The most effective way to describe the experience of playing a Souls game like Elden Ring Runes is to compare it to renting or purchasing a second-hand role-playing game during the days of cartridges. Before the game was stored on memory cards, consoles or even on cloud-based servers, playing a previously owned game was a chance to be in contact with the history of someone else's. While this usually resulted in a few boring minutes of wiping the cartridge's internal memory, sometimes it provided you with the perfect opportunity to experience the conclusion of your journey before taking your own first steps. After spending a lot for a box-less copy of Super Mario RPG as a youngster the process of exploring a saved save and watching how the characters responded to the final boss's defeat was like visiting the museum of an alternate dimension. There was no way to return. Mushroom Kingdom had changed and I was just a tourist wrapped in the digital avatar of the person they had known.
It extends beyond story and setting into gameplay well. Where a fresh save file in many games can bombard by tutorial pop-ups following tutorial to gradually acclimate players to the game's challenges The world of Elden Ring tends to make you feel like it's been here before. Sure, there's a easily ignored primer that will teach you the basics, but for the majority of the time, it's up for you to understand Elden Ring's unique language of visuals.
Swirling airborne flecks of gold sparkles indicate the presence of hidden checkpoints. Statues depicting old men in hunches indicate the path to catacomb-like tunnels. The magically animated rock piles suggest that an alternate dimension prison that has a mini-boss close by. Elden Ring does this so easily and on an incredibly small scale that you'll begin to recognize the body language that is Elden Ring Runes for sale telegraphed by even the most dangerous of enemies and formulating counters without any idea of how you got that information.