The Soulsborne formula works exceedingly well when applied to the template for open-world games, it turns out. In fact, you could argue that it's exploring a strange and enormous world, rather than the usual Souls-style difficulty and mechanics, that makes Elden Ring so fun.
The open-world genre is pretty expansive, and as with major winners before it, like Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed games or Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Elden Ring is sure to leave a mark on the field. The question is, what should the rest of the open-world genre learn from Elden Ring?