Released in 2022, Elden Ring made waves in the gaming world not just for its sprawling open-world design and challenging combat, but also for its understated yet highly functional user interface (UI). Created by FromSoftware and directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki in collaboration with George R. R. Martin, the game builds upon the legacy of the Soulsborne series while introducing a vast new level of exploration, customization, and subtle storytelling — all of which required a thoughtful approach to UI design.
TL;DR
The UI in Elden Ring is minimalistic by design, emphasizing immersion and discovery. While not overloaded with icons or menus, it offers depth through layered options and tooltips. Players new to FromSoftware’s style might find it unintuitive at first, but its elegance lies in its ability to convey dense information while keeping the screen visually clean. Its design philosophy matches the game’s core themes of solitude, exploration, and resilience.
What Makes Elden Ring’s UI Stand Out?
At first glance, Elden Ring’s UI feels sparse. This is no accident. Unlike many contemporary RPGs that load the screen with quest markers, dialogue indicators, and on-screen tutorials, Elden Ring presents a quiet, almost meditative interface. This encourages players to focus on the environment, which becomes its own form of storytelling.
Key characteristics of the UI include:
- Minimalist HUD – The on-screen HUD appears only when necessary. Health (HP), stamina, and focus points (FP) meters fade away when not in use.
- In-game Menus – Equipped with nested tabs that house an extensive array of stats, gear, magic, and items without cluttering the core gameplay experience.
- Clean Font and Iconography – The design elements utilize medieval themes with a touch of mystery while remaining legible and intuitive.
Immersion Through Minimalism
Many developers aim for immersion by including cinematic cutscenes or hyper-detailed character models. FromSoftware takes a different route, focusing on how minimal UI can amplify immersion. By ensuring that the screen is often devoid of any distracting elements, Elden Ring prompts players to rely on environmental cues instead of quest markers.
This fosters:
- Exploration – Players learn to navigate using landmarks and natural terrain.
- Focus – The absence of constant pop-ups or minimaps keeps attention fixed on the world, not the interface.
- Discovery – Resources, enemies, and lore must be actively sought, not passively absorbed through UI prompts.
Understanding Complex Systems Without Overwhelming the Player
Despite the clean interface, Elden Ring is a game riddled with complexity. Stats, item descriptions, weapon scaling, buff durations, and damage negations all require understanding. Here, FromSoftware employs layered UI — accessible in stages rather than bombarding the player all at once.
Intuitive Tabs
Everything a player needs, from spell slots to equipment weight, is housed in a detailed menu navigated via tabs. Whether you’re tuning a sword, selecting Talismans, or perusing your character stats, each section is logically grouped and expandable.
Item Hints and Tooltips
Perhaps the most helpful feature for new players is the tooltip hints within inventory screens. By hovering over an attribute or item, players get concise yet descriptive information, often linked directly to gameplay strategy. Still, unlike more tutorial-heavy games, Elden Ring expects players to piece together mechanics on their own.
Accessibility Enhancements
Although widely praised, Elden Ring’s UI has attracted criticism from players with accessibility needs. Menu navigation can be cumbersome with a keyboard, and there is limited in-game customization for text size or color contrast. However, FromSoftware has taken small steps to ease the experience:
- HUD Customization – Players can choose whether the HUD is always on or fades away when not engaged in activity.
- Key Mapping – Button remapping is available, though somewhat limited in scope.
- Simplified Targeting – Lock-on systems and enemy indicators help during fast-paced battles.
However, many players have turned to modding or external resources to further tailor the UI experience to their comfort levels.
Combat UI: A Balance of Clarity and Chaos
In combat, clarity is king. Elden Ring ensures that what little appears on screen is essential. HP and stamina bars are color-coded for quick referencing, and equipped items and spells are located on the lower left-hand side with minimal distraction. Indicators for buffs, debuffs, and temporary effects appear neatly above the HP bar.
What’s interesting is the intentional absence of combat data like enemy health numbers or damage counters (although the game does show inflicted damage as floating numbers). This reinforces a sense of danger and unpredictability, two pillars of FromSoftware’s design language.
Inventory Management and Equipment
Managing your character’s build is where Elden Ring’s UI shines in complexity and customizability. Weapon affinities, scaling stats, Talisman slots, and armor weight impact every aspect of gameplay. The equipment menu sorts all information clearly, with visual indicators showing stat changes when equipping different items.
Players can:
- Compare gear using side-by-side stat boxes
- Set up multiple “Quick Access” item slots
- Experiment with different weapon arts from the Ashes of War menu
Though the menus can feel daunting due to the sheer amount of detail, players are rewarded with incremental mastery and creative expression in how they approach builds and battles.
Map System: Detailed Yet Open-Ended
The inclusion of a detailed yet deliberately vague map screen adds another layer of intentionality. Unlike traditional open-world games, Elden Ring doesn’t flood the map with icons. Players must place their own markers, which promotes active thinking and planning. The map reveals itself in fragments by collecting map shards, immersing the player in a literal uncovering process.
Unique features include:
- Multi-pin marker systems – With icons for everything from bosses to resources
- Dynamic fog-of-war – Forests, ruins, and caves stay hidden until discovered organically
- Auto-zoom on points of interest – Ensures a smooth navigation experience without overexposing content
Thematic Consistency in Design
One of the most impressive aspects of the UI is how it aligns thematically with the game’s world. The fonts resemble archaic inscriptions, the muted color palette matches the bleak landscapes, and even the sounds associated with menu navigation evoke old scrolls or heavy tomes being opened. Together, these create a UI that is not just functional but atmospheric.
Influence on Future Games
It’s too soon to say definitively, but Elden Ring’s UI could influence the design approach of future RPGs and action games. Striking a balance between functional minimalism and deep customization, it demonstrates that players are willing to engage deeply with systems if those systems are delivered intelligently and respectfully.
Moreover, it reaffirms the idea that UI should serve gameplay — not dominate it. Rather than holding the player’s hand, the UI in Elden Ring challenges them to grow, learn, and persist — just like the game itself.
Conclusion
There’s an elegance to Elden Ring’s user interface that mirrors its sprawling, mysterious world. By embracing minimalism without sacrificing complexity, FromSoftware allows players to immerse themselves fully in the Lands Between. It’s a UI that trusts its players, encourages curiosity, and — much like the game — rewards those who persevere.
