Elden Ringis a beautiful game. FromSoftware has delivered a breathtaking title that not only offers thrilling gameplay, but it seeks to thrill the visual senses as well with its cinematic environments and sprawling landscapes. Some players have daydreamed about taking full advantage of the game’s visuals, and given the high enthusiasm in its burgeoning modding community, the emergence of aphoto mode inElden Ringas a mod is hardly surprising.
Perhaps the best feature of thisElden Ringmod is that it offers the ability to make players invisible to enemies while within the photo mode. Developed by Frans Bouma, the photo mode tools also allow pausing the game, frame-skipping, altering the game speed, chromatic aberration removal, or even changing the sunlight direction as a sort of pseudo Time of Day control.
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While many have used this mod to take scenic screenshots of the game’s numerous biomes, or even take selfies next toElden Ring’sdeadly bosses such as theinfamous Tree Sentinel, some have decided to take the photo mode tools to a whole new level, using its player invisibility toggle to play throughElden Ringin an unofficial Explorer Mode of sorts.
Neither Explorer Mode nor Photo Mode are new concepts to the video game industry, and each have played a pivotal role in the current generation of video games. Nowadays, it’s trendy to include a photo mode in role-playing games, first-person shooters, and even racing games. Even a few MMOs likeFinal Fantasy 14support photo mode, letting players take highly-stylized, hugely-customizable screenshots of them and their friends. TherecentAssassin’s Creedgamessuch asOriginsandOdysseyfeatured special game modes tailor-built to support exploration, treating the game world as a discovery tour of the past, offering players a beautifully rendered window into the ancient worlds of Egypt and Greece.
With such options made available to them in other games, many lamented the lack of an Exploration or Photo Mode forElden Ring. Thankfully, thisElden Ringmodshould serve to fill both of those needs, as players no longer need to obtain the Telescope item and disable the UI to take a proper screenshot. Though the players may be invisible to the monstrous denizens of the Lands Between, they still interact with the environment (and each other) through pre-scripted events. It is also important to note that invisibility does not equal invincibility, as any enemies that are meant to interact with the player through non-detection triggers will still deal damage.
The photo mode tools forElden Ringare perfect for players who fell in love withthe Lands Betweenand want to take in the view and the atmosphere without worrying about danger lurking behind every corner, as antithetical as a Tourist Mode may sound for aDark Soulstype of game.
Elden Ringis available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
