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With the official release of "Eldon's Ring of Law" on February 25, last weekend, I think all faders have already galloped in the vast "Miyazaki Yinggao Paradise". Although there were optimization problems such as frame drop, screen tearing, and gamepad adaptation on the day of the launch, the developer FromSoftware updated in time to ensure that the 85643 reviews of the Steam platform changed from "mixed praise" to 74% "mostly praised".
In any case, from the rapid peak of sales on various platforms after unlocking, and the number of online users doubled compared with the previous game, it can be seen that everyone's trust and enthusiasm for the "old thief". So after experiencing it for yourself, are you satisfied with the answer sheet handed over by Hidetaka Miyazaki for the first time in the field of open world? Don't worry, if you can't give a definitive answer right now, let's cut in from the perspective of open-world game design and talk about the high-profile Eldon Circle of Law.
>>> Does Eldon's Ring of Law fit the open world definition?
The first word that makes us clear about the open world is linear narrative, and the most superficial explanation for the open world is that the game is integrated by multiple non-linear open areas, the player can complete the task in many different ways, and the game supports different routes to reach the destination and then complete the game. In short, open worlds leave the entire game to the player to explore freely.
In this comparison, I think that the "old thief" has a very accurate grasp of the main points of the open world this time, and the "Eldon's Ring of Law" presents a map design with enough elements for the player in terms of the world structure, and I roughly divide it into three parts: changing the line from point to surface.
First of all, this "point", we can see the box-like map inherited from the "Soul" series, taking "Stonewell City" as an example, defeating the "Evil Odemon Malkett" to begin to explore this area, the sharp reduction of blessing save points, intricate forks and endless enemies, let me, the old undead, have countless sighs in my mind, and Miyazaki Hidetaka's 3D Galaxy City is back, and it seems to be better than before.
Thanks to the faded person's freedom to jump, which can achieve the route through the outer walls of Stoneville City, the beams inside the castle, and the left and right jumps between the two high platforms, the player will be free to travel to small areas in all directions, which was not commonly used or common in the previous "Old Thief" works. When the whole map gradually becomes coherent into a whole after dying enough times, I can't help but sincerely admire that Eldon's Legal Ring has completed the last link that the 3D Galaxy City lacks in the box-like map: jumping and vertical axes.
How to link the above "points" together is a difficult point in design, the previous works of Miyazaki Hidetaka used compact junctions to intersect them into lines, while "Eldon's Law Ring" is an open-world work after all, and the nature that assumes this role becomes a field map. Full map with our daily criticism"? "Differently, more often than not, this game does not give a clear guide, but uses a variety of magnificent but strange scenes to seduce the player to explore, George W. Bush R· Mr. R. Martin's magnificent ideas about the worldview were fully embodied by the "old thief", and this interactive content of "seeing the mountain is the mountain" constituted my initial driving force.
In addition, the new production prop mechanism and mount system in this game have increased the purpose and convenience of exploration, collecting various materials to make practical props to feed the exploration, and it is impossible to perceive the sense of achievement, and it is also very joyful and challenging to have a "horseback riding and slashing" with the wild BOSS.
At the same time, as the official emphasis is, every corner of the big map hides secrets, and all we have to do is discover them. The dense blessing save points and guidelines in the field map make it easy for us to run the map, after all, "Eldon's Ring of Law" is not the kind of game that emphasizes the sense of atmosphere in "Death Stranding", even if there is a mount that walks for a long time, it will seem boring, and we can save a lot of time by teleporting and pointing directly to the boss on the map.
PS: To say more, how confident you are in your own design will use countless tasks to guide players ah...
The final woven thread into a "surface", I think, is strongholds and dungeons, and this part of the design greatly reduces the degree of "idleness" when exploring the map. Strongholds are a common element in the open world, and Hidetaka Miyazaki is not exempt, but the rewards are only treasure chests and Lune to reduce the burden on the player, and if there is really no interest in not playing, it has no essential impact on the progress. And the soldier AI setting in this game is more alert, after triggering the alert, they will blow the horn to gather all other enemies around, the frontal reckless past is quite difficult, the enemies at different times also have different states, and the process of finding different solutions adds to the fun of this big map.
