Elden Ring is FromSoftware’s first truly open-world game. Previous titles like Dark Souls were famous for being set in interconnected environments, but players were often funneled down a single path through the game. Elden Ring has retained this seamlessness in its open-world design, but it does not hide the points in the environment where the aesthetics of an area change.
Most games have a distinct style for each area in order to break up the game and make that area stand out in the player's mind. However, open-world games will usually attempt to disguise the shift between area styles in order to keep a uniform feeling across the open world.
Elden Ring does not do this, however. Instead it makes a grand spectacle out of revealing a new area to the player. From the first time the player walks into Limgrave to the sky suddenly turning red as they ride into Elden Ring's Caelid region, the game is full of grand area reveals. Now a Reddit user named Pineapple has put together an impressive musical video of their character’s journey through the world of Elden Ring, which shows off just how varied the different areas of the game are.
The video shows the Reddit user's character always in center-frame and always doing the same chest beating Fire Spur Me gesture, while the world around the player cycles through the many distinct areas found in Elden Ring. The Fire Spur Me gesture keeps in almost perfect time with the beat of the song playing in the background, Daft Punk’s Around the World. The character's chest beating is also synchronized with the changing locations as if they were instantly teleporting with each hit.
Elden Ring fans who have finished the game will quickly realize the player's musical journey through the world matches that of a typical playthrough of the game. The video showcases how quickly the game’s art style changes when an entire playthrough is compressed into two minutes. Elden Ring’s entire color palette even changes with every two to three beats of the song. Pineapple was clearly very careful in their selection of the different clips used in the video, as not only does each clip showcase the distinct style of every area in the Elden Ring, but something dynamic or interesting is almost always happening in the background.
Despite each clip appearing onscreen for less than a second, the general feeling and atmosphere of each area can be recognized by what's happening in the background. This shows the changes in pacing and tone players experience throughout Elden Ring, from the peaceful landscapes over Liurnia to being swiped by Malenia’s brutal Waterfowl Dance attack.
Elden Ring is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.