it's been over a year since i finished elden ring and i've been getting into other fromsoft titles this year finally, and looking back at elden ring it's definitely my 2nd favorite soulsborne title and i'm really excited to finally replay it when the dlc releases.
the exploration is implemented really well for the format change i think, and while i can see people disliking it as a departure from the way dark souls typically did a more open ended progression system, i think it works well for elden ring being a different type of game.
boss wise i see a lot of contention with elden ring, and for me the good bosses are some of my absolute favorites from has done, even if the bad ones are pretty bad. like dark souls 1 it kinda falls off in the middle before a good finale, but elden ring is different to me in a few ways. firstly, the actual final boss is lame as hell and was a major let down in the game whereas even if you're let down by the halfway point of ds1, you have gwyn to look forward to which at the very least is stronger thematically and mechanically even if the bar is low. however, i think while dark souls falls off in general with area design and bosses both getting weaker, elden ring mostly suffers in the boss department rather than locations.
later areas in elden ring definitely aren't the best the game has to offer gameplay wise, but i don't think there was a single part of elden ring i disliked more than i disliked lost izalith or any other post-anor londo location in the original dark souls. the bosses do get pretty bad though, with two of them being some of my downright least favorite bosses from has ever put out and like i mentioned the final boss just not being well thought out at all. for me personally the boss gauntlet leading up to the lame final boss is my favorite selection of bosses in pretty much any game and it makes up for it somewhat to me, but i think i can get people not feeling that way.
the other main thing as far as i can tell that people aren't as big on for elden ring is the lore which i actually really like. it's maybe not as profound as from's other offerings can be, but i think people very severely overestimate george r.r. martin's influence because at the same time to me it mostly just feels like taking the perceived style of how the soulsborne games tell stories and doing it from a different angle with a different flavor and i enjoy that a lot.

i think my biggest takeaway from elden ring is that most of all i'm glad they did something different while staying within the soulsborne formula. elden ring isn't dark souls 4, and it isn't open world dark souls and i don't think it should be either of those things nor do i think it's trying to be them outside of being a soulsborne with a fantasy lean. i love it as its own thing and i love it in a different way than i love bloodborne and a different way than i love dark souls. this is more of a rambling review so sorry if it didn't make much sense, i just had a lot of thoughts building up about this game recently and didn't want to lose them (and my previous review of the game wasn't very good)

How do you even review a game like Elden Ring? A collaboration by Hidetaka Miyazaki of FromSoft fame and one of the biggest and best High Fantasy novelists since Tolkien AKA George R.R. Martin known for his world famous A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones series in the form of a massive open-world action RPG? No amount of words or arbitrary scores and ratings will ever do this game justice. Elden Ring is the kind of game that comes around once in a generation. A rare game that has an immense amount of hype and expectations behind it and yet lives up to and even exceeds everything it promises, this must be a dream right? How is this game even real? I truly believe people will be playing and talking about this game for years to come.

The story premise is simple and very much in line with other works from Miyazaki. Elden Ring takes place in a world known as the Lands Between sometime after the Elden Ring has been shattered, there are various demigods, the children of Queen Marika the Eternal who each hold a piece of the shattered Elden Ring in the form of Great Runes that taint and corrupts them. All these demigods are locked in a constant struggle to take all the shards of the Ring so they can reforge it and become the next Elden Lord. The player character, the Tarnished are exiles from the Lands Between who lost the Ring's grace, but are summoned back after the Shattering and now hope to claim the Great Runes, repair the Ring and become Elden Lord themselves.

Simple story premise aside what makes the Lands Between so special and unique, much like any other Souls is the world-building, character back-stories and lore itself. This is where George R.R. Martin's influence in the game shines. The Souls games have always had great detailed world-building if you dig into it by reading weapon descriptions, wikis and videos on YouTube. Elden Ring however is a bit more straightforward and easier to connect with for the average player and I can only imagine that was partially due to GRRM's involvement. NPC dialogue tells more about an NPC and their personality than ever before, item descriptions aren't nearly as vague and even some cut-scenes are much more descriptive now. The Lands Between is dense when it comes to lore, maybe even more so than any past Souls game and despite being less vague than past Souls games, there is still a lot of mystery to it still. This world is also an incredibly unique combination of various mythologies and legends like Celtic, Arthurian and Norse alongside obvious influence from Martin's own A Song of Ice and Fire series, Eastern mysticism and some Lovecraftian themes of occultism and cosmicism especially how the concept of sorcery fits into the world. The Lands Between is one of the most creative and immersive worlds I've had the pleasure of exploring in years and I just can't get enough of it.

