To call Elden Ring a success would be an understatement. The latest evolution on the Dark Souls formula, this open-world action-roleplaying game made by FromSoftware has taken the gaming world by storm. Between Elden Ring's lore written in collaboration with fantasy maestro George R. R. Martin, and the team behind Dark Souls and Bloodborne helming an open-world take on the genre, Elden Ring had a lot of hype going for it, and not only has the game matched those lofty expectations, it surpassed them.The result speaks for itself. Outside of launching on PC with some major performance issues, the game has had an inexhaustible amount of players across all of its platforms singing Elden Ring's praises. Beloved by critics and fans alike, with a staggering Metacritic rating of 97, it should be no surprise that Elden Ring would be a popular game for the press to cover.Research conducted by ICO yielded results that not only confirmed Elden Ring's popularity, but placed it in a category of its own in terms of news coverage compared to other popular games that came out in 2022, 2021 and 2020 – eclipsing titles such as Horizon: Forbidden West, Resident Evil Village, or Cyberpunk 2077. With 7,323 articles written on Elden Ring compared to the next-best 4,559 articles, it begs whether there is more at play than just sheer popularity.
Perhaps the boldest decision the developers made regarding Elden Ring's open world is that it treats the content as almost a completely new game that connects the more traditional Dark Souls experience. It is beautifully handcrafted, with special care taken for every nook and cranny, and it is indescribably huge – and does not hold the player's hand. It understands that the player will likely never explore all that its open world can offer, and this is fine.
Taking this into consideration, with an open world so deep, and a player's curiosity – and sometimes even patience – urging them to look for a guide or affirmation that they're at least going in the right direction, Elden Ring guides and articles have become a valued piece of information for the average player.
Between players having fun with Elden Ring's robust character creation tool, and delving into the game's breathtaking world, there is a lot of content to find and discover before the well runs dry. Like the previous blockbuster titles that showed the potentials of an open world game done right, such as Skyrim or The Witcher 3, Elden Ring is poised to stay relevant in the gaming world for years to come.
Elden Ring is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.