The From Software fanboy in me rejoiced when I saw that they were going to be releasing what was essentially an open-world Souls game. I waited with the rest of the (borderline rabid) fans for when the launch date was revealed, and then counted down the days til I could install and play it.
Elden Ring is an incredible game, and it is a triumphant display of their mastery of the Souls formula, one that they've been refining since Demon's Souls. Their insane environmental design, character and enemy designs, boss fights, and exploration were absolutely astonishing. I was hooked from the moment I started it.
And since we can't talk about a From Software game without mentioning its difficulty in some fashion, that's what I'm gonna do. It manages to maintain its punishing but fair philosophy for the most part while making the game more accessible to a wider audience. This comes mainly in the form of putting checkpoints right next to boss doors and other difficult encounters instead of having the player do a run-up through enemies and hazards they have previously dealt with. A few run-ups still exist, but not for any of the required bosses. There's also the open world format of the game, which allows players to tackle tough encounters later on, after they've leveled up or gotten better at the game. Co-op is easier as well, and there's fast travel right from the get go, along with a map. Sites of Grace (bonfires) will even point you in the direction of the objective if you aren't sure where to go next.
There's a huge variety of weapons, spells, and abilities that let you tackle the game in many different ways, and the map is massive, so this naturally leads to a huge amount of replayability.
All of this, on top of improved graphics from previous titles, a world built in collaboration with George R. R. Martin of Game of Thrones fame, and an awesome soundtrack make it my Game of the Year for 2022 so far.
However...it still is not my favorite From Software game.
Elden Ring is a triumph, that's true, and in terms of overall game quality, it's their best game to date. And it's the one I'd recommend to first-time Souls or FromSoft players. But it's not perfect.
The developers did a great job with the open-world format, but it does cause some things to be sacrificed to achieve this feat.
From Software are masters of fairly linear, concise, and focused level design and worldbuilding. While their previous titles have some facets of "open-world" to them (meaning you can approach the game in a couple different ways), progression is still mostly linear. Where Elden Ring falls short is when this design strategy is shifted to incorporate an open world.
Mini-dungeons start to feel repetitive after a while, bosses are re-used more than a few times, and the sheer size and breadth of the world can be overwhelming at times.
In terms of the lore, there is a pretty straightforward story happening here, but there's something about it that lacks the depth or intention that previous titles had. I don't know how to explain it, but it is something I've experienced. It's still a really amazing world they've built, but it doesn't quite match up to what Bloodborne had to offer in that department.
These are my biggest criticisms though. The game is still incredible, but maybe my expectations were too high for it, or maybe I'm just a sucker for trying to survive a night in Lovecraftian London. Who knows? Either way, if you're new to From Software or Souls-likes, Elden Ring is definitely the best place to start, so it's a definite recommendation from me.
Elden Ring is an incredible game, and it is a triumphant display of their mastery of the Souls formula, one that they've been refining since Demon's Souls. Their insane environmental design, character and enemy designs, boss fights, and exploration were absolutely astonishing. I was hooked from the moment I started it.
And since we can't talk about a From Software game without mentioning its difficulty in some fashion, that's what I'm gonna do. It manages to maintain its punishing but fair philosophy for the most part while making the game more accessible to a wider audience. This comes mainly in the form of putting checkpoints right next to boss doors and other difficult encounters instead of having the player do a run-up through enemies and hazards they have previously dealt with. A few run-ups still exist, but not for any of the required bosses. There's also the open world format of the game, which allows players to tackle tough encounters later on, after they've leveled up or gotten better at the game. Co-op is easier as well, and there's fast travel right from the get go, along with a map. Sites of Grace (bonfires) will even point you in the direction of the objective if you aren't sure where to go next.
There's a huge variety of weapons, spells, and abilities that let you tackle the game in many different ways, and the map is massive, so this naturally leads to a huge amount of replayability.
All of this, on top of improved graphics from previous titles, a world built in collaboration with George R. R. Martin of Game of Thrones fame, and an awesome soundtrack make it my Game of the Year for 2022 so far.
However...it still is not my favorite From Software game.
Elden Ring is a triumph, that's true, and in terms of overall game quality, it's their best game to date. And it's the one I'd recommend to first-time Souls or FromSoft players. But it's not perfect.
The developers did a great job with the open-world format, but it does cause some things to be sacrificed to achieve this feat.
From Software are masters of fairly linear, concise, and focused level design and worldbuilding. While their previous titles have some facets of "open-world" to them (meaning you can approach the game in a couple different ways), progression is still mostly linear. Where Elden Ring falls short is when this design strategy is shifted to incorporate an open world.
Mini-dungeons start to feel repetitive after a while, bosses are re-used more than a few times, and the sheer size and breadth of the world can be overwhelming at times.
In terms of the lore, there is a pretty straightforward story happening here, but there's something about it that lacks the depth or intention that previous titles had. I don't know how to explain it, but it is something I've experienced. It's still a really amazing world they've built, but it doesn't quite match up to what Bloodborne had to offer in that department.
These are my biggest criticisms though. The game is still incredible, but maybe my expectations were too high for it, or maybe I'm just a sucker for trying to survive a night in Lovecraftian London. Who knows? Either way, if you're new to From Software or Souls-likes, Elden Ring is definitely the best place to start, so it's a definite recommendation from me.