Speaking of the world, let's talk about the actual open world design and levels now because Elden Ring is already being called one of the greatest open world games of all time and I have to say I agree wholeheartedly. The sheer sense of adventure and exploration Elden Ring gives is simply unparalleled. The entire game feels like one grand, epic fantastical journey that takes you all over an amazing, detailed world with so much gorgeous (and sometimes grotesque) scenery. Every single one of Elden Ring's 13 different regions from the grassy fields of Limgrave to the swamps of Liurnia or the volcanic rocky mountains of Mt Gelmir feels completely unique and distinct from the rest so they're all an absolute joy to explore and never feel boring. Elden Ring is open world in the purest sense, much like Breath of the Wild (Though I think Elden Ring is even better personally) as soon as you get out of the tutorial you can go anywhere and do anything you want to do. There's no map markers until you start discovering Lost Grace Sites (the Bonfires of this game) and dungeons. The game let's you discover things at your own pace and it feels so natural and authentic unlike most open world games which tend to overwhelm with map markers and make you feel like you're just checking things off a list. Elden Ring also has an insane amount of side content from optional dungeons (that remind me of Bloodborne's Chalice Dungeons, but even better), NPC quest-lines which you'll randomly stumble across in the open world in true Dark Souls fashion and whole secret areas with plenty of optional side bosses. I would honestly say 80-90% of Elden Ring IS optional content. You can explore as little or as much as you want, but I would recommend exploring as much because you get rewarded for it since some of the best content in the game is optional or hidden in secret areas. I also can't praise the topography of the map enough, the way it plays with elevation is unlike anything I can recall seeing in a video game before and there are areas that are obviously designed that way because the developers gave the player a horse that has the ability to double jump and they want you to utilize the feature. Elden Ring is the new benchmark standard for open world games as far as I'm concerned and I truly hope more games follow suit with its design philosophy because we need more Elden Ring's and less of the typical Ubisoft formula.

However the open world isn't all Elden Ring is. No, there's plenty of secular levels which are called 'Legacy Dungeons'. These are in the form of castles, ruins, cities etc. These are smaller more intimate areas us Souls fans have grown to love over the past decade which typically lead to a main story boss and right alongside the open world, these Legacy Dungeons are also some of the best levels FromSoft has ever designed and how all of these flawlessly connect to the open world is simply a master-class in level design. What makes Elden Ring's design philosophy work so well is because it never compromises what the Souls games have always done. Excellent handcrafted levels with tons of hidden secrets and items to find. This is just now done on a much bigger scale than ever before. I like to think of Elden Ring as a bunch of little Dark Souls areas that combine to make one massive Dark Souls area. Oh and if you're worried there isn't a hub area like our Firelink Shrine or Nexus of the past, there is one and you can upgrade weapons and talk to various NPCs there as well. This game legit has everything.

