User Score
7.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 5812 Ratings

User score distribution:

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
  1. Mar 29, 2022
    10
    Punishing, brutal, satisfying. There is a new adventure around every corner of an extremely large world.
  2. Apr 8, 2022
    10
    My first souls game. Incredibly hard, but after sinking weeks into this game and only being halfway through (if that!) I think it's an absolute masterpiece. I'm on PC and apart from a few crashes to desktop it's been a solid 60fps and no real issues. So glad I skipped Forbidden West to play this instead.
  3. Mar 27, 2022
    7
    Early game: 6 out of 10
    Mid game: 10 out of 10
    Late game: 2 out of 10 Overall fun but scales horribly. Plus you need a guide for everything, typical from soft.
  4. Apr 1, 2022
    8
    This is one of the glitchier games i've played in a while, worse than my experience with Cyberpunk, Halo Infinite or the newer Call of Duty games. It's not enough to make it unplayable by any means, but random graphic glitches, enemies sometimes being invisible at first, stuttery visuals when moving.

    I'm using an RTX 3080 graphics card too and only on High settings because on Maximum
    This is one of the glitchier games i've played in a while, worse than my experience with Cyberpunk, Halo Infinite or the newer Call of Duty games. It's not enough to make it unplayable by any means, but random graphic glitches, enemies sometimes being invisible at first, stuttery visuals when moving.

    I'm using an RTX 3080 graphics card too and only on High settings because on Maximum settings its much more stuttery. I shouldn't have any issues with one of the best modern graphics cards on the market, especially when this game isn't pushing the envelope on graphics. Running Cyberpunk on Ultra with RTX is a smoother experience than Elden Ring on High settings. I can't imagine how rough it is for people with mediocre specs. PC feels very much like an after thought. Weird controls by default, weird feeling mouse movement, doesn't auto-detect keyboard so you have to dig for the setting to change the button prompts.

    The world feels fleshed out with solid lore and mechanics. You can tell they put a lot of passion into it within 10 minutes of playing. After several bosses you're hooked into the story and mechanics of improving your build. It's addicting and the downsides of the PC release don't ruin that, but it definitely burns a little bit.

    I've played minimal amounts of DS3 and Bloodbourne, only several bosses each, so this is the farthest i've ever gotten in a FromSoftware game with about 10 hours of play time and level 70-ish. I'm not one to play bosses over and over again so I picked mage, found some OP gear, beat some bosses and then did some rune farming - its essentially a built-in easy mode. The game is still challenging but it gives me a way to progress without getting frustrated.

    This also feels like one of the largest open worlds i've ever played. As I said i'm 10 hours in, I don't think i've explored even 5% of what this game has to offer.
    Expand
  5. Mar 20, 2022
    5
    Played for 85 hours - never gets easier and story is so convoluted - not very enjoable. But a beautiful open-world if you like action / console-like games.
  6. Apr 11, 2022
    9
    Outstanding ARPG with minor interface design flaws.

    Positive:
    - Great gameplay loop
    - Enemy design
    - Dungeon design
    - Battle system and horse riding battles
    - Coop/Multiplayer naturally integrated
    - Satisfying diffuclty
    - Strong melancholic atmosphere

    Negative:
    - Story introduction lacks production values
    - UI has minor handling issues
  7. Apr 14, 2022
    6
    Severely disappointing. Bad main bosses (perhaps even worse than DS2), botched endgame, tons of recycled content that makes this game feel like Assassin's Creed. At least the open world was really fun to explore until mountaintops
  8. Apr 25, 2022
    8
    I'm in a delicate position here. FromSoft has consistently delivered fantastic experiences for the past few years, and here's Elden Ring, a game everybody calls a masterpiece that's Dark Souls' formula distilled and perfected for an open world. This must be the BGE, right?

    Umm, no. It's not FromSoft's best game (still Sekiro, and it'll be for a while I'm guessing). It's not even their
    I'm in a delicate position here. FromSoft has consistently delivered fantastic experiences for the past few years, and here's Elden Ring, a game everybody calls a masterpiece that's Dark Souls' formula distilled and perfected for an open world. This must be the BGE, right?

