One of Elden Ring's greatest strengths, a strength all of From Software's games have for that matter, is how nonlinear the experience can be. Elden Ring players can progress through the game as they please, missing huge amounts of story, boss fights, and equipment. One player's Elden Ring experience can be dramatically different from another's. It does bring up an interesting question, however. If Elden Ring had an "intended" route through the game, what would it be? Luckily, one massive Elden Ring fan believes they have an answer.
Reddit user Athrek, a community guide creator that has become prolific for their work tied to Elden Ring, has dropped his latest effort. He calls it the "Guide to the 'Intended' Route to Get Through the Game Without Breaking Everything (Minimal Spoilers)," which is a mouthful but very descriptive. As the title implies, the guide will take Elden Ring players through the open-world RPG as if it was a linear experience, so players don't break the game or miss what's important.
Obviously, "intended" can mean different things to different people, never mind what From Software itself may believe is the intended route for Elden Ring. What Athrek believes is that this guide will have players go through the game "in the safest way possible," featuring all of Elden Ring's "intended story." But he says it isn't at all the "intended way to play" and removes much of the game's open-world experience. As such, Athrek recommends using this guide for a second or third playthrough and encourages players to explore and discover Elden Ring's mysteries on their own, first.
While Athrek doesn't detail exactly how they put together the guide, they do say that the main source of inspiration came from a surprising source -- cookbooks. There are dozens of cookbooks in Elden Ring, each unlocking new crafting recipes for the player. Theoretically, finding these cookbooks in their numbered order could absolutely provide an "intended" path through Elden Ring.
Those worried that the Elden Ring guide could spoil the game, do be wary. The guide will direct players toward locations and NPCs, using their proper names. However, it doesn't reveal dialogue or context. A second guide is linked for further details on each character's individual storylines.
On one hand, it's incredibly impressive how condensed Athrek's guide for Elden Ring is. On the other hand, it's quite staggering just how much there is to do in terms of story and world progression. Elden Ring players who have completed the game should absolutely take a look to see what they may have missed.
Elden Ring is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.