Mushroom zombies is the dumbest idea ever. Why ruin the best monster with a mushroom? I can’t take it seriously at all. Mushroom monsters are reserved for Mario. I can’t be scared of a pizza topping. Not only that, but their face looks like pepperoni. OK I guess theyre going with a pizza zombie theme. But then out of nowhere they start making dolphin sounds. OK buddy... I get you're trying to be different from every other zombie thing but the appeal of zombie things is that they could all happen in the same world.

Like oh im passing thru this house and maybe umm idk Ben from night of the living dead was here. Whatever. The spore thing is stupid too and serves no purpose. I dont like "clickers" and the fact that its impossible to melee fight them more than one at a time. I dont like the puzzles all being ladder or plank or wood pallet and i dont like how close the camera is to your character wtf i cant see anything.


and the camera zooms in dramatically every time you do a melee hit and you get less and less situational awareness and it sucks because these mushroom bitches can one shot you if they approach you but i cant see you because im punching this zombie and i can see about 4 milimeters of my 900 inch 4k tv screen not being taken up by joel, the man with the shoulders of me on steroids.

In fact im gonna go on record as to saying I think this may not even be fixed if it was playable with a keyboard and mouse. I'm sorry to everyone who stockholmed themselves into thinking that videogames are playable on controllers but I feel about 60% in control of my character at any given moment.

I couldve pulled off some badass shit if i was allowed to aim and do an input without pressing up left quarter circle l2 at the same time to switch my gun. Even then the melee system still somehow doesnt understand that we figured out targeting with devil may cry 3 and hell probably before that who gives a shit.

Now im using my last melee charge on this baby normal zombie who cant one shot me and oh look the one shot pizza zombies coming here time to do the whole encounter again. FUCK limited melee weapons i hate them with all my heart let me have a knife or something i swear to you i can smash a baseball bat into someone full force and it'd break on the first hit but that's because i'm extremely strong. if someone like joel were to hit a baseball bat into someone you know it would last for a very long time because it's made of strong wood sometimes aluminum or something not plywood.

Seriously i dont get the obsession with having charged up/limited melee attacks in these arkham knockoff stealth games like this and deus ex HR. What a god damn shit show for real. But yeah now for the good parts. This game is really good, i love the story and the graphics, the writing is nice, i insulted the combat a bit earlier but when it works and you're smashing zombie heads into the wall and punching them into pieces it feels amazing.

I love exploring neighborhoods and stuff and looting its very relaxing and nice. I would love to live in a zombie apocalypse IRL i think it'd be very relaxing just like that.

Yeah so... now for the elephant in the room. Yes I know I had this game at one star before. Why did I give it another try?
well aside from not being able to think about anything but walking dead for the past 6 months, I've been curious as to why so many love this game and think its the best ever made.

And yeah I totally get it now. I'm a man, I'm man enough to admit when I was wrong. I've sinned a lot in my life and I've made plenty of mistakes. I shot my brother, I rated encore higher than to pimp a butterfly, I watched Jane die, but nothing.. nothing will compare to the 9 years I have spent thinking and telling others that this game was bad.

And for that ... I apologize. But I'm thinking... does this make me a normie? am I a normie now? am I gonna line up for the next god of war reboot game? oh pls no. I need to play something patrician and niche to fix my reputation. Shit i think its time i pull out god hand.

Full Review + Trophy Review and Tips Below

What can I say about this game that hasn’t already been said? I’ll start by pointing to the obvious, that The Last of Us set the bar for interactive storytelling. The brutal and emotional performances have never looked better, you’ll witness loss and regret in Joel’s eyes, you’ll read the pleading and desperation hiding behind Tess’s strong face, and you’ll smile at every one of Ellie’s sassy expressions. The Last of Us Part I is the definitive way to play this masterpiece, and I enjoyed every second I spent revisiting this journey with Joel and Ellie.

