When I played for the entire 87 minutes I spent to beat Elden Ring as a player, I went through an intense wringer emotion: Anger as I suffered through the most difficult challenges, excitement when I finally overcame them, and also a fair amount of grief for the massive amounts of exp I dropped in the process of some of the most challenging boss encounters FromSoftware has ever imagined. But more than anything else I was in near-constant awe – from the many absolutely breathtaking views, the size of the world, the frequently harrowing enemies, and the ways the Elden Ring nearly always rewarded my interest with either thrilling encounters, worth-while reward, or more exciting. FromSoftware uses the ball was kicked around by Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has started going and continues it making a stunning as well as a vast and open world, focusing on freedom and exploration first but also managing to seamlessly incorporate a full-on Dark Souls game into the middle of it. It shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone that Elden Ring was one of the most unforgettable gaming experiences I’ve had.
To establish the scene, everything you learn from the start is that you are a “Tarnished” of no renown blessed by grace and are required to make an effort to reach The Lands Between and become an Elden Lord. What that really means, how one might go about achieving that goal, and what the deal has to do with that glowing golden tree are things that you must discover for yourself. Like many FromSoft games, the expansive story can be difficult to be able to comprehend in the initial playthrough in particular because there’s no journal in the game to keep you updated on the characters, events, or unique terms encountered over hours. There should be one the journal, however it’s a story I nonetheless enjoyed working out for myself. I am looking forward to expanding this knowledge with the inevitable long and intricate lore videos that emerge from the community later.
It ended up being those organic tales that kept me entertained instead of the larger story that gives Game of Thrones’ George R.R. Martin as its scriptwriter. FromSoft cleverly doesn’t make any changes in its approach to these games compared to its previous Souls stickman games, Bloodborne, or Sekiro The game will allow you to naturally interact with characters as you discover the world and become more involved in their lives. There are no “!” markers on the map or waypoints to help you find them, and these characters do not always try to track you down or initially desire or require any kind of information from you. They’re just people with their own agendas , and goals, whose tales can be influenced by your own actions or actions.
It’s not an original idea, but some aspects set Elden Ring apart from games like Skyrim which offer a similar openness. First, Elden Ring doesn’t scale enemy levels to be able to match yours or even match your own, so jumping into a new region ensures you’re always facing larger enemies, which makes the risk/reward potential of doing extremely real. However, the way its different areas are connected makes finding the new areas more than just a matter of picking which direction to take and heading towards it. Limgrave is designed very specifically with a main path in mind which leads you through Stormveil Castle and beyond, and finally finding the right way to navigate around it feels like you’ve discovered a hidden path or alternative way, which is something that’s rarely found in many open worlds I’ve been in.
As far as combat goes, Elden Ring is certainly close as Dark Souls 3 when compared to other games from the FromSoftware action-RPG collection, with heavy attacks and careful stamina management and a bit of slowness compared to titles like Bloodborne or Sekiro. The two big new additions are the ability to use the guard counter to block any attack with your shield and immediately pressing the strong attack button to follow it up with a devastating strike which could leave weaker enemies with a bruised appearance and also a jump attack that allows players to use melee weapons a new type of powerful attack that can be used to knock enemies out leaving them vulnerable for the chance to strike them with a devastating blow.
There is no need to exaggerate to claim that Elden Ring is FromSoftware’s largest and most ambitious game yet, and that ambition has more than paid off. After 87 hours sweat, blood and tears that included some of my most difficult fights I’ve ever fought, and countless surprises, there are still bosses and bosses to be left out along with hidden secrets that I’m still to discover, sidequests I missed hundreds of weapons techniques, and spells I’ve never utilized. And this is all over PVP and cooperative gaming that I’ve barely been able to begin to explore. In the end, even though the core combat mechanics haven’t been changed significantly from what was previously played, the enormous array of viciously constructed enemies as well as the brutal but surmountable bosses have brought the battles to a whole new level. Although there are many threads I was unable to grasp on my initial playthrough (of the many that I’m sure will be several) the experience I experienced can easily be held amongst my top open world games ever played. Much like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild before it, Elden Ring is one that we’ll look back on for its impact on a genre forward.
