actually have to do all the bandit camps or activities or collet all the collectibles- even if you want to platinum the game, you only have to do one or a couple of the side activities/collectibles. Nothing feels like a slog- don’t get me wrong, I loved RDR2 and the Witcher 3 but some of their fetch quests/collectibles were ridiculous.

I've played 50+ hours and I haven't felt bored once... It really is a work of art.

i love all of your videos, but I came to know them quite recently. It's such a change of tone to hear you being openly apreciative of a game, as you are in this video! That said, please continue criticizing everything that is wrong in this industry. I'll keep watching all of them, they're all great!

all the recent experimentation with the openings has been making me so happy.

I gotta say The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt (My favorite game of all time) Elden Ring and Horizon Forbidden West are some of the best open world games I've played in awhile. Its up there with rdr2 and gta 5.

Slowly cooking a tasty stew for a long time vs slapping a frozen pizza in the microwave for a couple of minutes. Miyazaki's been cooking good stuff.

From this video it sounds like JSS got the same reaction to Elden Ring as I and many others had with Breath of the Wild. Breath of the Wild was the last open world game I've bothered to put any real time into. Because every other open world game after it felt like it was not enough anymore. They were obsolete. They were experiences that would lead me less fulfilled than just playing more Breath of the Wild. Weird how it didn't click with JSS, but that's up to them. They're entitled to not think BotW is anything special. But I'm sure glad Elden Ring is finally giving them that feeling.

That lobster GOTY bit will forever live on as a heavily vocoded predrop bit in my new colour bass track that's absolutely making it work. 👌 Absolute masterpiece, and that YEAAAAARRRR bit, it's actually a C, like, a perfect C that drops to a B at the end. I didn't have to do much. Hope you hear it someday.

Okay, while I do think Elden Ring is really great in keeping the experience fresh, I don´t think it´s as unpredictable as you make it out to be. While there´s plenty of diversitiy in the discoveries, there ARE copy-pasted elements. The first time I saw a lesser earthtree and fought an avater inside there, it was awesome, but it got tiring the fourth time I did it and I´m only in Lurian. If you find a ruin you can count on it having stairs to its basment, where you find a boss, a room with a boss or smaller enemies followed by a treasure chest - or just the treausre chest. Seeing huge stone monster with a mausoleum on it really made me just stare in awe - not so much when I found the second one. And the catacombs while offering a unique challenge in each one all have the same look, making them the same qualitiy in BotW. I´d even argue that Horizon Forbidden West has more variety in its activities. While Elden Ring boils down to mostly exploring and fighting, in Zero Dawn you can also play a little board game, climbing, diving underwater, doing hunting trials which test your abilites in a unique way, do racing on machines or simply chatting with the local folk. The quests, while certainly being guided, do offer some really charming stories and often have a good pace. Sometimes you fight, then you climb or do puzzles (yes, there are puzzles in this game, something that Elden Ring bizarrely lacks). So while I think Elden Ring is stronger in the exploration parts and giving a sense of discovery and freedom in your build, I think Elden Ring an Horizon are a lot closer in terms of quality then it seems. Also, not everyone is into discovering everything on their own and just want to wander in a beautiful world, guided by quest markers. And when the content is that high quality than in Forbidden West, I´d say it´s a formula that can still work really well.

Open worlds need to centre around the world, not be a stage for a story. Yakuza knows this: Kiryu IS part of the environment so he's already well rooted there; Zelda knows this, where it's story is entirely history that you dig up this way, and even hints at a forgotten history of civilisations lost; Horizon Zero Dawn knows this, but then trips up and plants face first near the end; even Death Stranding knows this, only to have the characters explain the story 5 times even after the environment already did. Elden Ring barely has a story by itself, but the environment is filled with tiny stories of Stormveil's failed sieges throughout the world, how knights before you have dealt with your upcoming situation, and a lot of minor details that just make sense! Near the graveyard of caravan carriages is a dragon. This dragon figured out that these caravans facilitate the gold for his pile to sleep on and picked them off from the road in a fly-by. You never see him do this, but just makes so much sense that he did.

A world is a vast expanse of things co-existing together. All simultaneously and part of a chain of events that saw cities get built where it made sense to build them, regions adopting individual cultures that make everything from their homes to their tombs look like something only they could think to create. A forest in and of itself is not simply a forest, but like the creatures in the forest, it's a part of something larger. If an open world isn't these things, it feels small. Elden Ring's world may on paper be smaller than most, but you'll never find a village far from fresh water or mushrooms out of the shade, or an enemy out of place. It's a collection of stories all mingling together in the grander scheme that make it feel almost endless.

