Live data from Hacker News

Elden Ring Succeeds by Ignoring 20 Years of Open-World Design

gamedeveloper.com

141–150 of 172 posts

Re: Elden Ring Succeeds by Ignoring 20 Years of Open-World Design

#141
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't feel BotW was as big a risk as people take it to be - it was basically single-player WoW and was done with the standard Nintendo polish. I do have to admit it was perfectly aimed at someone like me, who remembers the glory days of video games but no longer has the time or skill to play at a top level.

You’re viewing the risk from the point of view of hindsight. Of course it wasn’t a risk, what we got was successful. Put it in context back before the game existed. The Zelda games are selling well, but they’re never Nintendo’s most successful games. What they are is Nintendo’s most revered. They have a great formula, designed by Miyamoto and polished to perfection by his successors. The critiques are getting deafeni…

I agree it's gutsy, but I don't really see the risk - if BotW had "flopped" it would be a footnote like Link Between Worlds; it wouldn't have sunk the company. Arguably it could have damaged the Switch's reputation.

Interestingly it seems Nintendo understood that it could possibly not succeed, by where they placed the story in the timeline.

Nintendo, at least ever since the success of the Wii, hasn't been unwilling to make gutsy moves - but even then they do them in ways that they have fall-back positions if they're not as successful as they'd like.

Re: Elden Ring Succeeds by Ignoring 20 Years of Open-World Design

#142
post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hate? arguments is what you describe as hate? Bring arguments please instead of trying to fight with attempts to silence someone Are we on a Chinese/Russian website? Offended because you don't know how to reply.. weird If you disagree with me, you downvote, it's that simple, why trying to censor everything?

> the zoomers need to stop with their nintendo simping, it's cringe, the same people who promote the cancerous pedo-anime culture from japan So this is not hate to you? Basically insulting a complete generation, fans of a franchise, making dubious comparison with unrelated things and accusations of pedophilia? Are you a joke? > Bring arguments please Read siblings comments, I already explained my point of view.

No post body was provided.

Re: Elden Ring Succeeds by Ignoring 20 Years of Open-World Design

#143
post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the zoomers need to stop with their nintendo simping, it's cringe, the same people who promote the cancerous pedo-anime culture from japan So this is not hate to you? Basically insulting a complete generation, fans of a franchise, making dubious comparison with unrelated things and accusations of pedophilia? Are you a joke? > Bring arguments please Read siblings comments, I already explained my point of view.

Quoted post unavailable.

What does it have to do with Zelda games?

You keep saying I'm offended like it's some sort of magical word to dismiss what I'm telling you. You keep making assumptions and accusations about me and an entire fandom, for what reasons? Because we like a game you don't?

Grow up.

Re: Elden Ring Succeeds by Ignoring 20 Years of Open-World Design

#144
post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

What does it have to do with Zelda games? You keep saying I'm offended like it's some sort of magical word to dismiss what I'm telling you. You keep making assumptions and accusations about me and an entire fandom, for what reasons? Because we like a game you don't? Grow up.

I never said i don't like zelda games, quite the opposite Ocarina of Time holds a special place in my soul

> Grow up.

Please be respectful

Here, my original reply that got flagged, minus the parts that offend people

Hopefully you'll better understand the point i was trying to make

-----

> Just like how you're introduced to the world is literally how BoTW introduces you to it's own world (could it be a homage?)

#### you either haven't played Elden Ring, or you #### think breath of the wild is the only open world RPG to ever exist ####

Elden Ring succeeds not because they ignore bad open world design

They succeed because:

- they built a reputation over the years

- they stay true to their vision

- they have taste

- they build a solid gameplay and foundation

- they make a great epic-trailer

Nobody experience the open world before buying it and spend few hours into the game, the game already sold a shit ton by the time people spread the words

So the game having all i listed is what made it successful

What made it receive great positive ratings? the choice to make an open world, that's it, there is no GPS, it's not an open-world-through-ui-information, it's an open world in the veins of Morrowind/Oblivion, you talk to NPCs to know where to go

Nothing about Breath of the wild and its poor GPS/minimap/item-durability and other non-sense features ####

Re: Elden Ring Succeeds by Ignoring 20 Years of Open-World Design

#145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would not compare these two games. Death Stranding was a refined BotW. Elden Ring is a totally different game and I think comparing it to BotW is an insult to FromSoft as they actually put effort into making the open world feel full of content. BotW is 15min of riding your horse through nothing and dodging the same 2-3 enemy mobs to get to a shrine where maybe you get a fun puzzle but most likely you fight a robot…

I find it so disheartening when people reduce the influence of a game because they didn’t like it. The main artistic voice of the game says he was inspired by BoW, yet because you don’t like it, you say it’s not an influence. Take a step back from your own preferences when discussing art, it helps.

