Open-world fatigue has plagued gamers for quite some time. However, Elden Ring manages to defy all of these concerns. While franchises like Assassin's Creed have been heavily criticized for their bloated maps, Elden Ring finds a way to stay fresh from start to finish despite its staggering size.

The sheer number of sprawling open-world games on the market these days has led many to tire of the genre, with many fans and critics now favoring smaller, more focused experiences. Popular design philosophies such as outposts to take over, towers to climb, and other repetitive objectives bleed into every game of this genre, cluttering the map with things to do. The lack of creativity combined with the massive time commitment these games demand causes gamers to grow tired of traversing vast but uninteresting landscapes.

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When Grand Theft Auto III first hit the scene in 2001, it revolutionized gaming by introducing players to the liberating streets of Liberty City. It was more than an open world; it was a sandbox that didn't restrict the player or tell them what to do. Players were free to interact with the world in whatever way they saw fit, and every mission was designed with the same level of freedom. However, the franchise would later drive down a more linear path with GTA IV, wherein mission design became stiff and structured.

During the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 console generation, open-world games were still relatively novel, but nowadays, almost every major franchise has transitioned to the open-world genre, from Halo to Pokémon. The open world became a box to stuff predictable missions into, rather than a living, breathing place worth exploring. While Elden Ring isn't exactly part of the Dark Souls franchise, it's yet another example of a studio known for making linear games translating its traditional gameplay elements to the open-world space.

At first glance, Elden Ring is yet another lengthy open-world epic with plenty of objectives scattered across the map, and yet, it has also become one of the highest rated video games of all time. Elden Ring stands out amongst the sea of monotonous open-world games by embracing the genre's sandbox roots rather than getting lost in the modern check box implementation. The game capitalizes on Dark Souls' notorious obtuseness by not telling the player where to go or what to do. The player is let loose upon the world and trusted to carve their own path to the end without any quest log. Players aren't exploring an area because a waypoint marker told them to go there -- their own curiosity drives them to explore whatever catches their eye.

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Instead of cluttering the map screen with check lists and objectives, Elden Ring only populates the map with previously explored locations. Nothing else is revealed to players -- not even quest givers or bosses. The map gives players the ability to place their own markers, trusting them to engage with it on their own and mark down what they deem as important. This way of designing the open world puts discovery at the forefront and is backed by a world brimming with secrets.

Screenshot depicting an Astrologer on horseback in Elden Ring.

Modern open-world games often engulf players in information because they are afraid of the player missing out on content. In contrast, Elden Ring's design allows players to miss out on content because it knows that fostering unique experiences is what makes every player's adventure so unique. Part of the wonderful sense of discovery is feeling like perhaps nobody else has discovered this before. Similar to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild before it, Elden Ring wants players to build their own stories organically within the open world; not clueing the player in on what's next with labeled objective markers allows surprising stories to unfold.

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Surprises come in countless shapes and sizes thanks to Elden Ring's outrageous enemy variety. Creatures rarely repeat from area to area, which keeps the game refreshing throughout. This level of variety is also found in the many different weapons and classes players can build, making an open-world experience that is unique to every player. It does this through gameplay, not through dialogue choices or multiple endings (which the game also has). Many open worlds have a main story and side-quests, but more often than not, they feel disconnected from each other. Elden Ring blurs those lines and creates an experience where everything the player does is meaningful to their own story.

Open world fatigue may not strike everyone, but the numbing effects of an oversaturated genre hurt creativity for both gamers and developers. The genre has been long overdue for a shakeup, and Elden Ring is the revolutionary entry that reminds fans why discovery in sandbox games is so invigorating.

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