I could talk about the lore and world for days, but let's be honest, Souls fans are mainly here for one thing and that's the combat. So let's talk about the meat of the game and boy is it meaty. This is the culmination of everything FromSoft has learned in the past decade. This is the absolute best Souls combat has ever been. The pacing of the game is in a sweet spot between Bloodborne and Dark Souls III. Not quite as fast as Bloodborne, but not as slow as Dark Souls III either. You have your ol' reliable light attack and heavy attack as always, but now there's new mechanics like Sekiro's stealth and jump attacks (which deal heavy poise damage and help break your enemy's stance quicker) and the Elden Ring specific guard counter (immediately after blocking you hit the heavy attack button for an instant counter attack which makes defensive play styles more viable than ever) and of course even mounted combat. All these features add so much more depth and flexibility than you'd ever imagine. There's a joke that the Souls fan's favorite button is R1 because we tend to just spam and rely on the light attack as it's the most useful option, but there was a point in Elden Ring where I realized I was just naturally always using my entire moveset because the game is designed to make you do so, nothing feels like a useless addition and to make matters even better Weapon Arts which were powerful skills from Dark Souls III come back in the form of Ashes of War, but now these can be changed and experimented on with new weapons whenever you want and they can even change your weapon's status effect too. This isn't even mentioning how many cool and fun spells and incantations there are for magic or faith users to use, the insane variety of weapons and armor or the return of dual wielding power stances from Dark Souls II. Elden Ring is without a doubt the pinnacle of Souls style combat with the most variety in build options and playstyles than any other Souls style game and since you unlock a way to respec your character fairly early on (you can do this multiple times just in one playthrough too) and you find ample materials to upgrade weapons, the game encourages you to experiment and try new weapons and builds.

Difficulty will always be a major talking point when it comes to Souls games and Elden Ring is no exception. Here's my take on it. Elden Ring is simultaneously one of the hardest and most punishing FromSoft games, but also one of the most forgiving and newcomer friendly. How could that be you might ask? It's because of the open world. All other Souls games are linear. If you want to get past a specific area and progress you either have to 'git gud' or farm/grind in the same spot to level up more. Elden Ring isn't like this though because if you're having trouble in a specific area or find a boss you aren't strong enough for yet, just come back to it later. Go explore some more, get new gear, maybe level up a bit and you'll find that the boss won't be nearly as impossible. If you're a Souls veteran you probably won't have to do this as often, however the game does expect you to do this and certain areas are naturally going to have stronger enemies and bosses so you could get punished a bit for lack of exploration. This isn't Dark Souls 4, so don't play it like it is. Elden Ring also gives Spirit Ashes which are helpful NPC summons you can call on for boss fights even when in single player mode. This could range from a pack of wolves to a jellyfish or even a dragon knight, these help a LOT. There are definitely areas of the game that were designed with this mechanic in mind and if you don't utilize it, that's not the game designer's fault or poor balance. There is also a very useful quality of life feature called 'Stakes of Marika' which act as spawn points before boss fog gates. Some people might say this makes the game more 'causalized', but let's be honest here, speaking as a decade long FromSoft fan spending 3 minutes running back to the boss was never a highlight of these games. Having spawn points incentivizes trying things you might not have before and gets you to fighting the boss quicker which makes it more fun than ever before. You've been given all the tools necessary to succeed, you need only use them to overcome your adversaries now.

Another very crucial aspect of Souls games is the bosses themselves. Demons Souls, Dark Souls I-III, Bloodborne and Sekiro all have some of my absolute favorite boss fights in all of gaming and now I happily add Elden Ring to that list as well. Due to the sheer size and scope of the game Elden Ring has the most bosses of any Souls game yet with a whopping 80+ bosses. Yeah there's a handful that are reused, but I feel some people make that seem like a bigger deal than it actually is because the fights are still fun and with a game this size I can't fault them for reusing a handful of bosses. I'd say at least 50 of those bosses are still unique encounters, that's still more than any other Souls game yet none of them feel forgettable, even mini-bosses in dungeons are awesome. They're all incredibly designed with amazing move-sets, designs and memorable locations you fight them in too, as always you feel rewarded for your patience and determination to win when you memorize a bosses move set through trial and error and beat them afterwards. A few bosses also have fun puzzle/gimmicks as well which really make the fights stand out even more. The end-game areas especially have some of the absolute coolest and most fun bosses FromSoft have ever made in my opinion.

I have to mention that I'm hardly a graphics guy, but there were multiple times my jaw dropped because of the indescribable beauty of Elden Ring. I was playing on PS5 and this has to be one of the best looking games I've ever played. I think that's due to two reasons, 1), FromSoft stepping the graphical quality up a good bit because they didn't want to be outdone by the Demons Souls Remake and 2), an absolutely impeccable art design. This game truly shows how far an amazing art design can go to improving the visual look of a game. Every single area of the open world, the characters, the dungeons, the weapons and armor and most importantly the enemies and bosses, it is all peak art design. This is the absolute best visualized dark high fantasy game setting I've ever seen bar none.

