Elden Ring

 PlayStation 5
User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 12214 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9,064 out of 12214
  2. Mixed: 809 out of 12214
  3. Negative: 2,341 out of 12214
Buy Now
Buy on

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
view
per page
  1. cronoslegacy
    May 17, 2022
    7
    I wanted to finish the game prior to writing a review and without using online guides but it proved very difficult and ended up googling some progression points to just stop roaming around aimlessly.

    To start, Elden Ring is a great game by all means and is a nifty throwback to the days when you needed to buy strategy guides and read the instruction booklets that came with games. There    I wanted to finish the game prior to writing a review and without using online guides but it proved very difficult and ended up googling some progression points to just stop roaming around aimlessly.

    To start, Elden Ring is a great game by all means and is a nifty throwback to the days when you needed to buy strategy guides and read the instruction booklets that came with games. There is definitely some artificial difficulty here that can be more annoying than fun. Enemies obviously lack stamina gauges and many bosses will just spam you into oblivion with military level missile tracking. some enemies will spam projectiles at you that hardly ever miss and your only chance is i-frame dodging, such is the nature of Souls games. However, here is slightly different as in games past enemies would leave openings for you to exploit, good luck with that here. Most bosses I ended up "cheesing" to just get clear.

    There is a 100% pacifist playthrough that essentially exploits the AI's need to spam you even at it's own detriment. Essentially the player would lure the boss to a cliff of some sort and "assist" them on their way off. The funny thing this is seen as a "challenge" playthrough when it's actually the most efficient way to defeat the bosses as most of the time you won't be getting within 10ft of the boss without being obliterated by endless AoE attacks. So many times I resulted to spamming rot arrows at a boss from a cliff he couldn't reach (screw you Fallingstar Beast).

    Then there is the issue of easily missing critical game components. For example, Roderika is a Tarnished you will most likely find semi-early in the game but if you aren't gung-ho about harassing her for dialogue you won't get one of your first ashes AND later at the roundtable a key NPC for making ashes stronger. There is no indication that you need to speak with her multiple times in the slightest. A lot of quests in this game are just like this; easily missed UNLESS you are constantly researching with a google browser open and I feel that's a damn shame. Quests are just so disjointed and NPC's are just so vague when offering help it can be quite annoying more than fun. There are times when you find a riddle and the only way to progress is to talk to another NPC "merchant" you met early in the game and since have met about 70 other NPC since, how people figure this nonsense out is beyond me.

    Other than that, boss battles are generally fairly amazing and the lore is simply amazing. You'll have to piece the story together yourself but it's there. The world is huge and it is amazing fun finding new things constantly. There is a great deal of detail and you can see where the devs put their passion. A good game where "strategy" is key and even if the strategy is "cheesy" it's still a legit strategy. Remember everything is fair game in war.

    helpful tips:
    GET A BOW - I don't care what class you play, bows are awesome and a great tool. You can use them to snipe enemies and lure enemies out of groups and generally have a bigger range than even magic. You can pick up a long bow early from the husks at the roundtable hold for 1000 runes and buy standard arrows from most world merchants fairly cheap.

    Husk Merchant - located in the roundtable, has some very useful items for sale and inventory expands when you bring Bell Bearings back, some of the most useful ones being Smithing-Stone Miner's Bell Bearing which allows you to buy infinite 1-3 smithing stones and Iji's Bell Bearing for somber smithing stones. There are better ones and ones that allow you to buy higher smithing stones, too! the bells have no other use so make sure to always hand them over to the husk merchants.

    Exhaust NPC dialogue - just do it, speak to every NPC until they start to repeat themselves. Sometimes later, they will offer helpful advice only if you met the interact prerequisite.

    Ashes - Use them, they are great and make sure to upgrade them in the roundtable (via Roderika).

