Elden Ring Players Call Out Game for Missing Basic Feature

Elden Ring has a 96 on Metacritic, making it one of the highest-rated games of all time. Suffice to say, it doesn’t just do a lot of things right, but it absolutely nails almost everything it sets out to do. That said, just like FromSoftware‘s previous work — Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro — there’s plenty about Elden Ring that will immediately repel many that give it a shot. Most famously, its difficulty scares off many potential players. Meanwhile, some have criticized Elden Ring and FromSoftware games in general for how obtuse they are. There’s no hand-holding at any moment, which is the exact opposite approach of so many modern games, and especially, so many open-world games. For some, this is a turn-off, but for many, it’s a big part of the allure. 

All of that said, some over on the game’s very popular Reddit page think FromSoftware takes it too far with the minimalism and lack of available information about the game’s UI and HUD. To this, end there’s currently a post with over 25,000 votes complaining about the lack of in-game information about various icons.

“I’m all for minimalism and all that, but it would be cool for there to be a way in-game to find out what the f**k all of these mean,” reads the Reddit post.

I’m all for minimalism and all that, but it would be cool for there to be a way in game to find out what the fuck all of these mean. from
Eldenring

“This s**t drives me nuts in games these days,” reads a reply in agreement. “With there being no instruction manuals like there used to be. Now we are left with games throwing things at you with no understanding. I really shouldn’t have to leave my game and go on the internet to understand what the f**k a mechanic or status in a game means. Throw me a basic glossary/codex in the game.”

As you may know, there’s been a lot of criticism lodged at the game’s UI and UX, but anyone who has played FromSoftware games in the past will know this is the studio’s MO, and with Elden Ring being the team’s most popular and critically-acclaimed outing yet, it’s hard to imagine this criticism leading to substantial changes to Elden Ring or future projects from the Japanese studio. And of course, while there are plenty who agree with the Reddit post above, there are also plenty — if not a lot more — who disagree and like that the game provides you with absolutely no easy information.

Elden Ring is available via the PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, and Xbox Series X.  For more coverage on the latest FromSoftware game,  click here.

“If FromSoftware’s past games are considered individual successes, Elden Ring feels like the developer’s ‘Greatest Hits’ collection,” reads the opening of our review of the game. “It plays like a culmination of every smart idea FromSoftware has had throughout its grueling games while still finding ways to build on the opaque experience the studio’s crafted over the years. The half-jokes referring to it as ‘Dark Souls 4‘ weren’t far off, but it manages to be much more than that, too.”