Eighty hours of my life have I invested into this game and what an eighty hours it has been. From times of utter exhilaration, to unfettered frustration and despair, Elden Ring certainly puts its players through the wringer of emotions.
Will you become the Elden Lord?
This game is unlike anything I have played for over a decade. No game has made me as invested as this one, probably not since I was a kid and played the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time to absolute death. A few games have come close since then I suppose, the Elder Scrolls games Morrowind and Oblivion probably came the nearest.
Elden Ring is not like those games, don’t expect an RPG in the same vein. No, Elden Ring is something else entirely. The closest comparison I can make is a cross between Zelda Breath of the Wild and Dark Souls.
As soon as that title music plays and the intro cutscene plays you immediately know that you are in for something special and downright magical.
Now I never really got into the Souls games as I found them incredibly frustrating and didn’t see the enjoyment others got from being murdered repeatedly, but now, after spending so much time in the Lands Between I fully understand it.
Gameplay consists of you being ill-equipped, ill-prepared and often completely out of your depth. There is no handholding here to the point where you are literally left to your own devices after the brief tutorial.
The Freedom is Liberating
Once out of the starting area you emerge into a vast open world. Many games claim to have vast open worlds but often they are empty dead places, but in Elden Ring, there is a secret waiting to be uncovered pretty much everywhere.
The Ui is simplistic displaying only your health, stamina, and magic and that’s pretty much it. And it is so refreshing. Modern games tend to clutter the HUD to the point of irritation and hold gamers’ hands for virtually everything. Elden Ring doesn’t do that. The map for example is just that a map with no icons and no markers cluttering the thing up. When I think of other open world games, I shudder at the amount of crap that fills the map screens. (Assassins Creed, I’m looking at you).
You can go anywhere you like and if you’re smart you can even avoid the many bosses entirely in order to seek out useful items and weapons that fill the world developer From Soft has created.
Exploration is everything in this game and I have lost count of the number of times I’ve wandered off the main path and discovered massive new areas, dungeons, NPCs and terrifying bosses. The land itself is at times utterly stunning to behold and I’ve never taken so many screengrabs on my Xbox Series X as I have with this game. Some of the vistas are simply jaw-dropping and so creative that it is mind-blowing. It’s clear to see that Elden Ring is a game developed by people who truly care about their craft and that passion oozes through every single facet of the game. Many modern games have lost that, instead they turn into soulless titles that do nothing to hide the fact that they’re nothing more than cash grabs.
Live, Die, Repeat
The gameplay is what makes Elden Ring so addictive. Essentially you explore the map uncovering all manner of interesting new things and promptly encounter an enemy that totally obliterates you when you try to take it on. Now, this is where many folks may get put off by the game as at times it can become incredibly frustrating and at times feels downright unfair. But it isn’t. You quickly learn whenever you die easily that it’s your fault. You didn’t take the time to learn how this new enemy moves, how it attacks, what its weaknesses are. You didn’t take the time to level up or improve your weapons. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve died in this game, and you know what, every single death has been a learning experience.
For example, I died to one boss over thirty times before I figured out the way to counter it and what it was weak to. I went away, explored some more, levelled up and found a new spell that ultimately allowed me to defeat that pain in my ass easily and when you do overcome an obstacle that has frustrated you for hours or sometimes even days the satisfaction level is off the charts. If there is one word, I’d equate to Elden Ring is perseverance.
The Story
I’ve seen many people criticising the game for not having much in the way of a story and I absolutely disagree with them. This game oozes plot, it oozes mystery. From the get-go you wonder what the hell happened to this broken land that is filled with monsters, despair, and shattered landscapes. What calamity has befallen it? Now, Elden Ring doesn’t give you the answers straight up, instead, it delivers snippets of insight into the plot through exploration, NPC encounters and the land itself.
This world is so deep that I am sure that there will be debates over its lore for years to come. I have no idea how much input George R.R. Martin had on the story of the game or what his contributions were but once you get invested in this world you want to go and seek out the answers.
Conclusion
Elden Ring is special and while not perfect (some gameplay aspects such as the lock on can be fiddly and annoying) it deserves all the praise it is getting. It’s done something new and refreshing, breaking away from the cookie-cutter mould that many modern games have sadly and boringly embraced.
It’s tough, sometimes insanely so, to the point where at times I’ve had to walk away from it and play something else. If you want a nice relaxing game this is not it and it is not ideal for everybody. But if you crave adventure, mystery and challenge this game has it all.
I loved Elden Ring and to me it was easily the Game of the Year in 2022.
Overall score – 9/10