Elden Ring mod adds the kind of seamless co-op we’d love to have

polygon.com:

Elden Ring is a game full of mysteries. That’s the appeal! Even in a popular, widely poured-over title like this one, it’s the rare game where every discovery a player makes can feel like they’re the first person in the world to figure it out — even if they followed a guide to get there. However, some things about Elden Ring would be better if they were less mysterious and opaque — like how the dang game’s co-op works. This, naturally, has inspired a modder to dream up a way to make Elden Ring’s co-op seamless and unrestricted, and honestly? It’s a dream.

First spotted by The Gamer, YouTuber LukeYui has been working on a mod that does away with a lot of Elden Ring’s multiplayer restrictions. To recap: the game usually only lets players summon a cooperator in certain areas, typically where there’s a boss or a den of enemies to clear out. The player-to-player connection only persists until either the area boss is defeated, a player dies, or they leave the specified multiplayer zone.

In YouTube footage, LukeYui appears to have worked out a way to circumvent the triggers that would normally cause their cooperator to be dismissed, defeating a Tree Sentinel area boss with another player, and then resting at a bonfire with them — both of which are actions that would normally bring an end to the co-op session.

Less is often more, and the fact that Elden Ring only lets you temporarily summon help in certain areas —areas where you might really need it — does a lot to make that help feel more meaningful. However, sometimes it’s nice to think about exploring The Lands Between with a friend, not because there’s a foe that needs slaying, but because it’s just a gorgeous world to see with someone else.