It’s hard to start describing this game. It’s grand, it’s massive. It’s absorbing. It’s the best open-world game right now. If I could describe it in two sentences – Elden Ring is an open-world, souls-like game. It is as punishing, beautiful, interesting, and funny to play.
First, I’m happy that I didn’t have to wait for it as much as other people did because at the time I was still finishing the Dark Souls series, and Elden Ring was released just after I finished them.
The world is enormous. Coming from Dark Souls, even the starting area feels massive. Being able to choose where to go makes this way harder for a completionist like me that wants to visit every hidden patch of land, and have every item possible. Especially coming from Dark Souls, where you are rewarded for looking behind every obscure object or room. I loved the world-building. Every zone was distinct and felt like it had its own mood and story. Though I didn’t like that there were way less big underground areas. This is one of my favourite things about Dark Souls, and I hope they add more layered underground zones in the DLCs. On the other side, I can say that I was satisfied with the number of castles available.
The bosses were challenging. Some more, some less. There was a big variety, especially because of the size of the world. Some bosses are re-used by adding some twist to their mechanics. Some, like Godson Apostles, Fire Giant, Rykard, and Radahn, you never forget. But there are also many other bosses who were done great and deserve recognition. Their difficulty was balanced, although Margit can definitely feel as a hard block as one of the introductory bosses in the game, especially for new players.
There were new things, like puzzle areas, being able to jump, or use a horse to travel around, but also a plethora of other additions. They really put great effort in it, and made a massive and complex game.
Although Elden Ring stands on its own, people say that it took the good parts from all three Dark Souls games, and wrapped them in this game. I can agree with that. I hope they continue working on it, and make beautiful and challenging expansions for us in the upcoming years.