Elden Ring has, understandably, been met with critical and commercial acclaim. The game combines FromSoftware’s challenging gameplay and top-notch art direction with a far more open world, creating an unforgettable experience where exploration is essential. The Lands Between are truly massive, with huge underground areas combining with several unique areas above ground.
With so much to see in Elden Ring, though, even the most thorough gamers will likely miss out on a dungeon or two. While it is always possible to come back to these areas later, gamers will likely be overleveled since they have already explored elsewhere. This ensures that dungeons which would normally be challenging are a cakewalk, making the experience less fun - something that From Software should strive to avoid going forward.
An Enemy and Item Scaling Option For Elden Ring Would Make a Difference
If Elden Ring’s success inspires FromSoftware to keep using the open field approach in its future games, the developer should find a way to ensure that areas players return to are more challenging. This is easier said than done, however, as it could have a negative impact on Elden Ring’s accessibility - a large contributor to the game’s wide appeal.
Part of what makes Elden Ring great is encountering a wall like Margit, exploring other areas, and returning to beat down the boss that was once problematic. Likewise, it is fun to go back through areas that were once difficult on a fully leveled character, decimating any basic enemy that dares to come near the Tarnished. Unfortunately, this is a double-edged sword. For example, if players miss out on Castle Morne and return later on, they will cut through the Leonine Misbegotten without any trouble whatsoever.
This issue extends to item drops as well. If players miss out on one of Elden Ring’s mine entrances the first time they explore an area, they will not only find a weak boss waiting at the end. The already plentiful low level Smithing Stones will also be seen, and low level runes will be scattered on the ground. This makes a return pointless, as the items will not be beneficial in any way for late game players and the boss will provide a miniscule amount of runes.
The best way to approach this issue would be to have all enemies and items scale with a player’s level, but this should not be the only option for members of the Elden Ring community. Instead, there should be a setting for scaling in the game’s menus, or it should be something that can be triggered out in the world like Sekiro’s Demon Bell. This way, players could make every area worthy of exploration regardless of how high their level is. For those that value accessibility and a set difficulty for each area, though, they could leave this setting turned off.
While Elden Ring allowing gamers to make things easier on themselves through Spirit Ashes and optional areas is excellent, it should also offer a way to make things consistently difficult for those that never want to feel overleveled. The feeling of seeing an incredibly challenging fight online only to visit the dungeon or boss arena and cut down the enemy in seconds is not a good one, so having the choice to scale up missed foes would be great. While Elden Ring’s new game plus mode is always an option, some only play through games once, so being able to see and enjoy everything in one go is crucial.
Elden Ring is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.