The contrast with the well-worn formula employed by more traditional AAA action RPGs like Horizon Forbidden West, for example, could not be starker. And while it’s not always instructive – or fair – to compare games with such different approaches to the medium, the proximity of this pair’s release dates coupled with their broad structural similarities, make it inevitable.
In doing so, I’m minded of a recent observation by the venerable videogame journalist, Chris Schilling, who likened Sony’s increasingly homogenous brand of blockbusters to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (neither criticism nor insult, I might hasten to add). Viewed through that lens, Horizon Forbidden West is Chloe Zhao’s flashy but ultimately unfulfilling MCU effort, Eternals, while Elden Ring more resembles her intimate and captivating Oscar-winner, Nomadland.
And, it should really go without saying, that’s absolutely fine. There’s room enough in the gaming world for both; neither approach is intrinsically more valid; and chances are many more people will enjoy the former than the latter (although Elden Ring’s extraordinary first week sales figures, confirming it as the biggest videogame launch since the last Call of Duty instalment, suggest the critical hype has cut through and then some – even if it remains to be seen how many of those new players last the course).
However, only one of these games can genuinely hold a claim to being among the very best produced not just this year but, in fact, of any year. And – spoiler alert – it’s the one in which you will die over and over and over but still come back for more. Again…
Elden Ring is out now on PS4 and PS5 (version reviewed), Xbox One, Series S and X, and PC
