Elden Ring provides a detailed map to assist you in finding your way around

The “map game” has been popular, perhaps even too popular, for the better part of the last 15 years. Many video games feature expansive open worlds that are filled with icons and an unending list of things to do. Is this a simulated environment? Or is this a simulation of doing chores? Consider games like Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry. While it can be gratifying to cross Elden Ring items off a to-do list, a crowded map and user interface can frequently make it more difficult to experience the genuine wonder and organic discovery. One of the reasons that Elden Ring is so remarkable is that it defies this trend completely while at the same time providing a detailed map to assist you in finding your way around. Because it was so successful, we anticipate that in the future, there will be fewer open-world games that are filled with icons and, instead, a greater emphasis placed on mystery and wonder.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with franchises like Assassin’s Creed. The most recent entries in the series are among the best in the series, featuring engaging settings for the player to investigate. But what do you see when you unfold the map and look at it? Dozens of icons, each gives you specific information about what to anticipate. You will see a little checkmark indicating that it is complete after traveling to a specific location and finishing whatever task awaits you there. Wow. However, this does not imply that completing each objective will be boring; however, the element of surprise is eliminated because the icon will tell you exactly what to anticipate from any given location. When you see the checkmark, it indicates that there is nothing else for you to find out.

There aren’t that many icons on the map in Elden Ring, which helps to maintain the air of intrigue that permeates almost everywhere you go. Even if you open your map to figure out what is in store for you in the next area, there is no way to know for certain what will be there. This means that you could stumble upon a dark cave full of enemies, an abandoned church containing useful items, or even a behemoth enemy that can take you out in one fell swoop if you’re not careful.

Similarly, the absence of a map as a checklist means that you will never really know if you have completely explored a given area, which will keep you on your toes. The Souls games are known for cleverly concealing information from the player, an emphasized trait in Elden Ring. For example, a city called Jarburg is only accessible by climbing up the east face of a cliff in Liurnia, which is most likely a region that you have been to many times, can be found there.

The journey between two points can frequently be hampered by the checklist-style maps that are featured in Ubisoft games. You know that the most interesting encounters will only occur at specific points of interest, while the space in between seems devoid of anything of note. In most cases, even before you arrive at a particular point of interest, you already have a good idea of what’s waiting for you there, thanks to the icon representing the type of mission ahead.

Even if you are aware that you will soon be entering a castle or dungeon in Elden Ring, it is impossible to predict what you will find once you get inside those walls. You may come across a courtyard that resembles a maze and is full of enormous severed hands that shoot magic at you or even a festival that appears to be full of friendly NPCs.

The thing is, it’s more common to have no idea what you’re stumbling into, and the beauty of Elden Ring is that you can’t predict what you’ll find there. Even seasoned Souls players are taken aback when they play Elden Ring because almost every area contains many unexpected events. For example, a location known as the Carian Study Hall appears to end in a dead end. Still, if you search carefully, you will find an item that allows you to turn the entire Elden Ring 1.06 best build upside down (similar to the gameplay in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night). After that, you can investigate the mirror image of this location to discover even more hidden details.

The map of the Elden Ring contains many subtle symbols that are simple to miss, yet another intriguing aspect of this map. Because they are drawn directly onto the map, users cannot interact with them as they would with a traditional Site of Grace icon. Instead, they will inform you that something is in a specific location, but they won’t give anything away about what it is. After we came to this conclusion, we combed through the map, looking for any other insignificant symbols we might have overlooked. This made it fun to travel back through time and investigate previously explored regions on the map. However, not all of the game’s secrets have a symbol that corresponds with them; therefore, you cannot rely on them exclusively to find everything there is to find in the game.

The number of people playing Elden Ring simultaneously reached a peak of 953,426 on Steam during the game’s second weekend after release. Other developers may look to Elden Ring’s map design and exploration mechanics for inspiration, abandoning the once-popular checklist approach we have become accustomed to using. Keeping this in mind is important. And we really, really hope that’s the case because Elden Ring is arguably the best example of exploration done right, the kind of example that will inspire many other, less impressive explorations in the years to come.