FromSoftware have lifts down
Elden Ringhas got me thinking again.
Not about itsterrible banter I adoreor itsrolling goats.
My mind has turned to its elevators and how FromSoftware does them justice.
Not to mention their little pressure plates - god they’re satisfying aren’t they?
I’m sure other games have exceptional elevator sequences.
Moments where characters travel up or down together for the first - or last time.
Perhaps there are invisible assassins in the elevator with you, woah!
Chaotic firefights where you’re sliding and tumbling down an elevator shaft as everything erupts in flames.
I’m not saying other games aren’t capable of elevating the elevator.
But I reckon FromSoftware gets the elevator consistently right, and have been for years.
The wave of realisation hit me when, naturally, I rode an elevator downwards inElden Ring.
Without spoiling too much, I’d encountered a curious building plonked in the middle of the woods.
Not only was my elevator ride a bit spooky, but also long.
Longer than I’d ever encountered in a Souls game.
Compared to my previous experience with Souls elevators, a lengthy plunge hadn’t been what I expected.
Looking back, it was another clever switcheroo from the norm.
A norm which I’ve also come to appreciate.
The same rings true for Elden Ring as it does all previous Souls games.
They encourage you to remain active and pay even greater attention to your surroundings.
Although, the jumper would pair nicely with the greaves I’ve got on at the moment.
And it’s where they take you, or refuse to, that sets Souls elevators apart from most.
“, transforming them from dread machines to slabs of relief.
Sometimes the elevators aren’t even at their posts, having left a telling gap in their place.
But also, a nod to its true form as a shortcut.
“If you’re brave enough”, it says, “I’ll meet you downstairs”.
The brave journey to find the lift you’re after is worth it.
Partly for the shortcut, but mainly for another press on the pressure plates that control them.
So much better than a button press, I reckon.
