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"Soul" games have always been known for their fragmented narratives. But in the open world of Eldon's Ring of Law, there is room for more far-reaching development of various stories.
Last week, I was sneaking around exploring the star-studded streets of The Eternal City of Norcrone. My brother watched the whole time and asked a question like, "Is that it?" No more episodes?"
That's a tough question. By now, I've activated two Big Loons and stride towards my goal of becoming the King of Eldon (should?). ）。 But cut this out... It seems that there is really no specific plot to talk about.
All I could say to him, "That's a long story... Why don't you tell you about the dragon that was played yesterday?"
FromSoftware's jargon and hidden fragmented narrative has been well received for decades. In general, this way of handling is conducive to the plot. In a dim world, only this little bit of imagination space can bring a little light of hope, allowing people to regroup the strong will to persevere to the end. FromSoftware President Hidetaka Miyazaki loved to read as a child, and had the experience of not being able to understand the content of the text and using imagination to fill the gap in the content. No wonder he was able to subtly incorporate this experience into the games he made.
Although the mainstream view is not so, I still think that the narrative of Eldon's Law Ring is very different from FromSoftware's previous works. Open-world vehicles clash with the notoriously formulaic narrative design of soul games, which naturally change dramatically.
The Soul Series has always counted on players to actively invest their time and energy in the ultimate success. But the risks and rewards are only very precise. Seems contradictory? Put it this way, you know which dungeon to fight and which boss battle to trigger, but the reward for completion is a small piece of obscure narrative (which tends to make the plot more elusive). After a spooky explosion of the broadcast, you roll out of the newly opened door, ready to go to the next target location, and the cycle repeats. Guided by a deceptive linear process, you finally advance to the end of the story. But there are exceptions, such as the "abandoned old factory" in Bloodborne Curse. But there are not many such cases, and the universal plot formula has almost never changed.
Back to the Eldon Ring of Law. We can throw out a simple and crude argument that the game's open-world structure is naturally suitable for non-linear storytelling. Players can go wherever they want and do whatever they want (within the limits of game logic, of course). In other words, you can use the game world as a background setting, and on this basis, you can compose your own story. When it comes to this design, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wilderness is one of the best; there are even writers who use The Elder Scrolls: Annihilation to set the characters of the novels– as is clearly the case with Terry Pratchett's Snuff.
This time at the "junction", FromSoftware has clearly achieved more brilliant results. The emergence of Eldon's Ring of Law not only proves its strength as a first-class open-world game, but also validates the possibility that open world is the best vehicle for FromSoftware's iconic narrative approach.
Powerful arguments are often simple: in open-world games, elaborate, complex narratives with many terms are driving the story forward, rather than telling the story flat and straight. You may say that the "relay" Greg and the "crippled" Marenia are not like this. Yes, I also believe that you must have a unique interpretation of the secrets behind the Rhea Lucaria Academy. But like I said before, listen to me about what happened yesterday when you hit the dragon.
As dusk approached, the horse's hooves darted over the rocks, and a string of water splashed again, and the sound was crisp and slowly swaying. The surface of the water in front of you is shallow and turbid, stretching out to the surrounding skyline, obscuring the boundary. Suddenly, the most ordinary lake became a majestic gladiatorial arena with a huge dragon lying in the center. Under a hook of the moon, its black scales flashed with ominous points of light. From strolling to trotting, the pace of the spirit horse under the crotch became faster and faster, and finally it sped up. I clenched my staff in my hand and unleashed the pyroxene boulder with my first hand, believing it would bring me, the future King of Eldon, a great victory in line with my identity. The black dragon slowly stood up and let out a loud roar——
Space is limited, otherwise I could go on. I would say that this scene has been seen in a large number of games, and many events can be described in this prose language. But my own story is unique in the personal experience that comes with a lot of content. "Eldon's Ring of Law" is a non-linear open-world game, players have different overall routes, and they are bound to encounter "Wyvern" Yakil at different points in time. "Soul Class" veterans will generally take it down as soon as possible. Let's see how close the blessing points of "Lake Yakil" and "Guided Start" are, this "early" is the beginning of the game (Note: Now the speed pass players have compressed the game time to less than one hour, is there any king law?). ）。 But most ordinary players, after being beaten by a bunch of small asians with wooden shields, have no intention of dealing with a dragon again.
In this example, I've tried to keep the content as simple as possible, but I've written two large paragraphs, which is enough to illustrate the richness of the game's plot. Coupled with the vast scale of the "junction" and FS's classic regional-level overlapping design, the gold content of this argument will increase exponentially. And that's not to mention the subtle differences in the way different players play: I'm a mage, used to riding horses and fighting long-range, and the farther away from the enemy, the better. Some players regard "Eldon's Ring of Law" as a "jumping music" type of platform game, and some people brush a piece of "Exile Soldier Armor" and shout value. The fun is here: do whatever you want, and the more creative you play, the more interesting the story becomes, and the two are directly proportional.
The genre of the character is also one of the influencing factors. This is the "traditional art" of FS games, but in the open world of The Ring of Eldon, when the stargazer is still a reborn samurai, the experience brought by different choices is not just a little bit, it is completely two story lines. This undoubtedly encourages you to merge what you see and feel with the big stage of "Junction", and the temptation surpasses all previous "soul games". Pratchett uses The Elder Scrolls: Annihilation as a tool for character design, and in the same way that Eldon's Ring of Law is a highly malleable game where you can write your own saga regardless of its claimed narrative content. At this point, the vast majority of games can't do it.
You should know that Ueda Ishito is one of Miyazaki's idols, so all of this makes sense. Whether it is "Nym Gefu", "Lienia", "Roddell" or the later broader map, the entire "junction" has the shadow of Ueda Fumito. The story of ICO and The Last Guardian is indeed more condensed, but the classic characters of "Wanda" and "Agro" in "Wanda and the Colossus" are the inspiration for Dark Souls and The Ring of Eldon. I have no intention of bringing up the controversial topic of contemporary "authorship", but I have to say that this is the work of FS led by Miyazaki. The Forbidden Lands are much quieter than the Junctions, but the two have striking similarities in their obsession with "exploring their own stories." If Ueda Fumito had the opportunity to play "Eldon's Ring of Law", I think I would be very proud.
Every time I was asked, "What exactly is the game eldon's Circle of Law about?", I couldn't think of a proper answer. What a fader, a broken war, a shadow that doesn't see... By the way, God is very sad, so the animals on the earth are left with only dogs? That's it. (Just kidding, don't tell me I'm lying.) ）
Although I can't repeat the full plot of "Eldon's Ring of Law", at this moment, countless small fragments that belong to me are like Toret, jumping out of the two paragraphs one by one. Therefore, the most interesting story in "Eldon's Circle of Law" has to be written by the players themselves.
Translation: Zhou Xiao
Edit: Tonkotsu ramen