You’ve heard and seen it already, The Last of Us Part I is a gorgeous game to play. The focus has been, deservedly so, on the rebuilt environments and character models. Considering this is the 10th time I play this game; I was shocked by how many details I either missed or were added to enhance the experience. I was constantly remarking on just how good the enemies, spores, environments, lighting, character expressions, etc. looked.

It absolutely added to the game, and without spoiling anything, I’ll just say there were many times where I read a scene completely different from the original thanks to some amazing facial animation. It added so much more emotion, or in other scenes, were way more brutal. There were many enemy encounters where I played through it with complete stank face thanks to what I was witnessing on the screen.

As far as the other tweaks. Turning on a generator was changed to match Part 2 and it’s a minor thing that feels better. The bow and arrow were overhauled which took a bit of getting used to, I noticed that Ellie’s draw was weaker than Joel’s which made hunting the deer more difficult. I also noticed I had to bump the difficulty to Survivor, possible due the improvements in shooting, stealth, and melee, I was just breezing through what used to be difficult encounters.

One of the biggest changes for me was, what I consider, the introduction of Stalkers in the game. Now I know Naughty Dog says that stalkers were always in the original, and I believe them. However, how they act has completely been overhauled to match what we see in Part 2. Using the sewers as an example, in the PS3 version I had a hard time with this section because the enemies acted as runners. If you made any noise, they would all swarm you and you had to fight multiple at a time while watching out for clickers. In Part I, it is more terrifying as they are quiet, sneaky and will appear out of nowhere but because they’re nature is to stalk you and attack you from behind, you never get swarmed. This meant taking them out one a time was much easier. That to me was probably the biggest change I saw to how the game played and even though I feel the original was more tense, I added the variety it provided to the remake.

My only other critique is that I would have LOVED that Left Behind would have been woven into the original story, however I can understand why. It still plays as a love letter to Ellie after the events of the main game and including new mechanics like luring clickers to fight human enemies may have been jarring halfway through the game.

Whether this is worth the price tag is subjective. For me, it absolutely was. Being able to stream and share this with people who have never experienced The Last of Us was a joy. I am biased, I have loved this game since it originally released in 2013 and I am looking forward to re-playing it for years to come.

Trophies
Difficulty: 2/10
Time: 15 hours
Trophy Guide: Recommended (Not Needed)
Trophy List Score: 10/10

The Last of Us (2013) is notorious for having a shitty Trophy list that focused on repeat playthroughs, Survivor difficulty and completing all collectibles/upgrades. Thankfully The Last of Us Part I remediates those issues and delivers what is one of the best trophy lists to date.

There are no difficulty or missable trophies, you can clean up chapters via chapter select and you no longer have to upgrade all your weapons. This means that everything is attainable in a single playthrough. What has been added is mainly finding collectibles, which now include opening every safe and discovering every workbench.

The final additon to the list is that you will have to complete the Left Behind DLC to earn the Platinum. A change I was happy with because it is easily one of the best DLC's out there and the trophies are easy to attain.

I would recommend just playing the game at your pace without a guide, soaking up every second of this masterpiece and then, if needed, using a guide to clean up whatever you missed as you check your completion for every chapter and sub chapter.

Tips:
- Don’t use shivs against clickers as you want to save those for shiv doors.
- In Ellie’s section you can use bricks or bottles to throw them at enemies and immediately stab them.
- Arrows are your best friend as you can headshot enemies and 90% of the time, pick up the arrow.
- Thanks to Chapter/Sub-Chapter select, you can see and track what you are missing to easily replay a section and nab any missing collectibles. No need to finish the chapter, just quit once you’ve picked up what you need as it automatically logs.

Happy Trophy Hunting!

Beat: 09/22/22
Time: 13 Hours

The game could easily be trashed for its simplicity and bugs, but that would require me completely ignoring what an achievement capturing the setting truly is. For a child living at the time this franchise was at the peak of its popularity, these movie tie-ins were nothing short of awesome.