The dungeon can also smell the taste of "Bloodborne Curse", but compared to the randomly generated design of the previous game, "Eldon's Law Ring" seems to be a bit "one way". Although the overall structure is indeed not complicated, it is gratifying that it is not boring or even full of positive feedback, because the resources of the dungeon will be more valuable than in the wild, such as the "Red Knife" that can be obtained in the early stage, which can greatly restore the amount of health in the use of the fatal blow, which is extremely practical.
When the trailer was released earlier, "how to retain the excellent map design of the Soul Series under the Open World Framework" was a problem that many friends cared about, and after personally experiencing the official version, my concerns and doubts were dispelled. Seeing a small number of netizens say that this work actually failed to avoid common design ideas in the open world, nor did it avoid problems such as the exploration process being slightly boring, and even harshly blamed Miyazaki Hideko for lack of innovation, which is simply an open world "Soul 4". Personally, like most people, I think that Eldon's Ring of Law is an excellent work that meets the definition of an open world, we can see dungeon mazes with different styles in different areas, each castle map is called the 3D Galaxy City of the Upper Age, and in today's era when game types are approaching similar and styles are similar, Miyazaki Hidetaka has done enough.
>>> maintain a "soul-flavoring" narrative in the open world, has Hidetaka Miyazaki done it?
In addition to large map design, the open-world theme faces a challenge: how to balance the relationship between exploration and narrative. The mechanics of the game itself prevent players from following a particular way of playing the game, but it's clear that today's video games still need a beginning and an end, how can the storyline be presented to the player without restricting freedom?
Hidetaka Miyazaki's answer, which I personally summed up as "Hai Na Bai Chuan", that is, no matter what route you choose, you will eventually enter the linear story he gives, but it will have different endings according to the choice. In order to guide the player into the main storyline, Eldon's Ring of Law only provides a broken map at the beginning of the game, and we need to constantly collect fragments to perfect this large map. In this process, in order to ensure that the player will not lose the general direction, and through one after another emergencies and NPC plots, we are guided to trigger a specific plot through a certain sequence, and the player will jump between different plots, although everyone's choice is different, but eventually they will go to the "castle map".
In the narrative design of Eldon's Ring of Law, I was most pleasantly surprised by the weakening of loneliness, not by the online system, but by the fact that I would often ask myself as I explored the world: "What would happen if I did this?" "The consistent fragmented narrative gives the player the drive to find the story, and we see the introduction and information of each item as part of the structure of the plot. In a way, this is the process of freely creating your own story in the game world, each choice leads the player to a different map, so every event experienced in the game becomes meaningful, and the invisibly fragmented narrative becomes one of the most interesting highlights of the process.
In addition, the traditional "message system" of the "Soul" series further ensures that each player finds a link in the world, it does not guarantee a linear order of levels, but it allows us to see the choices of different players, and then create more ideas. This design of adding specific clues to random routes is not the first time it has appeared in Hidetaka Miyazaki's game, but in the open world of Eldon's Law Ring, this increases the dynamic content of the game and provides more immersion in the flow. Through the above several design ideas, "Old Thief" has successfully turned various uncontrollable into controllable, which is undoubtedly beneficial to building a sound game narrative. I think that alone deserves applause and praise.
>>> what are the advantages and disadvantages of Eldon's Ring of Law compared to other open-world games?
The following lie lets us move out some "old predecessors" to compare, specifically to see the advantages and disadvantages of "Eldon's Ring of Law". Now that we're talking about the open world, Nintendo's 2017 Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is naturally an inextricable monument. First of all, it must be admitted that Eldon's Law Ring does not have the reality-based physics engine of the Breath of the Wilderness, nor does it design a large number of "chemical equations" that affect each other with specific properties, which is a disadvantage that cannot be achieved.
