Elden Ring doesn’t need fixing, but it could use some tweaking
Despite setting the new standard for action-adventure game mechanics, FromSoftware games have often lacked a little in the technical department. The company didn’t change the gaming landscape due to its coding prowess, but rather through its soulful innovation. But here are a few mods that will best impact the life of anyone wanting to take even more enjoyment out of Elden Ring.
Disclaimer: Modding is, of course, not supported by developers/publishers. Be sure you know what you’re doing before you go fiddling around with folders/codes.
You have been warned!
EMU Light – Enhanced Moveset Utility
The original Dark Souls started garnering praise as soon as it came out for the PS3 and Xbox 360, but it only turned into a juggernaut a bit later. The Souls series owes its current status to its release on PC, which is weird because these games never liked running on a PC. We’re talking about some stability issues, but especially about getting along with PC peripherals.
It’s clear that FromSoft made these games with a controller in mind and never went back to try and make it perfect for mouse and keyboard players as well. The Enhanced Moveset Utility fixes this by adding a bunch of hotkeys for things like Rolls and Sprint (think dedicated grenade button in Halo or Call Of Duty). It also adds a bunch of HUD options that’ll make things intuitive like a modern MMO.
Mouse and keyboard players can get it here to avoid ever feeling unfairly challenged again.
Seamless Co-Op
FromSoft’s Demon’s Souls completely changed how everyone looked at player interaction back in ’09. Sadly, the company didn’t push the concept much past that. We all love experiencing the world of these games and we all love joining forces with friends or random people to beat tough bosses. So many siblings-in-arms out there would love to share the entirety of Elden Ring, but Souls games still don’t allow players to band together beyond specific moments — officially, at least.
The Seamless co-op doesn’t require much explanation. It just allows players to go on a co-op adventure that encapsulates the entire game, just like, uh, most awesome games should. It also helps that it runs great and allows up to four players to band up. This one is probably the most fun mod of the bunch.
You can get it here.
Elden Ring Reforged
Disclaimer: only use this mod in offline mode as it changes the base game and can ring FromSoft’s cheater alarm.
Enjoyed finishing the base game, but want something beyond just NG+? Then consider installing the Elden Ring Reforged mod.
Reforged rebalances many aspects of the game like AI and general difficulty. It adds new combat mechanics such as superior parries. It also adds new spells and allows players to replay bosses. Yeah, no more waiting until the next campaign so players can get their revenge on that tutorial boss.
Get it here.
Re-Shade
On an artistic level, everything we see on Elden Ring is top-notch. Still, the game could get some technical tweaks that would make it look even better. That’s where Re-Shade shines. This marvel adds true HDR effects that don’t really affect performance all that much — though that might be courtesy of Elden Ring already demanding more than it should.
Get it here. Check that download page even if you don’t care for HDR in Elden Ring, as the people behind it have already made various awesome HDR mods for games such as Horizon Zero Dawn, DOOM Eternal, Final Fantasy VII Remake, and many others.
Elden Ring FPS Mod
The shadow of stability has always loomed over FromSoftware’s games. Elden Ring runs ok if you have a powerful machine, but it never runs as well as this masterpiece should. That’s because FromSoft locked the game at 60fps on PC. That threshold exists probably because FromSoft wants Elden Ring to run similarly on both consoles and PC, but what is the fun in that?
This mod simply allows players to unleash the power of their mighty PCs and set whatever framerate limit they want.
Get it here.
Skip Intro Mod
This might sound like a joke, but it sure as hell isn’t. That goddamn unskippable Bandai Namco logo takes way too long to go away.
The “Skip Intro Mod” automatically defeats one of the game’s greatest enemies — Corporate hubris.
Get it here.