    Umm, no. It's not FromSoft's best game (still Sekiro, and it'll be for a while I'm guessing). It's not even their second best game. But it's still pretty good, because it's a FromSoft game.

    I noticed these times tend to exaggerate the quality of open world games with a slightly different take on it than the others. First there was BOTW, then there was RDR2, and now ER. I'm not exactly sure why, open world games have a lot of trouble maintaining interest over time.

    For reference, I just finished the game with 100 hours under my belt, my character is level 151 and beaten every single boss.

    Pros :

    - FromSoft knows how to make gameplay feel weighty, impactful, and that didn't change with Elden Ring. I love their animations, the variety of builds available. The weapons, the spells, the enemies. They look and feel great to use and fight.
    - The art and design of the Lands Between is incredible. They know how to make you drool over landscapes, towering buildings, or even a swamp (yes, another one). I threw out a few "Wows" during my run, and that very rarely happens.
    - The OST doesn't deliver as much impact this time around, but it's still a great soundtrack.
    - The Bosses. they're FromSoft's biggest argument, and they were my greates fear when I started my game. Then I met a certain Omen, and I knew my fears were unjustified. There are problems, but the big, intimidating, rage-inducing bosses are here, and they're great.
    - Flexibility and accessibility. FromSoft understood that running for 5 minutes every time you want to try a boss again was not fun. Spirit ashes are an interesting mechanic for newcomers, the stakes make repeated trials less tedious, there are more sites of grace and they're less isolated. This makes going through some zones less of a chore and more of an actual challenge.

    Cons :

    - The Open World. Everybody praises this like it's the second coming of Breath of the Wild, but I found it very bland in its structure. Once the discovery phase fizzles out (as nice as it genuinely was), I just understood the structure and that it wouldn't change. Catacombs, mines and grottos are always pretty much the same.
    - Recycled content. This I'm really not happy with. Remember that super cool boss you fought once in the starting area? Remember how fun it was? Here, here's five of the same guy, hurdled together either as a boss fight or just random mobs in a dungeon. I'm not kidding, out of the 170 bosses in the game, only 15 are unique, all others are used multiple times, and sometimes they come in twos or threes, which is honestly a very cheap trick.
    - Balance. This is a byproduct of the open world structure. It's not up to the player to set a "base" difficulty in FS games, it's kind of their thing. They set up obstacles for you that seem insurmountable and you manage to overcome them as best you can. Except that in ER, you can pass them in a GTA equivalent where the game basically does all the work alone (The Mimic+10 summon can solo bosses), or you do your best to fight against mechanics designed for the case where the player is actually in GTA mode and therefore you're in for the hardest ennemies ever in an FS game. And let's not talk about me playing normally and getting to every zone with 20 more levels than advised: the devs response? Make everything oneshot my character past a certain point, even though I invested 50 points in vigor.
    - Poor servers. I mean, if you're gonna have servers that bad, don't force people out of the game each time they fail... It happened to me a few times during boss fights, let me tell you I really wasn't in the mood to play after that.

