Before I start I am not a native speaker so please excuse my grammatic errors and horrible spelling.

So I bought Elden Ring around like 2 weeks ago and greatly enjoying the game. It is really a good game with fun bosses, good armor and weapon design, captivating to look places and interesting places. It has some of the great enemy and npc designs. Some awesome and weird dungeons overall awesome experience except for one thing. The "Open World"

I love open world games. I know over the years they have become infamous with some ubisoft type bullshit running amok and suck the life out of genre. But despite all that I still love open world games. Elden ring despite doing a lot of things right they really miss with open world. Here is my opinions on why

I think From Software took the term Open World too litteral. Because the world is too open and empty. The map is big no doubt about it but that big map is really empty. You just run around and around and around with your horse. Come to a ruin or some special place telegraphed in map. Deal with enemy or talk with the npc in there, collect something leave and restart the process.

The dungeon like places feells like how game meant to be. This is one thing that can really hurt the "Open World" image of your game. As soon as I enter magic school or big castle or some underground crypt or something. Game immideatly changes and feels like that is how it meant to be played. Without your horse and fairly linear but full of secret areas plays better then open ended and fairly boring landscape.

Despite being open world in its name, game feels lineer. The main reason for that is because there is generally no reason for you to go back to any ruin or cyrpt or castle or something. So you just go forward in this open world game and only freedom you have is that which order you can approch to places you want to go. Other then that you just go finish the place and never look back. I think main reason for that is there is no place you actually want to go back with. There is only one town like place in the game and it is the jar town. But even that place is easily missable and there is no proper interraction with anyone. I feel like roundtable hold should have been in the overworld rather then a place you can only access by teleporting. For example Dark Souls II fairly critisized and one of the most talked shit entry from From Software. But Majula, main hud/ town in that game. Almost connceted with every region of the game. You always find yourself to go back there. You open the door for blacksmith to work. As you purchase armors from the merchant he transform from insecure little man to arrogant bastard. Emerald Herald can be found meditating or walking around or sometime just sitting on a rock and playfully swing her legs. Npc's you met in your journey can be seen there later and can be blend into town. So what am I saying is, even for a linear design game Majula from Dark Souls II feels like a open world city/town. But Roundtable Hall just feels like lifeless. I belive in my opinion it would be more lively place if it was inside in a castle at the overworld or something.

Last but I think most important that, there is almost no event or encounters going on. I belive most eventfull think happens is some of Radahn soilders fighting with Caleid monster in overworld. For example whne you walk around in New Vegas you can encounter a town, burning and people crucifeid and then a man with a exicment in his voice come to you and says "I won, I won the lottery" you baffeled not understanding what happens. Encounter a legion telling you this town is punished for its henious acts and sins. So when you go around you understand that the town is famous for its big lottery and new roman empire looking people punish them for their henious act. Use their own lottery system so that only winner can escape from crucified and you found out the second one gets to live only they criplle him. All the other loser of the lottery just dies. These kind of encounters never happens in Elden Ring. I know as narrative stand point it is not ideal to do that kind of thing is Elden ring or maybe it happened but From Software storry telling is so cyriptic you just miss it. Either way Elden Ring feels uneventfull.

It feells like I talk shit about the game a lot but you have to understand all my complains are just about the so called "Open World" aspect of the game which in my opinion if you lose it, game dosent lost any value, hell even can gain some maybe. The pseudo-open world of Elden Ring as I said in the title at worst just boring.

As I said these are all my opinions. I would like to hears yours and maybe I am completly wrong and missing the point. But in the end thanks for reading my take on "Elden Ring's Open World"