    A good Offense is sometimes the best Defense - Here it's absolutely true. sure, it's great to avoid damage but just defending WILL get you killed.

    crafting items - so many useful items to craft...namely a cure for poison (which you will be poisoned a lot). You expand your crafting abilities through cookbooks. One that comes to mind is the Armorer's cookbook [2] which you get from the coastal merchant in western Limgrave.    … Expand
  2. pstunner
    Feb 26, 2022
    7
    Update after 41 hours: Poor performance still not resolved and still frustrating. Further you progress in the game the more the flaws appear. Extremely repetitive open world with the same dungeons with no real variety. Worst boss encounters in any FromSoft game. Disappointed. 7/10 is an accurate score. Original: Rating after 15 hours. Unacceptable performance breaks every bit of immersionUpdate after 41 hours: Poor performance still not resolved and still frustrating. Further you progress in the game the more the flaws appear. Extremely repetitive open world with the same dungeons with no real variety. Worst boss encounters in any FromSoft game. Disappointed. 7/10 is an accurate score. Original: Rating after 15 hours. Unacceptable performance breaks every bit of immersion they are going for.… Expand
  3. OllyNorton
    Mar 31, 2022
    7
    First things first, this is Dark Souls. Not Dark Souls in the way Bloodborne and Sekiro are, where they change up key gameplay elements to keep the game fresh, Elden Ring when not on a horse is just Dark Souls. I've always found that Froms gameplay evolutions in both Bloodborne and Sekiro (although I never completed Sekiro) were a lot more fun to play. They still had that challenge of DarkFirst things first, this is Dark Souls. Not Dark Souls in the way Bloodborne and Sekiro are, where they change up key gameplay elements to keep the game fresh, Elden Ring when not on a horse is just Dark Souls. I've always found that Froms gameplay evolutions in both Bloodborne and Sekiro (although I never completed Sekiro) were a lot more fun to play. They still had that challenge of Dark Souls but were just a bit more focused making the challenge a bit more amped up and harder to cheese. That said Dark Souls gameplay its still good, just not as good as other From gameplay systems for me.

    So let's take on the new elements. Chiefly the open world, it took me a while to appreciate it but it is very dense and has some really fun exploration. Although I really did miss the intricate, interconnected, world designs of older games.

    For much of the game it's a decent souls game, but when you reach end game bosses be prepared for some really boring fights. Souls bosses have often played by a rule set, like you they can't spam moves and magic because they would get tired or run out of mana. That is long gone in Elden Ring so be prepared to dodge infinite combos and magic coming your way until you get lucky and gap opens up to get in a hit and then back to rolling and dodging again. I didn't get a sense of satisfaction for beating any of the later game bosses, just merely relief. The game collapses here, where as the build up was souls with some decent exploration this end game is designed for only certain builds, If you roll a melee build be prepared for a boring/frustrating experience.

    I also don't find the lore as engaging as other From games, Demon Souls was this gothic bleak dead world and that spilled into Dark Souls that refined it, Bloodborne was an eldritch horror within a victorian city gone mad, Sekiro had an almost mystical vibe to it. Elden Ring is kind of meh, it's pretty in places and there are some awesome views but overall it failed to capture me quite as much as prior titles.

    None of these things are really bad, and are likely more down to my preferences really, but one things that is truly bad is the performance. foliage textures pop in about 20 feet in front of you, the frame rate shakes like a bobblehead on a washing machine during an earthquake, and a lot of the textures are pretty basic. Elden Ring has some great moments from it's art design, but as a technical piece its lacking considerably. (Played on PS5)

