At first glance, it's easy to be dismissive of Elden Ring.
It shares a lot of similarities to the Souls series
and bears many of the expected hallmarks of From Software's games.
Despite the quality of their previous works,
it wouldn't be unwarranted to worry about burnout and losing that "spark" due to oversaturation,
especially alongside so many games that have adopted similar gameplay.
However, Elden Ring goes above and beyond.
It's an epic filled with wonder and discovery,
packed with secrets to find and fearsome foes to fight.
Never resting on its laurels,
it constantly surprises and cements itself not only as the culmination of the Souls formula,
but also as one of the best open-worlds ever made.
Elden Ring takes several ideas from its predecessors and evolves them into something new.
This time around, the biggest change is the world itself.
Rather than sticking strictly to the winding, interconnected areas
we've grown so accustomed to,
Elden Ring is truly open-world
with wide landscapes to venture through at your leisure.
While the idea of an open-world is nothing new, what makes it so special here is how it's laid out.
Rather than littering the map with markers guiding you to various destinations,
the world itself is designed so remarkably well that you're naturally drawn to points of interest.
Whether it be some old ruins or a fortress, you’re always led by curiosity,
which makes exploration more natural and satisfying,
instead of feeling like crossing another thing off a checklist.
Even if you’re trying to stay focused,
you can put in more than 50 hours before you reach the end,
and there’s a lot to do in every direction.
There are mines where you can obtain precious upgrade shards for weapons,
fortresses filled with challenging foes,
and magic towers where you need to solve riddles to enter.
Dotting the landscape are smaller and more intimate side dungeons
that are reminiscent of the Chalice Dungeons from Bloodborne,
complete with various enemies, traps, items, and boss fights.
Some areas are blocked off and require Sword Keys to open
which can either be found while exploring or bought from certain merchants.
These areas often reward you with loot or shortcuts,
making it worth opening all that you can.
Meanwhile, there are collectible paintings, like treasure maps,
that challenge you to find the depicted locations out in the world.
And several outdoor bosses roam the environments, presenting significant dangers
without the obvious warning of a fog wall.
Alongside all these open world activities,
there are still several large-scale interconnected zones
that feel like something out of past From Software titles in their design.
One of the earlier areas is a giant castle
with lots of different routes to explore and rooftops to jump across.
Each area you visit is expertly laid out, with various twists and turns,
as well as a greater sense of verticality than ever before.
And despite the open world nature of the game, none of these areas suffer or feel stripped down.
Instead they end up feeling like individual pieces of a larger puzzle.
The World of Elden Ring is massive and full of danger,
but to help you navigate it you have your trusty mount, Torrent.
Torrent can be summoned just about anywhere outdoors
and makes navigating the harsh landscape all the more manageable.
Not only is riding much faster, but Torrent can also double jump,
making it easier to clear large gaps or avoid a dangerous attack.
He can even leap high into the air by jumping in wind currents found on the map,
making exploration all the more smooth.
There’s also quite a bit of combat while mounted,
which works well and can be a lot of fun,
especially when you land a charge attack.
Torrent isn't indestructible though.
If he takes too much damage, he’ll disappear
and leave you on the ground, vulnerable for a short time.
However, you can summon him back by sacrificing a charge of your Crimson Tears flask,
which is essentially this game's version of Estus.
Though Elden Ring is vast and provides a great sense of freedom,
it does lightly guide you along should you ever get lost.
This is done by the Guidance of Grace,
which is essentially a ray of golden light that leads you to main quest objectives.
It may not be the most helpful guide, but
there are also several characters throughout the world to give you hints
should you ever feel lost.
Even with all of this, there’s still a ton of mystery to this world.
Then there’s Roundtable Hold which acts as a sort of hub, similar to Firelink Shrine.
Here you can talk to various characters, upgrade your weapons and spirits,
buy new materials and spells,
and receive powerful upgrades like boss weapons.
Thankfully though, you won’t need to return here to level up.
Instead you can do this from any Site of Grace,
which are this game's version of bonfires.
You can also warp between any sites you've unlocked, which
makes navigating the world simple and quick.
At Sites of Grace you adjust your flasks of Crimson and Cerulean Tears
for either more healing or FP restoration
and make adjustments to your Physick Flask
which you can customize with powerful buffs you get from defeating certain enemies
like increased strength, faster stamina recovery,
and increased magic damage.
