Treasure everywhere

Though Breath Of The Wild inspired awe with its bristling grassy plains and beckoning faraway peaks, the existence (and necessity) of its paraglider testified to how much of the game’s sprawl was content to remain flyover country. And the emptiness of Fallout 3’s Wasteland was at least thematically appropriate given its post-nuclear predicament. The density of Elden Ring’s world furnishing, by contrast, boggles the mind. The Lands Between pulse with life, the drama of a world teeming with motion prior to your arrival. You join in medias res. The fine-tuned pacing of

Elden Ring’s exploration, discovery and conflict cause the hours we spend with it to evaporate as if minutes. It’s not just that engaging moments are packed tightly together; it’s the wider spectrum of variety and duration. Groveside Cave consists of a glorified antechamber, a small pack of wolves and a boss arena. If action RPGs can have minibosses, then why shouldn’t they have mini-dungeons as well?