    I'm probably being a bit harsh on Elden Ring, it is a good game still, but I just preferred From's other games, and my fond memories of those titles just kept reminding me how I vastly preferred their tight interconnected faster paced games vs this slower, wider, rather loose one.    … Expand
  4. blackswriter
    Apr 15, 2022
    7
    Elden ring just become good because it is dark soul predecessor.
    Look how empty the map is because the map is just too big. They need to add more density rather than just a forced open world.
    The movement sure is more fluid than dark soul, but it is still considered very rough. Weirdly enough that they develop sekiro which has a very great and fluid movement. It seems like just a step    Elden ring just become good because it is dark soul predecessor.
    Look how empty the map is because the map is just too big. They need to add more density rather than just a forced open world.
    The movement sure is more fluid than dark soul, but it is still considered very rough. Weirdly enough that they develop sekiro which has a very great and fluid movement. It seems like just a step down from sekiro.
    Control is very bad that you can easily push the wrong button.
    Multiplayer is still unplayable and very confusing. They should just copy what Nioh 2's team ninja did.
    The story and lore still very bad. They too focus on gameplay that made the story very shallow. They should take the example of Hollow knight, it clearly focuses on gameplay but doesn't sacrifice lore. The story of Elden ring is not that different than Nioh 2 and Strange of paradise in terms of complexity.
    I think that Sekiro is better than this. It's not that the Elden ring is bad. But it still cannot be considered a masterpiece as it is. And now, many dark soul themes are better than Elden ring.    … Expand
  5. PabloGilvan
    Mar 2, 2022
    7
    I still remember when I played Skyrim first time, it was amazing seeing that rich open world, is one of my fav games of all time. But Elden Ring, oh Elden Ring, it is another level, it raises the bar for new games. This world is vast, dense, imersive, creepy, dangerous and beautiful. I'm over 30 hrs and only killed Godrick. Its an amazing and epic world.
  6. icedzug
    Mar 6, 2022
    7
    I find this game is much overrated. each from software game before was better. most enemy are just ridiculous or just overpowered, nothing between. Open World is full of Nothing but the same houses, the same trees and the same graveyards. Dungeon design just got worse
  7. PiskoWK
    Jun 9, 2022
    7
    It's good, I think, but I know it's not for me. The open world helps those like myself who found previous attempts at souls games to be frustrating time wasters because of the "git gud" mentality. I really enjoyed playing it with friends online, but the mechanics designed to put players together are archaic and could have been designed by Nintendo.
  8. TheGoodGoat
    Feb 27, 2022
    7
    The game is boring. I can appreciate the scale but it literally is a soulsborne game in that you just have to roll around until you can attack. Sekiro is way better in every conceivable way
  9. ejoseph
    Jan 22, 2023
    7
    Even though I don’t like the souls genre in general, I can appreciate the awesome open world. I will never like these games though because all you do is fight enemies that are overpowered. I’m 40 years old and like Nintendo games better. If I was 20 something maybe I’d have more interest in killing overpowered enemies. Lol
  10. Starfey
    Feb 27, 2022
    7
    Metacritic 97? How? Generic and technical 2010. 25h into the game and its super boring and overrated. How can such a old engine perform that bad on new consoles and good pcs?
  11. Witchywoman212
    Mar 25, 2022
    7
    At first I liked this game. Graphics are good, but I believe From has gone down a bad road, starting with Sekiro. The From souls games were brilliant, and a lot of fun. Difficult, but enjoyable. I laughed a lot, and had fun with the coops and invasions. But this game has taken on a Nioh feel. Everything is one shot, and there is a kill switch, when you are in danger of killing aAt first I liked this game. Graphics are good, but I believe From has gone down a bad road, starting with Sekiro. The From souls games were brilliant, and a lot of fun. Difficult, but enjoyable. I laughed a lot, and had fun with the coops and invasions. But this game has taken on a Nioh feel. Everything is one shot, and there is a kill switch, when you are in danger of killing a boss. I believe the pve is overpowered. Especially when you are trying to reach an important area to advance the game. I have had to respect my character two times to advance. This is not good game design. The Fire Giant is almost impossible. You can't finish the game without beating it. There is little help, and no mimic help. Why have a mimic when you can't use it in the most important areas of the game. The blood, and bleeding is way overpowered. Invaders can one shot you. There is very little defense against the most overused builds in the game. I got sick of fighting all the bosses with blood builds. I really wanted to give the game up. Now I played Nioh, and hated the game. I even platinumed both Nioh games. Has From gone so far to cheapen their games competing with the Nioh Team? I am not sure I am going to finish Elden Ring. They dumb down good weapons that let you complete with the overpowered and unfair bosses, but not the bosses. They need to look at the way people are struggling to get through. The NPC's that help are crap. I miss the good NPC's in DS2. One good thing, the horse. I loved it. The world is too big, and coop help is too scattered around the big world. The lines are interesting, but way to long. The Alexander Jar line is ridiculous.
    Anyway, if you decide to play, good luck! i wish From would go back to the winning ways of DS and Bloodborne.    … Expand
  12. witcher6999
    Mar 12, 2022
    7
    Вторичная игра, с пустым и ненужным открытым миром. Очень плохое техническое состояние.
  13. kushtopia
    Mar 4, 2022
    7
    The game is fun, no doubt. The boss battles are exhilarating and there is a good variety of enemy types- each with their own distinct feel. There is an underlying story somewhere, but it is told in fragmented/disjointed parts that only the most ardent fans will actually care enough to explore. The graphics are terrible. The animations are terrible. And the game is glitchy and poorlyThe game is fun, no doubt. The boss battles are exhilarating and there is a good variety of enemy types- each with their own distinct feel. There is an underlying story somewhere, but it is told in fragmented/disjointed parts that only the most ardent fans will actually care enough to explore. The graphics are terrible. The animations are terrible. And the game is glitchy and poorly optimized. It feels like an early PS4 release title and does not have anywhere NEAR the style or the polish as other "next gen" games. With so many other great options, this is unfortunately a big miss on FromSoftware's part.

