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Which was the better open world game: Elden Ring or Breath of the Wild?
- Thread starter Rurouni
- Start date
They're both bona fide 10/10 experiences and my answer for which is superior could change by the minute. They're both truly spectacular titles and entries to their franchises.
Elden Rings open world made me love playing the game and looking for things. BoTW's made me stop playing the game so for me Elden Ring.
They're both shockingly similar to each other, yet even more shocking is that I love them both for entirely different reasons.
Elden Ring is the more varied game and for that I love it more. Breath of the Wild isn't even my favorite Zelda but Elden Ring is my fav From Software game.
I quite like Elden Ring's legacy dungeons a whole bunch but I don't think Elden Ring is a particularly "great" open world game in the sense that I want to spend more time exploring and traversing as opposed to just getting to the destinations. Too many aspects of its world design and mechanics aren't very conducive to carry that kind of mentality. The game is at its best when you're doing the main dungeons because that's where they get the most out of the mechanics. At a certain point, the open world becomes filler.
Breath of the Wild, in spite of its less unique rewards, manages to stay far more consistent with the spoils while at the same time being way more interesting to survey, maneuver and spend time in. As far as the "open world" aspect is concerned, I think this part reigns supreme. It's a mechanical playground that's extremely well considered. If Elden Ring's open world felt like a big world select, then BOTW's open world feels like one really big level in and of itself; rather than being filler, that world is the content. It also helps that the things you do in that world don't just boil down to combat.
Breath of the Wild, in spite of its less unique rewards, manages to stay far more consistent with the spoils while at the same time being way more interesting to survey, maneuver and spend time in. As far as the "open world" aspect is concerned, I think this part reigns supreme. It's a mechanical playground that's extremely well considered. If Elden Ring's open world felt like a big world select, then BOTW's open world feels like one really big level in and of itself; rather than being filler, that world is the content. It also helps that the things you do in that world don't just boil down to combat.
I don't like Breath of the Wild at all, so Elden Ring by far, even though some things there also disappointed me
Elden Ring is awesome but it's definitely Breath of the Wild. It was nice finding things in that game that wasn't just…another boss fight. Having towns/villages really helps break things up a bit from constant combat.
I can't pick because the stuff one falls short in is what the other excels at. They just need to merge with each other.
They both set the example of what an Open-World game should be. Zelda is my favorite franchise of all-time and it has an upper hand just for that reason, but even then, I have to give it to Elden Ring. The primary reason is because of how much variety the game offers. While enemies and such may not have much to do with the design of the world itself, they do add to each of the different segments in the world by keeping it fresh and exciting. That's what BoTW was missing the most and I hope it gets rectified in the sequel.
Tired: "Leave politics out of our gaming discussion".
Wired: Just going ahead and making The Thread.
Bully for you I guess.
Oh well. At least now it's happened. Glad we can settle it, right?
Right?
Wired: Just going ahead and making The Thread.
Bully for you I guess.
Oh well. At least now it's happened. Glad we can settle it, right?
Right?
To me both are trying things differently enough to be real hard to compare, for example ER has more variety but actually engaging with the open world is done better in BOTW, but the drawbacks of each game are ''intended'' if this makes sense.
Fwiw I think I had a better experience with BOTW but ER is still phenomenal on its own.
Fwiw I think I had a better experience with BOTW but ER is still phenomenal on its own.
Elden Ring and I'm not even out of Limgrave. I finished BOTW but I also find it very overrated. Big empty world with good gameplay.
BotW gets props for fun to explore, but after playing Elden Ring there's no contest. Even the smallest things in the game like infinite stamina in the open world makes the experience x100 better than BotW's.
Breath of the Wild was great because it took Zelda's too restrictive training wheels that seemed to get lodged harder and harder from game to game away. That openness, pardon the pun, was a breath of fresh air. The issue though, is that in that space, there's not a lot of memorable things to do or see. There's landmarks, but most of them are the "climb up here" sort of thing. Shrines are scattershot and all over the place, repeating light concepts over and over again.
Elden Ring, by contrast, offers an open world with a more handcrafted design. Areas that are empty at a distance likely have something interesting there with a unique drop or a boss that will drop from the sky. Dungeons are littered all over the place and while they too repeat concepts, there's far more variety in what they do and what they represent. They even try to justify the repeats with lore context, something Breath of the Wild never even tried. The main dungeons are a flex to dungeon design in other games.
The correct answer is Elden Ring, for it avoids a lot of the pitfalls of open world games where they feel open, yet barren. Lots of room but little to do in a memorable way. Elden Ring really tries to avoid that same problem, and I'm genuinely surprised that it succeeds at it more times than not. A new standard for what open world games need to incorporate in terms of spicing up the game map.