    Anyway, not the best nor worst thing to come out of FromSoft, I'm waiting for the DLC that'll hopefully correct some of the aspects I talked about, FS are known for their great DLCs.
    Expand
  9. Apr 4, 2022
    10
    so BIG, so deep, so interesting, like nextgen zelda. Many secrets, many interesting bosses, many locations. U play the game and game doesn't meant to end.
  10. May 12, 2022
    6
    The majority of the game is very fun and addictive but, and this is a huge but, the boss design and balancing is insanely bad, certain bosses are made to be roadblacks that must be faced, there are some that actually punish you for not cheesing them, there are loads that are way too aggressive so they literally leave no room to get an attack in and some builds will have no way to counterThe majority of the game is very fun and addictive but, and this is a huge but, the boss design and balancing is insanely bad, certain bosses are made to be roadblacks that must be faced, there are some that actually punish you for not cheesing them, there are loads that are way too aggressive so they literally leave no room to get an attack in and some builds will have no way to counter them until after they somehow beat the boss. There are a lot of places where you will, without warning, end up teleported and stuck, unable to level up, reallocate flasks, upgrade anything, so you can end up losing your save if you get sent in unprepared which goes against exploration because there is no way of knowing when or if you're strong enough without entering and then you can't leave. There is a lot of that and it really ruins the experience and flies in the face of the "dust yourself off and try again" appeal of these games when a lot of bosses actually have nothing to do with skill, if you have the wrong build, you just may not be able to react fast enough to do anything without being killed as a result, you went caster? Tough luck, you literally have no time to charge your spells. You went tanky with a shield? Tough luck, this boss does a room length piercing attack that will stagger through the best gear available until after them and then they go into a one shot combo before you can control your character again and they patched out one early material could have let you upgrade one gear piece, like your shield, so you wouldn't stagger, could dodge the combo and then punish but instead we have this because boss design and balancing sucks. The fact even diehard players went after the material because without that upgraded piece, some builds could not beat the boss blocking them from progessing the story and accessing other areas, or at least would require such perfect play, it's beyond what even a Souls style game can realistically ask. In summary, the good is very good but the bad will make this game literally unbeatable for a lot of people. Expand
  11. Apr 20, 2022
    10
    Absolutely beautiful world full of treacherous beasts to explore with an amazing community to help you on your treacherous journey
  12. Apr 5, 2022
    10
    This is the best game I have ever played. The game world is beatiful, gameplay is rewarding and the amount of content in this game is just unbelievable. I feel like storytelling could be a bit better, but besides that everything was perfect. I thought I was going to be forced to play this game on controller but the game works surprisingly well with m&k. 10/10
  13. Apr 24, 2022
    10
    A lot to say. Stunning experience for me as a casual player. Definetly worth to give a shot.
  14. Apr 23, 2022
    10
    Amazing! Already played 90 hours yet and I can't stop :) Haven't played sooo much any single game for a long time
  15. Mar 23, 2022
    10
    Like many people, this game made me feel like I was a kid again. A kid so excited by a game, by all the options, that he cannot disconnect from it! I had dreams about it. I played it more than 100 hours and I enjoyed all of them. On my computer, I personally think the game is beautiful (I have a GeForce RTX 2080). The open world is amazing. What strikes me is that you can always see superLike many people, this game made me feel like I was a kid again. A kid so excited by a game, by all the options, that he cannot disconnect from it! I had dreams about it. I played it more than 100 hours and I enjoyed all of them. On my computer, I personally think the game is beautiful (I have a GeForce RTX 2080). The open world is amazing. What strikes me is that you can always see super far away, with numerous details and even if you doubt it, yes you can reach all these places that you can see from the top of the cliff or the bottom of the castle. All of them will have a secret to uncover. Yes exploring is rewarding, and even relaxing (despite the numerous and hard fights).

    I enjoyed the interaction with other players for the hardest fights. I enjoyed the views, the bosses, the dark fantasy spirit and decorum. I disliked the fact that I had to google some accessories to understand what they are needed for. I enjoyed the open spaces, the castles, the dungeons, the weird characters I encountered ("let me touch your fingers..."). I laughed when pierced by an arrow of twice my size that I did not see coming. I almost cried after losing A LOT of runes ! I banged my hand on my table when I ALMOST killed numerous bosses.

    In short, it is a great experience. They did a great job. It is hard to understand how people can complain to such an extreme because there is no wide screen option, or because they experienced one bug here and there. It is the best game I have played for a while and I am sad I am reaching the end because I loved exploring this map.