Exploring Hogwarts in 3D, even at its simplest form, still fills me with giddinness. It's designed so cleverly, as even though you don't explore that much of it, the rooms differ ever so slightly every time, making for the feeling that the entire castle is alive, ever-changing. The game has this ominous aesthetic, the music is haunting and most of the rooms are dark and dangerous, but it is occasionally intercepted with these joyous discoveries where the music becomes happy once again. Those short moments stick with me over the years: stumbling upon Nearly Headless Nick's hidden napping place, finding a gigantic statue of a dragon, Fred and Goerge popping up out of nowhere to get their 25 beans. I think they made up the core of what made this a great game for children, it added a sense of wonder and amazement, providing a peek behind the courtains of what the movies or books haven't shown/described. They add some personality to this iteration of the story.

Of course this isn't a definitive game based on this particular part of the saga. Every game has elements that other games are missing—you don't get to explore Diagon Alley in this one, but on the other hand you get a longer section with the invisibility cloak.

Games like this make me nostalgic for the time where video games based on pre-existing IPs were extremely common. Sure, they were rushed and often underwhelming compared to other products on the market, but the value of being able to explore the IP itself, taking control of these scenarios and seeing everything about it expanded upon, is worth much more than I realized. Nowadays, when these sort of games are announced they are made out to be a huge deal, but they often end up as underwhelming compared to their contemporaries, and draw just as much inspiration from them. In reality, little has changed, we just get to be teased about these experiences instead of getting more of these tiny, passionate projects like the Harry Potter video games.

Until Dawn was a game made perfectly for me—I love the engrossing nature of SuperMassive’s teen, horror-comedy, B-movie, limited-gameplay stories, and I remember falling in love with those characters only to witness their brutal deaths. Since Until Dawn, I have avoided the Dark Pictures Anthology because of poor reviews, but I knew from the moment The Quarry was announced that I’d pick it up Week 1.

I am so incredibly pleased to say that The Quarry is a return-to-form for the developer, with another twisty horror mystery overflowing with character and charm. I think this game does so many things right, showing what the team learned from Until Dawn! For starters, this game feels much less like there is one main character that the player is supposed to identify with—I honestly wanted every single character to make it through the night (or to die at exactly the right moment) in a way that I didn’t feel with Until Dawn. Second, this game is gorgeous, with eery lighting and high-fidelity character models that feel less wooden than the character rigs in Until Dawn. Third, this game changed some of the worst QTE moments from their first outing so that everything feels fair, and character deaths always feel like they occur because of player fault. Finally, I think this is a better, more consistent story from beginning to end; I feared that the game showed its hand a bit too early, but the continuing plot developments kept me invested and the environments in which the game placed me were always incredibly interesting. I loved that I was able to make several decisions based on my emotional reactions to the characters and what I honestly wanted to do at each moment in the game, rather than just trying to game the system for the sake of killing or saving a certain character.

With all this praise, I do need to share a few problems I had with this game, and most of them are directly related to some of the strengths I addressed above. While the story here is better front to back than the story in Until Dawn, I never felt the same level of mystery as I did in the first 3-4 chapters of that game. I think this game would benefit from more obfuscation in the early chapters, as character motivations are a bit too transparent or easily guessable from too early on. Second, the breathing mini game seems kind of pointless—I never once felt like I was at any risk of losing the mini-game, and the game never even raised the interesting question of what would happen if I ran out of breath. Finally, what in the world was going on with the visuals when a character was wet???

I never expected to love The Quarry as much as I did, and I honestly didn’t expect Supermassive to re-capture the heart of their breakout hit, but this game has won me over and has made me far more interested in replaying it soon than prior games of its kind.

Skyward Sword on Wii was already one of my favorite games of all time. I now have no reason to ever touch it again.

Skyward Sword HD took a game that I loved despite its flaws and fixed everything I had an issue with. I've already done a lengthy review on the original game, so instead of repeating all of that, here are my impressions from the 39 hours I spent completing this remaster.

