Elden Ring’s open world makes me feel like a teen exploring World of Warcraft for the first time again

gamepur.com:

Unlike most teens, the reason I was looking forward to my sixteenth birthday was not because I would finally get a driver’s license. Where most see increased freedom and the ability to explore the world without their parents, I saw endless trips to the dance studio or basketball gym, ferrying my brother and sister around to their various afterschool activities. Plus, getting a car just meant I’d have to get a part-time job at the local grocery store and lose all of my evening free time. Instead, I was excited because we were only a few months away from the launch of World of Warcraft and my parents had given me the money to pick up the game and pay for six months of its subscription.

From the jump, World of Warcraft felt like a world full of endless possibilities. The only keeping you out of most zones were characters with large numbers (or skulls) over their heads, but those restrictions fell away if you were persistent enough. I remember spending hours in Booty Bay taunting Alliance players into attacking you so the guards would murder them. There was the time I wandered into Thousand Needles just because it looked cool and was instantly murdered by foes way above my level. Who can forget the all-out wars that took place between Southshore and Tarren Mill or the infamous phenomenon that was Barren’s chat?

It was a game that felt like nothing else before and it hit at the perfect time for me. The internet was very much a thing, but it was simpler. Guides weren’t as prevalent and discussion boards felt more like a recess playground (though a very naughty one) than a place where experts came to tell you how to do everything easily. That made WoW feel like some kind of wild animal that you had to tame for yourself. Its