The Elden Ring experience: Why FromSoftware changed what we expect from open-world games

Elden Ring won Game of the Year 2022 and sold 25 million copies in its first year. Source: Bandai Namco financial report. But the most important thing about Elden Ring is not the sales — it is how it fundamentally challenged what an open-world game can be.

What FromSoftware did differently:

1. No quest markers, no minimap GPS. In a Ubisoft open world, every objective is marked on the map. In Elden Ring, you find things by exploring. An NPC gives you a vague direction — "seek the Erdtree" — and you figure it out. This creates genuine discovery. Finding Nokron, Eternal City for the first time is a moment you remember because YOU found it.

2. No level scaling. Wander into Caelid at level 15 and the enemies will destroy you. Come back at level 60 and obliterate them. This creates a real sense of geography. Areas mean something because they have a fixed difficulty. Compare to Skyrim where every bandit scales to your level and nothing feels dangerous.

3. Environmental storytelling over cutscenes. The Lands Between tells its story through item descriptions, architecture, and enemy placement. Stormveil Castle's layout tells you about Godrick's paranoia. The Haligtree's structure tells you about Miquella's ambition. You piece together the lore actively rather than passively watching cinematics.

4. Respect for the player. No tutorials beyond basic controls. No difficulty settings (the difficulty IS the game). No hand-holding. FromSoftware trusts the player to figure things out and the community that forms around that shared challenge is part of the experience.

Shadow of the Erdtree DLC: The 2024 DLC added an entirely new landmass that is denser than many full games. The Scadutree fragment leveling system forced even experienced players to re-learn caution. Source: 95 Metacritic score, highest-rated DLC of 2024.

The influence: Every open-world game released after Elden Ring is being compared to it. The "Ubisoft formula" of map markers and checklists feels outdated after experiencing FromSoftware's approach to discovery.

Sources: Bandai Namco financial reports, Metacritic, FromSoftware, personal 200+ hours across base game and DLC