Rate top gamesConcise Review:
It’s easily my favourite From Software game. ER is absolutely massive and very flexible in how you play. The enemy variety, creativity and quantity is unreal. The locations are even better. The different biomes are unique and so fun to explore. There are so many “holy shit this is cool” moments.
It’s the longest single player game I’ve ever played and it never gets old. That’s the best compliment I can give it. Fucking fantastic game.
Journal Style Review:
Strong opening. Clearly a dark souls game but I can already tell I’m going to like the open world aspect more than previous titles. I love how I can mark up the map with different symbols so I can mark what areas I want to return to at a later date. My biggest initial complaint is still that I wish you could pause the game. It’s single player. Just let me pause so I can deal with my puppy without dying.
It’s going to be hard to not get overwhelmed with how much there is and where to go next.
12 hours in. I’ve explored a good chunk of the first map section but I can already tell that a small fraction of the full game. It’s really good. It’s dark souls but less frustrating and I just think it looks and feels cooler having the open world map. I’ve made a balanced character so far. I want to use magic and shields and swords so I am sacrificing efficiency for diversity.
Another minor complaint, why does pushing back bring up the map but then pushing back again brings up help. It should just close the map. Every other game has pushing it twice closes the map. It’s strange and annoying. Loving the game though. It’s so fucking fun.
Loved the Goddert boss fight in the big castle. He looked sweet. When he cut his arm off and replaced it with the dragon spine and head I lost it. It was a lot of fun. The whole castle section was great. 18 hours in, I’ve cleared most of the west and east of the first main section except for a handful of remaining boss fights. I have entrances to four new areas that I could go to next. Im so curious to see how big this game will be. Did I just see 35% of the game? Or 10% of the game. It’s already an A at this point. I can easily see it going higher.
About 22 hours in and I’m working on the south most region. It’s been a cake walk (for dark souls at least) because I’m over levelled but that’s a refreshing feeling. I’m actually able to play around with different melee weapons. Historically in DS I would pretty much only use my best weapon because otherwise I would make no progress. This is already definitely my favourite from software game.
Melee weapons I’ve enjoyed so far. That blood dagger was the first great weapon I found. Next was the erdsteel dagger which I only used for a short time before finding the bloodhound’s fang which really became a personal favourite. I slayed a lot of souls with that one. I may come back to it. Now my newest favourite weapon is the twin blade. It has a darth maul vibe. I’ve tested out another half dozen or so weapons that I didn’t like enough to keep using. I’m still loving ER.
About 42 hours in. I’ve cleared a large portion of the lakes map section. I’ve still been really enjoying this game but I don’t think the lakers will go down as a favourite location. They aren’t bad but I preferred the first two locations and I think the later areas with have more variety and will be my preference. Still ER has held this high level of engagement and enjoyment for this long and im not likely to be even half way done.
At 45 hours I’m starting to feel fatigue. It isn’t that I want to be done with the game. Im excited that there is still so much to do and see but I’m at a good point to take a break and play some other more lighthearted and less demanding games in between. I’m going to enjoy this experience more if I take a breather. Even if I quit now it would be an A. I really like Elden Ring. I look forward to jumping back in at a later time.
56 hours in. It’s a blast.
68 hours. I’m tackling the Mt Gelmir map section and it might be favourite biome yet. I love the vibe. The volcano is great. The way it intertwines is very cool.
Volcanic Manor may be my favourite place as of now. It’s awesome.
Got the moonveil katana which I’ve seen people talk about on Reddit so I decided to upgrade it and give it a go. It’s unreal. It might actually take over as my primary weapon over the bloodhounds fang. Both are very good and very fun though but the change up has been nice. I’m going to try to change up weapons every now and again.
97 hours in. The game is amazing but it isn’t making the jump to A+. Not that I have much criticism. It’s an unreal game that has drawn me for a longer journey than any single player has ever done before. Like by a lot. The only other game that comes close to the Witcher 3 and even then it’s only close if you include both DLCs and even then ER is still longer.
106 hours in and the last two areas I’ve explored have been some of my favourites. Two of the late underground worlds. This game is a high A. I love it. I really love it.
I looked up all the highest level bosses so I could beat all the ones I missed before doing the final boss fight. Even at 100+ hours I still wanted to see all the game had to offer. That’s a good sign.
Okay I ended the game on a lame note because once again I tied a boss. The final boss and I killed each other. I didn’t get the runes once again, not that it matters, but it just wasn’t a satisfying way to beat the game. Regardless my final stats are level 179 and 114 hours so I think I got my money’s worth.
Final Score: A
It’s easily my favourite From Software game. ER is absolutely massive and very flexible in how you play. The enemy variety, creativity and quantity is unreal. The locations are even better. The different biomes are unique and so fun to explore. There are so many “holy shit this is cool” moments.
It’s the longest single player game I’ve ever played and it never gets old. That’s the best compliment I can give it. Fucking fantastic game.
