FromSoft's first open world game and they absolutely nailed it. I was initially worried that the move meant they would have to compromise on level design, but that wasn’t really the case here. Despite its vast and seamless world, the majority of it still has the same level of varied intricacy as the rest of their games. Like sprawling castles with detailed interiors and immense verticality, random caves you may stumble across that lead to massive underground systems, and of course plenty of unique bosses to fight.

That’s its biggest strength for me, the exploration. What sets it apart from many others is the complete lack of endless map markers or quests to focus on, rather just letting you get lost in a world with so much to see on the horizon that you can’t help but want to explore. And it rewards this curiosity by always having something worthwhile to find, whether it be useful items, boss encounters, or even paths to entire new areas. This also makes approaching difficult bosses a bit more manageable, as you can always just go somewhere else if you’re stuck and try again when you’re stronger.

And as a setting I loved The Lands Between. I’m not sure how much influence GRRM had over the world-building, but its mysterious lore is ever present all over and it’s wonderfully realized. It’s still as somber as From games have always been, but it also felt more grand given how open it is in comparison.

The only real gripe I had was the smaller catacombs you can find felt a bit too repetitive. Most of them look the same and some bosses are reused for them, basically serving as ER’s version of chalice dungeons which is eh. But I still enjoyed going through them so didn’t mind too much. Performance also seems… not great on most platforms, but I played the BC version on PS5 so was pretty much locked 60 for me. Hopefully they can iron its issues out for everything else.

But overall it’s yet another masterful game by From and now among my favorites. I’m excited to see where they go from here, cause it really did feel like a culmination of all their work up to now.

For me the allure of Zero Dawn as a new IP was the novelty of its world. Figuring out where the robot dinos came from, learning about Aloy and the tribal civilizations, the “Old Ones”, etc. Despite its flaws it effectively built up its sci-fi mysteries throughout and they were mostly given a satisfying answer by the end. Forbidden West continues from there and tries to expand more on Aloy herself and the people she encounters.

The gameplay is pretty much the same aside for some changes to combat and traversal. Fighting the machines is still really fun, and figuring out how to take on all the new variations is the best thing about the game. That said, combat with humans (which there’s a lot of) is still dull, and using melee isn’t much better than it was. They also claimed the climbing would be greatly improved and more free form in comparison, sort of? Honestly I thought it was somewhat worse since it could be really janky to control at times, though the addition of a glider was good.

I feel like the story in this one wasn’t as interesting without the intrigue of its world-building to push it forward. It does try to address Zero Dawn’s biggest flaw to me which was the characters, by making the cast more involved and giving you a base to interact with them between missions. But they still aren’t particularly memorable and the villains are especially boring here. At least the dialogue isn’t as stilted since the cutscene animations are far better than the first.

I did enjoy the side quests though. I don’t remember Zero Dawn’s standing out much at all, but these are more involving and have their own cutscenes akin to the main story, so actually wanted to do the majority of them. The other world activities aside for that (like errands and the generic outposts to clear) are still bland, though you can turn their map icons off and just ignore them at least.

Overall Forbidden West is a fine sequel. The visuals and music continue to be great and there’s better environmental variety. The ranged combat remains the highlight, and they improved on some of the first’s flaws like the side quests and animations pretty well. But it’s let down by how iterative it is, and it doesn’t really do much to justify its story imo.

With a rich and vibrant world with something to do everywhere you go, Elden Ring's open world is the best gaming has to offer. The scale of the overworld itself is mindblowing and finding out about the underworld that's seemingly just as large blew my mind even more. The world-building through storytelling makes the game's world feel extremely real and alive. There are 0 bad areas in this game. This game features what I would consider a strong lineup of high quality and fun bosses. The Godskin Duo and the Elden Beast were the only fights I disliked but everything else was peak. I also did not mind the few reoccurring bosses at all. The combat system is peak action RPG combat. Even after beating the game I still feel like I haven't even scratched the surface of this game's combat.

I really appreciate how hands-off this game was with the storytelling. I love how it just drops you into the world with no tutorial and nearly no directions. I already feel kinda nostalgic for the beginning of the game when I was just trying to get out of limgrave. There weren't many cutscenes to mess with the immersion. Every cutscene came at a completely appropriate and relevant time.

This game is without a doubt a masterpiece. I will never forget my first playthrough experience. I look forward to continuing to explore the world of Elden Ring. This is a game I would recommend it to anyone.

Usually when I complete a game I let my thoughts sit for a bit in order to come to a full, unbiased conclusion. But for Elden Ring, my thoughts have been concrete since the second I entered the Altus Plateau - so I can safely say that that this is not only the best souls game I’ve ever played, but the best game I’ve ever played period.

After 95 hours, I became the Elden Lord and concluded the best gaming journey I have ever been through. Sure I still have a few bosses to go and DLC (that’ll only reaffirm the top 1 spot) to look forward to, but the experience from the start of the game all the way to the credits will never be matched.

Elden Ring feels like a culmination of every idea and mechanic put into the Souls series from what I’ve seen so far - topped off with the freedom and exploration of Breath of The Wild. All of this is able to create the best, most alive, and most realistic world in gaming. Elden Rings world is so vibrant and full of life; there is never an empty area or place that feels lacking from the rest. Even the smallest areas will be full of things to do, mini dungeons to complete, and bosses to fight. So much care and effort was put into this world and it really shows when compared to most of the lackluster AAA open world games that are releasing today. It’s a breath of fresh air, one I haven’t gotten since BOTW - it feels really nice to play an open world game to completion without ever feeling tired of repetitive side objectives and exploration that feels auto generated. The world is easily the highlight, but I can’t praise it without mentioning the story and lore written by the humble George R. R Martin. I’m not gonna act like I fully understand the story, but what I do know and gathering from the stuff I don’t even understand, it’s pretty easy to say that the world building here is immaculate and really furthers my take that this is the best world in gaming - and possibly ever. Side quests do not feel like side quests; optional activities that feel restrained and separate from the main story, but instead feel like branches of a much larger story and path. So many memorable characters brought to fruition with stellar voice performances really brings these quests home.

I’ve said my praises about the world and story which are already enough to showcase my love for the game, but I can’t leave out the gameplay. I’ve only beaten Sekiro and Dark Souls 3 + played a bit of Bloodborne, Dark Souls 1, and Demon Souls so I think I have quite the understanding of how the souls series functions from a gameplay standpoint. And because of this understanding, I can gather that Elden Ring is the best rendition of the Souls formula yet. The combat is so unique, so creative, and filled to the brim with possibilities when it comes to builds and how you tackle the game. The difficulty plays a big role in this as well - with Elden Ring being the hardest game I have ever beaten. It’s challenging but fair, and sometimes a little tedious but not very often, so the overall difficulty is super consistent and fun. There were so many bosses in the game that took me what felt like ages, but even then I had a blast learning their patterns and beating them (even if I pussied out a lot and used summons). The sense of accomplishment that comes from the bosses is really something that drives the entire series home for me - it is what makes the games so fun yet in the end is such a small piece of this vast series.

Elden Ring is nothing short of a masterpiece - it is everything you could ever ask for in a game and more. It will easily go down as one of gamings greats and I cannot fathom how far the inevitable DLC will push this agenda.