    Poorly told story, unpolished game, with fun gameplay (not necessarily good, just fun) 6.5/10    … Expand
  14. Mjw7502
    Mar 18, 2022
    7
    I really love this game. However the end game is so imbalanced that I started to have negative fun. The mob placement and mob damage is all over the place. Yet almost every boss at end game can be 1 shotted without summons or help. Up until then the experience was perfect though.
  15. deplooyer
    Mar 9, 2022
    7
    Muy buen juego para ser el primer mundo abierto de la saga Souls. Intentaron que el juego fuera accesible para todo publico pero desgraciadamente no lo lograron. Elden sigue siendo pesado y abrumador para bastante publico. En mi caso el juego me pareció bueno, pero la trama e historia no me atrapo, y en mi caso eso es lo que me hace querer terminar el juego. Descubrir zonas con enemigosMuy buen juego para ser el primer mundo abierto de la saga Souls. Intentaron que el juego fuera accesible para todo publico pero desgraciadamente no lo lograron. Elden sigue siendo pesado y abrumador para bastante publico. En mi caso el juego me pareció bueno, pero la trama e historia no me atrapo, y en mi caso eso es lo que me hace querer terminar el juego. Descubrir zonas con enemigos nuevos y creativos no me llena. Quiero saber el porque estan ahi, que esta pasando, la historia detras de eso. El juego es muy continuista en jugabilidad pero logro entrelazar bien las zonas y el mundo para formar un verdadero monstruo de mundo, enorme y lleno de zonas hermosas, sin embargo al apostar por seguir siendo Souls, mundo obscuro y tenebroso se pierde bastante de lo que pudo haber sido. Souls es un juego de 10 para los amantes de la saga pero para todos los demas es solo un buen juego e interesante que nunca terminaremos.… Expand
  16. Eclipse4444
    Mar 10, 2022
    7
    An open world game must sacrifice some aspects due to the sheer size of the world they're creating. Unfortunately, much of what made the Dark Souls series so good has been lost or greatly reduced. Intricate, well thought out level design is now rare. Most of the various dungeons, castles, mines, and other environments are pretty straight forward.

    Enemy and boss design seems to have    An open world game must sacrifice some aspects due to the sheer size of the world they're creating. Unfortunately, much of what made the Dark Souls series so good has been lost or greatly reduced. Intricate, well thought out level design is now rare. Most of the various dungeons, castles, mines, and other environments are pretty straight forward.

    Enemy and boss design seems to have suffered as well. Almost every minor boss is fought numerous times, which kills any sort of uniqueness they had.
    Also, it feels like the developers are constantly trying to one up themselves. Every major boss has to have an over the top moveset that does a million damage, particle effects, and soundtrack. I am not asking for an easy mode, but I am asking for some competent game design.