Journal Style Review:
Strong opening. Clearly a dark souls game but I can already tell I’m going to like the open world aspect more than previous titles. I love how I can mark up the map with different symbols so I can mark what areas I want to return to at a later date. My biggest initial complaint is still that I wish you could pause the game. It’s single player. Just let me pause so I can deal with my puppy without dying.
It’s going to be hard to not get overwhelmed with how much there is and where to go next.
12 hours in. I’ve explored a good chunk of the first map section but I can already tell that a small fraction of the full game. It’s really good. It’s dark souls but less frustrating and I just think it looks and feels cooler having the open world map. I’ve made a balanced character so far. I want to use magic and shields and swords so I am sacrificing efficiency for diversity.
Another minor complaint, why does pushing back bring up the map but then pushing back again brings up help. It should just close the map. Every other game has pushing it twice closes the map. It’s strange and annoying. Loving the game though. It’s so fucking fun.
Loved the Goddert boss fight in the big castle. He looked sweet. When he cut his arm off and replaced it with the dragon spine and head I lost it. It was a lot of fun. The whole castle section was great. 18 hours in, I’ve cleared most of the west and east of the first main section except for a handful of remaining boss fights. I have entrances to four new areas that I could go to next. Im so curious to see how big this game will be. Did I just see 35% of the game? Or 10% of the game. It’s already an A at this point. I can easily see it going higher.
About 22 hours in and I’m working on the south most region. It’s been a cake walk (for dark souls at least) because I’m over levelled but that’s a refreshing feeling. I’m actually able to play around with different melee weapons. Historically in DS I would pretty much only use my best weapon because otherwise I would make no progress. This is already definitely my favourite from software game.
Melee weapons I’ve enjoyed so far. That blood dagger was the first great weapon I found. Next was the erdsteel dagger which I only used for a short time before finding the bloodhound’s fang which really became a personal favourite. I slayed a lot of souls with that one. I may come back to it. Now my newest favourite weapon is the twin blade. It has a darth maul vibe. I’ve tested out another half dozen or so weapons that I didn’t like enough to keep using. I’m still loving ER.
About 42 hours in. I’ve cleared a large portion of the lakes map section. I’ve still been really enjoying this game but I don’t think the lakers will go down as a favourite location. They aren’t bad but I preferred the first two locations and I think the later areas with have more variety and will be my preference. Still ER has held this high level of engagement and enjoyment for this long and im not likely to be even half way done.
At 45 hours I’m starting to feel fatigue. It isn’t that I want to be done with the game. Im excited that there is still so much to do and see but I’m at a good point to take a break and play some other more lighthearted and less demanding games in between. I’m going to enjoy this experience more if I take a breather. Even if I quit now it would be an A. I really like Elden Ring. I look forward to jumping back in at a later time.
56 hours in. It’s a blast.
68 hours. I’m tackling the Mt Gelmir map section and it might be favourite biome yet. I love the vibe. The volcano is great. The way it intertwines is very cool.
Volcanic Manor may be my favourite place as of now. It’s awesome.
Got the moonveil katana which I’ve seen people talk about on Reddit so I decided to upgrade it and give it a go. It’s unreal. It might actually take over as my primary weapon over the bloodhounds fang. Both are very good and very fun though but the change up has been nice. I’m going to try to change up weapons every now and again.
97 hours in. The game is amazing but it isn’t making the jump to A+. Not that I have much criticism. It’s an unreal game that has drawn me for a longer journey than any single player has ever done before. Like by a lot. The only other game that comes close to the Witcher 3 and even then it’s only close if you include both DLCs and even then ER is still longer.
106 hours in and the last two areas I’ve explored have been some of my favourites. Two of the late underground worlds. This game is a high A. I love it. I really love it.
I looked up all the highest level bosses so I could beat all the ones I missed before doing the final boss fight. Even at 100+ hours I still wanted to see all the game had to offer. That’s a good sign.
Okay I ended the game on a lame note because once again I tied a boss. The final boss and I killed each other. I didn’t get the runes once again, not that it matters, but it just wasn’t a satisfying way to beat the game. Regardless my final stats are level 179 and 114 hours so I think I got my money’s worth.
