Elden Ring: There is an easy difficulty level, just not in the options menu

Elden Ring has now sold over 12 million copies and is slowly but surely drifting into Call of Duty territory. Does that mean that three million former Dark Souls fans are happy and everyone else is despairing of the difficult game? Finally, From Software has once again refused an adjustable level of difficulty. Or did they insert the “easy mode” as a stealth operation?

The latter, of course, is the case, as anyone who has played the Elden Ring for a while will know. Where in Dark Souls you often had to do a lot to at least occasionally have an NPC by your side in a boss fight, Elden Ring gives you a lot more options. Especially the one that you are never alone. Sure, the necromancy of wolves to stately knights and magicians are not an issue for any boss, no matter how small. But your translucent friends do one job with flying colors, that of being the chock that distracts the boss, giving you a little more air. Anyone who knows these games knows how much that can be worth.

Then the general NPC quests are a bit simpler, so you have more powerful support. And finally, you can also bring in a human colleague so that you can practically attack the bosses with a small role-playing party. But the greatest help is outside of the dungeons and boss arenas: your horse. Agility and carrying capacity are two crucial things in a Souls game. And if you’re suddenly allowed to wear the thickest armor and also get the opportunity to quickly distance yourself or to be back at the enemy just as quickly, then that’s almost… cheating?

No. Elden Ring is simply more accessible. There’s nothing wrong with going after a boss with old tactics, and that’s far from impossible. It’s just significantly more difficult than other options in the game. But no more difficult than in previous Souls titles. For those looking for and appreciating this challenge, From has thought of you and there is no boss that absolutely needs such new horse-spirit tactics. There are also still umpteen situations in which Elden Ring cuts off your legs just like in the past and teaches you respect for your opponent. Only with the difference that you now have more options to find your composure again.

In addition, there are simply more places to continue. Every Souls eventually came to a bottleneck that you had to go through, and with legendary passages like Ornstein and Smough, some players certainly wished that they might have something else to do first. Thanks to Elden Ring’s massive world, there’s almost always corners to roam around in.

With Elden Ring, From found a good compromise to give more players a chance to experience all the other qualities. Souls, like Elden Ring, is more than just brutal enemies. This is an important building block, which is why a level of difficulty slider would still be the wrong option. But having more options on how to deal with it, I think that’s the right way.

And veterans just drop the armor and go lay the dragon with a short sword. Simply because they can.