Fast travel kinda spoils the game

[Obviously Logic]

Im all for the different shortcuts you can unlock in souls games. And in a way im ok with the occasional portal/teleporter you find while exploring. But not a fan of being able to open map and fast travel anywhere, no journey really has a purpose when you can jump around the map like crazy. At least lose runes on fast travel so it needs to become a decision. And at the very very most only allow fast travel from sites of grace, not in the middle of the woods

[vaanomega]

The Elden Ring level design isn't made like dark souls where almost everything is connected by some elevator or secret passage, but if the game had no fast travel, i would have played it anyway, i'm a Dragon's Dogma player afterall

[MrSoul]

Publicado originalmente por ♥♥♥♥♥♥:

Idk man, i have a job, its very time consuming moving the huge ass map just to get the fart medalion i left behind in that cave.

Ya, weekends when have the time, I’ll ride around. Weekdays when have like 2 hours max to play if that? Nah. Lol

[Cooperal]

I can tell the difference between time wastes and moments which are dead for the sake of immersion. This game was not made to make revisiting the same location satisfying. Sadly that is the case with most open world games.

The very fact that this game gives you a satnav redefines the type of exploration we are doing. Despite the being larger than any of the Souls games, it is more difficult to embrace the wonder of being lost. I wouldn't want another Breath of the Wild where two thirds of gameplay is just watching yourself navigate in a straight line.

Edit: I would like to see some more immersive modes of travel though. The way the world coils around that large area of water, it would make for a neat fly-over between somewhere like Leyndell and Limgrave.

[Kanaev]

Publicado originalmente por Dargsy:

Publicado originalmente por Kanaev:

Removing fast travel fully would not do the game as it is any favours, but freedom of fastrravel makes level designers lazy. First half of DS was glorious because there wasn't an option to teleport anywhere and the game was built around that with multiple ways to any location, while after Anor Londo a lot of that lecel design went away, because now everybody had a teleport.
DS2 had fast travel from beginning and it's level connections are abyssmal.
DS3 had great design within the locations, but nothing in terms of different ways to access the same one.

Elden Ring is a mixbag in this way - "legacy dungeons" are mostly great with progression. Due to jumping and open nature it gets downplayed a lot, but small dungeons and caves are just dead ends with teleport back. From some you can't even backtrack out and have to teleport.

They should create levels without fast travel in mind and make it an unlockable after ~you get your first great rune.

I've recently tried to do a "maidenless run" (it's futile) and didn't sit at any graces. After beginning - I went right to Caelis trough a trap chest in Dragonburnt Ruins. I did not understand that my fastravel was blocked because of a trap chest and thought the game wanted to force Melina on me. From Caelid all the way to Capital Outskirts and back down to Liurnia without teleportation was a great experience. Sadly, then I decided to visit Latenna and had to sit at a grace, because you can't get out from her place without fast traveling.

Tl;dr - fast travel is a good convenience, but it also frees level designers from worries and makes them lazy.

Do be quiet. If you call the level designers in this game lazy you're just being an ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ purist. The legacy dungeons still have everything you described. An open world, no matter how its designed, that doesn't have fast travel is tedious and absolutely a pain to play.

Did you really read what I've wrote? I've praised the legacy dungeons, complained about small ones and did not ask for complete fast travel removal. I want small dungeons to be better. Unlocking fast travel after your first great rune is just a suggestion, it would also require the rework of some things. Namely - Melina's trigger. She should appear with torrent in any location, not just Limgraive. My first hours were spent in Caelid, because the first place I went to were Dragonburnt ruins and that trapchest. It was fun getting out of there.

Try to be a bit more calm and think what others are saying. Removing fast travel from the game as it is would only do harm. Designers should've thought about it first. And fast travel should be in the game.

[königplatzen]

Generally, I like the fast-travel function and can't imagine to play this game without.
But, there are these moments, where you just don't have to be cautious at all, because it's easy to get out of trouble. F.e. jumping down a cliff to a ledge and if there is no way out, you just teleport back.
The fast travel could be sometimes a slight bit more restrictive, where it does make sense.

[✪ Wuhan Warrior 🍉🍉]

Without the fast travel function I fear this game is too buggy or glitchy to play. Let me reiterate how/why. Sainted Hero’s Grave- where there’s a stone sword key on top of the ramp on the path of the deathmachine. That freaking machine doesn’t go all the way down, making it a a suicide move for anyone trying to pick up that item! And as a result lose all the runes gathered! Also outside beastman clergy area where people drop down to pick certain items- no way back out. You will have to suicide again, lose runes for the price of picking those items.

Your suggestion cannot be implemented for reasons provided above! Also the complexity of travelling both underground and above ground!

[vaanomega]

Publicado originalmente por Dargsy:

Publicado originalmente por vaanomega:

The Elden Ring level design isn't made like dark souls where almost everything is connected by some elevator or secret passage, but if the game had no fast travel, i would have played it anyway, i'm a Dragon's Dogma player afterall

Dragon's Dogma has fast travel. Port crystals. It's just that its not in pre-placed areas but you place them. Which is even more convenient.

