Does Mending The Elden Ring End The Game

Does Mending the Elden Ring End the Game?

So, you’ve braved the Lands Between, battled fearsome bosses, and collected Great Runes like a seasoned treasure hunter. Now, you’re staring at the fractured Elden Ring, wondering, “If I fix this thing, does the game just… end?” It’s a big question, and it’s understandable to be hesitant. After all, nobody wants their adventure cut short just as they’re hitting their stride. Let’s explore exactly what happens when you mend the Elden Ring, the different endings you might achieve, and how to keep the adventure going even after the credits roll.

Understanding the Elden Ring’s Fractured State

Before we delve into the endings, it’s helpful to understand what’s going on with the Elden Ring. Imagine a powerful, magical circle – the source of all order and power in the Lands Between. Now, picture that circle shattered into pieces, the Great Runes. This is the state of the Elden Ring at the start of the game. Each Great Rune is held by a powerful demigod, and it’s your job, as the Tarnished, to collect these runes, mend the Elden Ring, and become the Elden Lord. But what does “mending” actually mean?

The Role of the Great Runes

The Great Runes are not simply items. They are fragments of the Elden Ring itself, each imbued with a different kind of power. By defeating the demigods and taking their Great Runes, you gain the strength to face the final challenges. You are essentially collecting the pieces of a puzzle, a puzzle that holds the key to the fate of the Lands Between. The journey of collecting all of the Great Runes and getting to the final boss is a big and challenging quest, for which you need to be prepared with weapons, armor, level and skills. And once you reach the final boss, you are faced with another challenge, to decide the fate of the Elden Ring. This is where the actual mending of Elden Ring comes into play.

The Mending Process: More Than Just “Fixing”

It’s not as simple as just gluing the pieces back together. The process of mending the Elden Ring is about more than just returning it to its original state. Your choices throughout the game greatly impact how the Ring is mended. The game offers multiple potential endings, each representing a different way of reshaping the world using the power of the Elden Ring. These endings vary dramatically in their tone and implications for the Lands Between. So the phrase “mending the Elden Ring” is more like choosing what you want to happen to this broken Elden Ring. Your decision is critical. When you mend, the state of the Lands Between depends heavily upon your action. It’s about how you define the new era using the power you have collected during your journey.

• The Standard Ending: In this ending, you take the default path, becoming the new Elden Lord. However, even this “standard” path can have some subtle variations based on your actions.
• The Age of Stars Ending: This ending involves working with the enigmatic Ranni, the Witch. It leads to a vastly different outcome for the Lands Between.
• The Frenzied Flame Ending: This ending takes a radical turn, embracing chaos and destruction. It’s a path that is full of madness.
• Other Variations: There are other endings, which involve the use of Miquella’s needle and the use of different mending runes.

Do These Endings Mean the End of the Game?

Here’s the big answer: yes and no. Yes, each ending triggers the end credits sequence. However, this does not mean that your adventures in the Lands Between have to be over. After the credits, the game will prompt you to start Journey 2. This prompt leads you into a New Game Plus cycle, which allows you to replay the entire game, keeping all of your character’s power, levels, and equipment. New Game Plus presents you with harder challenges and more difficult versions of the previous enemies. Therefore, mending the Elden Ring and choosing one of the endings doesn’t mean you are done with the game. You always have an opportunity to replay it.

New Game Plus (Journey 2) Explained

Let’s talk more about what happens when you begin Journey 2. This is the game’s New Game Plus mode. It lets you start a new adventure, but you’re far from starting over from scratch. Here’s what carries over:

• Character Level and Stats: Your character’s levels, attributes, and any changes you made using larval tears are preserved. You don’t need to start leveling up again from level one.
• Equipment: All of your armor, weapons, talismans, crafting materials, and items remain in your inventory. This means that you can face the challenges of the Lands Between with your best equipment right from the beginning.
• Map Discovery: The areas of the map that you have explored are already revealed on the map, meaning you don’t need to explore everything again.
• Key Items: There are a few key items that you need to collect again for the story to advance. However, items like bell bearings are kept between cycles.

This replay value means that even after you have completed the game with one ending, you can then experience the different endings and collect even better items. You also get to replay all the areas and boss fights that you have previously finished. New Game Plus is a great way to test yourself, especially in higher NG+ cycles. After all, each time you play through a cycle, the game becomes harder.

Exploring the Different Endings in Detail

Now, let’s dig deeper into what makes each ending unique. Remember, how you choose to interact with the world and with the non-player characters (NPCs) directly determines the available ending options you have for your character. Certain storylines and quests must be completed for certain endings to be available to your character. All of the endings have a large impact on the Lands Between, but all of them will lead to the end credits.

The Elden Lord Endings

The Elden Lord ending is the most straightforward path, where you become the ruler of the Lands Between. However, this ending also has subtle variations. These variations depend on the specific mending rune that you use. Here are some of these variations:

• The Age of Fracture: This is the default ending that you achieve if you haven’t completed any other specific questline. You mend the Elden Ring and become the Elden Lord.
• The Blessing of Despair: You can trigger this ending by doing the Dung Eater questline. This ending does not create a better world but it is an interesting variation on the standard Elden Lord ending.
• The Age of Duskborn: If you do the Fia questline, you unlock this ending. It is unique, and offers an alternative way of mending the Elden Ring.
• The Age of Order: This ending involves the Goldmask questline. It is a more subtle ending, which does not change things drastically.

Ranni’s Ending: The Age of Stars

This ending is connected to the Ranni the Witch questline. It is one of the most different endings. Here, you don’t become an Elden Lord. Instead, you usher in a new age of the stars. The ending has a huge impact on the world. You end up replacing the current order, the Greater Will, with a new order, the stars. This is a favorite ending for many players because it is so different from the default ending.

The Frenzied Flame Ending: Embrace Chaos

This ending is quite different from the others. It involves embracing the chaos and destructive power of the Frenzied Flame. It is a very different ending in tone and in visuals. This path is very complex, and involves the three fingers. This ending is a lot more dark and destructive than other endings. It involves burning everything and setting the stage for the chaos to take over.

Keeping the Adventure Alive After Mending

So, what happens after you’ve seen all the endings? Does the replay value fade? Absolutely not! Here are some ways to keep the game exciting even after numerous playthroughs:

• Try Different Builds: Each run presents the perfect opportunity to experiment with a new style of play. Maybe you were a strength build in your first game, but now it’s time to become a mage. This means that you can try out new weapons, new armor, and new talismans.
• Explore Uncharted Territories: Even after one playthrough, you might have missed some optional areas and dungeons. The world of Elden Ring is vast and full of secrets. There is always something new to find in the Lands Between.
• Challenge Yourself: Try doing a no-death run, using only starting gear, or restricting yourself in other ways. You can also test yourself by trying to kill some bosses with a low level or with a weapon that you normally won’t use.
• Co-op and PvP: Playing with friends and other players is a different game on its own. There are always new player interactions that will happen when you are playing online, which keeps the game fresh.

The game allows for constant experimentation. This is something that makes it a very replayable game. You can always find new content and new challenges. There are always going to be new weapons to collect, new builds to test, and new characters to interact with.

Mending the Elden Ring is a Journey, Not Just a Destination

The act of mending the Elden Ring is not about reaching the end. Rather, it is a key step in a much larger journey. Each cycle offers you different challenges and different opportunities to explore the world of the Lands Between. The game makes sure that you can continue your journey even after the credits roll. So don’t be afraid to face the final boss and to choose an ending. That is what the journey is all about. It’s about making choices and reshaping the world of Elden Ring as you see fit.