Oh Elden Ring, the culmination of every FromSoftware title that has ever graced our computer monitors and TVs. To be quite blunt, this game is my favorite FromSoft title, and quite honestly is now in my top 5 favorite games ever. To say that it is a masterpiece is almost an understatement.
But what makes Elden Ring so fantastic? Let's start with the best thing about the game: the exploration. If Breath Of The Wild gave you a sense of adventure and awe with its "you see it, go there!" mentality, then Elden Ring will give you similar vibes. There are so many little secrets to find here. From mines, dungeons, overworld bosses, and entire levels both mandatory and optional for you to tackle. And tackle them you will, because it is so damn fun to do so. Every moment I spent exploring this world that Miyazaki and GRRM created gave me a sense of adventure and discovery that I rarely get from games anymore.
Let's talk about difficulty. Yes, this is yet another "git gud" entry in FromSoft's catalogue. And yet, it's also one of their most accessible. There are plenty of tutorials on how things work, there are NPC summons and the newly implemented enemy summons that give you an extra leg up in boss battles (I even argue many bosses are built around the idea of co-op or the enemy summons), and theres so many tools to help you beat that next challenge. That's not to say that this game is easy, though. I've played all of FromSoft's work, and I still got my ass kicked a good amount in Elden Ring. But with getting demolished also comes great reward, and it is totally highlighted here in Elden Ring.
Combat here is a blend of pretty much everything that has lead up to this game. It is very reminiscent of all the Dark Souls games (Dark Souls III in particular), but also rewards the player for being more aggressive with enemies being stagger-able if you do enough damage quickly, ala Bloodborne, and even has jumping and stealth ala Sekiro. All builds feel viable (tho magic still is a bit broken) and are fun as hell to play around with.
This is not to say Elden Ring is perfect, though. While this is basically a 6/5 game for me, there are still things I found annoying. For starters, yes, the PC version stutters a lot and can sometimes cost you good runs because of it. There has been some improvements, but not enough to make it the definitive way to play the game. Elden Ring also suffers from one of my most hated open world tropes: the good ole copy-and-paste. There are a ton of bosses in this game, but a good amount of them are reskins or the same boss with one-or-two added mechanics. It can sometimes feel a bit anticlimactic when tackling this challenging side dungeon only to be met with a normal enemy as a boss.
These setbacks do not sour the experience for me though. Elden Ring is a masterclass of open world design. It combines the best of all FromSoft's work up to now. Which begs the question: where the hell do they go from here? I'm not sure how FromSoft is going to top this game going forward, but I will sure as hell be one of the first to play when they try.
But what makes Elden Ring so fantastic? Let's start with the best thing about the game: the exploration. If Breath Of The Wild gave you a sense of adventure and awe with its "you see it, go there!" mentality, then Elden Ring will give you similar vibes. There are so many little secrets to find here. From mines, dungeons, overworld bosses, and entire levels both mandatory and optional for you to tackle. And tackle them you will, because it is so damn fun to do so. Every moment I spent exploring this world that Miyazaki and GRRM created gave me a sense of adventure and discovery that I rarely get from games anymore.
Let's talk about difficulty. Yes, this is yet another "git gud" entry in FromSoft's catalogue. And yet, it's also one of their most accessible. There are plenty of tutorials on how things work, there are NPC summons and the newly implemented enemy summons that give you an extra leg up in boss battles (I even argue many bosses are built around the idea of co-op or the enemy summons), and theres so many tools to help you beat that next challenge. That's not to say that this game is easy, though. I've played all of FromSoft's work, and I still got my ass kicked a good amount in Elden Ring. But with getting demolished also comes great reward, and it is totally highlighted here in Elden Ring.
Combat here is a blend of pretty much everything that has lead up to this game. It is very reminiscent of all the Dark Souls games (Dark Souls III in particular), but also rewards the player for being more aggressive with enemies being stagger-able if you do enough damage quickly, ala Bloodborne, and even has jumping and stealth ala Sekiro. All builds feel viable (tho magic still is a bit broken) and are fun as hell to play around with.
This is not to say Elden Ring is perfect, though. While this is basically a 6/5 game for me, there are still things I found annoying. For starters, yes, the PC version stutters a lot and can sometimes cost you good runs because of it. There has been some improvements, but not enough to make it the definitive way to play the game. Elden Ring also suffers from one of my most hated open world tropes: the good ole copy-and-paste. There are a ton of bosses in this game, but a good amount of them are reskins or the same boss with one-or-two added mechanics. It can sometimes feel a bit anticlimactic when tackling this challenging side dungeon only to be met with a normal enemy as a boss.
These setbacks do not sour the experience for me though. Elden Ring is a masterclass of open world design. It combines the best of all FromSoft's work up to now. Which begs the question: where the hell do they go from here? I'm not sure how FromSoft is going to top this game going forward, but I will sure as hell be one of the first to play when they try.