Elden Ring Is Great, But Even Better When Playing With Friends

Two of my best friends and I joined forces to create the above co-op screenshot. One of our friends pointed out that an overweight man on a horse was coming towards us. Ten seconds later, my two friends and I were shrieking louder than we ever have in each other’s headsets. It turns out that “large guy on a horse” was a Tree Sentinel, a boss we had no chance of defeating after just a few hours of exploring The Lands Between. 

An Astrologer friend of mine secured a spot on top of some rocks. Still, myself, a Prisoner, and my other friend, a Confessor, couldn’t figure out how he got up there, so we ran and ran and ran and ran, screaming the entire time, all while the Astrologer on the rock laughed aloud at the events transpiring below. This was one of my favorite moments in co-op, both in From Software games and in all other games. Soulsborne-style, we moved from laughing, excited for the adventure, to smiling, laughing, and full of terror. 

That situation became one of many multiplayer moments that convinced me From Software’s co-op has never been better than in Elden Ring. 

Let me get this out of the way real quick: I know Elden Ring is experiencing some performance-related issues, and I know Elden Ring’s multiplayer functionality is quite spotty across all platforms. I’ve been lucky enough that summoning friends or joining their worlds has been easy throughout my 30-hour journey thus far. I am also firmly in the camp that Elden Ring’s multiplayer mechanics are still needlessly obtuse. Comparing to other From Software games Elden Ring does an excellent job of explaining how it works but takes far too long as previous Soulsborne games. Why can’t I just pick my friend’s name and jump into their world? What is the point of this treatment? Why does my friend need this finger? Alas, I’m now a master at using fingers and Erdtree flowers and other things to create what I need for a good co-op time, and I’m so dang happy that’s the case. 

From Software has accomplished something with Elden Ring. This game retains the same magic that makes them such fun to play and expands its reach. The game is enormous, amazingly so. While I like exploring it alone, it’s even better when it is done with my friends. While I’m fighting a bear, my friend might notice a shimmer in the distance that draws his attention. I could defeat the bear myself, sure, or – and this is especially fun – I could run toward my friend with the beast in tow. 

One enemy can blow his horn and then realize that his entire troop has been killed. We could run through their camp at will. One option is to confront a group of wandering soldiers, pulled behind by two large and disgusting giants. If we’re not up to those encounters, we might just run around fighting some big ole crabs, or even better, run through catacombs or a dungeon or two. Regardless of what trouble we get up to, it’s a great time. That’s because at the heart of Elden Ring is a wonderfully-designed world founded on one simple pillar: exploration. That sense of discovery and wonder you get when playing alone isn’t affected negatively in any way when playing with friends. In fact, I’d argue it’s heightened. And before you tell me I’m playing Elden Ring wrong or on “easy mode”, ponder this interesting question: why would From Software implement multiplayer if they didn’t actually want us to use it? 

Plus, if you’ve played co-op in Elden Ring, you likely already know that the bosses are significantly harder to take down when you’ve summoned in friends to help. So much so that when a boss is giving me trouble, I find it’s easier to take them on myself rather than summon assistance. While it’s nice to have someone there to calm my nerves and help me feel better, what about actually taking down the boss? This can make it twice as challenging. We tried to bring Godrick the Grafted down with our summoned friends. But he was still at 50%. Alone? His health was consistently below 10%. In fact, after nearly a dozen tries against him, I beat him alone, without the help of my go-to friends when summoning help. 

Elden Ring can be played in many ways. The only objective is to remain alive or in other words, avoid the “YOU DIED” screen as much as possible. Any means necessary to move ahead. Good job if you have ever cheated a boss, or an entire area. If you didn’t, good job. If you’re playing alone, good job. If you’re playing with friends, good job.

It doesn’t matter how you play these games and From Software knows that – whatever works for you works for From Software, and that’s why the story of my Elden Ring journey is likely vastly different from yours or anyone else’s. It’s not your story – it’s mine, and so far, my adventure has been defined by the conversations, the laughter, and the shrieks my friends and I have shared while exploring the beautiful, dense, and terrifying world that is The Lands Between. You, too, will have your own story in Elden Ring and the only thing I’ll suggest is that you inject a little bit of co-op into it. You might hate it, but you may love it too, and if you’re like me, playing with friends in Elden Ring will quickly become your favorite From Software experience yet.