The level of quality sustained across its many hours is almost unparalleled, and yet, is it lesser for it? If the world’s arcs and themes are lost in the sheer amount of stuff, should they be there at all? Only time will tell. But we can't help wonder if more - even more good stuff - is necessarily better. Even Bloodborne had its Chalice Dungeons. We've accepted side-quests and their like for decades. Not everything has to have strict utility to the plot. You'll explore a vast castle on the edge of the world and have a great, classic FromSoftware time doing it, but will it provide any insights into the game's larger story? Not always. Elden Ring has similarly intricate parts but doesn’t create the same coherent whole. In Dark Souls and Bloodborne, each new piece of the world slots together like clockwork, expanding your understanding of the story, reframing what came before. It's all meaningful, even if some parts are less thoughtful than others. There's little in its open-world that feels like a chore - something you can say about few open-world games. While some of Elden Ring’s optional dungeons are a bit rote, just as often, you'll stumble into one with a wild boss fight or a series of joke design choices that lead to laugh-out-loud twists. You'll stumble into a dungeon with a wild boss fight or a series of joke design choices that lead to laugh-out-loud twists. Underneath all of Elden Ring’s lore and world design, there’s a simple joy to smashing enemies with a big sword underneath all of Elden Ring's lore and world design. You can now even bring summonable monsters to battles, Pokemon style. There is a wealth of options for specializing your character, with many weapons and spells to support your play style. You want to make sure you are ready and blocking their attack or not in the path of their weapon at all. Frantically attacking will leave you tired and vulnerable in the path of enemies who hit hard, slicing your health bar to nothing in just a few strikes. You need to manage your stamina, picking your moment to strike or dodge. The combat fundamentals are as strong as ever. Veterans of FromSoftware will find themselves at home in Elden Ring quickly. Publisher Bandai Namco and FromSoftware have released performance patches to resolve these issues. Still, these are a nuisance in a game where you want no distractions in its brutal boss battles. It's frozen more than once, too, but it’s not stopped us from playing. While we have run into a smattering of performance issues, these weren’t game-breaking - occasional stuttering and frame drops. There is a heavy metal album cover for every grandiose landscape of somber, mournful contemplation or a giant tortoise who hands out history lessons. The skeletons could have stepped right out of Jason and the Argonauts. The tone shifts between the epic fantasy of Lord of the Rings to popcorn adventure of 80s movies like Excalibur or The Neverending Story. Perhaps a vain hope, but finding out for sure drove us to seek out its far corners.įor all its portent and doom, Elden Ring has moments of silliness, too. Unlike FromSoftware’s other games, set in dying worlds, in Elden Ring it feels like maybe, just maybe, you can save this world. It's a rumination on how the powerful suffocate the world to sustain their reigns. After 70 hours with the game, most of its story still exists as a hazy collection of themes. Exploration leads to real discovery, unraveling the world’s mysteries and machinations. The fact that it's almost impossible to answer the simple question "what is an Elden Ring?" at the game's start speaks volumes for its intentions. Of course, that's what you're told to do - learning what's really going on and what other paths exist is the real treat of this game. You're a Tarnished, a forgotten warrior tasked with ascending to the role of Elden Lord, to repair the Elden Ring, and maybe restore order to the world. Elden Ring sees you charging over hills strewn with giants under the glow of a skyscraping, glowing tree. It's a rumination on how the powerful suffocate the world to sustain their reigns.ĭark Souls and Bloodborne see you wading through dying streets and sewers. The main menu music sets the stage, starting with foreboding notes before diving into loud brass that conjures up the more grandiose adventure that awaits. While lovers of messed-up fantasy lands will get their kick, Elden Ring is a notably colorful and slightly more friendly place to roam. (Image credit: Bandai Namco Entertainment)
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