Loved the music in the open world. That jacket is just fantastic. The through line with the thrustation was truly compelling. These have been my thoughts, rendered as a comment, for the purposes of engagement.

I will forever wave FF7 remake as the pinnacle for how you don't need an open world for a game to feel huge and wonderful. We have the standard.

Honestly, that coat is amazing! Absolutely killing it, Steph; not only with The Jimquistion, but also with your style!

The problem is that these open world devs (and many of their fanboys) forgot that map size means nothing when you have to sacrifice content density. They want to create the next Skyrim without understanding why Skyrim works. It's the same attitude that's been bogging down MMOs for years, as most of them are at least 80% WoW clones without any soul.

You introduced me to Yakuza in a video long ago. I’ll play through the SAME open world in each new game release, because there is so much to do and so much fun to be had!

I'm 60 hours into the game and I've only beaten two of the main bosses. I haven't had to do any needless grinding and I've been at the perfect level for all of my encounters. The pacing on this game is literally the best I've ever seen.

I think Elden Ring works because it's not really an 'open' world. Yes the world is broader and larger than other souls games but all in all it's open field that goes in a linear direction. The side dungeons are a bit copy/paste.

That screenshot from Arkham Knight reminds me of how I think that series is one that didn't benefit from going open world. Not that I think those games are bad, but in the original Arkham game you were confined to one large Hub area with only a limited number of areas you could go and the game often had you backtracking through areas you've been before. But this gave the game a creepy, claustrophobic atmosphere, really selling the idea that you're Batman trapped on an island with all of his most dangerous enemies, especially as the island slowly deteriorates over the course of the game as the Joker and his allies assert their control over the Asylum. All the games after that went open world and while I still like those games, they were never able to recapture that sense of dread and isolation that made the first game so memorable. You weren't really confined anymore and now you had a bunch of side missions to distract you. It's just something I always thought was regrettable.

Steph's delight at fighting the lobster is so freaking wholesome.

I think Elden Ring does absolutely suffer from copy and paste a little bit. Going into a catacomb only to find out the boss is just 2 of the thing you already fought in another catacomb somewhere else is freaking silly. Overall it's not a huge problem but it is there.

I was rooting for you fighting that lobster and I am rooting for you in life as well.

You're points are valid. I was concerned when I heard it was going to be open world but it turns out other AAA games just aren't trying to craft good open world.

Finally! A GAME, A COMPUTER GAME! shout from the company rooftops, even on twitter tops! Let everyone know that a game Can be thought about with creativity and be just a game! And not just a sub fee to pay!

As much as I would like to play Elden Ring, I think I might wait until it is on sale as I would like to gift a copy to my brother. I've actually have been having a blast with Infernax, which is kind of like "What if Dark Souls was made in the style Castlevania 2 & Zelda 2?" It's linear, but it does give a good amount of exploring (and dying) to check out new areas. It's definitely very refreshing to play something good compared to the AAA garbage that's been thrown out recently.

the way that elden ring uses vertical space is soooo good, the map is open world but all the cliffs and rock faces force you to look around and explore

"...what more could you want?!" Basic accessibility features.

This is an excellent video. Great to hear someone else put the chore quality of AAA open world games into words. I don't want to feel like the game is work, and I don't want the world to feel huge but empty. An open-world game has failed when I start to realize that all I am actually doing is watching my character running from place to place.

It’s been mentioned in the comments, but Elden Ring doesn’t completely eschew open world design tropes: there are a handful of types of zone (evergaols, ruins, mines, caves, catacombs) which are repeated all over the game world. I think what makes the game still feel like an adventure of discovery despite this is the fact that you can’t see any of it on the map! They could have easily populated the map with icons indicating boss and side quest locations, but instead of populating the map with stuff and slowly clearing it out, we start with a map empty of icons and slowly fill it up as things are discovered. Instead of picking an icon and going to it, you pick a landmark and explore it. This simple change in perspective goes such a long way toward making the world feel real, and not like a list of activities to methodically complete; even if at the end of the day that’s still kind of what you’re doing.

People talk about Elden Ring like it's the gift of the gods unto the gaming world, but whenever I see people playing it looks like just the usual Souls fare of fighting a bunch of fellas trying to gang-up on you, or some big sweepy thing. What does it actually do that is so different? Seems like people talk more about what it doesn't do than about what it does.

