Warning: Spoilers
This is my first 'From Software' game. For many years all I seemed to hear about this studio was the truly punishing difficulty that they implement into their games.
It's almost gaming lore at this point that these games can be unfairly hard and will almost always make you rage. Dark souls, demon's souls etc are all well renowned for this, so I initially felt uneasy as I didn't want to smash a controller through my brand new tv.
I held off for one whole week. I watched as streamers played through the game and seeing them learn and overcome was fun and exciting to watch but I still found myself debating what to do, until I seen my friends list gradually start playing Elden ring one by one and decided to jump in. I'm more than thankful I did.
What I discovered was a challenging yet thoroughly rewarding game that has almost the perfect open world totally filled with hidden secrets and rooms, exciting open world fights, unwalked and sometimes very tricky areas to navigate and on top of all that its also unbelievably stunning to witness.
Regarding difficulty, there is a reason why this game is widely considered the perfect game for 'From Software' first timers. The game itself can be VERY difficult and can be truly punishing at times, but there are more than enough ways to grow your character and become stronger before facing a tough enemy or challenge. One thing that helps this is it's an entirely open world, so you have free reign to go and farm as much as you want and level yourself up early if you wish. From someone who is very OCD and likes to explore every corner of a map this meant that I thankfully find myself in a unique position of being very high level in the opening area and feel much more comfortable at facing any challenges to come.
Elden ring in turn has created the perfect environment for all players, For the hardcore gamers or those who want to truly challenge themselves they can choose when to level up, and for new players or dedicated explorers they can do the same. This is something that is vital in attracting such a wide ranging audience the way Elden ring has. As of writing this Elden Ring has sold 10 million copies on steam alone in just over a week. The number on Xbox and PlayStation are yet to come in but I am certain they will be astronomically high also. Elden Ring is on track to break many sales records and it really does deserve those accolades.
One of the lessons you learn almost instantly as you begin playing Elden Ring is unlike other games where you can run in and bash buttons killing everyone in sight, you can't do that here. The key example of this is when you enter your first area Limgrave, you look across the nearby ledge and see a very large knight on a horse. This enemy is known as the 'Tree sentinel' and is almost always going to be too tough to fight regardless of how good you are. You have a choice to make, do you go in head on and probably spend a large amount of time and dozens of deaths to defeat this man, or do you bypass him for now and find a way to make yourself stronger before returning and showing him who's boss. The game is constantly challenging you to think about how you approach an enemy, but not only that, it challenges you just to navigate its world.
Almost all other games have a map that is comprised of mostly flat surfaces and easy to navigate roads and paths, but with Elden Ring certain areas can be filled with high cliffs and conveniently hidden buildings and structures, making you having to take a step back and think about your path forward.
In terms of collectible items I love the system implemented. There are very strong weapons, shields, potions, and various other items hidden throughout the world with most people going one or even multiple play throughs without finding everything. What's so good about this is there is always a sense of "I wonder what amazing item I will find next" and it's an almost polar opposite to Ubisoft games that feature hundreds of items that you have to boringly walk around collecting.
The story itself on a base level is pretty interesting but as I went forward I found myself more sidetracked by smaller stories of how the enemies you face became who they are today, who your allies were and what drove them, thus the overarching main storyline took a backseat. The legendary George R. R Martin (Game Of Thrones) was said to be involved with the making of this games story and lore, however just how much input he had is something that still isn't known.
The gameplay is what makes Elden Ring so special. I'm particularly a huge fan of the risk reward combat style. For example you can hide behind a shield and block a shot but hitting the attack button doesn't mean you always land. It's a knowing when to attack, knowing when to roll, knowing when to block style of combat, and what's so good about that is you actively witness yourself getting better at the game and getting your timing down so you're landing more shots and receiving less damage. Spirit ashes are something that's new to the series and it can really help with taking down the harder enemies. You ring a bell and summon the spirit of a fallen warrior who helps you on the battlefield. It's helpful but it's also fun to experiment with different summons such as Wolves, skeletons and even a large jellyfish. Along with so many other options to change your style of attack are things like Ashes of war, spells that can be put on an item to give off special effects and increase damage done or grant protection. These combinations are almost endless and give the game so much replay-ability to try out new combos and styles of play.
Graphics are something that really surprised me. The art style is simply beautiful to view, with bright glowing trees, colourful skies, shiny glistening armor, large dark palleted castles, and so much more.
The only negative I've heard surrounding this game is the optimisation and how the frame rate can dip very low at times, especially on PC. While I play exclusively on Xbox Series X I can say I've really struggled to notice any low frame rates even at times where there are heavy mobs of NPC's, large explosions on screen etc. In fact I have experienced precisely zero bugs or glitches at all. Which is a miracle in the modern slap dash gaming era. There are 2 modes on current gen consoles, frame rate and quality. I prefer to play on frame rate mode as it offers almost double the frames all while giving you a resolution that is not a noticeable drop from 4K.
There are so many other things I would love to talk about here like the incredibly diverse range of bosses and how they all are unique and offer special and quite frankly scary move sets. There are also so many other systems, UI choices, guidances or lack of, world design etc that I could talk about all day but I'll leave it by saying:
Overall I have to say this is the first game in a long time where I find myself waking up truly excited to instantly jump back and go explore, fight, learn and grow in a game that has well and truly captivated me. For me it's instantly became one of the best games I've ever played, and if you look at most of the reviews on here and elsewhere you'll realise that most people feel the same. A game that will challenge you in ways that no others will, but it will reward you in equal measure, keeping the balance between risk and reward completely level at all times, it's honestly a one of a kind game that I'll always remember. 10/10.