Both Dark Souls and Dark Souls 3 come in at around the 30 hour mark for the main story, with an extra 17 hours for the side quests in each game. Meanwhile, Dark Souls 2 is the longest of the Soulslike FromSoftware game, coming in at 37 hours for the main story and a massive 27 hours for the side quests alone.
Elden Ring is longer than some of FromSoftware's previous games like Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3, thanks to its large open world players can explore.
Elden Ring is a More Advanced Form of Soulslike
The game takes after the enemy speed and complexity present in Dark Souls 3 and Sekiro, so one would assume it is more difficult than the oldest Souls titles.
Elden Ring is a far larger open-world game that balances its RPG character customization system with diverse action mechanics. Sekiro, on the other hand, is a relatively linear but far more fast-paced, fluid, action-oriented game with minimal character customization compared to previous Soulsborne titles.
When focusing on the main objectives, Elden Ring is about 57½ Hours in length. If you're a gamer that strives to see all aspects of the game, you are likely to spend around 133 Hours to obtain 100% completion.
Elden Ring is packed with enough content to keep players coming back for well upwards of 50 hours. It may then surprise players to know that, in the grand scheme of things, the open world isn't all that big.
In many ways, Dark Souls 3 is the easiest Dark Souls game because FromSoft had ironed out many of the little problems from previous entries. Combat in that game is far more polished and faster than it was in Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2.
This game might be absolutely massive, but the end of your journey is ultimately just the beginning - as like the ring, you can continue forever, in an endless, circular cycle... if you wish.
Basically, Demon's Souls begat Dark Souls which begat Elden Ring. The Dark Souls series made FromSoftware a legitimate contender with 27 million unit sales across three games as of 2020.
Then, they traveled across the entire Elden Ring overworld, only to finally come up with a hard number: 79 km². In practice, this means that Elden Ring's open-world is bigger than that of Grand Theft Auto V.
According to HLTB, the crown for longest overall video game belongs to Melvor Idle, a Runescape-inspired idle/incremental game with an estimated playtime of 3,126 hours. On the other end of the spectrum lies Trivia Vault: Super Heroes Trivia with an estimated playtime of 1 minute and 12 seconds.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is the hardest FromSoftware game by far, fans say. FromSoftware games are infamous for their difficulty, and while they've become more accessible with titles like Dark Souls 3 and Elden Ring, they're always good for a challenge.
In comparison to Skyrim, Elden Ring's combat is far more complex and well done, and it's understandable why when you have to face some insurmountably difficult opponents.
On OpenCritic, a newer review aggregator, Elden Ring is the #1 reviewed game of all time there, and you can see why, given how many of these games are generations old.
I just started playing Cuphead for the first time a few days ago and I swear dude this game is way damn harder than Elden Ring even was. Yes I understand they're entirely different but holy damn dude. I think Cuphead truly takes the cake for the most difficult game.
It's clear developer FromSoftware prioritizes function and high quality. This is highly apparent in Elden Ring, which is partly why it became one of the most beloved games ever made.
Top of the bill is Elden Ring being more approachable a Souls game than any other to have come before it. While it is still upsettingly difficult at times by design, there's no getting around Elden Ring being far better equipped to accept newcomers than previous FromSoftware games.
Another reason fans are so excited for the game is that this promises to be a spiritual successor to the DARK SOULS series, as its graphics, medieval setting, and overall story seem reminiscent of the franchise.
What Makes Elden Ring successful? While games like Dark Souls and Demon's Souls pioneered the genre of “soulsborne/souls-likes”, Elden Ring has taken it to the next level. It takes everything these games did – brutal difficulty, memorable boss fights, top-notch level design – and expands on it.
As pointed out by Push Square, an incredible 7.9% of Elden Ring players have completely 100% beaten the game and earned the Platinum.