What an astounding game. It's rare to play anything with such an immersive yet expansive world. The architecture and environments and atmosphere were a constant delight, some of the best I've ever seen. The fights were satisfying, challenging, and (usually) felt fair, and the boss design was generally superb with some real breathtaking moments. If it weren't for a few flaws this would be an easy five-star game for me.

First, and mainly, the quests are appalling. In a world this big it's inevitable that you'll miss things, but in Elden Ring it's often nearly impossible to find things without either the wiki or sheer luck. Frequently characters will teleport to a new location without any indication of where you should search for them, and there's not even a basic quest log to record who you should still be looking out for. Thankfully the side quests are just a small part of the overall experience, so it didn't spoil the game by any means.

Secondly, the back half of the game drags a bit. Although it includes one of my favourite areas (Elphael), the other late game environments feel a lot emptier and less interesting. Maybe that's inevitable with a game so focused on discovery - as soon as you get the measure of it some of the magic is lost. This might be contentious, but I think I would have loved the game equally (perhaps moreso) if the post-Leyndell areas were condensed to focus on the interesting bits and took 20 hours less time to work through.