Elden Ring’s Problematic Female Representation

In this current era of video gaming, FromSoftware are the big AA darlings, and it’s been this way for so long that it’s not a stretch to believe their best years are already behind them. Elden Ring may show them to be more successful than ever, but it’s a title that only innovates on their Soulsborne formula (something they had already perfected in Dark Souls 1) by half-fixing issues they had introduced in DS2, DS3, and Sekiro. For what it’s worth, it’s much better than all three of these games, but FromSoft can only rehash their golden formula for so long before the cracks start to show. Depending on one’s ability to be pedantic, the fundamental issues in the studio’s modern game design philosophy could be the subject of a whole 10-hour essay. However, just as egregious is their inability to incorporate sensibly-written female characters into their stories. This is a problem that has, unsurprisingly, been left unaddressed by the predominantly male user base.