Parents' Guide to Elden Ring

It's a bit reductive to suggest that this is just a Dark Souls game set in an open world, but when you get right down to it, that's exactly what it is. ELDEN RING preserves just about everything that From Software's fans love about the studio's games, including a punishing level of difficulty, ambiguous yet weirdly compelling storytelling, the ability to leave messages for other players and help strangers having a tough time, and a host of mysterious artifacts, the purposes of which need to be gradually riddled out through play. At times Dark Souls players will feel like they're simply playing a sequel in that series as they tread cautiously through dark towers. They'll peer around corners, heart pounding, looking for hidden enemies that can kill in just one or two swings of their massive swords, and hope to spy a save point where they can safely spend all of the experience points they've accumulated before dying and losing them all. The fighting is tough, but it's also fair -- especially once you've mastered various skills and attacks and gotten to know your enemies' patterns. And the reward is that taking down harder foes carries with it a sense of accomplishment not felt in most games. Players are forced to earn their victories, and that means something. In other words, it's largely business as usual for a From Software game.

The big change, of course, is that these familiar features are set in a sprawling, more or less ungated open world that players can freely explore. But whether this open world makes for a better experience than the Dark Souls games -- which feature meticulously designed and mostly linear environments -- is an open question. The free-to-roam world adds elements novel to From Software games, such as the ability to summon a steed to get around a little more quickly and fight enemies from a mounted position -- which can be a real advantage in some battles. There are also changes to the purpose and type of enemies encountered. For example, you'll find easy-to-dispatch animals all over the world and may be tempted to simply ignore them, but skillfully dispatching an entire group will refill your restorative health flask without forcing you to find and use a save point, which would respawn all the enemies you've defeated. Tactical consideration is built into everything. But do these modifications improve upon the traditional Souls formula? From Software's trademark nonstop intensity is significantly ratcheted down when roaming about open spaces, where it's easy to escape or simply avoid most enemies. And the exquisitely handcrafted, labyrinthine environments the studio is known for are limited to keeps, caverns, and dungeons found within the open world. These don't make up the bulk of the game, which may disappoint some. In the end, Elden Ring knows what it wants to be and it fully embodies that game. Players will need to determine for themselves whether it's an improvement.