    Go for it!
    Expand
  16. Mar 1, 2022
    9
    In my new souls fan recently opinion (I've just only played DS1, 3, Sekiro):
    1. Advantages:
    - About Gameplay is drawn from previous games, less stamina cost, you can teleport without required sitting in the bonfire (lost grave) but not of that the game is easier cause the bosses are adjusted challenging similar to previous games. Visual art, dark atmosphere, environmental sounds,
    In my new souls fan recently opinion (I've just only played DS1, 3, Sekiro):
    1. Advantages:
    - About Gameplay is drawn from previous games, less stamina cost, you can teleport without required sitting in the bonfire (lost grave) but not of that the game is easier cause the bosses are adjusted challenging similar to previous games. Visual art, dark atmosphere, environmental sounds, story-telling, it's just strangely beautiful, it plunges me into a dark fantasy world.
    2. Disadvantages:
    - Admittedly, optimization is really bad, fps drop happens quite often, low to medium setting is not much different, i hope in the future FromSoftware will release more patch to fix this.

    This is a game that reminds me of a real sense of adventure since the last time I played Skyrim. Like I said, the above is just my opinion, no matter how many different opinions, I still enjoy this game.
    * And i have an advice for you, who spent time to read my opinion:
    - Don't listen anything or anyone says, including me, all review whether good or bad are subjective, you should experience this game for yourself to get your own feeling. Trust me, you'll find it well worth it.
    Expand
  17. Mar 1, 2022
    10
    If you look past all the bogus reviews that are complaining about things that will most likely be fixed on a later patch; no ultrawide, frame cap, low frames in certain times. You will easily be addicted to this game.
    I'm not a previous souls player and absolutely love this game. I cant stop playing it and getting better items to take on harder foes. I will say i was a huge Breath of the
    If you look past all the bogus reviews that are complaining about things that will most likely be fixed on a later patch; no ultrawide, frame cap, low frames in certain times. You will easily be addicted to this game.
    I'm not a previous souls player and absolutely love this game. I cant stop playing it and getting better items to take on harder foes. I will say i was a huge Breath of the Wild and Witcher fan, and this one is the Grand daddy of them all. A game where progression in single player is actually a thing. Boss fights are so well thought up its quite impressive. This is the perfect game for me post 17 years of raiding in WoW. I cant recommend this enough. Just buy it.
    Expand
  18. Mar 3, 2022
    8
    From Software once again demonstrate why they are so beloved by the fans. They know what they are doing when making a particular kind of game, and they have perfectly adapted everything they learnt from Dark Souls, Bloodborne and Sekiro to make an extremely engaging and breathtaking open world.

    Unfortunately the game is held back by its technical limitations. I think there would be a
    From Software once again demonstrate why they are so beloved by the fans. They know what they are doing when making a particular kind of game, and they have perfectly adapted everything they learnt from Dark Souls, Bloodborne and Sekiro to make an extremely engaging and breathtaking open world.

    Unfortunately the game is held back by its technical limitations. I think there would be a lot less complaints about the graphics if the performance was good, but it isn't. The pc performance ranges from acceptable to poor. A vast majority of the time you won't notice the problems, but when you do, boy is it bad.

    Overall, it is a fantastic game and a definite must buy if you are a fan of From Software or open world games
    Expand
  19. Mar 3, 2022
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The best Souls style game!

    Elden Ring is turning out to be the best game I've ever played, and it's the best Souls by far! The open world is sensational, with a great incentive to explore!
    It's not a game for everyone, after all, it's still a Soulslike game and anyone expecting something different will be disappointed.
    The difficulty is interesting offering good challenges.
    The game's content is undeniably AWESOME, however its PC optimization is awful! There are several moments where I would say I'm unplayable with absurd frame rate drops.
    THEY NEED to improve the optimization and, if possible, make the game more accessible to computers with lower performance so that the game content is properly used.
    I'm not going to deny the game for that, but I can't give it a high rating either. It is an urgent problem and needs to be taken into account the appeal of consumers to fix it.
    Expand
  20. Mar 3, 2022
    9
    I love this game! I've already sunk in over 25 hours since launch.

    It is frustratingly hard, but it feels like next time you have it for sure, over and over hahahaha. I started out as a Wretch class, with no previous Souls-like game experience. I died like 10 times to the first creature (a wolf) I found but I loved it! It felt so fresh and exciting. Slowly finding new weapons,
    I love this game! I've already sunk in over 25 hours since launch.