All I said was I wouldn't compare the two. I made no comment about the "artistic voice" and find me a Japanese developer who hasn't said they were inspired by BotW.

Just because somebody is calling out the massive shortcomings in a piece of art you enjoyed doesn't mean whatever value it held to you is reduced. Not everyone has to like what you do. No need to cry over it.

Re: Elden Ring Succeeds by Ignoring 20 Years of Open-World Design

#146
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would not compare these two games. Death Stranding was a refined BotW. Elden Ring is a totally different game and I think comparing it to BotW is an insult to FromSoft as they actually put effort into making the open world feel full of content. BotW is 15min of riding your horse through nothing and dodging the same 2-3 enemy mobs to get to a shrine where maybe you get a fun puzzle but most likely you fight a robot…

Weird that you're fighting a robot for the 100th time when there are only 6 "test of strength" shrines.

Yeah nice try dude, there at 20 test of strength shrines (of varying difficulty). Sounds like you didn't actually complete the game.

I sure love when someone reviews a game they hardly even played.

Re: Elden Ring Succeeds by Ignoring 20 Years of Open-World Design

#147
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m over 100 hours in, and it’s probably the most sticky gaming experience I’ve had in years. I’ve played most of the recent AAA open world games (Horizon Forbidden West, Far Cry 6, AC Valhalla etc), and Elden Ring is the only one that didn’t quickly descend into feeling like a chore. It’s got a lot of rough edges, but it’s an absolute breath of fresh air; and even my gf says it’s the one she’s enjoyed watching me pl…

I struggled to finish most of the older 3D Zelda titles, but with BotW, I had so much fun just exploring and finding my own things to do that finishing the game was basically an afterthought. IMO it's a model for open world design.

It's a terrible and lazy model. You can't neglect making content, and just tell the player "use your imagination".

I would say BotW was more akin to Animal Crossing. That Japanese genre of relaxation game where you sort of mindlessly wander around doing menial tasks to decompress. That said, I did get like 150hrs out of Animal Crossing with my girlfriend so I do see the appeal, I just did not want that for Zelda.

Re: Elden Ring Succeeds by Ignoring 20 Years of Open-World Design

#148

Just a phenomenal game. IMO, all the From Games are great, but none of them really matched up to the original Dark Souls... until now. I've literally played this every day since it came out, I have over 150 hours, and I still haven't beat it. And still I'm discovering cool new areas, items, and lore. The amount of times I've gotten to a new area and just gone "what in the actual fuck" is too many to count, it's just…

Personally, I still like sekiro alot more. I think the lack of build diversity in that one really let them polish how the fights are supposed to go. Elden ring is definetely my second favorite though

Re: Elden Ring Succeeds by Ignoring 20 Years of Open-World Design

#149
post #75
post #64

I used to love video games in 2010. I loved Skyrim and counterstrike. And in the last 4 years or so I have just stopped liking them. It just seems so boring. Online games are just a contest of who’s willing to sink the most time or money into oblivion. Single player games boil down to the story/writing so why not just read a book or watch a movie? And even then, why bother with a fictional story when I can read some…

Games aren't for everyone, and aren't for every stage of life. Nothing wrong with that. Some of that just isn't true though. I can't remember the last single player game I really cared about the story, I mostly skip it. Gameplay is solid in _many_ games these days, or a huge variety of types. For example, Elden Ring, the story is not a lot more than: there's an Elden Ring you should go explore the world and find, hav…

Souls games have always been more about world building than story. The stuff going on in the background with small lore snippets here and there is really good, the actual story is always hardly existent.

Re: Elden Ring Succeeds by Ignoring 20 Years of Open-World Design

#150

I hate to be that guy, but it's not fair to dismiss one of the best open world games released in the last 20 years, and which I believe inspired many things on Elden Ring - I'm talking about Breath of the Wild. Just like how you're introduced to the world is literally how BoTW introduces you to it's own world (could it be a homage?), or something as simple as picking up consumables with a simple press of a button wit…

I got bored quickly of BoTW, not so Elden Ring. I think because there was so little to do in BoTW.

I had the opposite experience.

When I got a Switch BotW was the only game worth playing on the platform. I played it for over a year exclusively and had fun all the way.

I tried to play Elden Ring but I made the mistake of provoking an NPC and dying about 10 times until I figured out how to shake him off. Then I proceeded to die another 10-15 times on the next NPC and a dragon until I figured out how to run away from those. I gave up after dying again on the encounter that followed those.

Eventually I'll try to play it again but at the moment I'm sunk into Ghost of Tsushima which is awesome.

Post reply on HN