Last but not least I have to mention the immaculate OST by master composer Yuka Kitamura. She helped compose the OST for both Bloodborne and Dark Souls III alongside Motoi Sakuraba and she composed the Sekiro OST by herself. However Elden Ring might be her best work yet. From the calm ambient tracks which add to the atmosphere of the open world to the various distinct bombastic epic orchestral boss themes Elden Ring's OST is a treat to the ears and one you'll remember and still be hearing melodies from long after your playthrough.

All in all Elden Ring deserves every single bit of praise its gotten, it has fully lived up to the hype and even far exceeded my astronomically high expectations in every way possible. I never could've imagined I would end up loving it nearly as much as I did or that it would become my all time favorite game. Whether it be masterclass level design and the greatest open world ever made with an unfathomable amount of side content, the pinnacle of Souls style combat, the most build variety and options yet, a one-of-a-kind and unique world and lore, cool, creative and memorable boss fights, some of the best art design and graphical capabilities in gaming or masterfully composed OST, Elden Ring truly has it all. I struggle to find a flaw in the game because it is as close to a flawless, perfect game as you can possibly get aside from some minor performance issues that I'm sure will get patched anyways. Simply put Elden Ring is the culmination of everything FromSoft has done since Demons Souls, it is FromSoft and Miyazaki's magnum opus, a true evolution of the Souls formula, a groundbreaking, genre-defining masterpiece that everyone deserves to experience in their lifetime.

O polêmico Dark Souls 2, o jogo mais criticado da FromSoftware, e olha, já adiantado que ele não é um jogo ruim de forma alguma, mas tem grandes defeitos.
Apenas uma observação, essa é a versão com a dlc, se eu tivesse jogado apenas o jogo base, a nota seria mais baixa, provavelmente um 6.
Bom Dark Souls 2 começa bem, ele segue a fórmula dos seus antecessores e isso por si só já faz o jogo ser divertido, ele acrescenta coisas maneiras e novas, como uma variedade muito maior de armas e equipamentos, além de o mais maneiro, que é poder usar armas diferentes em cada mão, o jogo também acrescenta mais espaço para anéis, criando mais variedades de builds, e a possibilidade de se teletransportar entre fogueiras, o que deixa o jogo bem mais dinâmico.
Mas logo após um tempo de jogatina, os problemas começam a se expor, e alguns são bem frustrantes.
Começando pelo que mais me irritou e frustrou, a quantidade RIDÍCULA de inimigos jogados na sua tela, sério, as vezes eu penso que eles queriam mostrar que Dark Souls era realmente difícil pros fãs ficaram iguais idiotas repeitndo "ai olha como dark souls é difícil, poucas pessoas tem a capacidade de jogar", isso me tirou do sério, tem áreas que são colocadas 10 inimigos comuns pra virem pra cima de você, e isso quebra tudo que Dark Souls era anteriormente, um jogo com uma curva de aprendizado e melhorar suas habilidades como jogador, mas onde tem curva de aprendizado aqui? São 10 inimigos vindo pra cima de você, não tem nada o que aprender aqui, é só frustrante e injusto.
Pra somar com essa quantidade ridícula de inimigos, eles criaram outra feature pra dificultar ainda mais o jogo e deixá-lo mais frustrante, agora em Dark Souls 2 a sua vida vai diminuindo com o passar das mortes, inacreditável não? Uma franquia que anteriormente te dava a possibilidade de morrer e aprender com sua derrota, agora te pune por causa disso, eu sinceramente achei horrível.
Uma coisa que muitos comentam e eu concordo, é que o jogo focou em quantidade ao invés de qualidades, as famosas Boss fights da série souls nunca estiveram tão ruins quanto aqui, em Dark Souls 2 a quantidade de chefes foi quase dobrada em relação ao seu antecessor, mas a qualidade foi cortada pela metade (ou mais ainda), são pouquíssimos que se salvam, a maioria são repetitivos ou com um visual horripilante de genérico e sem graça, além de grande parte serem fáceis.
O jogo tem mais um monte de micro probleminhas que irritam demais, porém não vou me aprofundar, mas citando por cima ainda tem a demora pra se tomar os estus flask, o tempo que seu personagem demora pra se recuperar após tomar um golpe que acabou com sua estamina, muitas invasões pelo jogo e alguns caminhos para os chefes são bem chatos (principalmente por causa dos milhares de inimigos que eles enfiam no caminho).
As DLCs melhoram bastante o jogo, tem bons chefes incluindo um dos meus favoritos da franquia (Sir Alonne) e as áreas são melhores que do jogo base, pois elas eram muito parecidas e sem inspiração (salvo algumas exceções : Ninho dos dragões e Castelo de Drangleic).
E bom, por mais que eu pareça ter reclamado muito do jogo, eu realmente gostei, e acho que é muito subestimado, claro que tem defeitos e momentos insuportáveis, mas muitos tratam esse jogo como se fosse a pior coisa já feita, e ele está longe de ser isso

