FromSoftware has generally steered clear of sequels outside the Dark Souls series, as the company has been known to prefer spiritual successors. However, it may be beneficial to the company to create a game in a similar vein to Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice after the release of Elden Ring. The game was lauded by many to be the best game to come out of 2019, and some even consider Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice to be the best Soulslike game yet.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice did many things differently in comparison to the rest of the Soulsborne franchise. For starters, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice entirely removed the online multiplayer component from the formula; this allowed the implementation of a fully-fledged pause button, which a good few fans were thankful for. In retrospect, it never felt like an online component was missing from the game, as many Soulslike players often choose to complete the games solo for more of a challenge.
Hidetaka Miyazaki, on the other hand, must have felt otherwise, as Elden Ring is said to include multiplayer and no pause button. While online multiplayer has been an integral part of the FromSoftware formula, Sekiro Shadows Die Twice felt like a more focused game without it. The game never offered players an easy way out by allowing them to summon other players into their world, forcing them to overcome these obstacles themselves.
Key Differences and Similarities Between Elden Ring and Sekiro
One of the major differences between the two games besides online multiplayer is the fact that players will be able to customize their characters in Elden Ring by choosing from various character classes. Elden Ring has even included a samurai class, most likely as a nod to Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Players have no choice but to play as Sekiro in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, but this is not necessarily a bad thing.
Some players criticized Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice for not allowing players to use different weapons or combat styles, but this allowed the developer to streamline the new parry combat system. This once again meant that players would have to develop the skills to conquer the enemies in the game the way the developer intended instead of being able to grind enough to create a near-flawless PVE build like in the Dark Souls games. Elden Ring seemingly allows players to equip any weapon or armor set that they want, which is great, but it would be a shame to not see Sekiro's style implemented again since it worked so well in the 2019 game.
Another thing Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice did very differently was its story-telling. The stories in the three Dark Souls games were exceptionally ambiguous and require the player to do some digging, put some puzzle pieces together, and then finally give up to search for what the games were actually all about online. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice had the most fleshed-out story of nearly all the modern FromSoftware games, as players were presented with a named character and a story that was much easier to follow. The fact that Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is set in a fictional version of Japan was also a breath of fresh air since many of the other FromSoftware games are based on Western mythology.
Elden Ring seems to be a love letter to the past FromSoftware games, as Miyazaki has included many of the best aspects of these titles. While Elden Ring is expected to be a huge hit, it would be nice to see FromSoftware create a new game similar in style to Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, as the differences set the game apart from the rest of the Soulsborne series.
Elden Ring releases February 25 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.