Elden Ring is FromSoftware's large-scale open-world action RPG and one of the most important modern reference points for the Soulslike genre. Bandai Namco lists it as an Action RPG / Open World title with single-player support, online multiplayer, and versions for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2.
Its importance is not simply that it is difficult. Elden Ring takes familiar Souls ideas—deliberate combat, recoverable currency, checkpoint-based progression, boss learning, obscure worldbuilding, weapon scaling, and build experimentation—and places them inside a world that lets the player decide where to go next.
Quick facts
- Developer: FromSoftware
- Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment
- Genre: Action RPG, open world
- Core modes: Single-player with online features
- Online player support: Bandai Namco lists up to three players online and up to six in arenas
- Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch 2
- Soulslike profile: Open-world exploration, build variety, demanding bosses, checkpoint progression, resource recovery, optional co-op
What makes Elden Ring different from Dark Souls?
The biggest structural change is freedom. Dark Souls often funnels the player through a dense network of areas where shortcuts and route knowledge gradually unlock the world. Elden Ring preserves dungeons, legacy areas, hidden paths, traps, NPC questlines, and dangerous bosses, but places them inside the much larger Lands Between.
When a fight becomes a wall, you are rarely forced to solve it immediately. You can explore another region, find upgrade materials, discover a different weapon, improve a Spirit Ash, change your spell loadout, complete a cave, or simply gain levels elsewhere. That makes difficulty more flexible without removing the underlying demand for learning.
This is why Elden Ring appears prominently in our Soulslike games for beginners guide. It is not easy, but it gives a beginner more escape routes than a tightly linear Soulslike.
Combat and build freedom
Elden Ring supports a wide range of melee weapons, shields, bows, sorceries, incantations, status effects, weapon skills, summons, armor combinations, and stat distributions. The same boss can feel radically different depending on whether a player uses a colossal weapon, fast bleed setup, shield-heavy approach, sorcery, faith-based casting, ranged tools, or a hybrid build.
That variety is important to the Soulslike identity because character-building and player learning reinforce one another. You can improve your execution, but you can also improve the question you are asking the encounter. A difficult boss may become more manageable because your weapon reaches farther, your resistances improve, or your build creates a safer damage window.
Open-world exploration
Bandai Namco describes the Lands Between as a vast world with open fields and huge dungeons connected organically. The open-world structure is not only visual scale. It changes the rhythm of progression.
Small caves and catacombs provide compact challenges. Legacy dungeons deliver denser, more traditional Souls level design. Field bosses can appear unexpectedly. Hidden routes reward curiosity. Mounted travel turns geography into part of the decision-making process.
Players who specifically want this structure should continue to open-world Soulslike games or games like Elden Ring.
Multiplayer and co-op
Elden Ring supports online play, but it is not structured like a conventional always-together co-op campaign. Summoning systems, invasions, signs, passwords, and arena modes create specific multiplayer contexts rather than a single persistent party experience.
That distinction matters if you are buying primarily to play with a friend. Our co-op Soulslike games page compares the practical differences between games instead of treating every multiplayer tag as equivalent.
Is Elden Ring a good first Soulslike?
For many players, yes. The open world creates room to leave difficult encounters, Spirit Ashes can reduce pressure in many fights, and build variety provides several ways to solve problems. A player who struggles with reaction timing may lean on shields, summons, magic, ranged attacks, status effects, or simply more exploration.
The game can still be overwhelming because it exposes so many systems at once. New players need to learn attribute scaling, equipment load, upgrading, Sites of Grace, status effects, crafting, Spirit Ashes, and a large world with relatively little hand-holding.
If you want a more guided first game, compare it with Another Crab's Treasure and Lies of P.
Current platform picture
The official Bandai Namco page currently lists PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2. That wide availability makes Elden Ring one of the easiest major Soulslikes to recommend across hardware ecosystems.
If your decision is platform-specific, use PC Soulslike games or PS5 Soulslike games rather than assuming every version has identical performance characteristics.
Who should play Elden Ring?
Choose Elden Ring if you value exploration, build experimentation, optional challenge, large-scale discovery, and the freedom to decide when to confront a difficult boss. It is less ideal if you want a short linear campaign, highly directed storytelling, or combat built around one narrow defensive mechanic.
For a broader comparison against other standouts, see best Soulslike games. For alternatives that preserve some of its exploration or combat appeal, start with games like Elden Ring.