This is a game that needs little introduction. If you somehow have never heard of it, FromSoftware's Dark Souls trilogy are some of the best games ever made. This first installment—as well as it's niche precursor, 2009's 'Demon's Souls'—is this studios line in the sand. The definitive project, the contextual crown of their body of work. Outside of being one of the most inventive and influential games of its generation, 'Dark Souls' is a surprisingly well aged piece. There are many who will cite the unfinished endgame areas, terrible difficulty balancing, unfair forced damage, and "jankier-than-it's-successors" combat as cases against that point, however its the blatant unfairness that makes this game strangely refreshing in a modern gaming lens, in the same way that it was in 2011. The world changed around 'Dark Souls' in a specific way, they took elements, but few have pursued depth with such endearingly haphazard madness since it. Though my past self may be cursing me presently, the sheer brutality and blatant disregard for what is deemed conventionally fair is what will always make this game appealing to me. Few experiences I have had in games have been nearly as crushing, as weighty, as invigorating and enthralling as this one, its strong thematic rope which ties everything within the experience is only strengthened but its harshness.

The abstraction of which the story of 'Dark Souls' sits behind allows the broad strokes of its ideas to ring out in a way that is natural, this is a story that is only possible to tell in this medium not because of inherent interactive componentry—which does exists—but moreover a commitment from its developers to allow a tale to be experienced rather than told. It is elusive, for some to a frustrating fault, but the feelings and themes conveyed are so well touched together with the crushing nature of the gameplay. The game's ideas about death, humanism and our spiritual perseverance inherent to our condition may be simple, but it is cathartic, dramatic and so well tied to the mechanical aspects of the game to a point at which it may enamour the player.

The presentation is also stellar. Oppressive, mystifying, awe-inspiring and even at times fear inducing, the atmosphere of 'Dark Souls' is another pillar contributing to this thematic poignancy, truly creative dark-fantasy horror and awe, beautifully conveyed.

On a design front, this game is hard to approach. Its achievements here are some of the most powerful in all of gaming history, the first half of 'Dark Souls' is mind blowing in its creativity and fluidity. There is too much that it does well in this department that I simply haven't the time to write on it, but in short, this is a good contender for one of the best, most intelligently crafted combat systems in any action game, the first half of the game has some of the best level design in any video game and the mechanics which surround all of this—such as the marvelous estus flask—enrich and complement beautifully. However, the aforementioned unfinished nature of this game's second half makes it terribly difficult to recommend. The level, enemy and mechanical design falls completely through the floor, and is a reason as to why I may never return to this game.

Another major issue worth pointing out is that FromSoftware have killed online support for this game, which is very disappointing given how important many—self included—people consider the online features of this game to be incredibly important to the playing experience. As scummy and frustrating as it is, if you are yet to play 'Dark Souls' in current year, you are better off playing the remaster, as it is essentially the same game.

At any rate, FromSoftware's 'Dark Souls' is a rightfully revered classic, and if you're STILL yet to play it, this version is more than worth the money.

This review is based on experience with both the original 'Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition' on PC with mouse and keyboard, as well as 'Dark Souls: Remastered' on PC with a Playstation 4 controller.