    Overall, it's fine. The first 20 hours are great, but the rest gets tedious. To see such a great developer make a game filled with baffling and outright bad design choice, makes me unable to go above a 7/10.    … Expand
  17. larsdebest21
    Feb 26, 2022
    7
    I really like the game and i dont care about the graphics argument for this game.. This game isnt focused on that but on the combat which is really good. BUT the world is so big it feels all the same to me at some point. Like when you have no story and you fight a boss over and over at some point you are like... i have seen it all.
  18. unctheels
    May 30, 2022
    7
    very good game but also very big world and loses focus much of the time. also, like all other FromSoftware games other than Bloodborne (and possibly Sekiro) it doesnt have the sidestep mechanic when locked onto an enemy in combat. for me that makes the combat much less fun than Bloodborne. that being said Bloodborne is clearly my favorite FS game and better than Elden Ring.
  19. ZeoN
    Feb 20, 2023
    7
    Tras darle dos oportunidades he llegado a la conclusión de que no es un juego para mí. Veo el mundo abierto muy vacío, y el juego se deja llevar demasiado por lo que es la esencia de la nada de Dark Souls. No me parece un mal título, pero en absoluto creo que sea la obra maestra que muchos dicen
  20. arthasmenethil8
    Mar 18, 2022
    7
    EDITED after 108 hours of play time: Besides some little performance issues on PS5 which are now fixed, I'd say that this game is okish: exploring is rewarding even thou the enemies are repeated too often, some sub bosses are fun but they are the same ones you already faced over and over in the game...Yes, it's fun to roam around and discover new things but after a while youìve seen itEDITED after 108 hours of play time: Besides some little performance issues on PS5 which are now fixed, I'd say that this game is okish: exploring is rewarding even thou the enemies are repeated too often, some sub bosses are fun but they are the same ones you already faced over and over in the game...Yes, it's fun to roam around and discover new things but after a while youìve seen it all. Regarding the"real" bosses of the game, some are ok but others are utterly broken: bad hit boxes, their damage is just insane no matter how "good" or protected you are, oh and they can be easily broken by using a magic build with comet Azur + mimic ash +10. It is a dark souls 3 with some open world mechanics, programmed in the same engine of few years ago. 7,5/10 is my final score.… Expand
  21. Maugaran
    Mar 8, 2022
    7
    Totally overrated but good game. Nice fight system but empty world + trivial npcs. Not special Music.
  22. Taiyu
    Oct 3, 2022
    7
    The game was made with such a poor engine, I think if From Software continue to use this kind of outdated engine for their next soul game, game reviewer would not be so kind.
  23. darthcooper
    Mar 17, 2023
    7
    My reviews are always based on fun and I did like the game but it is very confusing and very big. It is a massive open-world souls game with a lot of ways to play but you have to grind a lot to level up and there is virtually zero direction. The game runs well and is beautiful on PS5, loading times are almost zero it loads really quickly. However, I felt totally lost after a couple ofMy reviews are always based on fun and I did like the game but it is very confusing and very big. It is a massive open-world souls game with a lot of ways to play but you have to grind a lot to level up and there is virtually zero direction. The game runs well and is beautiful on PS5, loading times are almost zero it loads really quickly. However, I felt totally lost after a couple of hours but continued exploring, grinding, rinse, and repeat. Eventually, I managed to get to the Academy after 40 hours but I spent almost double the hours trying to kill "Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon". There is only so much a person can take doing the same thing over and over again and getting zero results. This game is not as much fun as I had hoped as all your doing is the same rinse and repeat which becomes tedious. If you want a game that doesn't overwhelm you try Bloodborne.… Expand
  24. IIIAHMIII
    Mar 19, 2022
    7
    I finished the game twice and have no clue what the story is, new game plus is a joke. Most bosses feel and look a like with their attacks unlike darksouls 3 where you had a lot of varitiy. The open world works and it also doesn't at the same time. Give me smaller area's over overcomplicated and empty area's any day. A 7 seems fair also melena and the godskin duo are unfair bosses thatI finished the game twice and have no clue what the story is, new game plus is a joke. Most bosses feel and look a like with their attacks unlike darksouls 3 where you had a lot of varitiy. The open world works and it also doesn't at the same time. Give me smaller area's over overcomplicated and empty area's any day. A 7 seems fair also melena and the godskin duo are unfair bosses that need to be redesigned.… Expand
  25. Egis511
    May 9, 2022
    7
    This is the weakest souls game in my opinion. Yes, its the biggest of them all...and yes it is...well that is probably all. The size of the game means you will run from place to place longer, but that does not make it any more interesting as game does not reward you for your exploration. You will find hidden dungeons
    and caves, but the rewards of completing them are meaningless and most    This is the weakest souls game in my opinion. Yes, its the biggest of them all...and yes it is...well that is probably all. The size of the game means you will run from place to place longer, but that does not make it any more interesting as game does not reward you for your exploration. You will find hidden dungeons
    and caves, but the rewards of completing them are meaningless and most of the time useless. Items you receive in early game are superior to items from later areas. Balance is appoling. Spells you get with a starting character are better than 90 percent of all the spells you will find in the game later. Weapon upgrades make no sense as to upgrade regular weapon is more expensive and tedious than boss/exotic weapons. Game is buggy. Lost millions of souls because the game decided to bug out on me. Enemies hitting you through the walls, game favours particular style of playing (bleeding, sorcery etc.). Boss fights are designed poorly by all difficulty being almost non existing windows when you can hit npc. Weapons have combos what you will never gonna use on boss as there won't be window big enough to finish it.
    However, it is still better game than most of crap that was released in the last few years. That says a lot about gaming industry.    … Expand
  26. Enkindled
    Jul 1, 2022
    7
    OK. I never thought I was going to give this game any score below 9, but I am. Hear me out.
    I have the platinum for all FS games, and I got the one from Elden Ring. I can safely make a review and tell you the good and bad. In a nutshell, there are various innovations, but also a myriad of features that were recycled, unpolished, and repetitive. Bing objective, buy the game, is amazing BUT    OK. I never thought I was going to give this game any score below 9, but I am. Hear me out.
    I have the platinum for all FS games, and I got the one from Elden Ring. I can safely make a review and tell you the good and bad. In a nutshell, there are various innovations, but also a myriad of features that were recycled, unpolished, and repetitive. Bing objective, buy the game, is amazing BUT be aware of what I list below.