- Ghirahim is still my favorite Zelda villain. He's so deliciously camp.
- "Romance in the Air" might be the most beautiful bit of music in any Zelda game ever: https://youtu.be/T6x5bEr_UUU
- The resolution and buttery-smooth framerate take this game to a new level. I know Breath of the Wild 2 is gonna chug just like its predecessor, but it would be a TREAT to have all Zelda games in 60fps from now on.
- I still adore these motion controls. For whatever reason, they just click for me. Wish I could have 1:1 sword controls in every Zelda game, just like this one!
- The side characters are so good here. Meaningful, memorable interactions with NPCs make this such a fun world to be in.
- These are still some of my favorite Zelda dungeons, especially the ones in Lanayru.
- I really like returning to areas multiple times with different stuff going on. Seeing things change in an area is one of my favorite things in games, it makes the world feel more alive.
- I adore the Silent Realm challenges! A little bit of survival-horror in a Zelda game works really well. I recommend going for the difficult tears first just in case you get caught though, no need to ruin your whole run by saving the ones surrounded by floaty ghosts for last.
- Timeshift Stones are so rad.
- I liked the Demise fight much more this time than I did in 2011, but that might just be because I knew what to expect.
- I replayed BotW right before this, and that game really lacks an ending. In contrast, SS's ending is solid, probably right behind OoT.
- Fi is great, and it's much easier to appreciate her with the now toned-down number of interruptions.
- Bring back Scrapper!!
- My only real complaint is that I wish there were even more side quests, but if a game just makes me wish I could keep playing for longer, that's hardly a negative!

That was kind of word vomit, but I think that about covers everything. I love this game!

Skyward Sword has one of, if not the best, stories in the Zelda Franchise. Taking you to the very beginning, we discover the origins of the feud between Good and Evil, the creation of the Master Sword and the Hero of Time and the curse that would follow these protagonists across thousands of years and split timelines. Filled with creative dungeons, unique weapons and tools at your disposal, this journey is unlike any other. It’s unfortunate that the game is mired by difficult controls adapted from the Wii’s motion controllers and location/gameplay repetition that makes you wish multiple times for the credits to roll.

When I turned 6 years old, I got a Super Nintendo along with The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past for my birthday. I became enamored with the world, the characters, the dungeons and the story and it was the start of how The Legend of Zelda became my favorite franchise of all time. I was a Nintendo guy through and through, that was until the Wii came out and unfortunately the motion control style of gaming turned me away.

I had played and completed every Zelda game up to this point in Nintendo’s history however Skyward Sword was always the one massive omission in my Zelda gaming history. I never had a Wii and as time progressed, there was just no feasible way for me to play this game. For years I wished for a port and was excited when it was announced for the Switch last year.

So first let’s talk about the controls. I applaud Nintendo for making the effort to translate their motion controls to a standard controller scheme and for the most part they were successful. Every button and swipe of your joysticks works as intended however it doesn’t make the process any less frustrating. Having to hold down a button to move your camera, imprecision in your sword swipes when precision is the name of the game and an item wheel that is cumbersome to use just sucked the joy out of some game encounters.

As creative as the weapons you will find are, the motion control adaption just made them a pain to use. Bombs being one that would explode while I held them more times than I cared to count. Having to assign the item, take out the bomb, move the joystick up or down to throw or roll, hold the joystick, aim, and then press the action button, was a recipe for disaster. If I messed any of those up, which I often did … 💥. The whip, as cool an item as it was, was the bane of my existence. Having to do flicks of the joystick in the right direction to grab and then move the levers, especially in areas that required timeliness, was a nightmare. Lastly the use of shields, a staple of the Zelda series, was difficult and I realized near the end of the game that I had played the entire journey, without a shield.

With that said though, I appreciate Nintendo’s dedication to their move controls as they went all in and used it in very creative ways. When it works, it felt good! Taking down enemies by getting past their defenses and analyzing their behaviors to time your attacks made for some of the best combat in the Zelda franchise. Skyward Sword also boasts some of the best bosses in the franchise and all were so creative and fun to take down using your arsenal. Skyward Sword also has an upgrade system in place by collecting materials in the world. I’ll be honest, I didn’t use this much nor found much of a need to and didn’t go out of my way looking for new materials.

The story this time around is the highlight of the game for me. Watching the story unfold as someone who has loved this franchise for over 30 years was beautiful to see. The lore building and how it connects to future games was so interesting and the cast of characters you interacted with were a lot of fun. I loved every dungeon but need to give a special shoutout to the Lanayru Mines and their use of the time stones. I also found there was a decent amount of challenge in the puzzles this time around that had me look up a guide or two to find my way through.

My only gripe outside of the controls is the repetitiveness of the locations and gameplay elements. You will discover 3 locations and beat their respective dungeons and then you will continue to visit those 3 same locations, albeit sometimes new areas of that location, repeatedly. You will perform the same task by collecting x amount of an item in a realm that will repeat itself, then do another dungeon and then go fight an entity trying to escape and rinse and repeat. I clocked 32 hours to beat the game and there were multiple times where I was hoping that I was nearing the end. Little did I know I was a little over halfway done. Essentially you have fire, sand, forest/water areas you will be exploring, and I wished they had given us a little more variety.

Skyward Sword had the potential to be my favorite in the Zelda Franchise, or at least a close second to Majora’s Mask. It had the creativity, ambition, storytelling, and unique gameplay to make it happen. Some tweaks in its pacing, repetitiveness and controls is all it would have taken to push it forward. Issues aside, I absolutely recommend this game for anyone who enjoys the traditional dungeon style Zelda gameplay as it has some of the most memorable levels wrapped in a beautiful origin story.

Beat: 3/20/22
Time: 32 Hours

🎮 Platform: Nintendo Switch
⌚ Time to finish - 28h

Skyward Sword is exactly what every Zelda lover will want, a nice story, really intricate dungeons, varied combat, great puzzles, so I think if you love Zelda you will definitely love this game. However, I am slowly coming to realization that Zelda is not a game for me anymore. I was lost a lot in this game and did not have the patience to look for little environmental clues to help me keep going and just resorted to a guide. I don't want to play a game with using a guide so much. I am use to quest markers and other modern niceties. However, the guide kept the game moving at a good and enjoyable pace. The younger me would have had the patience for all this. Overall this was a good experience, but I think it could be a great one for a Zelda formula fan. I think I am done with Zelda after this.

Pros:
I loved the art style and touching origin story. Dare I say i liked the visuals here than BOTW.
Really cool dungeons and puzzles that come together. Really awesome design
Combat was varied among the bosses and mini bosses
Story feels epic. And it should, you learn about how the master sword came to being and alot of lore around the triforce.

Cons:
Controls are better but still very clunky. I almost gave up on the game in the prolouge when i could not get past the basic flying lessons level. After perseverence and switching to NON motion controls i got past it. Non motion controls were the best for me. Do keep in mind using right stick to do attacks takes getting use to. TIP: I had an 8bitdo controller, so i was able to use macros to make this easy.
Overall an easy game but couple boss fights are just straight up frustrating and NOT fun. One is a flying boss towards the end, and already the flying here is frustrating. You have to hit the boss at specific spots while he is moving and you are flying. SUPPER frustrating. The final final boss of the game is plain stupid. TIP: Use a damage reduction potion if you want to. He is fast and takes out 2 hearts per hit.... these 2 fights really soured my experience and together took at least 10 tries each. Really did not like seeing the last fight ramp up difficulty that hard.
even as a zelda expert I imagine some solutions are VERY obscure. For example, finding a tiny hole in a wall to get a key, going to a random place in the world map to play a song, some abilities help you find them but without a guide I was getting frustrated FAST and running in circles
There is definitely a bit of filler content. For example levels where you collect orbs without getting caught. It happens at least 3 times and re-uses the same levels. Another level you literally just loose all you stuff for NO reason and have to go retrieve it one by one.. WHY?

It's hard to know to where to start on this one. Elden Ring put me in a three-month-long hole where it was effectively the only piece of media that I consumed or thought about. It only took me about 10-15 hours of play to realize that I was experiencing one of my all-time favorite games. The game spent the remaining 100 or so hours inflicting the Stockholm Syndrome on my critical faculties, so that I started to savor even its most obnoxious (Hero's graves, the Shunning-Grounds) and bland (most caves) elements. Indeed, Elden Ring isn't flawless, but with just an absurd amount of engaging things to see and do and manifold options for building out a character and playstyle, the sheer sense of scale and largesse tends to drown out all but the most egregious flaws. This is a game where the player almost always has innumerable options to pursue the moment their present task becomes the least bit tiresome. Elden Ring doesn't merely resist criticism; it steamrolls it with a wave of nigh-endless choice.

Truthfully, most everything else here is just what we have come to expect from FromSoft at this point. Did anyone really think that this game wasn't going to have dense and layered level design, evocative set pieces, or haunting atmospherics? From Software has been churning this stuff out since Demon's Souls. Their reputation as the best in the business in this regard is well-earned and almost irreproachable, so it's no surprise that Elden Ring continues this streak of excellence.

There are a few refreshing course changes here, though. Count me among the group that thinks that the inclusion of George R.R. Martin was an important boon for this game's narrative. After the dumpster fire of knowing winks and tired retreads that stood in for a narrative in Dark Souls III, From had already started to shift in a more direct and less nebulous direction with Sekiro. Here, the story hits a satisfying balance: there's a lot more exposition than in any Souls game, but there is still room for the ambiguity and oblique inferencing that lore divers eat up. I hadn't felt this engaged by a FromSoft game's narrative since Bloodborne.

More surprising is the turn toward increased accessibility, as From had seemed to be moving in the opposite direction prior to Elden Ring. Bloodborne and (especially) Sekiro are both fairly prescriptive in terms of assigning a quasi-mandatory playstyle (i.e. melee). So I was floored to see that Elden Ring goes so strongly in the opposite direction. Shields work now. Summons are plentiful. Magic is once again a bit overpowered. None of these changes really affected my first playthrough (power-stance twinblades), but their inclusion and viability make me excited to replay this when the inevitable DLC hits down the road.

This game has been talked to death, so I won't go on longer beyond saying that this felt like an apotheosis of the path From Software has been on for the past decade plus. It's a rare and special experience that left me wanting more of what these devs are selling - it might even be the game that finally forces me to overcome my prejudice against mechs and try out Armored Core...

Full Review + Trophy Review and Tips Below

Elden Ring is a game unlike any other and it single handedly resurrected my passion for gaming. I have not been addicted to a game like this since The Witcher III.

A lot of people compare this to Breath of the Wild (which I hate that I am doing here) and both are Masterpieces of their own domains. Where I feel Elden Ring succeeds where Breath of the Wild faltered is that Elden Ring did not lose its DNA in the process. This is a Souls game through and through, the lore building, difficult bosses, legacy dungeons, obscure items and what feels like infinite build opportunities are all still present and enhanced.

Elden Ring is a masterpiece in design and one of the greatest games I have ever played. I lost so many hours in this world between the hours of 9 pm to 4 am, and as a working parent, I promise you that is a feat in itself. The developers at FromSoftware achieved, what seemed like the impossible, by adapting their tight, interwoven world design and pinpoint accurate game play in this massive open world. I loved every single second of it and will be replaying this game for years to come.

2020 was the year that I fell in love with the Soulsborne genre which all started with Demons Souls back when the PS5 launched and was enhanced by the great and supporting Souls community here at GG. I platinumed Demons Souls, Bloodborne, Dark Souls, Dark Souls III, Sekiro and Mortal Shell that year. Needless to say, between being a huge Game of Thrones Fan and a newly born Soul’s fan, Elden Ring could not come fast enough.

No game is perfect, and Elden Ring is not the exception. I fully understand people feeling fatigue within this world, repetitive mini dungeons, repetitive bosses, etc. I can see an effort was made to make enough changes so that you didn’t feel that repetitive nature, however no matter how many move sets or new abilities were added, you will still fight more than two handful of dragons in similar fashions. My only counter, and opinion on this is, it was still fun as hell. I didn’t mind going against the same enemy multiple times, as I had a blast doing it each time.

As many have said before me, this is the most accessible souls’ game to date and ironically, can also be one of the hardest. The open world means you have an incredible amount of choice to go where you want, level up and move on to a different area if you are struggling. Additional levels, a new item, weapon, or ash may turn what was an impossible boss into a walk in the park. 75% of the game will feel like this however there is a difficulty ramp in the last couple areas of the game that will put most through the grinder. That’s not even considering optional end game bosses that are some of the hardest the series has ever produced. The rewarding feeling of beating them though, priceless.

There is a main path that is not difficult to follow if you spend time in the world, speak to NPCs and follow the grace points paths. The world being devoid of markers and quest paths means it pushes you to discover things for yourself, always while nudging you in the right direction. When you arrive at a swamp with a red sky and huge enemies, it’s the game telling you, Danger! You can choose to tackle it, but the visual cues are enough to motivate you to explore in a different area. Feeling things out and letting those visual and gameplay cues from the world around guide you is one of the many aspects that continuously amazed me.

Elden Ring absolutely rewards you for exploring, like very few games before have, and it has a ripple effect throughout your entire journey.

Honestly, I could write for hours about my experience, but I will end by saying that Elden Ring may not be for everyone, but the experience alone of what gaming in 2022 should feel like is worth giving this game a chance. I talk to so many people daily that would have never given a game in this genre a chance and Elden Ring has made them a believer.

This is truly a game for everyone and one that will be remember for many years to come. Not because it is a perfect game, far from it. But because it is a game that trusted it players to go out an experience the world they created, the way the players wanted and, what an amazing time it was.

Trophies
Difficulty: 7/10
Time: 90 hours
Trophy Guide: Recommended
Trophy List Score: 9/10

FromSoftware not only delivered a Masterpiece, but they also graced us with one of the best trophy lists to ever attach itself to a Soulsborne game. The Platinum will only require a single playthrough (with a well-placed cloud save), a little bit of item discovery and the rest is for beating some of the many amazing bosses you’ll encounter.

Elden Ring encourages exploration and discovery, and I am beyond thankful that the trophy list does the exact same. Unlike previous games in the genre that had you grind for obscure items, join covenants, and collect 100’s of rings or items across multiple New Game + playthroughs. Most of the trophies you will earn by just feeding your curiosity in discovering every last secret of the many incredible areas you will encounter.

As far as “collectible” trophies go, you will need to find all the LEGENDARY Weapons, Talismans, Ashes, and Incantations. None except for one is missable due to a late game world changing event and most of them I had already found by the time I was heading into the final area of the game. These are highlighted in orange when found and there aren’t very many.

As far as trophies that can be missed, you’ll want to keep an eye out for one specific weapon which I will include in My Tips below, one boss who I will also include there and then the 3 endings, 2 which require specific (but easy to find/follow) quest lines to secure.

90 hours may feel like a lot of time for a Platinum, but time just flew by, and I didn’t want the game to end. The only thing that would have made this a 10/10 trophy experience would be to eliminate the missable trophies, but even then, those questlines were hard to miss and worth completing. Nothing makes me happier than when a game that brought me this much joy, has a trophy list that rewards me for playing. Elden Ring nailed it.

Tips (minor spoilers):
- Have fun, this game is meant to be explored and most of your trophies can come simply by playing the game. Enjoy this once in a lifetime experience.
- The first missable ending is “Age of Stars” which involves a lengthy quest from the Witch Renna, who later presents herself as Ranni. If you missed meeting her at the start of the game in the Church of Elleh as I did, no worries. She will still appear at the top of her tower in the Three Sisters area so you can begin her quest. Ranni’s quest is not difficult to follow although it is lengthy and will span through areas found more than halfway through the game. You can start this quest any time before the end of the game and the steps required will help earn two more boss trophies on your list.
- The second missable ending is “Lord of Frenzied Flame” which requires far fewer steps and is recommended to be done before moving on from Leyndell, The Royal Capital. You will need to journey through the sewers (accessible through a well found in the lower areas of the Capital) to reach a large red door after a boss and some minor platforming. Just touch the grace point to save the location DO NOT go through the doors until the end of the game, after you make a cloud save.
- UPDATE: It was thought that you could not access this area after some end game changes to the world however the entrance to the sewers is moved. I still recommend completing it prior to moving on.
- The great news is that you do not have to beat the final boss 3 times to earn all 3 endings. Thankfully, after beating the final boss you can touch a grace point and then make your cloud save (make sure to turn off automatic cloud saving so it does not get overridden). Now you can unlock each ending by interacting with the item that concludes the story, re-load your save and then choose the next ending.
- For Age of Stars you will touch the blue summon sign in the final boss arena after completing The Witch Ranni’s quest.
- For Lord of Frenzied Flame, you will take the extra step of fast travelling to the grace point in front of the big red door in the sewers. Take off all your amour, go through the doors “naked” and the events past that door will set you up to travel back to the final boss arena and unlock the last of the trophy endings.
- For fun, there are 3 more endings discovered that require certain quests to be completed. Although they do not pop any trophies, they are worth checking out.
- The one weapon that is missable is the Bolt of Gransax which is found on the massive bolt piercing a dead dragon in Leyndell, The Royal Capital. My recommendation is that you grab it before moving on from the area as the events later on will make it impossible to do so.
- Lichdragon Fortisax is the missable boss and is ONLY missable if you don’t choose to have Fia hold you when you find her in Deeproot Depths late in the game.
- My recommendation is as you play through the game, return to her often to have her hold you at Round Table Hold. Each time, ask her to tell you secrets until she gives you a dagger which you then give to D. Events will take place which will lead you to completing the Inverted Study Hall which will earn you The Cursemark of Death. You’ll give this to Fia when you discover her in Deeproot Depths and when prompted, make sure you choose “No, I want to be held” which will unlock the ability to fight this boss. Refusing to be held will lock you out of the boss fight and will have to be done on a new playthrough.
- As far as ways to make the game difficulty more manageable, there are so many farming routes, tips, early game basics and build guides online already. Check out Fighting Cowboy or VaatiVidya for some great content. I would recommend myself a good sorcerers build that include early game items that can be found such as the Meteorite Staff, Meteorite Ore Katana, Rock Sling Spell and Radagon Soreseal Talisman.
- For many of the tank/slow moving bosses, you can respec into a sorcerer build and use the cerulean tear (unlimited FP for 10 seconds) and the Comet Azur to make quick work of them should you choose.
- For Melina, my strategy was to use the Rivers of Blood Katana upgraded to +10, the Mimic Ash and stats that pushed Dex to 60 with high Vigor, Endurance, and healthy Mind (FP) so that between the Mimic and I, we could unload blood slashes to keep her at bay. Even then it took more times than I cared to count, and she will be your one true obstacle in achieving the Platinum. Honestly, it would be a 5/10 if not for her. She is 2 points of difficulty on her own and is considered one of, if not THE hardest boss in all Souls games.

Happy Trophy Hunting!

Beat: 2/17/22
Time: 92 Hours