I used the DSFix mod on the 'Prepare to Die Edition' playthrough.

*This is an edited re-post of my Steam review which can be found here: https://steamcommunity.com/id/lneacagt/recommended/570940/

Em busca de resgatar aquele sentimento de jogos difíceis, onde os jogadores podiam se ajudar dando dicas, ou atrapalharem os outros com mentiras, Miyazaki chegou no topo de sua formula com Dark Souls. Demons Souls já tentava fazer isso, mas foi Dark Souls quem ganhou a mídia, e como ganhou, o titulo de jogo mais difícil do mundo (Eu juro, não é nem perto disso), as piadas, os sentimentos e principalmente uma nova visão sobre como fazer um jogo, resgatando um pouco daquela nostalgia que tínhamos quando os jogos nos exigiam algo em troca de suas experiências e não o contrario.

Só por sua "filosofia" de construção Dark Souls já se destacava, mas somado a isso ainda vinha a incrível habilidade de contar uma historia com poucos detalhes, deixando o jogador explorar, descobrir, teorizar, e se emocionar com os mistérios daquele mundo impiedoso a sua frente.

Esse é mais um daqueles jogos que tem tamanha dedicação e importância, que mesmo com seus defeitos, continua perfeito. É difícil obter tanto destaque, ainda mais com uma propaganda tão intimidadora como "O jogo difícil" que afasta tantos, mas que gera o fascínio de muitos outros. Uma aposta ousada que a From Software não abriu mão e que hoje tornou-se um gênero sinônimo de sucesso. Dark Souls é um impacto cultural no mundo dos jogos, quer você goste ou não dele, só por isso ele já tem seu absoluto destaque. Praise the Sun, companheiros mortos-vivos e lembrem-se, a lenda daquele que caminho sobre o abismo é na verdade sua.

Orta stands out from its predecessors, not just because many of Team Andromeda's original members had already left before the start of its development, but also due to the series success being much intertwined with the Saturn's ambitions and limitations. The low poly fidelity of the Saturn funneled the devs creativity into the presentation of the world of Panzer Dragoon, buildinga unique universe of bright and strong colors, exotic soundscapes and sci fi fantasy backdrops that forced the players to fill in the blanks with their imagination. But that's not to say that Orta doesn't have the craft to make it a worthy successor to the Saturn lineage.

Now a child of the tech powerhouse that was the Xbox, Orta had the opportunity to fully realize the potential of Panzer Dragoon's world without having to take shortcuts in its visual fidelity. For an early Xbox game, Orta is still an impressive display of vast mountain, forest and open sky landscapes, filled with swirling ships, monsters and gigantic bosses that the console just shrugs off as you shoot homing missiles at eveything on sight. Complemented by a serene and subdued soundtrack, Orta is able to turn a genre known for its bombastic action into a somber and introspective adventure.

It is also the most accomplished and fully realized rail shooting experience in the franchise. Not settling with being a simple callback to the series, it builds upon the ideas of the previous entries, like the evolution mechanic of Zweii and the dragon morphing ability of Saga, to give a highly replayable challenging campaign with a plethora of maneuvourability and combat options to the player that make aerial skirmishes engaging and never frustrating to master. Orta was one of the last hurrahs of a company who rarely sacrificed fun for its artistic endeavours, a feat which the Panzer Dragoon series most exemplified and which Orta continued on.

While not being able to significantly expand on the story and concepts of Panzer Dragoon beyond what Saga had already achieved, Orta still manages to effectively embrace the themes of land ravaging warfare, the folly of playing God with nature and the price that comes with forgetting the past. The unwillingness to learn from the mistakes that were practiced by the Ancestors and that fuel much of the conflict that happens in these games has been a major throughline of the series, shackling is inhabitants to a war they dont understand against forces they do not comprehend, and I think it's fitting that the franchise's ending note is one where the character Orta, the legacy of the two main opposing forces of Panzer Dragoon, bears the torch into an uncertain but possibly brighter future.

Ultimately, what you should get out of this is that it is now possible to play the whole Panzer Dragoon series from start to finish from the comfort of your PC without much hassle or hiccups. The world is finally healing.