    There are numerous positive sides:
    1) There are numerous beautiful places that are an eye feast. 2) The multiplayer changed, which I liked. Now, you can only be invaded if you already started a multiplayer section (i.e., summoned a co-op). Thus, it feels fairer, since before you could get invaded and mobed by the invader and the monsters. 3) Boss fights are epic. 4) Faith build FINALLY is good and viable for TRUE combat. Now faith builds have multiple options for attacks and heavy blows, not just some boosts and healing. 5) Amazing choices for unique weapons with unique attacks. 6) The world is absurdly big. To fully explore everything (and do some grinding) it took me around 130h in a single playthrough. 7) A lot of things to randomly do and explore in the open field. 8) You do have an absurdly amount of choices of possible builds. Like..a lot. 9) Crafting: now you can craft things instead of just buying them or looting, great. 10) 'Rune" mechanics is way better than "humanity", you will see. 11) Possibility of concocting your own custom potion for special effects. 12) Leveling takes fewer "souls" per level. 13) Way more charges for your HP/Mana recharge. 14) The game is full of bosses, not just major ones. 15) Overall fun and addictive. 16) Multiple chances of respecting your stats to try new builds!

    The negative:
    1) Unbalanced fights. You will feel like you are always behind the game. You will NEED to grind some levels. You will be 20 levels above the game area, and you will have powerful weapons for the area, but you will fight a boss and feel that you are just slowly chopping down a tree. Some bosses have an absurd amount of health. I rarely called co-operators in DS1-3, Demon Souls, and Bloodborne. I rellied a lot in co-ops in Elden Ring. 2) I felt that the AI is not polished. It is not about AI like the other FS games, it is about taking insane amounts of damage and infinite chains of combos. I counted, some "elite enemies" can make a 12-15 hit chain. It is like all enemies are Hunters from Bloodborne. 3) Monster looks like it wights 50000 Kg? It will be fast. Does Knight use heavy armor and a massive sword? He will be fast. The enemy is not fast? He will have fast projectiles. 4) Being sincere, the graphics are not better than DS3. However, this is a PS5 game, and the graphic did not change. It doe snot bother me, but you expect differently. 5) You have hundreds of choices of builds, but you will eventually choose one with bloodloss because bloodloss is just broken in Elden Ring. Combine bloodloss and frostbite and you will be playing the game as easier as it gets. 6) Some regions are just too frustrating. I am not kidding, some regions of the game will just not be enjoyable at any level - neither visually, nor in terms of loot, nor it will be cool to fight enemies; 7) Numerous enemies and bosses have recycled moves from other FS games. I understand devs doing that, but man, it is a lot of recycling. At some points you just make this face (-.-). 8) They screwed up the quests. In any other FS game, you get attached to some NPCs, you want to know more about their stories, and more importantly, you can follow their story and kinda know what you need to do or where to go. Now, you just don't care. You will care for 5-6 NPCs in the game (from dozens), and the rest is just irrelevant. You will skip most quests because you will either not find the NPC while exploring, or you will just not know what to do. I think that I finished like 5 quests, from the dozens of quests available. For most of them, I did even know what to do, or what they wanted. Likewise, they generally give something irrelevant in the end. 9) Low replay value. Before, you wanted to go to NG+ for new weapons, build improvements, etc. Now, you can basically do everything in one playthrough. You will do more just for the other endings.