Final Score: A
Other reviews25
I fell in love with dark souls 1 (and fromsoft as a whole) during the development of Elden ring, so much of my adoration is not exclusive to this game necessarily, but I truly adore this game
They somehow managed to purify the essence of dark souls so much it works even in a partially open world game, and simultaneously stripped out so much of what makes games of this genre tedious and painful that doesn't aid my enjoyment, such as the the Stake of Marika's allowing quick repeats of boss fights with less time between attempts
no game is perfect, and I certainly have gripes with the bland filler catacombs and cookie cutter boss types in the afterthought that is most of the underground linear dungeons, but they are so unobtrusive that they don't takeaway particularly much if you're not obsessed with arbitrary 100% mindsets
You certainly can't fault them for padding in terms of lack of content though, I have played extensively many runs including challenge runs and randomised runs and yet haven't beaten (or even reached) some of the major amazing bosses, which really shows the sheer breadth of this one-of-a-kind game
It's hard to say what my favourite boss is but Maliketh is truly where I felt I had my git gud moment, and absolutely adored Radagon and his phase 2's combo encouraging perfecting phase 1 to a finely sharpened point
This game is a strong contention to be my favourite game of all time, and I implore anyone to give it a true go, as I think it's their most accessible game yet to experience the feeling that nobody does quite like fromsoft
They somehow managed to purify the essence of dark souls so much it works even in a partially open world game, and simultaneously stripped out so much of what makes games of this genre tedious and painful that doesn't aid my enjoyment, such as the the Stake of Marika's allowing quick repeats of boss fights with less time between attempts
no game is perfect, and I certainly have gripes with the bland filler catacombs and cookie cutter boss types in the afterthought that is most of the underground linear dungeons, but they are so unobtrusive that they don't takeaway particularly much if you're not obsessed with arbitrary 100% mindsets
You certainly can't fault them for padding in terms of lack of content though, I have played extensively many runs including challenge runs and randomised runs and yet haven't beaten (or even reached) some of the major amazing bosses, which really shows the sheer breadth of this one-of-a-kind game
It's hard to say what my favourite boss is but Maliketh is truly where I felt I had my git gud moment, and absolutely adored Radagon and his phase 2's combo encouraging perfecting phase 1 to a finely sharpened point
This game is a strong contention to be my favourite game of all time, and I implore anyone to give it a true go, as I think it's their most accessible game yet to experience the feeling that nobody does quite like fromsoft
«Blew my mind»
«Can’t stop playing»
I grow bored of most games after 10 or 20 hours. But these games ... I finished after 102 hours and explored nearly everything. I enjoyed every minute of it right up until the end.
Date Completed: 2023-06-05
Playtime: 102h
Enjoyment: 10/10
Recommendation: So good
what should i saw except that its one of the best games ever created till date
«Blew my mind»
«Constantly dying and enjoy it»
One of the greatest open worlds ever created combined with some of the best tried and tested combat in all of gaming.
«Blew my mind»
«Can’t stop playing»
I'll be honest. I played with an "easy" mode mod on PC and the game was fantastic. I don't really have time to git gud but with the mod, i was able to experience the game and awe in its graphically beauty.
300h on this game and I still cannot get enough, hoping for a DLC soon!
«Blew my mind»
«Can’t stop playing»
Pure, unadulterated adventure in a challenging world of awe-inspiring moments, devious puzzles, and fantastical treasure.
This game is a masterclass in evoking feeling in its players: the dread of facing down a seemingly-impossible foe, the desperation of splashing through a rot-infested lake, trying to find safe harbor, the elation of puzzling out an ancient catacomb and finding a powerful talisman at the end. These feelings are what make gaming great as an entertainment medium, and Elden Ring capitalizes on this strength.
Elden Ring is unabashedly 'not a movie'; a criticism that could be leveled at other games where all the drama is packed into hours of cutscenes. Here, the drama is in the timing of a dodge, the unsheathing of a sword, the opening of a door to the darkness beyond.
For me, when a game delivers so solidly on its aspirations, its faults fade into the background, yet it's worth discussing those that were commonly encountered. Frustrations come out in the quest design, with sparse details and complicated sequencing that feels at odds with the game's open-world design. The large and dramatic bosses that are signature moments in the journey can be hard to track / see as you get close, and camera management becomes more of an issue than it should be.
Yet, for each of these issues, there are countless compelling and memorable moments waiting to be experienced. Do not let these elements deter you from spending time, at your own pace, with this world. It's large, and packed with adventures, so don't feel like you need to burn through it. At 150 hours (and still not quite done!), it's been a comforting go-to in between diversions, and a play session almost always ends with satisfying progression.
A lovely, thoughtful, artistic punch in the face. I adore it!
This game is a masterclass in evoking feeling in its players: the dread of facing down a seemingly-impossible foe, the desperation of splashing through a rot-infested lake, trying to find safe harbor, the elation of puzzling out an ancient catacomb and finding a powerful talisman at the end. These feelings are what make gaming great as an entertainment medium, and Elden Ring capitalizes on this strength.
Elden Ring is unabashedly 'not a movie'; a criticism that could be leveled at other games where all the drama is packed into hours of cutscenes. Here, the drama is in the timing of a dodge, the unsheathing of a sword, the opening of a door to the darkness beyond.
For me, when a game delivers so solidly on its aspirations, its faults fade into the background, yet it's worth discussing those that were commonly encountered. Frustrations come out in the quest design, with sparse details and complicated sequencing that feels at odds with the game's open-world design. The large and dramatic bosses that are signature moments in the journey can be hard to track / see as you get close, and camera management becomes more of an issue than it should be.
Yet, for each of these issues, there are countless compelling and memorable moments waiting to be experienced. Do not let these elements deter you from spending time, at your own pace, with this world. It's large, and packed with adventures, so don't feel like you need to burn through it. At 150 hours (and still not quite done!), it's been a comforting go-to in between diversions, and a play session almost always ends with satisfying progression.
A lovely, thoughtful, artistic punch in the face. I adore it!