SEKIRO: SHADOWS DIE TWICE
Wolf/Sekiro = ME
Kuro/The Divine Child = Stevie (My little brother) (I will protect him)
Lady Butterfly = Hard R
Owl = My dad (so true)
Isshin Ashina = Matty from Radio

Another 5 star game. I promise I don't normally give every game I review 5 stars, but this was just such a great and polished experience. Obviously the star of the show here was the combat, but things surrounding it such as the bossfights, platforming sections and stealth sections made this into a well-rounded game that was enjoyable from start to finish.

The platforming, environments, design and theme all matched perfectly with the gameplay, and the setting of Japan was beautiful, mystical and intriguing. Combining the Buddhist beliefs behind this game with Japanese folklore that inspired monsters created a perfect atmosphere.

To compare it to other Fromsoft games, this game felt very different but also much more alive. The use of so many human enemies, ESPECIALLY those that could talk, actually made this world feel like people lived in it. This was something that I didn't feel in other Fromsoft games such as Elden Ring, where there were only about 20 sane people living in an entire continent that we could speak to. On the other hand, this felt like a world that people live in - because it is!

Bonus points for having a Fromsoft game with lore I can understand!!! I felt so smart for actually understanding what was going on in Sekiro without having to look it up, the lore made sense.

Also, I appreciated that the game played like a Metroidvania in some ways - not entirely linear, and we also needed to backtrack to other areas once we found unique items that could help us progress.

The soundtrack was good, but I grew to dislike a lot of the combat themes and how sporadically they would play, interrupting the ambience. This is also clever design, though, subtly encouraging a stealthy playstyle.

Overall, a great game. Can't recommend it enough.

Hello, this is my backloggd, same username as my letterboxd! Normally I do comparisons of people in my life to characters in the game but I didn't really understand the Elden Ring lore, and there were a lot of characters. I can do this:
ELDEN RING
Tarnished = Me
Malenia = Hard R
Melina = Winnie from Work
Miquella = Y**i from Work
Torrent = My Pet Fish, Chup Chup
Ranni = Zeta
Roderika = Kirsty
Gideon = Mitch

I don't give anything 5 stars unless it really deserves it, but Elden Ring deserved it. It had perfect gameplay, a great sense of exploration, interesting story that you could really sink your teeth into, a beautiful soundtrack, and lots of polish that made the game feel wonderful to play. Overall it was a great experience and can't recommend enough.
The open world worked really well with a Fromsoft game. I've played all Dark Souls + Bloodborne, still need to play Demon's Souls and Sekiro, but so far Elden Ring was my favourite. If you struggle with an area, the ability to go away and do something else to get stronger really works well with the open nature of the game. Unfortunately, this also has a slight drawback - because of how big the world is and how many characters you meet, it's much harder to follow NPC quests than it is to do so in, say, Dark Souls 3. That being said, it is doable, you should just bring a journal or something.

Overall, a great game, and one that I'll be replaying at one point. Good job team!