Elden Ring is more than just a brilliant open-world game – it heralds a renaissance for the genre. For decades, devs’ approach to this genre has been to add detail – to craft a perfect universe where players can explore wherever they want, and this ‘more is more’ approach meets with varying degrees of success. For every Grand Theft Auto city packed with missions, shops, golf courses, and bowling alleys, or for every Elder Scrolls region stuffed with dungeons to explore, there are bland interpretations of real-world locations that may get the details right but wind up feeling dull and puffy.

Of course, the most obvious punching bags are any of the recent Ubisoft open-world games. It makes sense for almost every Assassin’s Creed  to have an open world as they’re set in real-world locations from history, but Ubisoft has stuck open worlds (or very big maps) on many of its other series with mixed results. Far Cry, Watch Dogs, and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon all have huge islands or cities to explore, but not a lot in them besides millions of meaningless collectibles that eventually give you an achievement.

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