One of the most heavily marketed features inElden Ringis its co-op mode, wherein the host player can summon two other players to help them in their adventures and defeat the game’s challenging bosses.Elden Ringco-op functions like a more convenient version ofDark Soulsco-op, and while it can be a great deal of fun, it also represents one of the game’s greatest missed opportunities to do something even better.
Elden Ringco-op is designed in a way that essentially allows players to play through the entire game together, just in a more inconvenient fashion.Elden Ringco-op players could start off at aSite of Grace, progress with their friends all the way to the area boss, defeat the boss, and then simply summon their friends back into the world immediately after they’re kicked out. Kicking co-op partners out at all just adds a needless extra step to the proceedings.
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What’s more is thatElden Ringco-op playerscan’t get true progress in their worlds like the host player can. Only theElden Ringhost players can touch Sites of Grace, which act as checkpoints and fast-travel spots on the game’s massive open world map. Co-op players do get credit for defeating enemies and playing in co-op is still a great way to level up, but not letting co-op players touch Sites of Grace and progress the story seems like an unnecessary restriction, especially sinceElden Ringalready allows players to basically play through the whole game together anyway.
If a group of three decided to playElden Ringtogether from start to finish, they pretty much could. The only thing is that they would have to do everything three times for everyone to make progress. This can makeElden Ringco-op somewhat repetitive, though the bright side is that it’s a great way tofarm for runesand level up one’s character.
Maybe ifdeveloper FromSoftwareever decides to move forward with anElden Ringsequel, it could really let loose with co-op. Imagine a FromSoftware Soulslike that truly embraces co-op play by doing away with the restrictions to really let players enjoy the entire experience together. It may never happen, but it could very well take an already incredible, landmark gaming experience to even greater heights.
Elden Ringis out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