Elden Ring, by contrast, offers an open world with a more handcrafted design. Areas that are empty at a distance likely have something interesting there with a unique drop or a boss that will drop from the sky. Dungeons are littered all over the place and while they too repeat concepts, there's far more variety in what they do and what they represent. They even try to justify the repeats with lore context, something Breath of the Wild never even tried. The main dungeons are a flex to dungeon design in other games.
The correct answer is Elden Ring, for it avoids a lot of the pitfalls of open world games where they feel open, yet barren. Lots of room but little to do in a memorable way. Elden Ring really tries to avoid that same problem, and I'm genuinely surprised that it succeeds at it more times than not. A new standard for what open world games need to incorporate in terms of spicing up the game map.
At same time, Elden Ring has visible weapons everywhere and in the hands of enemies that can't be picked up on the fly in the midst of combat. They both do different things well.
BOTW after a while the joy and mystery of exploring got a little boring (although I guess that depends on what you discover and when). Whereas Elden ring is constantly just taking My breath away. So for me Elden ring is the better open world game.
However that does not make BOTW bad in any way.
However that does not make BOTW bad in any way.
i went off exploring in a hole in the ground (instead of exploring a whole new continent i just got access to) and by the end of exploring i rode in like 50 coffins and killed a big boss and now i have a +9 magic flail that looks like the universe
elden ring
elden ring
I haven't played BOTW, but I gotta say that Elden Ring lost the "wow" factor the more I played the game and started noticing the same patterns being used everywhere.
When I was starting the game I actually thought "this game has the best exploration ever" but after a few areas it became too predictable. Enemy reusing is also off the charts.
Maybe I'm playing it wrong and shouldn't explore every corner of the map, but I gotta say that it does often feel quantity over quality so I hope From goes back to their usual style for their next games, or instead increases their budget so they can fill their open world with better content. They definitely can after ER sales.
When I was starting the game I actually thought "this game has the best exploration ever" but after a few areas it became too predictable. Enemy reusing is also off the charts.
Maybe I'm playing it wrong and shouldn't explore every corner of the map, but I gotta say that it does often feel quantity over quality so I hope From goes back to their usual style for their next games, or instead increases their budget so they can fill their open world with better content. They definitely can after ER sales.
ER is the one I spent 150 hours on without realizing.
It kept throwing wild new experiences at me and stayed challenging, meaning exploration had more purpose. BOTW did neither.
Also Torrent >>>>> horses in BOTW.
It kept throwing wild new experiences at me and stayed challenging, meaning exploration had more purpose. BOTW did neither.
Also Torrent >>>>> horses in BOTW.
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Not a HUGE BOTW fan and I do like Elden Ring a lot and do like its world... but gave it to BOTW, because there is actually stuff in the world that isn't trying to murder you 100% of the time. So it's a bit more rewarding exploring in a sense.
But yea, the RDR2 option wasnt there, I tried to find it.
But yea, the RDR2 option wasnt there, I tried to find it.
I think Zeldas overworld was more fun to explore because of the climbing.
But Elden ring does a much better job of integrating it's points of interest into the world itself. Feels more natural than the shrines in Zelda. It also has a much, much better horse. And better rewards for exploring thanks to the level progression system and insane number of weapons (that don't break!)
Both have some amazing views.
But Elden ring does a much better job of integrating it's points of interest into the world itself. Feels more natural than the shrines in Zelda. It also has a much, much better horse. And better rewards for exploring thanks to the level progression system and insane number of weapons (that don't break!)
Both have some amazing views.
It's hard for me to choose but I think from an "open world" perspective I have to go with Zelda just because I like being in the world of that game more, whereas with Elden Ring the open world is just something I have to cross to get to stuff. I can't climb, I can't glide, I can't make bridges and campfires and rafts. There's no towns of funny folk to discover, etc. The horse is dope but a lot of it is just going from Dark Souls encounter to Dark Souls encounter.
That said the combat, dungeons and enemy variety is way better in Elden Ring so I figure it's gonna super win here just for that lol
That said the combat, dungeons and enemy variety is way better in Elden Ring so I figure it's gonna super win here just for that lol
While Elden Ring reuses a lot of stuff, I always felt that something new and unique was around the corner, even if sometimes it wasn't.
BOTW has a phenomenal crafted world but it made me feel that no matter where I go, I'll always find a Shrine or Korok seed as a reward... even if you can actually find something unique exploring.
So yeah, I vastly prefer Elden Ring's approach.
BOTW has a phenomenal crafted world but it made me feel that no matter where I go, I'll always find a Shrine or Korok seed as a reward... even if you can actually find something unique exploring.
So yeah, I vastly prefer Elden Ring's approach.
