Elden Ring is almost as good as Dark Souls 3, which I have played. Its advantages lie in the design of simple things that could be improved, such as the map and fast travel, which is an advantage, as well as the horse and its jumps, which are beneficial because they allow you to reach areas you couldn't access without jumping. In previous games, it could be annoying that you couldn't jump over a small fence half the height of your character. The player's own jump is also an advantage, as it's a new way to avoid some attacks, and beyond the exploration possibilities, I believe it was something that needed to be added.

Now for the disadvantages: the difficulty is quite reduced, so a player who has played souls games before feels like they're cheating the game. The problem with this is that the difficulty is polarized. The player is called to choose between some very powerful weapons and items (summons, buff stacking) that make the game ridiculous, or not use them, which makes the game demanding—it's like having a skip button for every fight. This detracts from the experience, because in the past, to get through each fight, you had to learn the moves and get better, and you felt an amazing reward once you won a fight you had struggled with for a long time. In the case of this game, I didn't need to try a boss a second day, including Malenia.

Another disadvantage is the lack of simplicity and logical next steps, since it's an open world game. When playing for the first time, in half the areas you're under-leveled, in the others over-leveled, and the desired difficulty is missing. For these reasons, in my opinion, I would rate it below Dark Souls 3. In conclusion, it is a more than decent game that is worth the player's time and I would recommend it.

Well guys, I just platinumed Elden Ring and finally I can have a more complete opinion about the game.

I come from Bloodborne which I also platinumed... I haven't played any other Soulsborne, so keep in mind that the review I'm leaving is based on these 2 games that I completed.

The game is huge, when we say huge we mean it... Anyone who loves open world will have a great time even with the negatives that the game has.
But let's clarify something, the game is not for people who have many obligations during the day and want something quick. It is a game that requires a lot of time and a lot of patience to play and to offer its value to the buyer. I, for example, got it in 2024 and I platinumed it today...

The positives of the game are things you have probably heard before:
Many bosses and many places that truly enchant you to explore, nice spells that catch your interest, and a wide range of equipment and boosts for the player.
Very nice music and one of the hardest bosses that From Software has released (according to the community) for those who love a challenge.
The feeling of defeating something you couldn't initially is incredible and only such games offer it.

Negatives:
I've said it before and I'll say it again in any other Soulsborne I play that does the same thing... guys, the story!!!!
You sit down and create a very nice and structured story, for what fucking reason don't you give the story of the game more generously, I can't understand why so much gatekeeping on a story that you have worked on and the world needs to know... There is the counterargument that says you should pay attention and read what the NPCs say, but when you play 2 to 3 hours a day and pick it up again after 3 days, you remember almost nothing and it's a shame... I have fought many times with main bosses and didn't know why I was fighting this and whose it was. Give some cutscenes guys to make it easier for people who don't play 8 hours and don't take notes in a notebook... it doesn't ruin anything in the difficulty of the game and benefits you.
Also, many times you are forced to flee in areas that have somewhat copy-paste mobs and that tires you, but I guess they did it to fill the huge world they created, so it's understandable.

Conclusion: those of you who have played Souls before and liked it, try it especially now that the price has dropped, just keep in mind that many times you might find the "chaos" of the open world tiring and you will have to either watch guides or explore, whatever each person prefers.

For those who have never played Souls: For you guys, the game will seem impossible and often unfair and tiring, if you don't have patience and don't like dark open world games, it's better to avoid it. For you, the game will feel more like an obligation than fun if you want to finish it...

