It was about what I expected it to be, which doesn’t mean it's bad. In fact, I would say Elden Ring is a monumental achievement and hopefully will influence the industry for many years to come. Fromsoftware has pulled so many aspects from their legendary catalog of soulsborne games and beautifully married them into a neat package. Elements from Sekiro to even Dark Souls 2 manage to contribute a lot to this game. The open world is one of the best I have played in. First of all, the map is absolutely gigantic and there is so much content to sink your teeth into. Optional dungeons are littered throughout the world, which provide rewards if you are willing to do them. They are very reminiscent of the Chalice Dungeons of Bloodborne, but without the procedural generation; some of them even have fun and challenging gimmicks. Fromsoftware also managed to forgo the waypoint and checklist system of many open world games on the market right now, and Elden Ring is all the more engaging because of it. It is so refreshing to just get lost in the world and carve your own path. The push to keep on exploring is definitely owed to the sheer amount of environmental variety this game has. Every single one of the main areas feel unique and the jumping carried over from Sekiro, as well as the new horse, allows the devs to add another dimension to the level design. Overall, I’m just really impressed at how much Miyazaki and his team were able to differentiate the identity of this game from Dark Souls. Elden Ring is still dark fantasy, however, it is more mythic. More so than any of their games before, it feels like the world has its own mythology; it doesn’t feel as dark and dire. Fromsoftware, as always, continues to flex the skill and talent of their art department. They honestly just make the coolest looking games. The armor, environments, weapons, enemies, and bosses show a level of design that's unrivaled. Give me this over Horizon any fucking day. More than 10 years ago, Fromsoftware was an AA developer and now they’re dominating the charts. That's pretty sick. However, there are problems. Some of the optional/side bosses have some pretty nasty artificial difficulty. I also disliked the mountaintop of giants area; they really made the most boring snow area imaginable.

Shu Takumi does it again. Starts out a bit slow, but the intrigue is always there and drives you along, all the way to the end. The second half of the game is just wonderful; this is where the game really clicked with me and left me wondering how the story would all end. The puzzles were also REALLY good. They take some thinking at first and a little bit of time to figure out, but once you do solve them, they make sense and don’t have crazy logical leaps. The quality of the puzzles really shine when you replay them. A puzzle that would take 5-10 minutes, is effortless on a second run. Just a quality experience from beginning to end.

By far 343’s best Halo game, yet it still has massive problems. I don’t really like how the game looks sometimes. The open world environment is fine, at first, yet its luster fades away fast. The Bungie games had wonderfully distinct environments with awesome set pieces and that’s just missing here. The soundtrack is good, but isn’t used to its fullest potential. Another aspect of the presentation that was disappointing was the cinematography and cutscene direction. It was just SO boring. I think the story is, in all regards, a step up from 343s previous efforts. For me personally, this has to do with the return of a campier and sillier tone, something I think has been lacking since Halo 3. Where this game stumbles in presentation, it definitely makes up for in gameplay. This might have the best gameplay in the series, yet there are problems. The vehicles don’t feel great to drive (a massive sin in my book) and the hunters are straight up unfun to fight against. Just a lot of small issues that really add up to bring down the experience. Honestly the more I think about it, the less I like this game so I’m just gonna stop thinking about it.