I really really loved the exploration in there, although the world might actually be TOO big; there were multiple times were I got bored of the game and stopped playing for a few weeks. I especially loved the big dungeons like Stormveil Castle, Raya Lucaria, or Miquella's Haligtree.
I played the whole game with sword/shield and I had fun, even more at some endgame bosses like Mohg, Malenia, or Radagon; But I think I still prefer Sekiro's gameplay, which is the only other FromSoft game I've played. I get the appeal of letting the player choose their own build and style, but I often feel overwhelmed when there's many options like classes, weapons, skills ...
While the world is beautiful and feels carefully handcrafted, it still suffers from classic openworld problems : having the same points of interest copypasted multiple times with slight variations and scattered across the map, fighting the same ten minibosses in catacombs and caves ...
Speaking of openworld, I don't know if this is a hot take or not but I feel like it's really not perfect for these kinds of games with hard bosses with patterns to learn. I thought a lot about the balancing of the game during my playthrough : I never farmed EXP, but there was a whole part of the game where I was clearly overpowered. And when the game became hard again, I kept wondering whenever I struggled against a boss if I needed to just get good or if I was literally underpowered. These things don't really happen in a more linear game.
Overall I really really enjoyed this game, but reading about this actually being a revolution, I just don't see it. It's """"just"""" a very great game to me

So much has been said about this game, that I probably can't add a single original thought or notion to it, either positive or negative. Still, I'll throw my two cents out there.

What I will say is that, just like Breath of the wild, this game had me so entranced, but only for like the first 100 hours of in my playthrough. I know people love to rag on that zelda game because journalists, youtubers, and all other sorts tout it as the best game ever made (which that alone is pretty eye rolling lol), but the feeling I got from playing and completing botw for the first time as an entering college student with my newly purchased switch is a feeling I think I'll never feel again with that game or for awhile with any game, until Elden ring did that and then some. Not even a huge Fromsoft fan, and this game got me into bloodborne and sekiro, which I prefer way more than this game.

Let me talk about the actual game now though briefly. The starting zone of Limgrave was revelatory in introducing and refamiliarizing the souls formula within this "new" context of the open world. And the game escalated further with Liurnia, some of Caelid, and the numerous underground locations and much more expansive dungeons with beautiful designs and layouts, except for the typical platforming parts. The fights from regular enemies to the big bosses felt so epic and climatic and fun, even when I wanted to throw my controller into the tv. Exploration unfolds so naturally and retains its grandiosity and sheer dominance as the game continues on with more secrets to find and surprise me.

All of this and I did not get tired at all until the point where I reached the mountaintop of the giants. Maybe I could blame this on not being too into the story or lore of the game happening, or not having any real ambition in completing the game. Still I feel I got so much from this game and, just like botw, I'll most likely never experience that feeling again with this game or any other, and have to sit with this in this monotonous, violent ass time until another game pulls me hard and shows me again how to fall so immersed in a game's setting and all encompassing mechanics and aspects.

Maybe I'll finish that game whenever it comes. And maybe I'll have Elden ring finished for the first time or second time by the time that happens. Tears of the Kingdom is around the corner yet I don't think that will fulfill that feeling I'm craving for again.