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Do you want Fromsoft to stick to open world or go back to interconnected-linear?

Do you prefer for them to stick to open world or go back to linear style games?

  • Yes, bring on the new open world order of Miyazaki games

    Votes: 118 52.7%
  • Naw, Give me that metroidvania-ness the studios known for

    Votes: 106 47.3%

  • Total voters
    224

Mr Hyde

Member
As much as I love Elden Ring and the world you explore, I want From to go back to the intricate level design of past titles. Bloodborne especially was phenomenal in this regard (and everything else too, a genuine masterpiece like no other).
 

luffie

Member
Why would you want regression? Elden Ring already has both, an open world and interconnected legacy dungeons.

The open world allows you to access these legacy dungeons in different ways, it's literally better than ever. And the vast world allow things to breath. And allows for exploration and discovery like never before. Discovering the effect of a falling comet was pretty exciting.

I just want livelier npcs, npcs that move around and have more interaction with each other than standing in 1 spot. Everything else From is doing better than before.
 

Fbh

Member
Haven't played Elden Ring yet (please kill me).

With that said, more than open world or linear I'd like them to go for a new style of setting. Love their take on horror (with cosmic elements) in Bloodborne and mystical ancient japan in Sekiro so I'd love to see what else they can do.
 

ckaneo

Member
Both. I hope they keep making unique entries like bloodborne and seikiro and these are the smaller linear ones whereas they keep the dark/souls/elden ring formula for the open world ones.
 

Bogeyman

Banned
Both.

Having said that, I think there's more scope for them to innovate in open world settings to keep things fresh.

Linear souls like formulae feel like they've been pretty much "solved". While they'd definitely still be fun, I think there's a bigger risk of them feeling samey.
 

Andrenicks

Neo Member
I prefer their previous interconnected worlds over Elden Ring's open world. Both are great. It kind of reminds me of Batman Arkham Asylum versus Arkham City.
Same for me, i think exactly the same thing and I also thought the exact same games in the Arkham series

I'm loving Elden Ring but the First Dark Souls was a lot Better when i play It for the First Time.
 

NeoIkaruGAF

Gold Member
Go back.

Better balance, less repetitiveness, more curated areas, better focus, a bit easier to figure out those ridiculous NPC quests.
The DS games were quite open anyway, DS2 especially allowed for very different runs.
 

Hinedorf

Banned
Elden Ring is the absolute best open world game to simply explore. The visuals are insane from one landscape to the next. The idea of trying to 100% each zone was really never the design, it's more of the adventure of what you could find if you kept looking.

Even BOTW was limited with this peaks in which only with enough stamina could you progress further or with elemental equipment.

From the MOMENT you get Torrent, you can start plodding through hours of fresh map with the only speed bump being the danger of your life, PURE ADVENTURE. I probably spent close to 30 hours just riding around to find interesting things.

And in pure convenience the moment you want to go back to that old Souls experience like Stormveil well guess what, click map, click shortcut, back to old school.

I can't understand anybody saying "NO please don't give me more fun alternatives in a game" but I guess souls-folks are just purists.
 

Buggy Loop

Member
Yea, Elden ring world with even more legacy dungeons and I could play their games for the rest of my life, easily.

There’s no going back after seeing the crazy verticality and vistas they offer in open worlds.
 

Lethal01

Member
We are in desperate need of Good open world games, As one of the handful of devs that are delivering that, it's their duty to keep it up.
 

kraspkibble

Permabanned.
why not both?

i'm enjoying elden ring but it's not perfect. i want elden ring 2 to be open world so we can see what they can do to make it better.

i also want a semi open world game. basically just what we had before but on a bigger scale. i'd love a map like bloodbornes but each area you can branch off to is larger and more in depth.
 

Zeroing

Banned
I was going to make a joke about Fromsoft to hard but... I realised this is a very serious thread.

Anyway I just want them to make games ...
 

Shifty

Member
Interconnected. Preferably with Armored Cores.

If nothing else, a smaller world means a shorter development cycle, and by extension less years of <Next Fromsoft Game> getting fallated by the press to the point where I'm sick of hearing about it by the time it comes out.
 
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Croatoan

They/Them A-10 Warthog
They just put on a masterclass in open world design so I say they stick with what is working.

BTW, Elden Ring has interconnected-linear areas to go along with the open world.
 

rofif

Banned
I like both and At the moment, Elden Ring is an excellent refresher on the formula. It's an amazing open world dark souls 3.
But nothing beats the tight pacing and difficulty design of classic legacy dungeons. Dark souls 3 and previous games have much better pacing and difficulty curve. The gameplay is just tighter.
And the open world in ER is so big, there are some repeating parts and especially bosses... There are actually the least mandatory bosses in this game and some almost reused in that pool.

