It's definitely not for everyone. Personally, I've always loved open worlds. Elden Ring was my first FS game, probably because of the open world. I enjoy getting lost exploring a new world to the point that I will willfully and joyfully abandon the main quest for days, weeks, or longer. While I generally enjoyed the combat in Elden Ring (in spite of some moments of great frustration), I do think it has one of the best open worlds ever made - there is so much to explore, and almost none of it felt like empty space to me, some thing that pretty much all open worlds, even great ones (Skyrim, BotW, AC Valhalla) have been guilty of. The Lands Between felt dense with encounters and new locations to explore, and I rarely ever felt a desire to just rush through on horseback to get to the next place. Still, given that open worlds with hours of deviation from the plot aren't your thing, I can definitely understand your opinion.
Comments 1
Re: Soapbox: I Tried So Hard to Like Elden Ring, But I Just Couldn’t Do It
It's definitely not for everyone. Personally, I've always loved open worlds. Elden Ring was my first FS game, probably because of the open world. I enjoy getting lost exploring a new world to the point that I will willfully and joyfully abandon the main quest for days, weeks, or longer. While I generally enjoyed the combat in Elden Ring (in spite of some moments of great frustration), I do think it has one of the best open worlds ever made - there is so much to explore, and almost none of it felt like empty space to me, some thing that pretty much all open worlds, even great ones (Skyrim, BotW, AC Valhalla) have been guilty of. The Lands Between felt dense with encounters and new locations to explore, and I rarely ever felt a desire to just rush through on horseback to get to the next place. Still, given that open worlds with hours of deviation from the plot aren't your thing, I can definitely understand your opinion.