Elden Ring was my second soulslike (kinda) and is responsible for my unquenchable soulslike thirst. This game introduces a mind-boggling amount of QoL changes, like the Stakes of Marika, Ashes of War, Spirit Ashes, bell bearings, a map, and many other things. All of these things combined makes for the most accessible soulslike to date and is a huge reason why so many people are playing these games now, including me. However, the open world format is controversial. For me, I really enjoyed it at first, but it makes starting a new game daunting. I have so many build ideas that I simply don't do because of how open ended this game is and how discouraging it sounds to have to do it all over again. Personally, I prefer the more railroady structure of the previous games. Also, some of the bosses in the game are needlessly punishing and make experimenting with builds not as appealing. These are minor complaints though, I had a blast with this game overall and think it's a huge step in the right direction.

This was my first soulslike back in 2017. I played it once, hated it, and didn't open it again until 2022. But that time something clicked, and I haven't been the same person ever since (send help). I'm likely biased because it was my first, but I love this game. It has a good pacing to the combat (not crawling like DS1, but not formula one like Bloodborne/ER), the maps are memorable, the characters are fun, the weapons are a blast, and it finally ditched the silly attunement system of the earlier games in favor of the much superior mana estus. It also has some of my favorite bosses of the series, including my all-time favorite, Nameless King. Great game all around, no complaints.

Everyone told me this entry was dogshit and I shouldn't bother. But my hunger for soulslikes is insatiable, so here I am playing it - and I'm glad I did, because it's a good game. I hated it at first and was nearly victim to the "pleb filter" numerous times, but I've persevered. Once I got my build of choice rolling (STR/FTH Greatsword + Healing/Lightning Spells) I started having fun. The level design is weird (and unfair at times), the max-HP degradation upon death is stupid, and a lot of the difficulty of the game comes from it just throwing hordes of mobs at you, but it has a lot of cool ideas present that I wish were in other games. Some people hate how slow the flask is and the very existence of lifegems, but I've come to believe it's the best implementation of healing in the series. It doesn't take the option of healing away from you mid-fight, but doesn't let you heal in the enemy's face without consequences. The ability to completely clear an area of enemies after killing them enough times is cool too. I also like the lack of Heavy/Sharp infusions, it encourages the use of elemental effects you wouldn't otherwise use. Overall, good game with some frustrating elements but really cool ideas that compensate for it.