This vista at the start of Elden Ring is such a master class of level design. It illustrates a lot of the subtle motivational hooks available to designers. What I want to emphasize is that this scene causes players to ask a lot of questions, but the game does not answer these questions for a long time. What is that giant glowing tree? How strong is the Tree Sentinel? How do I reach Stormveil Castle? Notably, the player's first two attempts to reach the castle will most likely
In this example from the Forest Ruins, the chokepoint is near the zone entrance, so all players entering the zone will pass by this castle gate. Notice the clever pond placement . It makes it that even players who are going to the right will run past the gate. Therefore, if someone needs help getting through the gate, there is a constant stream of players they can ask. The enemies guarding the gate are very dangerous and significantly higher level than those in the vicinity.