There are no words to describe the epic experience that the creators have given us. I was very negative at first due to its difficulty, but after a second chance I gave it, I realized that this is the magic of the game! Yes, you will take a lot of hits, you will want to break the controller, but the secret is exploration. It requires many hours of exploration to strengthen yourself and be able to face the game's challenges. Incredible variety of items, weapons, materials, etc., all of which have their significance. And now let's move on to the game's biggest asset: its map. How did they fit all of this in? I have never seen a larger map in a game (Valhalla might be the second).. truly enormous with endless things to do. Incredible variety of landscapes with each area being beautiful and having its own style and music.. you really stop playing and just admire the scenery. Countless secret passages, caves, underground giant worlds, and so many more where each time you will discover something new! If I can say something negative, it is that many of the game's secrets you will need to learn from YouTube as it is almost impossible to find them on your own. A life game for me personally that will absorb you for a long time.

The best game I have ever played, perhaps even the best game of all time. A true masterpiece that falls into the genre of souls, games known for their difficulty, immersive story, and incredible bosses. It is the first game in the series that is open world and the open world aspect could not have been a better addition. The feeling that the game gives you, this awe and the idea that anything you see is accessible, makes you want to dedicate more and more time to it, even just wandering around the map without progressing the game's story. The game features a huge (and I mean huge) variety of different weapons and abilities, each one more unique than the previous. It also has a vast variety of enemies and some of the best boss fights that have ever existed. Another characteristic of it is a "mystery obsession", meaning there are hidden things everywhere, from dungeons to entire areas of the map, that if you don't do a very specific thing to unlock them, you won't have access to them. This fact truly makes you want to explore each area as much as possible. I truly mean it, every time I replay the game, I find something new that I had no idea existed and I am amazed by how many things they were able to put into this game.
This game is a must-play for anyone, at least once in their life.

When Zelda met Dark Souls... I had to quit my job to start it as I knew that this particular game required a lot of dedication to deal with it. And so it happened. I bought the game when it came out and for about a year it was gathering dust in my library until the right opportunity arose (fortunately I didn't quit for this). Being a fan of the Souls series, apart from Bloodborne and Sekiro since I'm not good at dodging and parrying (I'm 42 years old now), I didn't hesitate to get into the game's atmosphere as the gameplay has been faithfully transferred to Elden Ring from these games. At first, you get lost in the vast world they have created. I think they have included everything that everyone asks for from a fantasy world and even more. Large, different areas, full of secrets that make you want to explore every inch of them. The Torrent (horse) helps both in exploring the areas and in several battles, as long as it doesn't get surrounded. The graphics, while showing their age somewhat even on the PS5, are very pleasant, firstly because HDR works impeccably in both bright landscapes and dungeons, and secondly because a large part of the color palette is used compared to previous Souls games. However, if the Bluepoint Games platform was used (see Demon's Souls remake), we would be talking about a different game... The sound that accompanies you on the journey is always epic, although I believe that the player is dedicated to the dangers that lurk at every step. There is a great variety both in enemies and in bosses (basically also mini bosses), although some of the mini bosses are repeated in certain areas and dungeons. Various sites count them all together as 238 - I didn't count them - but I defeated them all except for Malenia Blade of Miquella as its difficulty level is extremely higher than all the others and I couldn't dedicate more time to it, besides it was optional. The game is more enjoyable to play than the other Souls games because, due to the open world, you can go almost anywhere you want to strengthen your character and come back. In the Souls games, for example, due to linearity, you had to play in detail a boss or an area to progress. The difficulty of the bosses in Elden Ring is chosen by you, as with the help of various spirit ashes, the battles become much easier without the need for a tutorial via YouTube to learn the moves of each one (238, come on). Some of the best spirit ashes were Mimic Tear and Black Knife Tiche, both at level 10. For those who don't want to spend a lot of time like me, the guide from IGN can guide you without unnecessary movements. It also greatly helps in the progress of the questlines of various characters that are not clear which ones are necessary for the evolution of the lore and the game's endings. Of course, interacting with NPCs usually evolves their story with a positive response. A key element of the game to not get lost is to do some basic things in each area. 1) Find the map of the area. 2) Wander a bit with the Torrent to see its geography and topography. 3) Locate and complete the dungeons. 4) Find the NPCs to progress their questlines. 5) Find points of interest where you can collect important items for the game's progression. I'm definitely not the best soul player since I finished the game with a purely melee approach (shield and weapon) without using sorceries, incantations, or even ashes of war, except for Poison Mist which I needed 4-5 times against some mini bosses that were even harder than the regular ones. Another important tip that I applied throughout the soul games series was that when my runes were close to leveling up or when I would go to a difficult point in the area I was exploring, I would immediately go back to a safe spot I had identified for farming. In the early levels at Lurnia Highway North, I leveled up quite a bit and tested the abilities of the spirit ashes. Later, at Across the Roots Site of Grace, where you face two enemies and get 7,000 runes (sometimes it's a large amount and gives 17,000), and towards the end at Palace Approach Ledge-Road, where there are 20 enemies with 2,000 each (but the 4 of them attack you). My complaints about the game: 1) I finished it with the first weapon I found from the first mini boss (Golden Halberg +10). I found countless weapons, but they didn't have the evolution I expected. 2) The set armors were the same - while they looked more visually appealing, their characteristics were not better than an average armor set I had. 3) I collected everything from items, but I only used about 10% of them - some I didn't even understand why I collected them or what they did. 4) Some mini bosses are annoyingly stronger than the regular ones. 5) I got lost with the questlines even with a guide. 6) The ending was a 30-second video clip and credits - come on, I played for 180 hours. Overall, my assessment and conclusion for Elden Ring: After 180 hours of offline gameplay (I have no opinion on multiplayer), searching and finding everything in all the areas, reaching level 190 (without cheats) in the first and only playthrough (I'm going for Diablo IV next), with a controller saying goodbye halfway through the game (the joystick started drifting to the right on its own), I can say that it is an exceptional and addictive game that has set the bar so high in gaming that I'm sad because I can no longer dedicate so much time. It is an immersive experience from start to finish that everyone should experience because it truly is a great and high-quality work. Personally, I enjoyed this journey as if it were the last one...