The open world was amazing to explore but it will be a hindrance on new game replays because you will have to know/remember where which items are... and assembling your build means a lot of running around. Otherwise if you do everything again, it's 70 hours again
 
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kungfuian

Member
For an open world game Elden Ring is incredibly dense and rich with content, really amazing what they made, but I would love it if they shrank the overall footprint of the map down a bit (making it even denser) and maybe did more to diversify the overworld visually. One of the things that stands out about the old style of games was how you had to memorize levels, which was very satisfying. In comparison, Elden Rings overworld felt too big to do this and I spent way too much time staring at a map. Also along the same lines, while I appreciate the ability to jump to sites of grace, it makes the experience feel a little disjointed by the end. Just bouncing around from one site of grace to the other to get shit done, so the levels feel less like a cohesive whole if that makes sense.

One thing that might make the overworld more interesting would be if they play with puzzles, gadgets, and gear in a future game. Elden Rings pure combat-based progression system it's second to none, but would be interesting to see the addition of gear that opens up the way you explore. Grappling hook, digging gear, flameproof boots, ladders, throw in some puzzles for good measure. You know sprinkle a little Zelda in the sequel to mix it up.

Edit- Also for the love of God let us respec weapons so when we respec stats we don't have to spend 30 minutes tracking down weapon upgrades for the new build.
 
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Kokoloko85

Member
TBH you can mix it up a bit more and Im sure Miyazaki will mix it up.

I want From to make an openworld Bloodborne 2. Maybe a prequel, theres lots we don’t know about the Vile bloods and other surrounding areas, plus lots from the history of Yharnam
 

skneogaf

Member
I prefer interconnected, elden ring is great and all but I don't want to have to ride a horse. I prefer to walk and fight every enemy repeatedly.
 

Fuz

Banned
Compromise Shrug GIF
 

Lokaum D+

Member
I prefer the OG style more, elden ring is an amazing game but i miss the old jaw drop setpieces like Ringed City, Anor Londo, Majula, Dragon Shrine, Dragleic Castle, Irythil of Boreal Valley and a lot more
 
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Honestly I love both, and I hope they continue to dabble there. As well as innovate however they're able in the future.

Agreed! I hope they do a hybridization with their next game. Interconnected areas that are spread out, connected via an open world.
Might be too much to ask, but that's what I'd like to see next, From-From.
 

Kuranghi

Member
The only (and its slight) negative I'd say there appears to be from the open world/larger world aspect of ER over previous soul's games is that some of the larger outdoor areas, like castles, sometimes look a bit bare with not many objects about. This definitely could be intentional to evoke a sort of Nighthawks-esque "loneliness of big city" feeling (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nighthawks_(painting)) but its also indistinguishable from rushed/unpolished level/game design so I'm inclined to lean more towards that it was a time constraint issue.

Or sometimes it has stuff around but it doesn't feel like a realistic space even with the consideration of it being fantastical, like a corner looks weird and really gamey ie like real architecture. Its probably just because they wanted to make layout changes to something on the other side of the wall and had to edit the first space to make it work spatially.

Its a massively larger world than previous games and they obviously will have had to make some sacrifices to get it all done and not take a decade, I think it would've been a better overall game if they reduced the scope by 10-15% and maintained the amazing design quality for every moment.
 

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
Keep doing both. Don’t get rid of interconnected metroidvania style titles though. Those games aren’t life-draining like a 130-hour open world experience. Elden Ring was incredible, but I don’t want to lose weeks of my life on a regular basis. At the very least, use smaller projects to experiment with new mechanics and styles e.g. Bloodborne and Sekiro.
 

Protocol7

Member
Both.
I'd like to go back to vanilla Souls and once in a while have a Souls open world.

Meaning: please don't release Elden Ring X every two years... do not go that horrible road Miyazaki-san, stay humble and inspired.

\[T]/
 
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njean777

Member
I prefer the linear games myself, but I am still going to play through Elden Ring. Just been taking it super slow and will get back to it eventually when I get a Souls kick. I really don't care for open world games much anymore at all.
 

ZehDon

Member
Bring on Elden Ring 2

They won’t get the same sales if they choose a linear experience with the same difficulty walls you can’t get around by leveling up and exploring.
That's what makes me vote yes.

I tried Dark Souls on the Xbox 360, and it's difficulty gates turned me off. I tried Bloodborne on PS4, and while less linear, it still came to a head in more than a few places. "Git gud or you've wasted your money" isn't really my kind of fun. However, Elden Ring's open-world changes that. It's hard as hell in more than a few places, but you can brute-force it with grinding if you absolutely cannot progress. That's a compromise I'm happy to accept, and as a result, Elden Ring is easily my game of the year.

If they announce an Elden Ring 2, I'm all in. If they announce a Dark Souls 4, I'll simply pass.
 
Cool my vote made it even 😃
I voted for interconnected but I am fine with both Typs.Both are great in my opinion.I prefer open world when it is a real RPG like final fantasy or fallout with lots of content and towns villages lots of things to do.Soul games are not like that they are more like Action Adventures with RPG elements
 

RyRy93

Member
Old style, less pointless wilderness and more emphasis on cool level design.

Plus Elden Ring is quite overwhelming in terms of exploration to the point where I'm having to break the map into segments by spamming green markers to create borders between where I have and haven't been.
 
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Y0ssarian

Banned
I don't know fren. I liked all their games since 2009 + Otogi. I'd even be keen if they made a third Otogi game which would probably be stage based
 
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