Elden Ring
Review
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
by Quinn Levandoski
reviewed on PC
Joining the Party Late
To give you a bit of context upfront, which I think is important when reviewing a game like this, I've never played a single From Software title before. I've certainly been aware of the various Souls games released over the past decade or so, but I've never actually jumped in. They certainly have a reputation, though, so I was equal parts nervous and excited when I booted up Elden Ring for the first time.
The game's character creation isn't terribly complicated, but it lets players choose their starting class, an item/perk, and a basic look. Elden Ring doesn't hold players' hands, and to be frank, I had no idea what I was doing when I built Hawthorne the Confessor. I didn't have to distribute stats or pick starting abilities as I would in most open-world RPGs, but it was still difficult to decide without knowing what most of the stats or items do. That being said, a dude in a church robe with a big sword and some magic seemed pretty cool to me.
Being Thrown Into The Deep End
There's a haunting cinematic that plays before the game properly starts, and I'll be honest that it made absolutely no sense to me. There were a lot of fantasy words thrown around, images of some spooky monsters, and a discussion of the titular Elden Ring, but when my character was awoken by a golden drop of light and a woman by a horse, I had absolutely no idea why. Instead of being a frustration, the way the game world is kind of just "there" to be discovered was largely a delight. I still don't really understand everything that's going on in the game world, but there was a genuine sense of discovery to be had exploring the different parts of the map and engaging with the varied cast of enemies. I'm sure there's way more there that I'll catch as I play the game even more, but I'm also ok with a game that's more about ideas and vibes than nuanced plot points.
Shortly after getting past character creation and the opening cinematic, I was faced with the blunt reality that this game was indeed hard. Like, really hard. I can't speak to how it compares to the other Souls games, but I certainly had to untrain myself to stop doing almost everything I've traditionally done in third-person action games. I certainly didn't help myself by accidentally missing the combat tutorial, but the fact that I even could skip it says something in and of itself.
However, starting Elden Ring wasn't only hard because of how nasty the enemies were. I was also blasted with visual glitches like huge black bars and flashing red blobs that covered my screen and made it impossible to actually play the game. It took quite a bit of time scouring the internet (where I found several other people with the same issues) to appropriately adjust my settings and update my drivers. I know that glitches and optimization issues are somewhat (and disappointingly) accepted in today's gaming market, but it was a massive bummer in a game that's otherwise meticulously crafted. Once I made the relevant tweaks, the issues didn't pop up again.
Know When To Hold Them, Know When To Fold Them
I knew that I wasn't supposed to fight everyone, but I did anyway at the beginning just to see what I was dealing with. I was pleasantly surprised that fighting the "basic" puds is certainly doable, though they're more than capable of being dangerous when there's more than one of them. I spent a significant amount of time farming the first little area of ruins until I was comfortable with the basic combat options and flow. Of course, the first time I walked through a nearby entryway, I was almost instantly yeeted into the afterlife by a mountain-troll-looking monster with the ability to perform what looked like Dragon Shouts.
The upside of the unique combat flow and punishing difficulty is that progress is incredibly satisfying. While I was flailing around like a drunkard at the beginning of the game, I could quickly see myself getting tangibly more control over what I was doing and why I was doing it. Movement matters in Elden Ring, though it certainly isn't free. Fights are dances to create angles and block or avoid damage, and everything drains stamina. It's easy to go on a dodge spree waiting for the right time to strike, but there won't be any gas left in the tank to go on the offensive without stamina. Magic also uses a finite resource that doesn't automatically recover over time, so even ranged magic fighters need to mind what they do.
I never did get "comfortable" with Elden Ring because keeping the player on the edge of their comfort zone is what the game is all about. I definitely felt more comfortable with my character, but each new area and enemy reminded me how fragile I really am. I can't say if Elden Ring will be something genuinely new or more of the same to players who have already battled through the other From Software titles, but playing it felt to me like something I haven't experienced before. I was incredibly stressed, I considered quitting out of frustration several times, but I never stopped having fun and wanting to play just a little bit longer.
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9.3
fun score
Pros
Beautiful environmental and monster designs, mysterious story, tight gameplay
Cons
Initial performance issues