A good game and worth buying, but definitely not a masterpiece as some people consider it. Its main advantage is the bosses and the large world (although this is debatable).

My rating would normally be 1 star if it weren't for the guides and walkthroughs available on the internet. This is because the game, although I quite enjoy it, would become incredibly frustrating without them, resulting in me giving up on it. The reason is not the difficulty of the enemies, but how difficult they have made exploring the world with no useful information and several irrelevant locations, causing you to wander for hours without knowing where to go or what to do, especially in specific quests, the use of certain keys, and unlocking areas. The same applies to items, equipment, and abilities, for many of which you have absolutely no useful information except for something very general, without telling you to what extent they help you and where exactly.

So, this is the main drawback of the game, that I have spent a total of about 80 hours playing it with around 6 hours of searching on the internet to see where exactly I should go because I was going in circles, to understand exactly what this ability and item do, to realize that I was stuck because I hadn't hit a wall or a shrine in a certain way, or that I had to remove all the pieces of my armor to make the option to open a gate appear, or that a certain key opened a door that I had passed in a different area.

But there are also other negatives. There is a wide variety of weapons, but it doesn't put you in the position to use them as some are superior to others and you acquire them relatively quickly. Overall, I have mainly used 4 different weapons so far, and if it weren't for the switch in the ashes of war, it would be a bit monotonous. Some enemies and bosses are repetitive. The battles on horseback are not good as there are times when you hit anywhere.

Changing your equipment, especially during battle, every time you want to cast a spell is annoying and takes you out of the rhythm, resulting in many times not bothering with it. While the negative effects you may have are visible on your character, their duration and degree, this is not true for enemies.

So, Elden Ring could indeed be a masterpiece but... it's not. Is it worth buying? Yes, because you won't easily find epic bosses, difficulty, and battles like the ones you'll have in this game. If you enjoy exploration, at first you will spend several enjoyable hours discovering areas and enemies, later still relatively enjoyable but using guides on the internet, and later on, you will simply start bypassing them and going straight to the bosses.