I know you lumped Zelda: Breath of the Wild in with the other open-world games, and sure it's not perfect, but it was a massive leap forward in terms of open world design in itself and designed around encouraging exploration for the sake of discovery. The map wasn't littered with obnoxious icons, the towers were really most just a way to expand the map and give you a vantage point to see the environment (and often had their own challenges in terms of climbing them), the shrines were neat mini-dungeons and the Koroks were fun little things that you just discovered while exploring (and no, you're not supposed to get all of them, the game literally gives you a golden poop trophy entirely to drive that point home if you're insane enough to do that), all the sidequests are unique in some way, and there are just so many amazing details that you can find that call back to previous games and hint at the rich history of Hyrule (both already shown in previous games and never seen before in the series). There's a ton of unique and memorable locations and activities, and it's the most world-built Zelda game to date. You don't even need to do anything beyond the tutorial zone to beat the game, if you're good enough you can literally just rock up to Hyrule Castle and kick Ganon's shit in to finish the game, literally everything else is optional. Again, still has issues I really hope get improved upon in the sequel, but it definitely stood out from the pack for a damn good reason.

Horizons open world is great. It’s the most stunning looking game I’ve ever played and the open world enhances that. It’s art direction and detail is wonderful. There are tons of places to explore and things to do. Relic ruins with platforming and puzzle solving, optional boss battles, side quests with real story and characters. It’s a bit unfair to compare it to the annual Ubisoft garbage.

I probably haven't seen one of your videos recommended to me in 3 years or more, so it was such a pleasant surprise to see how much more of yourself you've become in that time! Loved the video, I think I'm gonna subscribe and stick around this time

There are so many useful things in odd spots in this game. I found an ugly monster, and a really nice unique item in a nowhere spot. I was just wandering around. Elden Ring is nuts in the best way.

It's nice to see you able to enjoy a game for a change. I know there are very good reasons why you don't talk a lot about enjoying games, but it is nice to see you happy.

Saints Row II is still in my top three open world games, which feels weird to say. It has so many secrets and side objectives that are diverse and fun, it doesn't have "bandit camps" but unique missions that will net you territory, the game rewards exploration with purchasable properties and vehicles that can only found in certain areas as well as other tangible awards. It's not perfect, but if any of you are looking for more games to give you hope for the open world genre that's one of my suggestions. Just make sure you get Gentlemen of the Row if you're gonna do PC, it might be a great open world but it's a terrible port.

Man, the Horizon[?] series can’t catch a break. When it first came out people say how lacking it was compared it to BOTW. Now that it’s sequel was more BOTW-ish, Elden Ring comes out and it’s the same conversation again.

The fun thing is, everything that's in Elden Ring is done in other games, but *how* things are done in Elden Ring just so happens to be just a tiny smidge different - and the end result makes it work. Enemy encampments? The Lands Between have 'em. You don't get jack squat for clearing them, except whatever it is the devs might've squirreled away or whatever it is the mobs might've dropped. They barely merit any sort of signalling on the world map, too. Discoverable sections of the map? You betcha, except you receive nary if a sudden extra button press. No breaks in the action, no sweeping shot showing you all the encampments or points of interest in the area - just the certainty that you've just earned another stretch of purdy colors on the world map. Day/Night cycle? Yep, and it's significant in Elden Ring. Want some of the toughest encounters? Spec for night-time and gear yourself up for the Night Cavalry. Traversal? Ayep. Not only is it From's first outing with open-world traversal, that version of it is integral to the gameplay! You're not just jumping around for shinies, you're following clues that were diegetically laid out for you! Story-friendly inlaid GPS? Absolutely! Not only that, but the Guidance of Grace only *pokes* you in specific directions; the game itself is more than happy to let you ignore its path-suggesting waypoints. Everything's been done by other devs in different capacities, but everything in Elden Ring feels *intentional*. There isn't a mechanic that was placed there to draw in a particular crowd or appease other criticisms - everything has its place, and everything is more than happy to let you play Elden Ring like it's Dark Souls One, if you're that much of a purist. Find the Parry Ash of War, get yourself a shield and bam, you're back in familiar territory!

Eh, after 30 hours in ER and 40 in Horizon FW, I recognize that ER is a well crafted game, but I much prefer Horizon’s beautiful more inviting world. Elden Ring also has a lot of issues that are being overlooked, but if I say too much more I’ll probably get crucified here.