Before I move into the body of this post, I need to state that I am a first time souls player. I happened into the Souls genre completely by accident. I had no idea Elden Ring was a souls game until after I had pre-purchased the deluxe version for my beloved Xbox Series X several months ago. Over the last two months and close to 200 hours of in game play, I have little doubt Elden Ring will be named game of the year and has encouraged me to try my hand at several other games made by developer From Software.
When it comes to Elden Ring there are a mixed bag of emotions and opinions offered by millions of players. There are those who love the game, those who hate it, those who believe there is only one way to play, and others who believe the tried and true From Software needs an easy mode. Me, I fall into the first category, one who loves the game.
There are dozens of reasons I love Elden Ring, but for this short commentary, I will spotlight only five.
1. Character Customization
2. The Lands Between
3. Enemies
4. Runes
5. The Difficulty
1. Character Customization: Most games, especially RPGs and ARPGs offer a level of character customization – how your character looks, color scheme, voice, etc. I’m not talking about that type of character customization. Those tools are in Elden Ring, to be sure. No, what I am talking about is how you build your character level by agonizing level. There are several base classes you can choose from when it comes to character classes, but how you develop them through the game is up to you. You can have a dual wielding samurai, a heavily armored knight, a stealthy archer, or a sword wielding wizard. There is no limit to how you want to build your class once you start exploring the Lands Between, the world of Elden Ring. The choice is yours, and choice is beautiful.
2. The Lands Between: The world of Elden Ring, The Lands Between, are huge. The Lands Between are the definition of epic in scale and scope. Environs sprawl for several hundreds of square miles both above ground, below ground, even in the sky above. The entirety of The Lands between can be explored on foot or from the saddle of your faithful steed, Torrent. Regardless of your chose, foot or mount, the world is staggering in its beauty and brutality. The various regions of The Lands Between are covered with caves, castles, forests, ruins, and underground caverns where enemies lurk and legendary gear waits for your discovery.
3. Enemies: What good is a world torn asunder without enemies fitting a tale of the end of the world? Animals, fell bosses, giants, trolls, and more wait for you in every corner of The Lands Between. There are ample opportunities to collect (and lose) runes and items in your quest to become Elden Lord. There are unique enemies in every region and difficulty varies from location to location. Can’t beat Margit in Limgrave? Explore, level up, and come back later after you’ve slain a dragon or two and collected some better weapons. The variety keeps the adventure challenging and engaging.
4. Runes: Runes are the only currency in Elden Ring and they serve a number of purposes. Runes are earned from defeating enemies, picking up rune medallions, and selling duplicate items to the various merchants throughout The Lands Between. Players use these runes to level up their characters, purchase items, purchase spells, and upgrading summoning ashes or weapons. There are no coins to manage, no jewelry you need to sell. Earn runes, level up, and move on. Need to upgrade that shiny new sword but you’re short on runes? Farm until you have enough and get it upgraded. The same can be done if you need to bump up one of your ability scores – farm, level up, and continue on your quest, Tarnished.
5. Difficulty: Full disclosure, I have avoided playing any of the souls games due to their reputation of being on another level with respect to difficulty, and, had I known Elden Ring was a souls game developed by From Software, I would have avoided purchasing it as well. I play video games to blow off steam, relax, and zone out for a couple hours – not have my muscles twisted into knots from rage. When I discovered Elden Ring was a souls game, it was too late, I had purchased the digital deluxe version of the game from Xbox Marketplace, so I was kind of locked in. I decided, “what the Hell, how bad can it be,” and I began playing the game the day it released and never looked back. I was hooked the instant I defeated the first boss in the tutorial. The soldier took me two attempts to defeat, but after that, I wanted to keep going. Yes, I lost thousands of runes, yes I failed against Margit seven or eight times, but by then I had more than 20 hours logged and I was not going to give up. The beauty of how difficult Elden Ring is, and I suspect the rest of the souls genre, is the game does not give one solitary fuck about your feelings. Instead, Elden Ring challenges you to learn the deep mechanics of the game, think on your feet, and learn how the bosses are built – their strengths and weaknesses. Bashing your way through this game is not a realistic outcome – yes, with enough grinding and enough levels advanced it can be done, but that creates so much more stress than needs to be created. It’s a video game, and Elden Ring better thought of as a complex series of puzzles to solve rather than a button-mashing fiasco, which makes the game a work of art, a stunning example of gaming design that is beautiful and brutal at the same time.
Conclusion: I don’t know what else to say. Elden Ring is a masterpiece to me. I’m 200 hours into my first play through and I don’t recall experiencing a game quite like Elden Ring. I loved Oblivion, Fallout 3, and Skyrim – all beautiful and unique in their own ways, but what From Software has created in Elden Ring is a breathtaking and heartbreaking title that refuses to put on training wheels or lead you by the nose through the game. Players need to figure things out for themselves – what works, what doesn’t, and where to go at any given point in the game. The in game map provides general guidance, but when all is said and done, The Lands Between are there for you to experience and explore at your own pace, whether that is at breakneck speed or a snail’s pace, and that makes Elden Ring worth the price of admission.
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