I wanna preface by saying Elden Ring is truly a refreshing take on Dark Souls, based on that alone I think it's a better game than DS3.

Bridging off of that, this game feels and plays like a collection of everything FromSoftware has gathered with all their previous titles; all that experience, knowledge, and soul was poured into Elden Ring to make it their best title to date.

Everything about this game is simply put amazing, the world is so intricately and carefully crafted, the lore and story are richer than ever before, the mystery is sublime, and the sheer scale of this game is absolutely insane. The environments of Elden Ring are honestly the most fun I've had exploring a fictional world in a good while.

George RR Martin's contribution to this game was honestly the key to bringing Miyzaki's ambition for Elden Ring's world and this fresh take on the Souls-like formula to life. Maybe I'm biased as a big fan of ASOIAF to some smaller details like the nuance to geographical placements of castles and their fortifications that built the game's fictional integrity to insane heights, but Martin's influence on the game's story, world, and lore is undeniable.

As with all FromSoft games, everyone's journey through them will be mostly unique but Elden Ring takes this to the next level with the insane amounts of customization and freedom you get. You can have so many different weapons, summons, spells, armors, and so on. The huge amount of ashes also allows for you to truly make your own playstyle even if others will use the same weapon or a similar build. It's a lot different from previous Dark Souls games in that sense.

The combat is really seamless, all the quality of life improvements and additions make this game probably the most fun I've had with any Souls like game. Even mounted combat which I was skeptical about functioned amazingly.

The bosses were masterful, some of the fields in which you fight some of the main ones accompanied with the absolute CREAMER tracks elicited some feelings of hype out of me I hadn't felt in ages. The amount of bosses is also just simply put mind blowing, they're not reused a lot either which I loved.
The hints for future DLC are also incredibly interesting and hype.

But yea I didn't talk about everything in the game since it's MASSIVE even now after pouring 50h into it I feel mesmerized by its size.
I only got 1 out of 4(?) endings and definitely have not beat all the bosses(though I beat over 60% maybe), but I completely adore the game and look forward to the many replays I will have of it.

This feels like a story I will grow on to cherish for eons, its sheer earnestness kinda blew me away and I had a tear running down my cheek during the entire last stretch, which is my favourite ever. Absolutely what I needed to hear.

Bazett is truly the Joker for VN readers.


Spoilers //

Special note has to go to its handling of Shirou's legacy and how the entire thing is essentially about a protagonist who was inspired by his deeds, which is incredibly fitting from a meta perspective for an epilogue like this one.

At its most fundamental the narrative of Shadowbringers feels alienating, removing us from Eorzea and placing us in a situation that’s seemingly so backwards. A world corrupted by a blinding light so strong it abolished the night, and it’s with this ambiguity of your role as the “Warrior of Light” where Shadowbringers starts to cook all of it’s mastery. Calling into question the unending battle between light and dark that plagues both the series and typical RPG’s, and using the opportunity to instead muse upon the true beating heart of conflict, heroism.

Unlike a work such as AoT which directly criticizes heroism as a shackle which forever catalyzes the endless cycle of violence, Shadowbringers endeavors to celebrate its roots and the righteousness which defines it. By reflecting upon itself through the multi-layered conflict that the lands of Norvrandt contain, we don’t only see the wide and equally personal impact of heroes, but also their necessity. Not only to protect, persevere, and save, but to inspire for our future as the ultimate symbols of both will and humanity at large.

Yet heroism isn’t reserved for just the light, just as Hydaelyn has her champion, so does Zodiark. Each with its own legacy to carry forward, its own right to fight, its own desire for happiness, its own claim to exist. Through this climactic battle of wills and morals is where XIV finds not only it’s strongest emotional beats, but a commentary that will shake anyone cognizant of modern society to their very core.

I’m purely discussing macro here though, because when observing the micro Shadowbringers has a lot of nagging issues consistent with XIV and even of its own design. Yet it’s in the aggregate where you really see the true beauty and elegance of what it was able to accomplish. Ultimately the sin eaters are no different than the Garleans or Dravanias, they are oppressors all the same, but through Norvrandt’s crisis is where XIV is finally able to illuminate its soul, You. The hero who never buckled to your oppressors and continued to keep moving forward, above man and god, towards hell and past it, only to find the answer at the end of the infinite, a glimmer of hope, everlasting.

“Fate can be cruel, but a smile better suits a hero.”

Endwalker is something that I approached with a lot of hesitation, doubting that it had much left of its story to tell, much left of its characters to explore, much left of its world to expand. And in a way, I was right, but Endwalker’s aim isn’t to just be another stepping stone for the overarching narrative. It is as most would say a “culmination”, and it is in this idea where I feel Endwalker once again repurposes that same cognition that made Shadowbringers feel so special.

In this instance acknowledging the titular “End” which this expansion represents, both philosophically and literally. While the former is the one many find the most interest in, and deservedly so, it’s the latter which really came off to me as profound. There’s something special about XIV’s meta storytelling, Ishikawa helmed expansions in particular, that really moves me. It’s not as if these expansions intend to muse upon the nature of the relationship between game and player, or the twisted morality of typical game mechanics, rather it’s an acknowledgement of us, the players, the heroes. A self-aware recognition of the long and arduous journey we have walked, and an assurance that our journey is not over yet.

Following this notion we find in Endwalker’s deep embrace, is a trend of solemn reflection amongst its character. Ruminations on their pasts, beliefs, adventures, echoing the voice of its creators, a voice which extends the same question to us. Has our journey been good? Has it been worthwhile? Amongst the aggregate, a single answer is nigh impossible, each and every soul will provide their own story.

Yet it is this anthology that XIV champions. Each story portraying the never-ending quest of another who has braved the infinite, who continued to walk forward, and at journey’s end found an answer they can call their own.

“Was this life a gift or a burden?
Did you find fulfillment?”