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I feel like I've been racing against time. In From Software's games, there are many NPCs who are infiltrated by a distorted worldview and are physically and mentally broken, and they live in various hidden corners to seek a sense of security. And I, along the way to kill giants, open ice doors, seemingly heroic actions, but may have an immeasurable negative impact on these NPCs.
Someone freed from a cage may have slaughtered NPCs in my absence; the truth I revealed was so terrible that the most loyal knights lost their faith and were mentally shattered. I spent 75 hours in "Elden's Ring" to uncover the tip of the iceberg of the main story, and it is precisely because of the above "lessons from the past" that I am worried about every moment, worrying about whether I have missed someone, what is missing, as if after advancing into the ominous royal city of Leanneil, everything will be irreparable.
To be honest, I've been afraid that Eldon's Ring of Law will become a mass-produced canned product like "Ubisoft Open World" like Assassin's Creed in recent years. Fortunately, "Eldon's Ring of Law" not only achieves a vast territory, but also contains rich and three-dimensional content, and is by no means a flat and direct "punch card" open world.
Of course, there are also reused contents in the Eldon Ring, for example, the Nyingfu area is full of various underground tombs, and the roots of the huge "Golden Tree" are deeply rooted in it, feeding on the corpses of faithful believers, and its branches emit a dazzling golden light, enveloping the whole world. You are summoned to the place where the Golden Tree took root and sprouted, enter the royal city of Reinil, repair the Ring of Law, and bring the Golden Age back to the world.
But whose golden age is this? The story of The Eldon's Circle of Law revolves around this central question, at least for now. At the beginning of the game, you are in the relatively "quiet years" of the Nyingover area, and what awaits you is From Software's best play: a variety of live corpse minions, huge human bosses, and small dungeons with high repetition.
You can think of Nyingef as a novice village, warm up on the vast grass, and try out a variety of playing styles: light attack, heavy attack, defensive counterattack, tumbling, and the crotch of the spirit horse named Toret, all of which will take time to grind. By the way, Torett will also jump in the second stage! Some places after that may come in handy.
Eldon's Ring of Law doesn't push players to do anything, and it doesn't directly point you in the right direction. The checkpoint in this game is called "Blessing", where you can upgrade and change your weapon skills directly. "Blessings" will also emit a faint golden light, you can also follow this clue, go deep into the large "Legend ruins", defeat the key bosses that can drive the development of the plot, as for the specific order, it is up to you to decide.
The central building of Nyingover is the Castle of Stonewell, where the lords indulge in the illusions of the Golden Age, luring groups of believers into the city in the name of their ancestors, and these innocent people are controlled as material and suffer from cutting - this lord is a weak and thin man, trying to fabricate the shape of the great shore by grafting his limbs.
In the southern part of Nyingover, slaves who resemble synthetic beasts have rebelled; in the east, you will meet a silly nobleman who calls himself the ruler of Nyingover, and the "sub-people" under him do not know his goodness, and they will rebel and burn the fortress; to the north of Stonewell Castle, there is a chance that you can find some hidden small villages, where the villagers have escaped from the creator and are ready to live in peace.
The "Shattered War" (a mysterious event that serves as a primer to the game's story) also leaves the land to pieces. Stepping out of the novice village, each area has its own unique customs and customs, implying different dangerous events, and the puzzles to be solved are also different styles, which shows the atmosphere of "broken" to the fullest.
The catacombs in Eldon's Ring of Law
The Marika Wedges usually have Marika wedges standing at the entrances of bosses in the Nyingfu area, and this figurine acts as a checkpoint, which means that the intensity of From Software's classic "running corpse" is greatly reduced in this work, and this road full of traps and enemies does not have to be re-walked every time.
There is still a short way to run before the final boss battle of Nyingef, and it is much easier to open the short road. In this way, when you successfully push through Stonewell, advance into a new area, and prove your level, you will be "qualified" to regain the traditional sport of "running corpses".