The advantage is that it's less open world, and yes, I think it's an advantage. Unlike the laid-back atmosphere of fishing in the wilderness, cooking and playing for an afternoon, Eldon's Law Ring creates a tense and dense overall rhythm through inconspicuous mission guidance. Your wild and dungeon exploration is utilitarian, especially the castle map is more linear and challenging levels, which is more conducive to stimulating the player's desire to explore, and eventually defeating the regional boss can also emerge a stronger sense of achievement. It doesn't put the world entirely in your hands, and the process isn't "traveling" and relaxed, but I still think that this atmosphere that fits the worldview, combined with the design that closely reflects the player's actions in every battle and every exploration, is an advantage.
Looking for another widely circulated open-world title in recent years, the first thing that came to my mind was Rockstar Games' Red Dead Redemption 2. The Big Bad gives us the real 19th-century Wild West, where every inch of the land is presented in perfect and detail, combined with a compelling story and unforgettable strangers, resulting in a sense of perfect immersion that makes it easy for players to substitute for outlaw Arthur Morgan. In terms of "you" being the protagonist, The Eldon's relatively obscure fragmented narrative is incomparable.
However, in contrast, the large blank space of "Eldon's Law Ring" also provides a purpose for the player's process after completing the level. In this work, even if you open up the main plot, there will be a lot of foreshadowing and settings that have not been revealed, and you need to continue to explore. At the same time, compared with the big dart, this game actually presents a more intimate sense of roughness, the most intuitive example is that we do not pay attention to whether the horse sitting down is sweating, and whether some parts will shrink. But it's not as "lively", but instead helps players focus more on the combat experience in the process. The old undead may have become accustomed to it, but I believe that friends who are new to Hidetaka Miyazaki's works should be surprised by the appeal of the complex boss mechanics, enemy playing styles, and outfit ideas in addition to the open world exploration.
Continuing to give examples, I can still think of "Soul of Tsushima" in recent open-world works. Also a work that focuses on the combat experience, the visual performance of Tsushima Presents a cinematic texture, and the fantasy background of "Eldon's Ring of Law" provides a more magnificent scene, but it lacks a more detailed texture and samurai movie-like dramatic effect, and at the same time does not have the excellent sense of hitting the sword battle that is accurate to the millimeter.
In fact, the advantages are also more obvious, thanks to Hidetaka Miyazaki's previous works and George W. Bush's work. R· R. Martin's script, Eldon's Ring of Law, is purely fictional but significantly more epic than Tsushima, and if we dig deeper, we can see many of the Celtic mythological archetypes. In addition, the gameplay of "Eldon's Ring" is also more diverse, whether you want to be a samurai who lives to the death, a magician with amazing skills, or even a "despicable foreigner", this game can easily do it. This not only allows different types of players to find their way through, but also increases the sustainability of the game. Because adding points and attributes limit the combat skills and equipment that can be used, it is necessary to pay more time to experience different genres, which is an invisible and powerful incentive mechanism that makes you start to brush Up Lane or even open new files to immerse yourself in it.
Of course, the above examples are not for anyone to step on, and the mention of works is also an excellent game that I like very much, and the comparison is only to show the advantages and disadvantages of "Eldon's Ring of Law" in more detail. If you feel uncomfortable, please forgive the fans of the above works.
>>> the end
In general, I think that the design idea of Eldon's Law Ring in the open world field is to "stand on the shoulders of giants", and on the basis of inheriting some of the traditional definitions and the advantages of his predecessors, the "old thief" has embarked on a path that conforms to the tone of his fragmented narrative, while ensuring the game's playability with the real 3D Galaxy City design idea of the castle map.
If I had to give this game an abstract score for the open world design, I could give 9 points on a 10-point scale. The subtracted 1 point is due to the fact that this game still fails to avoid the shortcomings of the lack of purpose in the later exploration of the wild map, and compared with the in-depth exploration of the Cthulhu theme in "Bloodborne Curse", compared with the integration and innovation of the ACT gameplay in "Only Wolf: Shadow Death Twice", the two novelties of the genre and open world gameplay of this game are slightly insufficient.
Okay, that's all I have to say. Back to the question in the title of the article, "Did Eldon's Law Ring's open-world design meet your expectations?" You are welcome to share your thoughts in the comments section. If you think we're doing a good job, you can like and follow. Of course, comments and suggestions are also welcome, so let's see you in the next article. Meow ~ !!!