Regarding consoles, the companies that own them have implemented a relatively older monetization system. When the Xbox 360 came out, Microsoft added a Subscription called Xbox Live. You needed to pay them so that you could play games with other people. It is a scummy way to make a device, but that is how they did it.
When the PS4 and the Xbox One came out, they followed this Subscription ideal. You pay a yearly fee and can play games with friends or other random people. It is a system that has also been implemented on the newer consoles. It is dumb, but still, people will go and purchase these Subscriptions.
No, you don’t have to have these Subscriptions to play the game itself. You must have PS Plus or Xbox Live to play online in Elden Ring.
It is not that confusing if you know how these Subscriptions work. If you are a subscriber, you have access to everything. If you aren’t, you only have access to single-player or multiplayer games with a single-player aspect.
Do you need PS Plus or Xbox Live to play Elden Ring?
As we said before, you don’t have to have either one of the subscriptions to be able to play Eldin Ring. You only need to know that you cannot access any online features. It can be annoying, but having a console is the only downside. Some people prefer it, but the online subscription service is a part of the consoles.
On PC, you don’t have to worry about any weird subscriptions to play with your friends, but there is an obvious roadblock if you try and get a gaming PC. It is extremely expensive. It isn’t as expensive as you think. The most money comes with buying the actual desktop or laptop. Other than that, you won’t be spending much money past that.
Do you need PS Plus or Xbox Live to see Messages?
This is a huge one. Most FromSoft fans love to see random messages everywhere. This is an issue since not having online console subscriptions doesn’t allow you to see these messages. Messages are helpful and funny; missing out on them can be annoying. If you want to see the messages, you must play online.
If you see messages offline, the developers put down some of them. There are much rarer, but they are there. They can give you some decent hints at fake walls, or they might even give information on an ambush if you walk into a dark room. They are helpful, but they only show up when you are online.
Do you need PS Plus or Xbox Live to Summon Spirit Ashes?
Spirit Ashes is a huge part of the game, and you might have heard that Summoning takes being in Online mode. The best thing about Spirit Summons is that you don’t need Online to use them. You can Summon Spirit Ashes as long as you are close to a Summoning Monument. These are basically before every boss in the game.
You can use them anywhere as long as you meet the requirements to use them. Some are extremely costly, and others you can use right away. Both come at a cost, though. You will likely lose some health or FP, so be prepared for anything when you Summon.
Do you need PS Plus or Xbox Live to play with a friend?
This is where it gets annoying. If you want to sit on your couch and play some nice easy co-op with your buddy, you must have an Online subscription. It is very annoying, but that is how they did it. No matter how you want to do it, you can’t summon someone to help you, or you can’t play with friends.
You might ask, why can other games allow you not to have a subscription, but Elden Ring makes you have one? We can’t answer that because we aren’t the companies in charge, but we can say it is how they created it. You can’t change it, and we can’t change it. You must talk to them and change thousands of minds to get what you want. It is what it is.
Do you need PS Plus or Xbox Live to invade people?
As we said before, it works the same with every online mode. If you don’t have a subscription, you can’t do any online activity, including invading other people. Invading in these types of games works differently from any Dark Souls game. You have to have a certain item activated to invade someone.
To be invaded, you will need to be playing in co-op. If you are playing with a friend, anyone can invade you and try to defeat you and your buddy. Keep in mind that offline mode won’t stop NPCs from invading you. You can also invade NPCs as a part of some side quests. You will get invaded, just not by any random player.
Do you need PS Plus or Xbox Live to access certain areas?
You aren’t locked out of any content whatsoever as long as it isn’t pertaining online. There aren’t any online-only areas, so you don’t have to worry about getting locked out of anything. The only thing we can think of is the Varre quest. To finish his quest, you need to invade 3 random people. This is annoying since you can’t invade in offline mode.
You aren’t locked out of content, though, since you can get to the area his questline takes you later on. You aren’t locked out of content; you can’t access specific content earlier than you should be able to. It is annoying, but you don’t lose out on anything the game offers.
Do you need PS Plus or Xbox Live to fight certain bosses?
Bosses are not locked behind the online mode. You can fight every single boss in the game without ever going into online mode. That is what makes this game great. As we said before, there are certain missions that you can only complete if you are connected to online services, but that does not lock you out of any boss fights.
It can be frustrating how the owners of the consoles allow for this type of subscription service. It is old-school and seems very selfish, but that is how they do it. Until consoles die out, this system won’t go away, so in the meantime, just try and look at it as a good thing. It isn’t going away anytime soon.