Elden Ring is an action RPG developed by FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment, released in February 2022. Directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki, with world-building contributions from novelist George R. R. Martin, the game features an expansive open world called the Lands Between. Players assume the role of a customisable character known as the Tarnished, who must explore this world, battle formidable enemies, and seek to restore the Elden Ring to become the Elden Lord.
The game builds on the challenging gameplay mechanics familiar from the Dark Souls series but introduces a more open-ended structure with vast exploration, dynamic weather, and a day-night cycle. It offers deep lore, complex characters, and an interconnected world filled with secrets, dungeons, and powerful bosses.
Like most great works, Elden Ring is magnificently flawed, equal parts beautiful and ostentatious. In this age of cookie-cutter, paint-by-numbers, triple-A development, what more can you ask for than something wholly confident in its bullshit? Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m only about one-third of the way through the game and would love to see at least...
From Software's latest is a masterpiece of open-world design that places exploration and player agency at the heart of the experience.
Elden Ring offers rewarding gameplay, a cohesive setting and gripping lore. Some of the open-world systems feel clunkier than they should, though.
What ultimately matters, however, is that Elden Ring succeeds at almost every goal it sets out to achieve. It’s the culmination of years of refinement of FromSoftware’s formula. Mechanically, and thematically, this is a game making a statement: that you can buck industry tendencies even as you adopt their trends.
Elden Ring is FromSoftware's Magnum Opus, and it's hard to imagine them making a better game. The only negatives are performance related, which can by and large be overlooked. Elden Ring delivers on a scale that few games ever have, and likely ever will again. A day one buy for RPG and open world fans. Don't miss out on this once in a decade experi...
