Elden Ring has been a huge hit in the year of 2022, FromSoftware’s latest juggernaut has taken over the gaming world and seems to be an early lock for game of the year. It is clearly the biggest game that the company has made for their Soulsborne series, both literally and figuratively with it seeing the most commercial success, selling over 12 million copies already. But Elden Ring has lost some of the magic, some of the core essentials that the rest of the series painstakingly built up over the years. And while the game is impressive visually and conceptually, when you break it down to the core fundamentals and gameplay, those aspects are sorely lacking when compared to the masterpiece that is Bloodborne.

What Are the Problems with Elden Ring?

It’s too easy, but at the same time too hard. This may sound nonsensical at first, but let me explain. One of the new features Elden Ring flaunts – and a core mechanic mind you – is the introduction of Spirit Ashes. Spirit Ashes are AI companions that you can summon almost at will, to fight your battles alongside you. This is different to the regular Non-Player Character (NPC) summoning outside of specific boss chambers found in most Soulsborne games in a few key ways. Firstly, spirit summoning is much more varied in your choice of ally, and even the amount of allies at your disposal. These spirits can also be summoned much more frequently, and at the cost of your Focus Points (FP) or rarely, your Hit Points (HP). The biggest difference is that unlike NPC summoning or using Multiplayer for boss fights, spirits don’t cause your enemies to grow any stronger. These summons can also be upgraded much like weapons. Unfortunately, when upgraded, some of these summons are far too strong, and can cause the game to be too easy.

Balancing

The problem with these summons arises from how essential they feel. Forgo them on certain bosses and you’re likely to find the boss almost impossible to defeat. Yet with the right summon you can simply sit back and watch your minion win the fight by themselves.

Another issue of balance comes from how devastating some of the magical combinations can be in this game. What with there being ways to one-shot bosses with a single spell that doesn’t even cost any FP, making them too easy, instead of an imposing challenge you expect from such a game.

And then on the other spectrum, there’s the problem of all the endgame bosses one-shotting you unless you’ve spent an absurd amount of your levels into Vigor. This can make things overly punishing, as you will frequently find yourself losing your life and whatever hard-earned Runes you were holding at the time, over just a single mistake!

Re-skins

“It is no exaggeration to say that Elden Ring is FromSoftware’s largest and most ambitious game yet, and that ambition has more than paid off.” – Says IGN Reviewer Mitchell Saltzman. And while Saltzman is partially right, the size of Elden Ring, and how ambitious it is, also led to many problems with the game. One of those problems, is reusing so many of the same assets.

Elden Ring reuses so many of its bosses and enemies that it all starts to feel the same and like you’re just beating the same thing over and over. In Elden Ring, there are 165 bosses in total, but a majority of those are not unique. Many are reused models players must fight multiple different times, or are found as regular enemies later into the game.

Bugs

Another downside to such a large game, is the amount of bugs and glitches that come with it. Elden Ring was full of disastrous bugs on release, bugs that allowed players to beat the entire game without fighting a single enemy. Not because they outwitted these enemies or took a pacifist approach, but because they simply skipped past these enemies and the areas that hold them. This bug allowed players to teleport through the entire game, skip hours and hours of content, and finish in minutes instead whilst ignoring everything you should’ve been interacting with. This meant that you barely had to even play the game to beat it.

Why is Bloodborne Better?

One of the best aspects of Bloodborne would have to be the bosses found and fought within the game. Most bosses were beautifully crafted and well-tested to put up a perfect fight. They never lost that dance the series is so famous for, of finding and mastering the pattern of the bosses’ attacks. They all teetered on that fine edge of being punishing when you do make a mistake, without going overboard and making things too extreme. These bosses make for challenging experiences, but one that is well worth it to overcome. As the jubilation and sense of accomplishment one gets when overcoming this challenge, is the addictive sensation the series is built upon. This feeling is perfected in Bloodborne, specifically in the Ludwig boss fight, whilst it is lost in Elden ring.

Bloodborne may have less weaponry in comparison to Elden Ring, but each weapon in Bloodborne is so unique and special that it more than makes up for it. “There is great flexibility among the available weapons” as stated by Kevin VanOrd of GameSpot. These weapons all have vastly different movesets, and even a second form which completely changes their moves once again. This is something I’d much rather have compared to 20 “different” swords, where the only real difference is simply the skin of the weapon whilst the attacks are all the same. Swords and weapons like that are something which Elden Ring is filled with. Whereas Bloodborne is packed with unique weaponry, Such as the Kirkhammer. The Kirkhammer looks like a simple longsword at first, but turns into a massive stone hammer in its second form. The sword from the first form being used as the handle and shaft within the second.

Design

Bloodborne is also a more visually appealing game. The designs of enemies and bosses in Bloodborne will forever be immortalised within the memories of all who encounter them. Designs such as The One Reborn or the aforementioned Ludwig, or Moon Presence, and Amygdala, to even just the common werewolves and fish-people. Each monster you have to slay fills the player with a sense of dread, horror and awe.

That’s not even to mention the beautiful locales of the game. Locales such as Yharnam and Moonside Lake, or Cainhurst Castle and Yahar’gul, or Mergo’s Loft and Cathedral Ward. Each location perfectly encapsulates the theme and tone of the environment, the people and creatures within it, and how it stands within the context of the story.

“Bloodborne, on the other hand, tells a story with its environments as you press onward, echoing its plot within its architecture and its enemies.” VanOrd also says within his review.

The game, with it being much more compact, is also faster-paced, and that is felt most strongly in the combat. Bloodborne heavily encourages an aggressive playstyle by removing shields (mostly) and the mechanic of blocking that comes with them. Getting rid of most magic also helps Bloodborne turn the action into a gory hack-and-slash paradise.

Conclusion

Elden Ring is still massively successful and will be a great stepping-stone for the company to see where they will go with future games. But even with Elden Ring’s greatness, it will never touch the heights achieved by Bloodborne, or how important Bloodborne was for the series as a whole. I think it’s about time that FromSoft give the people what they want and make the sequel to Bloodborne, the greatest game they’ve ever made.

Would you want a sequel? Or would you settle for a remaster and PC release? Maybe you disagree, maybe you think another game is the best in the series. Let me know in the comments.

Images cited from Fextralife, @SoulsborneDaily, l_aciel, Boss Fight Database, @shimhaq, Sebastian Schulz, Eternal-0, Bloodborne Wiki, Soulslore, USGamer.