    Overall, it is a great game, but it is not a 10, or ultra innovative like they sell to you. It is an enjoyable game, a great FS title, fun, addicting, with tons of features/fights/lands that you will love, but it has some bumps on the road that will get under your skin sometimes.    … Expand
  27. Heyyoitsmerambo
    Feb 27, 2022
    7
    I don't get the hype behind this game. The whole self torture thing aside it is boring, meh graphics (PS5 4K TV), and poor controls. A 7 may be a little generous.
  28. Guillepic
    Feb 26, 2022
    7
    Horrible optimization in PS5. Popping, 40-60 fps oscilated. The game is good, but bad optimization and not good experience...
  29. SplitMind
    Nov 4, 2022
    7
    Elden Ring has received much praise and critical acclaim elsewhere, so in my review I'd actually like to tackle some controversies and areas where I took exception to Elden Ring, despite enjoying it for nearly 70 hours.

    The graphics are the best that the Souls genre has to offer and at present are being added to via patches to make them even more stable. My main gripe with them was the    Elden Ring has received much praise and critical acclaim elsewhere, so in my review I'd actually like to tackle some controversies and areas where I took exception to Elden Ring, despite enjoying it for nearly 70 hours.

    The graphics are the best that the Souls genre has to offer and at present are being added to via patches to make them even more stable. My main gripe with them was the framerate dipping sometimes but this was not often or harsh enough to hinder my enjoyment.

    Elden Ring on one hand is possibly the most accessible Souls game so far, but on the other hand it could easily be a complete nightmare if it's your first Souls game One or two of the early bosses are clearly designed for you to pass and come back to later when you are stronger, however non-Souls players won't know this and could easily be frustrated.

    The biggest gripe I have with ER and Souls games in general is that an online guide is an essential if you want to progress without constantly hitting barriers. This is doubly evident in ER where we are advertised an open-world, but in reality you will be crushed quickly if you wander too far off the expected path. The game is more like a series of smaller open areas which then become a huge open world by the end, which isn't really a problem as each area gives you plenty to do and explore.

    Another issue I take note of in ER in particular is this seems to be the Souls game with the cheapest enemies, bosses in particular. I noticed that when enemies do a combo there always seems to be one or two additional attacks that are less intuitive, as if designed to simply catch you off-guard. Added to this was the fact that I ran the tankiest strength build I could conceive of (without going through complex guides) and many later enemies were doing serious damage still, so it makes me hesitant to play as any other build.

    This brings me to another issue I had with ER. It's simply too big and too long. When I was on hour 69 and beating the final boss I breathed a sigh of relief rather than satisfaction, glad that it was finally over. This doesn't inspire me to replay the game and amazingly I still didn't complete some additional quests and optional bosses as I'd simply become fatigued of the game by this point, especially as the harder optional bosses such as Melania are simply cheap two-stage bosses.

    Many fans lord over the quests in Souls games but these are one of my most hated areas of the game. They are obfuscated by design, intentionally not giving you obvious or clear instructions. I find it quite bizarre that Fromsoftware would barricade some of their best content and make it very easy to miss - many quests are time or context specific so you can miss an opportunity to complete them altogether. Again, some fans love this but I'm not one of them and disagree with this design.

    On that note, I'll also give my two cents on another hot topic - difficulty. I fully believe Souls games should have adjustable difficulty levels. Again it baffles me that Fromsoftware would barricade the game itself away from potential fans, although judging by recent sales they don't need to worry about that as much. I just believe that in general we should identify where barriers exist in games and look at whether they need adjusting, and this is already something From is aware of as they have nerfed some weapons and bosses already.

    Tied to the quests we also have the overall story. Elden Ring is probably the most coherent of the Souls games I've played in terms of story, but again leaves a lot of it in the backseat in favour of gameplay. This is one thing I am in favour of, as I found that when cut-scenes did happen I was much more interested and engaged.

