For developers FromSoftware, Elden Ring is a bold new direction in world design. Many of their previous efforts, like Dark Souls or Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, have made excluive use of more constrained, linear areas to create their game world. While not completely lacking in freedom, these areas are nothing like the open world regions in Elden Ring.

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Many of Elden Ring's areas test different design skills than their counterparts in earlier games. Large, open world areas rub alongside smaller, linear "world dungeons," and the "Legacy Dungeons" which make up the game's most challenging areas. Some of these many types of area have won fans over, whilst some have already developed infamy.

10 Best: Limgrave Is A Perfect Introduction

The starting area Limgrave in Elden Ring

The first region of the Lands Between players find themselves in is Limgrave. By the standards of the ruined world, it's a fairly pleasant area, covered with forests but having varied terrain with its cliffs, grasslands, and ruins. The area proves the ideal starting area for the game for a number of reasons.

For one, it's huge and provides many potential hours of content for players if they choose to explore the open world and its dungeons to their fullest — giving them plenty of time to get used to the area's relatively low difficulty. For another, it contains examples of nearly every mechanic in the game, serving as a learning tool that rewards exploration, capped off with a well-liked Legacy Dungeon.

9 Worst: Ordina, Liturgical Town Is Full Of Invisible Enemies

Ordina, Liturgical Town in the Consecrated Snowfield Elden Ring

The Consecrated Snowfield is a controversial area with players. Many fans dislike the optional area for its high difficulty, its reuse of enemies from earlier in the game, and the fact its snow limits how far a player can see — making things hard to navigate. However, the area of Ordina, Liturgical Town, is widely despised by players.

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Another optional area within the Consecrated Snowfield, it guards the way to the Haligtree. One thing sets it apart from other villages and towns — it's inhabited almost entirely by invisible Black Knife Assassins. These enemies make any trek through the area purely painful, and are only made visible by using a somewhat obscure item. Making matters worse, the item can cause performance issues.

8 Best: The Altus Plateau Is A Breath Of Fresh Air

The Altus Plateau area in Elden Ring game

Much of the game's 'second act', if the player follows the expected path, has them battling through the Altus Plateau. After the aged, ruined, and sometimes downright nightmarish areas in the first part of the game, the Plateau can be pleasant. Although it is full of hostile enemies, it's visually appealing and entertainingly designed.

Players like the area for its easily-navigable geography, challenging yet fun enemies, and for having intriguing side areas like Dominula, the Windmill Village. Elden Ring's open world regions are often cited as one of its strengths, and the Altus Plateau is one of the best.

7 Worst: Hero's Graves Are A Uniformly-Hated Dungeon Type

An enormous chariot chasing the player in a Hero's Grave in Elden Ring

There are four sorts of dungeons commonly scattered around the open world: Catacombs, Caves, Tunnels, and Hero's Graves. Of the four, many players consider Hero's Graves the worst. They're found in most regions of the game's open world, and there are a special few players look on fondly.

This is primarily due to their central gimmick. Unlike the other dungeon types, Hero's Graves center around the player attempting to progress while being hunted by chariots. These chariots typically kill within a single hit, and safe spaces from them are few. Adding in hitbox issues and unfair deaths, many players don't find Graves worth the effort.

6 Best: Caelid Is A Nightmarish Masterclass In Tension

Scarlet Rot-infested Caelid in Elden Ring

Located to the East of Limgrave and reachable from the very start of the game, Caelid quickly became notorious. The area's infamy comes from how sheerly unpleasant it can be. The area has intimidating enemies, a nightmarish aesthetic centered around corruption and rot, and a droning soundtrack that puts players' teeth on edge.

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As players acclimate to the area, however, they've started to realize it's one of the most fun in the game. Bursting with loot, dungeons, and other content rewarding exploration, Caelid isn't so difficult as to be oppressive or devoid of fun. Although notorious, players are realizing it's more tense and unsettling than unfair, and well worth a journey through.

5 Worst: The Subterranean Shunning-Grounds Are Hard To Navigate

The Subterranean Shunning Grounds underneath Leyndell, Royal Capital in Elden Ring

Underneath the Royal Capital, a player can find their way down to the sewers, known as the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds. This area is a deliberate change from the shining city above, and is instead cramped, dank, and unpleasant.

However, the real reason many players dislike the Shunning-Grounds is that they are difficult to navigate. The area is twisted and cramped, with a largely monotonous terrain — making it easy for players to lose their way. Some report being stuck without making progress for hours.

4 Best: Liurnia Of The Lakes Is One Of The Largest, Most Rewarding Open Areas

The Liurnia of the Lakes area in Elden Ring

The area players are suggested to visit after Limgrave is Liurnia of the Lakes, a relatively calm and visually appealing area. Based around the vast lakes in its center, it also has plenty of roads, cliffs, and other terrain for players to battle through — including two Legacy Dungeons: Raya Lucaria Academy and the Caria Manor.

Aside from how useful the area is for Intelligence builds, players enjoy Lucaria for its abundant content. Aside from its Legacy Dungeons, it has dozens of ruins, caves, sub-regions, and more. Hosting some of Eden Ring's most intense open-world combat encounters, many believe Liurnia is where the game displays its potential.

3 Worst: The Lake Of Rot Is An Exaggerated Version Of Previously-Unpopular Areas

The Lake of Rot secret area in Elden Ring.

'Poison swamps' are one of the most notorious recurring components in FromSoftware games. Areas of deep water that slow player movement and inflict status effects, players openly admit their hatred for them. Director Hidetaka Miyazaki, however, is self-admittedly fond of them, and enjoys putting in as many as possible.

There are already several in Elden Ring, but the most infamous is the Lake of Rot. An enormous underground lake, it inflicts the game's notorious "Scarlet Rot" status effect — capable of stripping a character's health rapidly. With no way to avoid the rot, and plenty of loot to encourage staying in the lake, the area has become notorious.

2 Best: Leyndell, Royal Capital Is A True Dungeon City

Leyndell Royal Capital Elden Ring

For the most part, the game's Legacy Dungeons are straightforward affairs. They're often smaller than the areas in previous games to make up for their tighter design. Leyndell the Royal Capital, the goal for much of the game, breaks the trend by being far, far bigger.

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Games in the Dark Souls series often tried offering cities as a region to explore, but these were really dungeons with a certain aesthetic, giving the illusion of a much larger city within. Leyndell, however, is a large sprawling, heavily-defended city, and absolutely massive. Despite its daunting size, it's exciting to explore, and highly rewarding.

1 Worst: Miquella's Haligtree Is Best Known For Its Difficulty

Miquella's Haligtree secret area Malenia Elden Ring

Elden Ring, much like previous FromSoftware games, is well-known for its difficulty, presenting harsh challenges for players to overcome. Sometimes, the needle can tip too far, becoming hard in the wrong ways and bordering on unfair.

Many players feel this way about Miquella's Haligtree. An optional area hidden behind another optional area and a sidequest, it's Elden Ring's bonus dungeon. Designed to give the hardest challenge, it possesses narrow paths, plenty of opportunities to fall, and numerous enemies with ranged attacks. Many players find it achieves its goal of being brutally difficult — but not in a good way.