Why Elden Ring's Tutorial Area Has Twitter Divided

FromSoftware has a reputation for making their "tutorial areas" exceedingly brutal, often thrusting the player into a situation that is meant to kill them. In "Dark Souls," players' first experience with combat is when they are thrust into an arena with a broken sword to fight a massive boss known as the Asylum Demon: the lesson being that they should run away, and come back later with better equipment. In "Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice," the first boss is literally meant to defeat you no matter what, and even if you defeat him your character will still die in the cutscene following the fight.

"Elden Ring" continues this tradition, starting your character in an area called the "Chapel of Anticipation," and pitting you against a boss called the "Grafted Scion" without any healing items. You are meant to die against him, and after dying you will be transported to a new area — one with a much more in-depth, much more forgiving tutorial. Hilariously, this less-violent tutorial is drawing a lot of criticism from players on  Twitter, since many people are missing it entirely.

The tutorial area is located in a dark pit within that first room you're teleported to after dying to the Grafted Scion. Fans online are divided about this tutorial, since a lot of new players seem to be walking right past it.

"Level design is a science" wrote @KubeWhelan on Twitter. "If a huge percentage of new players are literally walking past the bit that teaches you the controls then that's a failure that you'll likely see drop offs as a result of." "Players shouldn't have to explore to find the tutorial," agreed @ambershee, echoing the sentiment of many players that the tutorial area is an example of poor design on From Software's part.

Others have taken to defending the tutorial pit, saying that it is actually extremely easy to find, and it teaches the player a valuable lesson about exploring. "If you miss the tutorial it's your fault for being a blind b**** that doesn't explore at all," said @mellowfawk. As many others pointed out, a ghost sitting beside the pit will literally tell the player to go down there to learn more about the game – though of course if you don't talk to him, you wouldn't know that. "I think it's a good first statement by the game," wrote @OliveProcessor "'If you don't explore/investigate/pay attention, you will miss out on valuable experiences." Players and fans remain divided over the tutorial area and its design – though considering the fact that From Software regularly throws the player in without any explanation, maybe the lack of a tutorial is just par for the course.