Yes, but if i remember correctly, you had around 3 of those crystals per New Game cycle (NG and NG+) wich make the first Playthrough with almost no teleportation (Before Dark Arisen you also had a limited numbers of Stone, with the DLC, they gave us a reusable one)

[♔V3RD1CT]

Publicado originalmente por Obviously Logic:

Im all for the different shortcuts you can unlock in souls games. And in a way im ok with the occasional portal/teleporter you find while exploring. But not a fan of being able to open map and fast travel anywhere, no journey really has a purpose when you can jump around the map like crazy. At least lose runes on fast travel so it needs to become a decision. And at the very very most only allow fast travel from sites of grace, not in the middle of the woods

It's not like this is permanent. You earn it, and even have to reclaim the spawn point in NG+ as they show, but can NOT be traveled.

Idk why that's an issue except it personally takes the exp of 'walking for miles with nothing in sight' away from you?

[trash]

Publicado originalmente por p00se2:

dont like it
dont use it
?

the game is built around fast travel
not using it isn't a practical option
other open world games have managed to make manual traversal viable and enjoyable
elden ring is not one of them

op is correct
games that heavily bank on fast travel with waypoints every 5 steps trend towards busywork simulators where you just warp around to do anything instead of meaningfully engaging with the map
probably for the best in this case given the map is just empty space to pad out time between points of interest

[Jinks]

TLDR; I agree teleporting from anywhere feels cheesy, but with the way the secrets in the game are set up, it would not work without this QOL feature.


The long version;

FRIENDLY REMINDER OP ISN'T SAYING GET RID OF FAST TRAVEL, BUT THAT IT SHOULD REQUIRE BEATING 1 OR 2 BOSSES *OR* BE ACCESSIBLE FROM SITE OF GRACE. They aren't saying you should have to ride back and forth from Limgrave to the Giants mountain, just that sites of grace are frequent enough that quick travel from anywhere feels cheesy.

I understand the point you're making, it does feel a bit cheap if I die somewhere risky that I can just sprint in, grab my runes, and run off and crouch behind a wall for 20 seconds and teleport away (I've literally never had to use the return to site of grace and drop runes item because of this.)
It feels like they didn't intend to have quick travel usable anywhere, but had too many testers get stuck on stupid ledges so they had to add it because of how open world exploration performs with hidden ledge drop secrets.

There's been a few ledges and inescapable places that totally look like paths that just kill you or have no further drop downs.
- Easiest example is behind beast clergyman where it looks like you're intended to drop down, but it was apparently the wrong way so they patched in an instant death wall, which leaves your souls trapped on the first branch you drop to.
- I believe that the cliff to the west of Radahn also has an inescapable drop with a magic giant and a spell, but I might have just not seen the further down platforms (Although I doubt it because that would allow you to drop into Radahn's area without going through the Redmane route.)

Removing fast travel (Or making it only usable later or from sites of grace) would discourage exploring with how obscurely some of the hidden jump or fall areas are that they hide good loot in.

[♔V3RD1CT]

Publicado originalmente por Jinks:

TLDR; I agree teleporting from anywhere feels cheesy, but with the way the secrets in the game are set up, it would not work without this QOL feature.


The long version;

FRIENDLY REMINDER OP ISN'T SAYING GET RID OF FAST TRAVEL, BUT THAT IT SHOULD REQUIRE BEATING 1 OR 2 BOSSES *OR* BE ACCESSIBLE FROM SITE OF GRACE. They aren't saying you should have to ride back and forth from Limgrave to the Giants mountain, just that sites of grace are frequent enough that quick travel from anywhere feels cheesy.

Hold up though because you DO have to beat bosses for a lot of access to different areas. Just on that one paragraph. I don't think it's an issue at all, the game is a massive open world riddled with confusion, and misdirection.

[UNITED STATES OF SMASH]

yeah i am not a fan of fast travel however when game is to huge it feels mandatory, for example i really liked how original dark souls give you "warp" later in game which feels at the right moment, similar example would be gothic and gothic 2 there you also unlock teloprt runes later on in game when you already familiar with world, however a lot people don't like backtracking so i understand why they just give fast travel right away

[Sparrowlicious]

It's a massive map. Stop trying to get features removed that are useful for players who don't want to travel 5 hours to get somewhere.

[♔V3RD1CT]

Publicado originalmente por Sparrowlicious:

It's a massive map. Stop trying to get features removed that are useful for players who don't want to travel 5 hours to get somewhere.

Yeah why the hell would anyone want to be stuck 'walking' this entire massive open world?
That is pure insanity, I'm left to assume the topic is a troll. lol

[UNITED STATES OF SMASH]

Publicado originalmente por Sparrowlicious:

It's a massive map. Stop trying to get features removed that are useful for players who don't want to travel 5 hours to get somewhere.

don't worry nobody will change it, stop gatekeeping discussions