Elden Ring Review

Introduction

Even though we’re only about four months into the year, I will be shocked if Elden Ring doesn’t remain my #1 game of the year for 2022. It doesn’t really hold a candle to the graphical fidelity of a game like Horizon Forbidden West, and it doesn't have the depth of combat like Sifu, but what Elden Ring lacks in raw graphical prowess, it more than makes up with art direction, level design, and brutal yet rewarding combat, while also expanding on the accessibility of FromSoft's notoriously difficult game design. Elden Ring brings with it a masterclass in open world design, rewarding exploration, curiosity, and wonder. I’ve put in 240 hours across 3 characters, earned the Platinum trophy, and mined it for every last drop of enjoyment–and I’m still down to play whenever a friend is ready to venture into the Lands Between.

Story & Setting

Heading into the launch of this game, I read many headlines about how George R.R. Martin, author of Game of Thrones, helped with the writing for Elden Ring. As much as I loved George R.R. Martin's writing, I worried his involvement might fundamentally change the way in which FromSoft games deal with narrative. That fear, it turned out, was unfounded. The narrative is as mystifying, complex, and layered as previous FromSoft games, with very little information presented to you in a clear fashion. Players are still left to piece together the factions and lore by reading item descriptions and making connections on their own–or more reliably, watching some excellent lore videos on Youtube from people who have done all of that work already. Even reading every item description, it can still take some real effort to make those connections, but every time some new piece of information clicked into place, or some old mystery was finally unraveled, it left me with a satisfying ‘ah-ha!’ moment that I haven't felt in any other games. Martin’s involvement leaned more into the crafting of the backstory and lore of the world leading up to the events of the game, rather than the way the game’s active story unfolds, and you can definitely feel his influence in many of the interpersonal familial relationships present through the history of the world. I do believe the main story is one of the most digestible of all of the FromSoft games, right up there with Sekiro. While Elden Ring doesn’t have the linearity of Sekiro, it utilizes a new mechanic called ‘Guidance of Grace,’ which directs you throughout the game. You’re free to ignore it, and you often should in order to explore the beautiful world, but it’s a great tool for whenever you’re ready to get back on the main story path.

Masterful Open World Design

When The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild released back in 2017, I was enthralled. I’d honestly never much cared for open world video games before then, largely preferring more focused narrative experiences. But Breath of the Wild wowed me with the sheer beauty and simplicity of the world, where around every corner it felt like you could discover something new. Ever since BotW was released, I’ve wondered how future games might expand on the freeform approach to world design. While we’ve since seen games that did a fair job at mimicking the pillars of Breath of the Wild (Genshin Impact and Immortals: Fenyx Rising come to mind), neither of those games felt like they expanded on what came before. I was left craving the next evolution of design. Elden Ring feels like the true next step in open world design, mostly stemming from a deep roster of enemies combined with truly varied areas to explore. Every location feels different, whether it’s one of the major story locations or one of the many smaller dungeons sprinkled throughout the Lands Between. Elden Ring is brimming with strange, beautiful, and horrible locations, all wildly different in how they’re laid out and what enemies you might encounter. The game rewards exploring simply for the wonder of discovery. On top of that, the fantastical nature of the world allows for some truly awe-inspiring regions. So much of my game flow was directed by seeing something cool or mysterious in the distance, thinking ‘oh, I want to check that out,’ and simply going there.

The open world nature of the game also addresses one of the major barriers to entry for people intimidated by FromSoft game design. In previous FromSoft games, you wind yourself through the twisted world, eventually reaching a boss. The only way forward is through that boss. You fight them over and over again, eventually persevering enough to overcome that challenge…or you stop playing. Those are your only options. In Elden Ring, the open world changes that. If you come up against a solid thrashing from one of the main story bosses, you can leave to explore more corners of the world, level up, find new weapons or armor that can help you in your battle. You’re able to continue playing and enjoying the game, returning to face that boss only when you’re ready to die try again.

Character creation & build variety

FromSoft games have always had deep and varied character build options, but I’ve generally kept my characters fairly simple in previous games–a quick sword, shield, and pretty good dodge timing have been my main tools in combat. For this game, I wanted to stretch a bit further outside of my comfort zone. I started with dual wielding swords on my first character, shifted to a giant club and shield for my second (with some Faith incantations mixed in), and then finally on my third character, I leaned more heavily into sorceries and spellcasting. I might ultimately still prefer a simpler combat of strike and dodge, but I grew to appreciate the strong build variety present in the game. There’s room for any kind of character, and the game offers the kind of character creation freedom you might only find in a tabletop RPG.

Spirit Summons - a great tool for accessibility

The Spirit Ash mechanic is the next huge step for making Elden Ring the most accessible of the FromSoft games. Throughout the game, you collect what are known as Spirit Ashes–spirits of warriors encountered throughout the Lands Between who can help you on your quest. Sometimes these Spirit Ashes are enemies you’ve defeated. Sometimes they are old warriors whispered about in scraps of lore found throughout the world, discovered in a dark corner of some underground tomb. Sometimes they’re an actual character you meet who decides to join you on your quest. During every boss fight, you are able to summon your chosen Spirit Ash to assist you in battle. Having another target for a boss to focus on during the fight can allow you crucial moments to finish casting a powerful spell or simply drink a much-needed healing potion. They become especially crucial during the notorious gank fights that FromSoft likes to include in their games–when you have multiple bosses to deal with at once, forcing you into a deadly 2-on-1 scenario. The Spirit Ash can draw the attention of one of the bosses, allowing you the chance to deal with one at a time–at least for a short while. The Spirit Ash isn’t nearly as powerful or durable as a player, and so they can’t be expected to hold their own for long, but every moment helps and can make the difference between victory and defeat.

