Games 2022: Elden Ring was the best game for breaking the rules
It took a little over a week for someone to speed up Elden Ring. But the race for the fastest time was just beginning.
The first recorded speedrun recorded in just under two and a half hours. Two days later, the game was completed in less than an hour. As soon as a time was registered, he was hit. By April, it had been finished in less than ten minutes.
Speedrunning a game like Elden Ring, with its gloriously grim open world, has never really appealed to me. I am a diligent gamer. Instead of rushing, I like to savor each grim discovery, each hideous enemy. I make my own rules, finishing each area of the map before moving on; not to enter the sickly acrid Caelid until all the dusty nooks and crannies of Raya Lucaria Academy had been explored.
That’s why my first game took over 110 hours.
But Elden Ring has inspired players all year long, with a whole host of creative and unique ways to play beyond just speedrunning.
Take Let Me Solo Her, for example, a community icon who single-handedly defeated the most infamous boss in the game, Malenia, on behalf of players defeated a thousand times over. When so many struggle with the challenge of FromSoftware games, one player took our collective frustration on his back. The Bandai Namco publisher even I give you a sword for your service.
Other players took control to the next level. A streamer completed the game. using only one hand, beating all the bosses without leveling up your character. As if that wasn’t impressive enough, then she did it all over again. with a dance floor. and then she played with hands and feet at the same time.
Another plucky Tarnished made music while performing, releasing a video of herself. defeating Margit using a harp. It may not be melodically interesting, but the synergy between player and instrument is a whole new kind of music.
Rudeism, known for its creative custom controllersdecided to play through Elden Ring using a Modified Fisher Price toy controller who made silly sounds that contrasted with the gory action. Another big name modder, Super Louis 64, not only played the game with a Ring Fit Controller sweat through The Lands Between, but played the game with a banana. How appetizing.
FromSoftware’s games are known for their difficulty; in fact, Elden Ring has been rightly criticized for its lack of accessibility options – but opening up the world has opened up the game to many more players and inspired many new ways to play.
And what a spectacular world it is. Emerging from a catacomb at the start of the game, the hills stretch out before you and hide a multitude of devilish, but often strikingly beautiful bosses to defeat. The first area complete, you look out over a midnight blue lake bathed in moonlight, the gothic spires of the magic academy looming tantalizingly in the distance.
But the really amazing moment for me was when I first fell into a well. This was not just another catacomb. I went underground under an iridescent starry sky and realized that the already imposing map presented a whole new layer to explore. I couldn’t wait to see more.
Isn’t all this the joy of an open world game? Elden Ring is a dark fantasy sandbox and there’s room for everyone no matter how you want to play: whether it’s meticulously defeating each boss or playing with a banana. FromSoftware’s epic gives players the freedom to create their own rules, or break them entirely.