Game:

Elden Ring (2022)

Duration: 8:20

823 views

42

Elden Ring is probably my most played game of all time (well, at least if you discount all the hours I put into World of Warcraft as a kid ...), but it sometimes kind of amazes me how much time I'm willing to dump into this game because the action combat is pretty simple from a mechanical point of view, at least when you compare it to other action games in the AAA space. I would kind of expect a game's longevity to correlate with its complexity; but Elden Ring proves me wrong.

This is kind of an appreciation video where I try to figure out how Elden Ring remains so replayable despite its mechanically simple combat and limited gameplay variety. My theory centers on an analysis of what I call its 'reactive combat', which focuses on reading and responding to enemy attack patterns. I discuss how reactive combat has a natural power to capture your attention and sustain the experience of fun for hundreds of hours without getting old.

This video also uses my analysis of Elden Ring to draw some conclusions about what makes FromSoftware's Soulsborne series as a whole so special and replayable, because Elden Ring's combat mechanics are obviously the culmination of lessons learned in FromSoftware's prior output (i.e., Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and particularly Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice). I look forward to seeing if these mechanics appear in a recognizable form in Armored Core 6 when it releases later this summer!

And finally, if you enjoyed this video, consider subscribing to my channel! :]

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#eldenring

00:00 Why is Elden Ring So Replayable?
02:23 Elden Ring's Reactive Combat
04:33 Reactive Combat Never Goes Stale
06:02 Implications for the Soulsborne series
07:38 Outtro / Tell Me About Your Experience!