It's a small addition but a welcome one
that lets you customize a flask for your specific play style.
The basics of combat fall in line with mechanics from past games, including light and heavy attacks,
dodging, and blocking.
Although there are a few tweaks here to make it more interesting,
like a devastating counter attack you can execute after blocking,
and a powerful jump attack that makes it easier to stagger your enemies.
Stealth also plays a larger role now
as you’re able to crouch and sneak past enemies
or get the jump on them for a critical hit.
Power stances from Dark Souls II also make a return,
letting you dual wield more weapons effectively.
There’s a lot of room for build variety with tons of magic and weapons to play around with.
This is expanded even further with Ashes of War,
which are used to add powerful abilities to weapons,
similar to the Weapon Arts from Dark Souls III.
Applying an Ash of War to a weapon, not only gives it a Weapon Art,
but also aligns it with a specific Affinity,
such as scaling with strength or dexterity.
New to Elden Ring are Spirit Ashes,
which allow you to summon spirits to fight alongside you,
but they can only be called upon in designated areas
and come with a steep magic cost.
Whether it’s a pack of wolves or a spell caster, their assistance can be extremely helpful,
and you'll most likely use them every chance you get.
There are tons of spirits to find and play around with,
and they can be upgraded too, making them even beefer in combat.
They add another layer of flexibility to your arsenal,
and they're just a lot of fun to watch as they battle your enemies.
Plus, they add a nice sense of comradery in a harsh world.
Crafting also plays a role now,
allowing you to use resources from the world to make useful items
like throwing knives, fire bombs, or various remedies.
Your list of craftable items starts small, but
throughout your adventure you can find books that give you new crafting recipes.
Gathering ingredients comes naturally
as you come across various things like plants and animals on your journey.
Crafting recipes also let you know where you can find specific resources, so
you're never completely left in the dark on where to find things.
Like past titles, Elden Ring emphasizes putting your skills to the test
as you face intimidating adversaries
that are both challenging and horrifying.
This is one of From Software’s toughest games so far.
Even minor enemies can be brutal
and take you down if you're not careful,
but with enough determination, you can eventually gain the upper hand.
Boss battles are once again a highlight with some truly incredible and surprising encounters.
Elden Ring features a ton of bosses.
However, due to the high number of them,
there are a lot of repeats when it comes to lower tier bosses
like those you find in the open world and in mini-dungeons.
There are attempts to help keep these repeats fresh by including a few tweaks like
adding new enemies to accompany them or more challenging environments,
but you'll encounter a few of these bosses many times
if you really explore everything Elden Ring has to offer.
Thankfully, there are still a lot of unique
and fantastic bosses to go up against.
Some creatures, including bosses and other enemies like dragons and giants
have an intimidating presence simply due to their massive scale.
Unfortunately, the camera doesn't always work in your favor
when battling such large foes,
making it really difficult to track what's going on around you when fighting them.
It’s manageable, but it can be frustrating at times.
Online play doesn’t stray far from the Souls games, including co-op, PvP,
and writing messages for other players.
While the core of the online component remains largely the same,
there are a few new tweaks like having to opt into invasions
either by playing co-op or by using an item to lure invaders.
There’s also the Summoning Pool, which lets you see eligible players more easily,
and a password system that makes it easier to link up with friends.
For an open world game, Elden Ring’s performance is relatively smooth,
without any major issues or glitches.
We only experienced minor pop-in and occasional frame drops, but
even these didn’t interfere in any crucial moments.
In terms of visuals, Elden Ring is one of From Software's best looking games.
Despite its dark themes, the world is beautiful,
striking a nice balance between calm and peaceful environments
and disgusting, horrible landscapes.
Its enemy and character design are top-notch and are a sight to behold in motion.
Any new From Software game comes with a lot of expectations,
and Elden Ring delivers.
It's a thrilling adventure that provides a wonderful sense of discovery
through an expertly crafted world, seamlessly incorporating the excellent combat and encounters
the studio is known for.
The level of difficulty may be off-putting for some,
but Elden Ring is so fantastic that it's absolutely worth fighting through to the end.
Final score: 9.5 out of 10.
Everything we do is made possible by generous viewers just like you.
Check out patreon.com/easyallies to help us make more.
For just $1 a month, you can gain access to weekly updates, spoiler discussions, and exclusive shows.