By the way, this time, the charge attack can throw the enemy out of balance, and this move can be described as invincible when dealing with the giant mechanical enemy guarding the bridge. Torett turned slightly sluggishly, but could easily jump up high; in a town full of invisible magicians, the two of us cooperated with each other, and could even go straight up to the roof to scaveng. Every time I look at the map, I have a new discovery: look, there is a road here, all the way to the canyon, there must be something there, you have to hurry to see.
The various convenient tools in "Eldon's Circle of Law" are free to use, and as for how to use them better, you have to keep trying. You've been stumbling with a boss for a long time, and you've finally figured out a silky style of play, and you're about to cheer, when the people are gone, and you look at it, and it turns out to be a special enemy that only appears at night, and it swoops down from mid-air and tears you to pieces at once. Well, what seems like a safe place is actually full of dangers! This Kind of From Software-style violent death does not make people resentful, but can arouse the player's desire to challenge.
Map from The Ring of Eldon
You ask, in order to run the map to explore, sometimes you have to let the spirit horse jump on the branch, so hard work, is there any reward? Of course, there are new bosses, weapons, and powerful talismans, all of which are rewards for explorers, and when combined, you can try different play styles.
The game's "Ashes of War", or Weapon Skill System, allows players to swap different skills for weapons at the Blessing Place - the Great Sickle can be equipped with poison mist, causing bleeding weakness to the boss; in the tunnels, miners mine planetary fragments under the supervision of overseers, and we find a sword that can summon meteorites.
The game has new discoveries every moment, whether it is terrifying or stunningly beautiful, it is worth players to wander around and try to explore every corner.
Playing until now, I feel that Eldon's Law Ring unabashedly uses some of the content from the previous game. The main bosses and characters are shadows from the Dark Souls series, Bloodborne Curse, and Wolf: Shadow Dead Twice, and a few don't even change their names. The core "Golden Tree" of this work is also reminiscent of the big tree standing on the top of the ash lake in "Dark Souls"... After all, From Software has always loved the "tribute" session, to take the most classic example, the Moonlight Sword in "Armored Core" runs through every work.
From Software's move may also be out of technical considerations, given that the game uses a lot of open space, if the old animation can be used with a slight change, it will be more beneficial than harmful in all aspects. Insert a trivia here that they tried to do back in PS2 (compare the similarities between King's Secret Order 4 and Dark Souls 3, and you'll see).
Don't you say, the effect is really good! It was so good that I seemed to have an "obsessive-compulsive attack" and wanted to explore all the corners and corners without letting go of any secret. I've been playing for 75 hours, but I don't want to enter the last area, and I can't help but wonder if there is any character who hasn't had time to talk to me about the world in detail. Could there be an outrageously strong sword, but I haven't found it yet?
Fortunately, the game seems to have taken this layer into account in advance. Side quests are picked up from NPCs wandering around, and the world is so big that you have to talk to them first, and then go to a new location to advance the story. Unlike Demon Souls and Bloodborne Curse, you don't need to worry about interrupting the quest chain even if you don't encounter it this time.
Also "Brother Jar", my colleague Imran ran into him at Nyingford, and I only met a hidden tunnel shortcut miles away. When I talked to Brother Jar, he was still friendly and soon appeared at another location. The number of NPCs in Eldon's Ring of Law is very impressive, and not every one of them may follow this pattern, but at least their trigger location is not fixed, and although the map is large, there is always a chance to encounter it.
After writing this article, I also have to continue the liver game. "Eldon's Ring of Law" is rich in content and hidden mysteries, and it is not enough to clear the level in one week, especially in the absence of a strategy. In the course of the rest of the game, I wonder where the story will go, where will these disputes begin in the late golden age? After defeating the demigods, what path will my friends and opponents take? What secrets are hidden in the distant royal city?
After a while, there will be a guide on the Internet, and I estimate that I will open a new file to play according to it. You know, before that, open-world games rarely made me feel the urge to re-brush.
Translation: Zhou Xiao
Edit: Zoe