Developer FromSoftware has become famous for notoriously challenging yet rewarding games. Its latest release, Elden Ring, has set the bar even higher by expanding the challenge to a completely open world. All previous entries in the Soulsborne series (Dark Souls 1-3, Bloodborne, and Sekiro) have followed a similarly linear path as straightforward adventures with a hub area connecting different regions. There's no doubt the major success of Elden Ring has piqued FromSoftware’s interest in creating more open-world games, but a major part of its previous successes were their compact and linear structure.