    It is frustratingly hard, but it feels like next time you have it for sure, over and over hahahaha.

    I started out as a Wretch class, with no previous Souls-like game experience. I died like 10 times to the first creature (a wolf) I found but I loved it! It felt so fresh and exciting. Slowly finding new weapons, skills, abilities was so fun and rewarding.

    This game would be a great game to stream, so many random ways to die, so many stupid mistakes.

    I would have given it a 10 but there are some graphical freezes/issues that, while I notice them, aren't game killing for me.. yet.
    Expand
  21. Jun 23, 2022
    10
    A beautiful world to explore. Authentic storytelling.
    A huge number of activities. One of the best games.
  22. Mar 10, 2022
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Out of the 70 or so bosses i have fought, only a handful of them were memorable for being enjoyable. I really struggle to think of too many others. There are a number of threads that explain the grievances of this games boss design as well as general design far better than I can. The amount of reskinned, duo, infinitely aggressive bosses that I’ve trudged through never gave me the same satisfaction as a title such as DS1 or bloodborne. The godskin duo boss is a shining example of a problem. Also Fire Giant? Apart from the fight (I use melee) being “I hope I can track him down In time to land a hit” is not exactly exhilarating for such a late game boss. It just feels like delayed attack, AoE attacks, repeated. Also, the amount of dragon fights, Jesus Christ. My biggest complaint is repetition. The dungeons, ruins, a good amount of bosses, and some story points all feel like I’ve they’ve been beating me over the head with them. I have a number of complaints and praises about this game and as someone who’s near 100%’ed all of FROMs previous titles I don’t believe it’s a skill issue. I just feel a little disappointed. Expand
  23. Mar 19, 2022
    10
    Absolutely fantastic! Hours and hours of quality entertainment! And unlike certain other triple A games just released, no microtransactions!
  24. Mar 20, 2022
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I have to be honest, the game is good, in terms of being and open world game is one of the best out there, in terms of bosses, it can be compared with Dark Souls 2 bosses in terms of quality, they took the step of quanity over quality, the prime example of this was the God Skin duo boss fight, it's imdeed the worst fight in the game, and the series as a whole, most boss fights (excluding the demi gods) feels that you are just fighting a mini boss, but in most cases are mandatory, thing i seriusly dislike, i also dislike the magic and summons, wich most of those are broken Expand
  25. Apr 7, 2022
    10
    Amazing! Definite contender for Game of the Year. My favourite game since Witcher 3, just alot more challenging.
  26. Apr 11, 2022
    9
    When I first started playing this game, I had performance issues such as invisible enemies and dropping frame rates, but I think that was all due to my potato PC not meeting the minimum requirements lol.

    Thankfully all it took was a mod and I was good to go. Though granted with the mod on I had to play offline, but overall I still think Elden Ring is a great game with great combat and
    When I first started playing this game, I had performance issues such as invisible enemies and dropping frame rates, but I think that was all due to my potato PC not meeting the minimum requirements lol.

    Thankfully all it took was a mod and I was good to go. Though granted with the mod on I had to play offline, but overall I still think Elden Ring is a great game with great combat and even greater world design.

    I think it shows when the developers put a lot of effort and passion into making it by the absurd amount of detail in the open world. Personally I think this game deserves all the praise it got.
    Expand
  27. Apr 21, 2022
    10
    This game presents a lot of options and tools, gives the player agency to find out for themselves how to best advance. It respects the player in a way we're not used to anymore. Some people sadly can't break their conditioning and whish the game would hold their hand. That's not what Elden Ring is about. But other players can be summoned to fulfil that purpose.

    The world is alien and
    This game presents a lot of options and tools, gives the player agency to find out for themselves how to best advance. It respects the player in a way we're not used to anymore. Some people sadly can't break their conditioning and whish the game would hold their hand. That's not what Elden Ring is about. But other players can be summoned to fulfil that purpose.

    The world is alien and embroiled in its downfall. It doesn't concern itself with the player, which makes it so much more fun to explore. I haven't had this sense of wonder exploring since Morrowind.
    Expand
  28. Apr 22, 2022
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game is probably the culmination of everything From Software learned along the years.

