The FitnessGram™ Pacer Test is a multistage aerobic capacity test that progressively gets more difficult as it continues. The 20 meter pacer test will begin in 30 seconds. Line up at the start. The running speed starts slowly, but gets faster each minute after you hear this signal. [beep] A single lap should be completed each time you hear this sound. [ding] Remember to run in a straight line, and run as long as possible. The second time you fail to complete a lap before the sound, your test is over. The test will begin on the word start. On your mark, get ready, start.

The combat of Elden Ring, at its core, is the same as in Dark Souls 3. If you had fun with Dark Souls 3, you're gonna have fun with Elden Ring. Personally, I love Dark Souls 3, so I had fun with Elden Ring. However, there are a ton of issues with this game.

First off, weapon upgrade materials. They’re way too rare, which means you’re never encouraged to experiment with weapons. Getting the ability to buy them eventually helps I guess but even then, they’re way too expensive (getting a new weapon up to level with your current level is pretty much always more expensive than a level up) and the bell-bearings are way too missable for how important they are. Also, the fact that they’re so granular feels like super weird design to me. It means you get punished for doing things out of order/exploring, and it leads to frustrating situations where you could upgrade your weapon to +18 if only you could get it to +12 first. Why even have that many types of upgrade stones if 2 of them are bundled for each bell bearing?

The design of a lot of bosses is also not very fun to me. Too much AOE, too many delayed attacks, which combined means that your dodge roll is less of a repositioning tool and more of a source of iframes than ever before.

The game is also way too large. The game has to constantly recycle things to be full of stuff. Recycled enemies, recycled bosses, and worst of all, recycled dungeon mechanics, are all commonplace in the later parts of the game. Additionally, the pacing of the game is just off to me. At one point, I defeated a boss and felt ready for the game to end soon. Instead I was told to go somewhere entirely new. I went to the next area (which I found incredibly boring), defeated the boss, and did the thing I was told to do. And then I was teleported to some place for some reason. That place was also boring to me so I decided to give the game a break because I could feel myself slowly starting to despise it.

I also don’t like how disconnected the multiplayer features are from the rest of the game. Not linking the ability to summon to anything means you’ll never just randomly see a summon sign and think “sure, why not”, summoning always has to be a conscious choice.
I understand that a lot of people are glad that they won’t be invaded unless they do coop, but I actually liked being invaded every now and then, but I don’t want to be invaded so much that I’ll use the taunter’s tongue.

All that said, there are also many positives to Elden Ring. The game is beautiful, especially the earlier areas. Spirit Ashes and Ashes of War are both incredibly cool new features. Power stance (mostly) being back is great. The worldbuilding is amazing and I do not understand why people say it’s just dark souls with different proper nouns. Radahn is probably my favourite boss fight from any Fromsoft game, the spectacle is just through the roof.
Like I said, despite all of the issues I have with this game, I still had a fun time with it and I will finish it eventually, I just really need a break right now.

Last but not least, performance on the Ps4 was decent. Some loading screens took too long, and the game was a bit chunky in areas with lots of particle effects (that you can’t reduce/turn off) but I was playing a modern game on 9-year-old hardware so I’m not going to complain. Imagine playing Bloodborne on the Ps3.


In conclusion, Elden Ring is a great game for people who like Dark Souls 3, but not quite as good as Dark Souls 3.

Ich liebe alles an diesem Spiel, das von nur zwei Entwicklern und einem Komponisten kreiert wurde: Ari, William und Christopher - Ihr seid einfach großartig!

Die Lore ist philosophisch, detail-verliebt, poetisch und umfassend.

Die Graphik scheint von den Figuren recht minimalistisch, aber die filigranen, mannigfaltigen Hintergründe mit all ihren Verzierungen, die individuell zum Levelareal passen, und in Talismanen, Rüstungen und Gegenständen wiederzuerkennen sind, machen es zu einem visuellen Spektakel.

Die Musik von Larkin ist inspirierend, atmosphärisch, mitreißend, zerreißend und bei genauem Zuhören lassen sich wiederkehrende Leitmotive erkennen. Obwohl die Figuren keine Stimme geschenkt bekamen, hat jeder (wichtige) Charakter seine eigenen Floskeln, die sie noch liebenswerter oder in manchen Fällen auch widerwärtiger machen. ;)

Die Steuerung ist sehr sensibel. Z.B. ist die Stärke und Dauer des Sprungknopfdrückens oft entscheidend über Leben und Tod. Das macht es herausfordernder, aber zugleich gibt es einem auch mehr Freiheiten die richtigen Kampftaktiken zu entwickeln. Diese Kämpfe sind in meinen Augen von solcher Raffinesse, dass sie einen oft entzücken lassen. So kann man bestimmte Reaktionen aus einzelnen Bossen kitzeln, die sie furioser oder nobler parieren lassen. Demnach findet man nicht nur Poesie in der Lore, sondern auch in der Hitze des Kampfes.

Es gibt auch unzählige Builds für den kleinen Ritter: Unterschiedliche Talisman Kombinationen, haben besondere Auswirkungen. Manchmal gibt es Talismane, die einem den Kampf erschweren und man an der Rechtmäßigkeit ihrer Existenz ehrlich gesagt zweifelt, aber schon alleine, um das Fenster vollständig zu bekommen, weil es ästhetisch hübscher aussieht, sammelt man sie natürlich.

Als Metroidvania gibt es unheimlich viel zu entdecken: Die Regionen sind in ihrem (farblichen) Design und in ihrem herausfordernden Plattforming Layout sowie ihren kleinen und großen Einwohnern individuell und abwechslungsreich. Alles ist stimmig, da selbst die jeweiligen Themes diese Designs wiederspiegeln. Die Bosskämpfe sind (in meinen Augen) schwierig, aber immer fair, weswegen ich nicht aufhören konnte und sie letzten Endes gemeistert habe. Es gibt einige, sehr unterschiedliche Enden und ich kann mich auch nach ca. 140 Stunden an dieser Welt nicht sattsehen und liebe es, Hallownest immer wieder aufs Neue zu erkunden und neues Verborgenes zu entdecken.

Chapeau Team Cherry <3