One of the most notable things aboutElden Ringis how expansive the world seems, especially as it is teeming with secret items to collect and tucked away locations around seemingly every corner. Between fights with ghoulish soldiers, monsters born through incomprehensible means, and fierce dragons, it can be nice to take in the environment to appreciate its beauty.
Arguably an issue withElden Ringis that much of the interactivity one has with the environment boils down to gawking at it. There might be a friendly NPC who players can accept a quest from or simply chat with, but the only purpose something like water serves is to be another means of killing the player. Sometimes what is needed to appreciate one’s surroundings is to stop for a little while to do a relaxing activity, and there are few activities in games that excel at this more than fishing.
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The Case to Include Fishing in Elden Ring
It is highly unlikely fishing will be included inElden Ringfor several reasons, with the most prominent being that FromSoftware has probably never considered adding fishing to the game. Little hope can probably be found with the creators behindElden Ring’s Convergence modalso since it attempts to stay faithful to the game’s tone.
The concept’s current status is that of a meme shared on Reddit by user freetrolley42, who photoshopped several of the game’s images to make it seem like there was fishing in the game. Even if created as a joke, the concept has the potential to blossom into something amazing.
On the surface, adding the relaxed activity of fishing might sound antithetical to the FromSoftware masocore experience, where players create finely tuned builds that fit their needs before being repeatedly pummeled by threats who remind them that they are squishy humans going up against powerful monsters. This description applies to any Soulsborne game, but replace monsters with big mechs and humans with another mech, and suddenly the topic is aboutArmored Core, a gameFromSoftware does not want compared toElden Ring.
Yet fishing does have a place inElden Ringand can fit in with the rest of the game’s tone. Something to note about FromSoftware’s gameplay philosophy is that it rewards players for always keeping their guard up and expecting a fight wherever possible. Fishing should not be an exception to this rule, as while it can be a generally relaxing activity in most games, even titles where it shines likeStardew Valleysometimes throw a curveballthat brings a significant amount of tension.
Implementing this feature with a level of difficulty that applies to the rest of the game would only make the activity unappealing, so there has to be some incentive to do it. This can come in the form of several things, including fish being worth many runes, exclusive gear that can only be found while fishing, or even aquestline for one ofElden Ring’s eccentric charactersthat somehow involves catching fish.
It would also serve the game well if the activity lacks the difficulty or tension found in the rest of the game, making it one of the few times can sit down to relax and appreciate the world while still having their mind somewhat occupied. There is even potential for recontextualizingstressful areas, such as the Lake of Rotpotentially being a place to unwind and catch toxic fish.
As relaxing as exploring can be, there is a feeling that one’s guard can never be let down since enemies could be lurking around. There is merit to having fishing be an extension of the game’s simple hunting mechanics, where players can fish for a few extra runes or gather materials that go into an item or consumable. Sometimes, it can be nice to have a break when most of the world feels so hostile.
Elden Ringis out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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