    Finally a FS game where i can see the whole thing i can go where the mages study i can walk thru all the capital no more imagine how the place looks like i can finally walk in places and see what happened everywhere.

    All art aspects is amazing, Graphics a very well implemented, music fits very well, a lot of new enemies but a lot of others that i'm familiar, i can play this game and feel used to it and still have the sense of wanderlust.

    Story is way easier to follow this if you pay attention to dialogue, reading items is very good for lore info but there is a lot of NPCs that paint the world way different for me.

    Easily the most accessible FS game ever made, spirit summon is there to be used and abused, really makes the solo experience less lonely.

    For me the game won me during Raya Lucaria Academy, my wish to actually see a magic academy in a FS game was realized and i can see how it works i love it.

    And this game really let you play as you want, my Magic Knight is fun and i'm trying other builds with different sets and it works, i don't need to watch guides for it i can cook a build on my own and respec is cheap and easy.

    This is probably the game of the decade
    Expand
  29. Apr 25, 2022
    10
    Love this game! Ultimate souls game with INSANE beautiful world full of new stuff to explore and find out all by yourself! Game has multiple mechanics u can try its just there its letting u do it how u want to defeat it and has like 6 endings u can do by your actions/quests/idk am still finding out :D. I played like 200hrs till i defeated it but still i have a lot to explore so. If u wantLove this game! Ultimate souls game with INSANE beautiful world full of new stuff to explore and find out all by yourself! Game has multiple mechanics u can try its just there its letting u do it how u want to defeat it and has like 6 endings u can do by your actions/quests/idk am still finding out :D. I played like 200hrs till i defeated it but still i have a lot to explore so. If u want a game that lets u do whatever u want and like u want it just there :) just writing this cuz many kids dont know how to play this game cuz todays games are just so dum :D anyway :D love it cant wait for dlc :) just play it by yourself :) love u fromsoft Expand
  30. Jun 22, 2022
    10
    Stunning and amazing game i hope it will take the game of the year it's really deserve and worth it
Metascore
94

Universal acclaim - based on 60 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 57 out of 60
  2. Negative: 0 out of 60
  1. Aug 29, 2022
    70
    Elden Ring is an experience that will not be forgotten in a hurry. It's a tremendous, hulking, massive achievement but because it is tremendous, hulking and massive, it is one that comes with many caveats. The shelves in CeX and conversations with people who stopped playing at Stormveil castle can certainly attest to some of those caveats. Much like any FromSoftware title, it's not going to be for everybody, but paradoxically it is one of their hardest and one of their most accessible to date. It offers huge value in one package, and perhaps is a little too much value, only becoming clearer when nearing the endgame. Don't be mistaken by the criticism, though. This is a phenomenal achievement with a moment-to-moment that is incredibly engaging and immersive. No doubt it will be deserving of the end-of-year accolades it will inevitably receive. One pushes through Elden Ring as one pushes through life, with all the highs and the lows that it brings.
  2. Apr 28, 2022
    82
    Elden Ring is massive, sometimes to its detriment. A thorough walkthrough might take up more than 100 hours to complete, and at some point it becomes clear that From Software did not have enough manpower to produce that much unique content. Still, it remains incredibly addictive even after those 100 hours pass…
  3. Apr 14, 2022
    90
    It’s hard to review Elden Ring without being comparative; that’s because Elden Ring is an evolutionary step, not a revolutionary one, and one can’t help but see how it’s built on what came before. Here is a massive undertaking of a game, not for the sake of chasing trends but as the natural progression of the style the company has been fostering for over a decade. It’s amazing how smoothly the transition to open world was and how much of the Souls identity is still present. In the short time since its release, it has already left a cultural mark, no doubt a result of the game’s increased approachability. Even after sifting past all the hype and grandiosity, there’s still an excellent game left and Elden Ring is a clear showcase of FromSoftware’s outstanding expertise in the field. Elden Ring really is just that good.