Summary
Over the years, FromSoftware has released plenty of hits, fromDemon’s Soulsto the recentArmored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon. Every title has its fans, but the two games still dominating recent discussions areElden RingandBloodborne. The former remains fresh in many players' minds after its early 2022 launch, and soon enough,Elden Ringwill get a DLC expansion to cap off its epic journey.Bloodborne, meanwhile, has been content-complete since 2015, and its fans are so desperate for a sequel or remaster that they’ve resorted to making some themselves.
Both of these titles are beloved entries in the “Soulsborne” action-RPG line FromSoftware has been building since 2009’sDemon’s Souls. As with many Soulsborne games,Elden RingandBloodborneshare plenty of gameplayand narrative qualities, but each maintains differences to set themselves apart. They include different genre aesthetics and structural priorities, likeElden Ring’s open world, but one of the greatest divides between them is how each title’s endgame takes FromSoftware’s game design in radically different directions.
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Elden Ring and Bloodborne’s Endings Aren’t All Their Endgames Hold
At first,BloodborneandElden Ringseem to end in similar ways. Each title funnels players into a mostly linear dungeon, which then opens up a series of bosses in a simple final area. Someunique parts ofElden RingandBloodborne’s endingsbecome apparent here, such as howBloodborne’s final bosses and endings branch off from each other depending on the player’s choices. Meanwhile,Elden Ringsimply demands a set of bosses be overcome before players can choose an ending based on the side quests they’ve done.
These are different approaches to handling endings, but variants like them crop up in various FromSoftware games likeDark SoulsandSekiro. Where things get interesting is if the player holds off on seeing credits and explores what else can be done in the endgame.Elden Ringproudly displays the Consecrated Snowfield and underground regions as exhaustively challenging late-game content, whileBloodbornetucks optional bosses and areas like Ebrietasand Castle Cainhurst into obscure corners. However, even that pales in comparison to the bonus contentBloodbornehides in plain sight.
Bloodborne’s Endgame Conceals A True Roguelike Soulslike
Ignoring DLC,Elden Ring’s endgame is whatever’s left of its overwhelmingly dense map, a focus on overwhelming difficulty, and multiplayer Colosseums. They can extend play time, but often can’t hold off player fatigue once an endpoint is in sight. Many ofElden Ring’s areas don’t get revisited in replays since so much of the game is optional. In place ofElden Ring’s abundant but static content,Bloodborneinstead has Chalice Dungeons. Though they often draw negative comparisons toElden Ring’s caves and catacombs, Chalice Dungeons secretly hold another game’s worth of Soulslike action, and eventually give way to a surprising roguelike twist.
As players complete progressively harder premade Chalice Dungeons, they unlock the ability to create randomly generated ones. This is whereBloodbornejumps from a standard FromSoftware action-RPG to a roguelike hybrid. Hours of new experiences can be derived fromBloodborne’s Chalice Dungeonsthanks to the sheer number of features they offer.
FromSoftware normally doesn’t use procedural generation, but by adding it toBloodborne’s linear endgame, some players were kept entranced long after technically seeing everything. There will always be a place for traditional Soulslikes, but Chalice Dungeons can keep their feelings of discovery and uncertainty alive for longer. If a future title withElden Ring’s scale traded its lesser dungeons forBloodborne’s random ones, FromSoftware might have a whole new kind of game on its hands.
Elden Ring
WHERE TO PLAY
ELDEN RING, developed by FromSoftware, Inc. and BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc., is a fantasy action-RPG adventure set within a world created by Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R.R. Martin. Danger and discovery lurk around every corner in FromSoftware’s largest game to date. Hidetaka Miyazaki - President and Game Director of FromSoftware Inc. Known for directing critically-acclaimed games in beloved franchises including Armored Core and Dark Souls.George R.R. Martin is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of many novels, including the acclaimed series A Song of Ice and Fire - A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast For Crows, and A Dance with Dragons. As a writer-producer, he has worked on The Twilight Zone, Beauty and the Beast, and various feature films and pilots that were never made. He lives with the lovely Parris in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