    Despite my criticisms above, Elden Ring is in the top-tier of games I have played throughout my life and will likely remain a favourite as it shows exactly how an open-world can be done, throwing a gauntlet in the face of games such as Assassins' Creed and Far Cry. It baffles me that developers look at Elden Ring's success and still insist on their exploitative live services.

    One final thing I have to say is that I actually regret buying ER day one as there is still a lot of updating and patches being brought out by Fromsoftware, so I would actually recommend waiting a few months or for the inevitable GOTY edition as DLC is sure to follow also. This is one game you cannot afford to miss.    … Expand
  30. Snowadian
    Mar 3, 2022
    7
    30 hours in and there is lots to like about this game. It is visually stunning and the creativity/world building is 10/10. The whole experience is not perfect though. The game play is nowhere near as enjoyable as God of War or Ghosts of Tsushima. It feels laborious - more like going to work than taking time off. It is a game built for masochists - those who love extreme challenge - both in30 hours in and there is lots to like about this game. It is visually stunning and the creativity/world building is 10/10. The whole experience is not perfect though. The game play is nowhere near as enjoyable as God of War or Ghosts of Tsushima. It feels laborious - more like going to work than taking time off. It is a game built for masochists - those who love extreme challenge - both in skill and in solving puzzles. I'm not sure a casual gamer (without a guide or some Google searches) could get through this game. I can see why professional gamers and reviewers love this game, but anyone who can't commit full time will not.
    I am not against the difficulty (I don't agree with not having a story mode) but a creator can do as they like, it is their world. It does take away from the experience though for many, including myself. I don't want to spend an hour unable to beat a boss only to give up and go farm runes for another couple of hours so my characters level matches my ability. The feeling of success is not worth it for me.
    I am also dismayed at the little character customization that is available. I played the astrologer character. I would love more options for my weapons and gear, in 30 hours I've gotten two outfits that I can't make any meaningful customization too and I had to go find a mid game staff in some poisonous swamp to have any chance against bosses. Looking up astrologer outfits, the first cool one is about mid game which I'm guessing I will never see. If you like weapon and outfit choice, choose a melee character with lots of strength and endurance.
    I beat both God of War and Ghosts of Tsushima - in both games I felt god-like. I felt strong and able. I do not feel this way with Elden Ring. I feel stressed, and overworked. The bit of a rush I got beating Pumpkin head or Margit was not worth the time I put in to do so.
    The experience is worth seeing but unless you are a committed gamer, I'd suggest waiting for God of War Ragnarok. If you really want to try this game, give Bloodborne a quick try to see what playing at this type of difficulty feels like. I know for a fact that many will feel disappointment after buying this game without reading reviews.
    The feeling when you beat a hard boss is great, but it is also awful if it ends the game for you because you simply cannot. Great game, that is not for the casual gamer. With GoW and GoT offering story modes/difficulty options, I am disappointed that this is not offered with Elden Ring considering how much money and time was put into this game.    … Expand
prev
Page:

Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Best PlayStation 5 Game of 2022
3
#3 Most Discussed PlayStation 5 Game of 2022

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
96

Universal acclaim - based on 86 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 86 out of 86
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 86
  3. Negative: 0 out of 86
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jan 30, 2024
    100
    Elden Ring is simply a game that the player naturally adapts to their own style of play. Challenging at times, vicious at others, but mostly incredibly fun. The enjoyable pace makes the hours of play pass by like water, and each path opens up a few more, only to come together again after a fair amount of exploration before the next big reveal. [Issue#318]
  2. Cubed3
    Jun 2, 2023
    90
    Elden Ring serves as a testament to open world video game design. There is a true sense of accomplishment once that rock-hard enemy has been slain and, something that compels a player to relentlessly do it over and over again until they succeed is truly rewarding. The world is humongous and an epitome of how exploration should be encouraged, by intriguing players to see what is over the hill. Elden Ring is an unmissable, must-play, gaming experience with surprises galore.
    Read full review
  3. T3
    Aug 11, 2022
    80
    Elden Ring's engaging combat, mythology and dynamite orchestral soundtrack goes a long way to overshadow an aggressive open world that punishes exploration from the beaten path. Fans of the Souls genre are in for a treat, while newcomers will need to persist to reap the benefits.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »