This is one of the best games i've played this year so far. If it wasn't for Balatro, this would probably be my current GOTY. Aesthetically nostalgic and full of visual details and clues, classic survival horror style gameplay and puzzles, that while they weren't overly challenging were definitely fun & engaging all the way through. I did pretty much everything I could, and the game took me about 6 1/2 hours to complete. However there are definitely reasons to replay, but even if I dont what I have experienced was more than worth the price of admission. Seriously, if you're into survival horror you really shouldn't skip this. The 'weakest' element to me was the story, but it certainly wasn't bad just a tad bit predictable and pretty exposition dumpy at the end, but it didn't take away any of my enjoyment really.

Call of duty with worse gunplay. Its fine, some of the guns feel pretty good, some not so good(smgs & lmgs). The sound design is also oddly kinda quiet for a shooty shooty game. The maps are condensed and there are angles everywhere, plus the time to kill is insanely low so your gonna die all the time. I was just sorta in the mood for a cod-like and this one is new so its populated + F2P. There are worse games to play but its nothing special, I couldn't see myself playing more than 10-15 hours of it, which is honestly fine.

Despite my lack of interest in the historical time period of this game, I found myself invested in the story especially the first two acts and the ending. I found the majority of the 3rd act quite boring, and poorly paced. However overall I enjoyed the story and different choices to make throughout interesting and well written. The art and music were phenomenal, and really added to the presentation of the era. Definitely check this out if you enjoy adventure games and especially if you enjoy the history of the time period and location this game takes place in.

Playing again to prep for the DLC, and man do I love this game even more than I did at launch. The one thing that really sets this apart to me compared to other souls games, is the variety in builds and world exploration. You have so many options, and that just adds to replay value. I find the souls game very high in terms of replay value, but elden ring is even greater. Also some of the best boss fights in the series, including my personal favorite. I really hope the DLC lives up to my expectations, if it does its entirely possible this game will overtake bloodborne as my favorite souls games and one of my favorite games ever, period.

I wouldn't call it a bad game, but its certainly not as interesting or fun to play as other roguelikes i've played before. There is good polish here, and the general gameplay does overall feel good, but what will likely prevent me from playing again is the lack of build variety. Every single run I did in this game felt exactly the same, with very minor adjustments. Upgrading your power in the blacksmith is nice, but when every run feels the same outside of that I quickly lose my desire to keep going. Minor issues like the annoyance of falling off the edge easily, and being overwhelmed by enemies and room traps with your limited arsenal make it kind of a mess when fighting large groups.

Its not bad, and maybe the sequel will improve on some of these things but I'm not a huge fan of it overall.

Very strong start. Interesting, varied levels that give you tons of options and reward exploration. Combat is pretty fun and the visual comic book style is fantastic and extremely well executed. I would give 4 slots to hold items, as I understand the point of limiting you but I find 3 a little too limiting, personally. I also found a small section of Chapter 5 a little annoying in how it didn't really give you much option in the level to sneak through or attack at a different angle.


Overall though I'm very impressed and i'm excited to play the full 1.0 version. New blood don't miss