Although there will be many things to learn from Elden Ring As FromSoftware's first attempt to combine open-world and soulslike designs, there is an important lesson to be learned from Torrent and its approach to world navigation. Unlike FromSoftware's previous Soulslike games Elden Ring With an open world design and a Spectral Steed as a mount, the game set new standards in many ways.
While there are rumors that FromSoftware's next game will leave open worlds behind and return to a traditional linear design, given its importance in gaming, there is still a chance that future development will return to this world design. In this sense, Elden Ring is a testing ground for FromSoftware as to what worked and what didn't work for a Soulslike open world, especially when it comes to torrenting. After all, since Soulslikes is known for its difficult but rewarding gameplay, an in-game mount for navigating the open world needs to ensure that it works well with the rest of the game and its mechanics.
Related
Whenever FromSoftware returns to the open-world genre, it should avoid repeating this shadow of the Erdtree mistake
A boss in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree had less impact than intended, and future open-world Souls games should avoid its missteps.
Breakdown of how Elden Ring torrent works and doesn't work in a Soulslike
As a core design philosophy in Soulslike games, key gameplay elements are traced back to essential mechanics, such as how players regain health using the Estus Bottle from the game Dark souls Series or the medicinal pumpkin in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. In a broader sense, Elden Ring A similar approach was taken with the Spectral Steed Whistle item, which players need to summon Torrent. If players want to easily summon Torrent without going into their inventory, the pipe can be assigned to item slots, such as those in their pouch.
Elden Ring foresaw how much torrenting would impact Soulslike gameplay
Based on this approach, FromSoftware seems clear about how much Elden RingThe in-game mount pushes boundaries when it comes to previous ideas and designs in Soulslike games. For example, players could use Torrent to their advantage, such as taking on larger or faster enemies or fleeing fights that are too difficult or when their health is low. Requiring players to reject an item slot for the whistle is a step FromSoftware is taking to bring Torrent in line with traditional Soulslike gameplay.
Elden Ring drops the ball when Torrent is revived
However, other features, such as allowing players to only use one hand at a time while driving, further add to the balance Elden RingMounted combat and Torrent's player-independent health are where FromSoftware's next open-world game could learn its lesson. Although healing torrent in Elden Ring isn't the biggest problem, problems arise when Torrent has been killed and needs to be revived to be summoned again. This can be done using the whistle and spending one of the Flask of Crimson Tears' charges, but an immersion-breaking prompt that breaks the game forces players to confirm this.
FromSoftware's next open-world game should learn from Elden Ring torrent
While it may seem like a small detail, forcing this request on players was enough to cause them frustration Elden Ring's community, even leading to mods that revive torrent by default, or memes on social media like the one below.
Here mods outline a lesson that FromSoftware can learn from Elden Ring's torrent that allows players to disable prompts via in-game options. Alternatively, to save players from wasting Flash of Crimson Tears' charges, FromSoftware's next Soulslike game could include an upgrade to the next game's pipe replacement, similar to the Estus Bottle's own upgrades, where players end up paying all or Remove prompts and instantly revive your mount.