Co-op - better than previous games, but still frustrating

Co-op in FromSoft games has always been a frustrating experience. In Dark Souls, for example, you would have to use an item known as ‘Humanity’ to be able to summon other players–a rare resource found sparingly throughout the world. In Bloodborne, the resource was Insight–slightly more plentiful, but still a finite thing. With every new game, the ‘cost’ of summoning a friendly player for co-op became less onerous, but the threat of running out of the necessary resource was always close at hand. Elden Ring continues this positive trajectory, letting you find the necessary resource–Erdtree Flowers–throughout the world, the item repopulating whenever you rest in the game. Despite this major improvement, co-op is still far from a smooth experience. There is no continuous co-op; you are still required to re-summon your friend after each boss, and only when there is still a boss available to fight in the area. The game also can lock you out from being able to summon a friend if you’ve defeated specific bosses in the open world. This is not explained anywhere, and is only loosely understood in the online community. For example, if players defeat the ‘main’ overworld bosses in the region (for Limgrave: Tree Sentinel, Flying Dragon Agheel, and Tibia Mariner), you are no longer able to summon a friend in that open world region. This information is not present anywhere, and has only been discovered by players online who inadvertently locked themselves out of co-op with their friend/partner. There is no formal list of which bosses per region trigger this lock-out. Despite these issues, I’ve actually had a great time co-oping through various dungeons and boss fights alongside my best friend, Matt. I’ve never been drawn to the co-op aspects of FromSoft games in the past, generally opting for the solitary experience, but I’ve had a wonderful time exploring the Lands Between with a friend.

How does Elden Ring stack up to FromSoft’s previous titles?

I thought I should include a reflection on Elden Ring compared to their other great games, but I’m still having trouble determining if it’s my ‘favorite’ FromSoft game. That’s not too surprising since I’m really not sure I could have tackled the question before Elden Ring came out. Dark Souls 1, for example, has some of the best level design of their games (though it also has some truly abysmal level design due to budget constraints). Dark Souls 3 has most of my favorite boss fights throughout the entire FromSoft roster, and the level design is consistently good to great despite its linearity. Bloodborne’s combat is probably my favorite of the games, and the Lovecraftian horror setting is unparalleled. The vibe and tone of Bloodborne permeate every aspect of the game’s design, and it makes for a wonderfully immersive experience. Sekiro’s magical feudal-Japan aesthetic felt completely different from their previous games, and offered a few more of my top tier favorite bosses. Plus Sekiro introduced a new and addicting parry-focused combat that I hope they continue to use in future games. Each title offers something unique, some fresh twist on their formula that makes it so hard to pin down my absolutely favorite. If you search the question online, you will find someone arguing for every one of their titles as FromSoft’s best.

In many ways, Elden Ring further unbalances this dilemma for me. Elden Ring combines so many of my favorite elements of their previous games. It offers the combat and aesthetic of Dark Souls, but also includes Lovecraftian horror elements ala Bloodborne. I think my overall experience plants it firmly in the top tier of FromSoft games for what it does well–though it’s not without its faults. While the game has a tremendous variety of bosses (like a crazy amount of bosses), and I’d say most are fun and well-designed, I don’t think any of them really compare to my favorites from previous titles. Elden Ring has some fantastic dragon fights throughout, but none as crushing as Black Dragon Kalameet from Dark Souls 1 or Darkeater Midir from Dark Souls 3. Elden Ring has some good monster fights, but none really compare to Ludwig the Accursed in Bloodborne or Demon of Hatred in Sekiro. Elden ring has a variety of duels/battles with singular knight/warrior type opponents, but nothing quite as blood-pumping as Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower in Bloodborne, Slave Knight Gael from Dark Souls 3, or Sword Saint Isshin from Sekiro. BUT. Having said all of that. Many of the best (read: my favorite) FromSoft zones and bosses are introduced in DLC. Elden Ring will undoubtedly be receiving at least 1 DLC down the road, and due to its enormous success, there’s a good chance they’ll want to make several DLC installments. There’s a good chance the best is yet to come, and that’s so very exciting.

Closing Thoughts

I feel like a broken record on this sometimes, but I strongly recommend everyone try out this game–borrow it from a friend, rent it from a…I don’t know, whatever game renting service exists nowadays. This game is definitely not for everyone. No game is. And hey, I get it. There are some intimidating members of the ‘git gud’ fandom, and the games themselves have a reputation of being very difficult. But a sizable portion of the fanbase is genuine and helpful, and the difficulty is often a bit overblown. Plus the tools available–co-op, spirit summons, and the open world design itself–go a long way toward reducing the frustrations. If you get the chance, play the game for a couple hours, explore those first steps in the Lands Between. You might be surprised at what it has to offer.