There's so much to say I couldn't fit it all here, so TL:DR, just buy it, it's worth it. Look at my hour count, do you think I'd spend this long on a bad game?

Elden Ring is a wonderful masterpiece, yet plays some rather common themes in fantasy RPG games. You are the chosen one, go kill god. However where it differs is that it doesn't serve you power on a silver platter. You have to earn that power yourself. To start you get a variety of basic weapons to choose from and are thrust into an odd world, post societal breakdown. You must explore the wasted and current structures, still guarded by those cursed to watch them. You must find the power and skill to succeed.

I myself, did not originally find that power. When I first started, I looked up what the most powerful weapon was I could get my hands on (Bloodhound's Fang if you're curious) and I gunned it through the story as fast as I could, only getting stuck on 2 bosses throughout the whole game. This is certainly a way you can do it, but not a good way. Unlike the previous souls installments, with the open world aspect brings a curse, you get overlevel yourself and your gear and steamroll the competition. It makes it easy in an otherwise notoriously difficult franchise. I regret doing that on my first playthrough, and I would like to offer to others ways to prevent that. So the from here on, here are some tips to make your playthrough more enjoyable and consistent to the franchise.

3 weapons to outright avoid on your first playthrough and the reason why:

1. Bloodhound's Fang - It not only has an insane multi-hit skill, but it is one of the highest scaling weapons in the whole game, and you can grab it withing 5 minutes of starting the game, or better yet, take 10 minutes and you can have an npc kill the enemy for you, and you get the sword for free.

2. Rivers of Blood - You might have heard of this one, and perhaps that it was nerfed. But trust me, it was only nerfed from game breaking to massively OP. It can clear almost all main bosses withing seconds. And although you can't get it until half way through the game, I would still recommend you stay away, as it's power only becomes stronger the farther you go. It was also inspired by the murimasa, so if you know the background of that, you get the idea.

3. Reduvia* - Now this is a special entry, while it is an exceeding powerful, super early weapon, it is held back and reigned in by it being a dagger, which some could argue makes it ok. However, just to explain, you can get it also withing 5 minutes, just like BHF (number 1) but also an npc can kill the enemy for you. It's skill is a slightly weaker, but ranged version of rivers of blood's skill. So it is still no shortage of OP throughout the whole game. although a very fit choice if you prefer daggers, but find it difficult to learn the moveset with such a short weapon, while the game tries to slaughter you all the same.

Next, 3 places to be weary of should you find yourself there:

1. Mohgwyn's Palace - Achievable to access right after Godrick through an npc questline, it might seem logical to assume that its ok to explore such an area as soon as you can, but be warned. Moghwyn's Palace is the 2nd highest scaled area in the whole game. It is a challenge to level 80+ players, let alone under 30, shortly after the first shardbearer. While it does house some truly magnificent loot, certainly reachable if you know the right path, do note most things will kill you in 1 hit, and enemies here are VERY aggressive.

2. Deeproot Depths - A bit different from the first, but still requires some thought. While deeproot does not pose a huge threat on its own, it can lead to some very nasty places elsewhere. Beware of coffins and portals here, many of the destinations are, shall I say, interesting to travel through.

3. Haligtree - Now, of course, many of you may already know about this place, but I'll give a few pointers regardless. If you remember, Moghwyn's Palace was the 2nd highest scaled area in the game, well, Haligtree IS the highest scaled area. I wouldn't recommend coming here on a first or second playthrough till at least level 100, or above if you still struggle with bosses often. That being said, there are countless pieces of fantastic loot here, some behind super difficult bosses, others right out in the open, free for your taking.

Lastly a few individual tips, not regarding the same topics:

1. Bows and Crossbows - While it may seem at first that bows and crossbows would be an ideal weapon choice for new players, do not be fooled. While they are a great tool for exploration and dungeon diving, they are (aside from 1 crossbow) almost useless for most boss fights. As to why, well there are a few reasons. Firstly, limited ammo. you can only carry 99 of each arrow, and while that does sound fine, it brings us to our next point. Secondly, scaling. Bows simply do not scale well at all. most will gain a maximum of 70-80 extra damage at the top end of its scaling stats. and crossbows, well they don't scale at all. That's right, AT ALL. there is 1 crossbow that shoots 3 arrows at a time, which is ok at applying status effects, but, using 3 times the ammo consumption, is not ideal. And lastly, the overall damage is very low on either weapon. 140-150 damage is rather high for most bows and crossbows.

2. Magic - On the contrary, magic is a great option for new players. There is a lot to be said from being able to stand back and pelt enemies with pebbles and magic blades. Limited resources do come into play, as unlike arrows, which you have to buy or craft. FP (the mana stat) regens fully upon sitting at a grace. However, it also it alot easier than melee, with many easy builds pertaining to ravaging bosses in seconds. Certainly fun to play, but about 3 levels of OP under the 3 weapons stated above, with a few spells exceeding them in power. Same goes for incantations, however they have a much greater use in buffing and healing than damage, so I find Faith to be a much more balanced stat.

3. Some BS - As the name may imply, some things that happen in this game are, well, BS. Let's call this my complaint section. I only have a few. #1, certain bosses difficulty are only an issue because of how much they run away. Several required fights would be cake if it did not either run or teleport to the other side of a huge arena. #2, sometimes death is unavoidable, with or without skill, examples being certain frame attacks of a certain fat boss, while not always a death, is almost always a hit to me and others I've watched. Another would be a certain large boss somersaulting over you, even on Torrent (the horse) you will get pancaked without fail, again not always death, but almost always a hit. #3, dragon breath-like attacks can hit you 2 or 3 times even though you are locked into a falling animation after the first hit. 95% of the time, if you get hit once, it is a guaranteed death, and there's nothing you can do about it. And lastly #4, a truly 1 sided complaint. