“The culmination of every game Fromsoftware has done” is a phrase used a lot to describe Elden Ring and that is just the most apt way to sum it up. A combination of every good aspect of their previous works put together into a meticulously crafted open world that never leaves you bored. An open world that feels alive and is packed with huge amount of content that encourages exploration, the impressive art direction that leaves you pausing for a few seconds and just admiring how gorgeous the world looks, this and more is what an open world game should strive to be like.
On the surface, the lore is easy to grasp as the telling of the main events that transpired are more straight forward, but there is still more to what meets the eye as with any other soulsborne. Reading various item descriptions, paying attention to the NPCs dialogue and paying closer attention to the environmental story telling to put together a grand puzzle is what makes Fromsoftwares’ games unique and that is what they did here as well.
The level design and platforming in this game are much more fun compared to the previous games, and the addition of the jump/double jump features are one of the main contributors to that. Seeing how massive the world is you would think some areas would just end up being inconsistent, however every area from the serene Limgrave to the majestic end area are simply outstanding in quality. Additionally, the optional catacombs and rises scattered throughout the map offer many enjoyable puzzle-solving with a nice souls-like twist.
What sets this game apart from the other souls is a lot, but one of them is the consistency with the main bosses. Unpopular as that may be, none of the main bosses in this game are bad at all. There is a lot to say about them but that would be filled with spoilers, so I am just going to say that the atmosphere, lore and mechanic utilisation of each one of them is absolutely fascinating. The combat is pretty much a “refined dark souls”, it still retains the feel of its predecessor yet is more fluid, and with the addition of horseback riding this is taken into another level.
There is a lot to praise about this game, but Elden Ring still has it’s flaws as with any other game. The recycled bosses don’t really bother me much as most of them have a reasoning behind them, however the many reskinned field dragons with the exact same move-sets were quite boring that I just had to skip most of them. Kind of ironic considering this game simultaneously has the best dragon boss fight in a souls game. Another criticism is the somewhat ludicrous end game where everything just one shots you unless you were at an absurdly high amount of vigor. Apparently the soft-caps for other stats as well have also risen to 60/80 which is insane compared to the previous games, to some extent this explains the way the end game is. The PC version of the game also suffers a lot on a technical aspect. Though not as frequent as many make it out to be, the game does admittedly have some occasional frame drops and stuttering which unfortunately gets more frequent with some end game bosses.
All that said, the issues aren’t really anything unfixable and I really hope they do fix them as they are the only thing holding this game back from being an actual masterpiece. Even after finishing the game I just keep finding myself going back to The Lands Between, be it for some pvp or simply exploring more of its enchanting world. Elden ring is a phenomenal open world and is the game that will change the genre as how demon souls devised it’s own.

Bloodborne is a game that tells the tragic story of how humans’ curiosity initially led to a series of unfortunate events throughout the city of Yarnham. You start without any information given to you but random bits of dialogue that makes no sense, but eventually as you progress further in the game you come to understand the gist of it. The lore is complex and may seem completely vague, yet by piecing together the clues found out from item descriptions to the random cut-scenes dialogues it all ends up making sense.
It has been said a lot, but the world building cannot be praised enough. The gothic architecture of Yarnham and how interconnected the entire world is astonishing. There may be some inconsistencies with the level-design of some segments but overall it definitely is the most well-crafted world in a video game. I have never bothered fully exploring levels before but with Bloodborne the intriguing lore along with its beautiful level-design is a motivator to fully explore every corner of the world. Levels aside, the diverse enemy designs are also another thing to praise. Both the grotesque bosses and mobs are creatively made to fit within this Lovecraftian horror.
The soundtrack is simply phenomenal. The blend of latin lyrics and instrumentals really does well to maintain an eerie albeit engaging atmosphere whilst also still being lore relevant. As for the cut-scenes, can’t say much besides they are perfect as well. Not the average tediously long, mediocre-looking ones but it is brief, visually stunning and meaningful.
(I have played fromsoftware games before but have not particularly played the souls series so wouldn’t know about any comparison or how similar it is to its predecessor so this would solely be about Bloodborne)
Aggressive fast-paced combat is the games main focus. This is supported by the “rally” mechanic system which is quite nice as it vastly encourages striking back opponents as quickly as possible and remaining aggressive for a chance to regain a portion of what you lost (health). Weapons, usually referred to as Trick weapons are a unique and an interesting concept. With trick weapons you get to use the base version of a weapon but also transform it and unlock more and usually heavier attacks/move sets. There is a myriad of weapons to choose from and each of them is fun to play with.
It is known that this game is not an easy one, but the difficulty is often exaggerated, or at least that is how I personally found it. For instance, the final boss in the DLC notorious for being the “toughest soulsborne boss” was underwhelming as despite that being said by many I ended up beating him in less than three tries, still a good boss fight nonetheless. The Old Hunters DLC which is included in this version of the game is optional yet a must-play part; it has plenty of lore exposition, immensely memorable boss fights and is arguably the most enjoyable part of the game.
The more I revisit this game and look up more about its lore the more I find myself loving it. Bloodborne is a masterpiece and undoubtedly one of my favourite games of all time, if not my favourite.