Do you remember when Elden Ring was first announced? It was a beautiful moment at E3 2019, when FromSoftware was on the cusp of Dark Souls and Bloodborne acclaim, and it put a new spin on that signature hardcore fantasy RPG formula. It was like Dark Souls, but not exactly the same. A new world, a new twist. That moment before diving into this new adventure was truly special, and it’s a feeling I want to experience again. And again, and again.
Fast forward to today, and we’ve not only been able to play Elden Ring, but we’ve also been able to play through the main expansion Shadow of the Erdtree. If you’re anything like me, you’ve been diving deep into the new lore, experimenting with new weapons and talismans like a mad scientist. Elden Ring is a hit. There’s no way around it. But rather than going back to The Lands Between and capitalizing on its ridiculous popularity, FromSoftware would be better off going back to the kitchen and cooking up something new.
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I’ll admit that FromSoftware has an interesting path to take with their hypothetical Elden Ring 2. The narrative team has done a great job teasing the world beyond the shores of Limgrave, and if you venture far beyond the plains, you’ll undoubtedly find a whole cosmic stagecraft of interesting competing factions: the Formless Mother, the sealed deity of the Red Rot; the stars themselves have ambitions and motivations, and their path through the sky is a march toward a celestial destiny. It’s tempting to see more of these characters and the fate of The Lands Between so long after Marika’s Golden Order ends, but it’s ultimately unnecessary.
It’s not just because the ending of Elden Ring forces you into a single starting point where you have to steal the light from the new order you’ve chosen and start a new game, but also because much of Elden Ring’s appeal comes from its solid cast of notable characters. Marika’s kin, most of whom are dead by the end of the game, are a huge part of what makes the game special. Caelid is awesome, and not just because of its cool dungeons, boss fights, and views. It’s awesome because it’s steeped in a deeply personal story. The battle between Radahn and Malenia, their armies fighting through the destruction, and the player’s role in uncovering the truth behind those events.
To stray from this setting – not just from the land itself, but from time – would be to separate from the juices that make Elden Ring so rich and sweet. It would require a completely new cast, a new narrative of similar scale, a new backstory of war and betrayal. And if it goes that far, it might as well clear out the camp and set up a completely new place.
And with this move, FromSoftware can do something great. Improve, evolve. Take ideas from previous games and take them to strange and interesting places. Look at the Smithscript weapons and various hand-to-hand weapons and Spirit Ashes from Shadow of the Erdtree. Go back and look at more macro examples. Explode the mostly linear Soulslike formula into a vast open world that rewards exploration more than most games. Create Solaire-level NPC questlines, not once, but multiple times. FromSoftware games have never been this festive.
This leap in quality is why FromSoftware gets such high marks in my book. The ability to pull Bloodborne or Sekiro out of a hat and deliver an action RPG that wows both new players and longtime FromSoftware fans. Sure, this leap happens between sequels. We saw it in Dark Souls 2 and the climactic (if fan-servicey) Dark Souls 3. But these gameplay improvements feel more substantial and celebratory when they’re wrapped in the golden packaging of an entirely new IP.
Perhaps this opinion has its roots in my lore-obsessed mind. I love booting up a new Souls game and trying to figure it all out, trying to piece it together before the big VaatiVidya or some other scroll master comes down with a two-hour video on my YouTube homepage. I love new areas and I really enjoy FromSoftware’s approach to game design. My taste for both of these things has me yearning for brave new adventures in rich new worlds.
