Highlights

  • Elden Ring impressively adapts FromSoftware's traditional linear formula into a diverse interconnected open world.
  • The preservation of familiar Soulslike features in Elden Ring showcases FromSoftware's ability to evolve without losing essence.
  • While Elden Ring lacks covenants, the potential for their inclusion in a sequel could enhance the game's storytelling and player engagement.

Elden Ring is an enormous beast rich with all the subtle lore and intricate world-building FromSoftware is known for, only it’s now spread throughout an interconnected open world with lands seamlessly transitioning into each other. This is an incredibly impressive feat as FromSoftware’s first Soulslike to adapt its traditionally linear formula into an open world, especially considering how diverse the Lands Between’s biomes are between Limgrave, Liurnia, and Caelid alone. That said, extrapolating this formula into an open world wasn’t without its sacrifices.

It’s quite astonishing how FromSoftware managed to preserve its most familiar Soulslike features in Elden Ring rather than have to redesign every aspect of it to meet the needs of an open world. There are even more shortcuts now as a result of how non-linear and sweeping its environments are; enemy mobs can still ambush players; sites of grace are still frequented as bonfire checkpoints with fast travel warping; and bosses still obstruct progression to newer areas. However, whatever the reason, it’s a shame that covenants weren’t adapted for all the myriad factions and figures that could’ve represented them in the farthest-reaching corners of Elden Ring.

elden ring godefroy the grafted
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FromSoftware’s Covenants and Oaths Make for Wonderful Side Content

Covenants aren’t too convoluted or indiscernible once players learn about them, but most if not all of that knowledge typically comes from shared lore and information players learn from one another, rather than what FromSoftware teaches players about these covenants in each game. In fact, without any guidance at all it’d be virtually impossible to comprehend what players could gain by offering particular items to covenant NPCs, let alone if there’s any reward at all.

Many covenants pertain solely to PvP purposes and therefore casual PvE players will likely not be interested in devoting any time or resources toward those efforts.

Still, players are bound to come across a handful of NPCs who are glad to invite them freely to their covenant in any leisurely playthrough of Dark Souls, Dark Souls 2, or Dark Souls 3. Bloodborne technically has covenants as well that affect PvP and PvE alike, though they are primarily designed around factions and associated with the passive effects of oath runes:

  • Cainhurst Vilebloods (Corruption oath rune).
  • Executioners (Radiance oath rune).
  • Hunter of Hunters (Hunter oath rune).
  • The League (Impurity oath rune).
  • The Blood Beast (Beast’s Embrace oath rune).
  • Lumenwood Kin (Milkweed oath rune).

Covenants are phenomenal as they sprinkle in that little bit of supplementary lore through NPC interaction that FromSoftware has always been terrific at expressing in its world-building. Plus, for anyone who knows a fruitful reward awaits them after enough covenant-specific items are turned in or anyone who adores PvP adventures with a sense of belonging, covenants provide that and more. That’s why it was a bit of a letdown that Elden Ring didn’t have its own covenants to pursue and hop back and forth between, though maybe Elden Ring’s successor could.

Covenants Deserve a Place in an Open-World FromSoftware Soulslike

FromSoftware washed its hands clean of covenants in Elden Ring, at least in their traditional sense, even though the same formula could’ve been implemented in its open world. Seeing covenants spread across the Lands Between would’ve been stunning, especially in each biome, but perhaps FromSoftware decided to cut them or not center its attention on them with such a huge undertaking already as Elden Ring was staggering in its epic scale. Maybe now that FromSoftware has accomplished developing an open-world Soulslike it could extrapolate on its systems and include covenants via a sequel.

Considering how FromSoftware has danced around developing a Soulslike sequel almost exclusively, there’s a low likelihood that Elden Ring’s follow-up will be Elden Ring 2. But whether FromSoftware follows Elden Ring with a direct sequel or not, and regardless of whether it’s an open-world game or not, reprising covenants seems like a return to form that would help it excel.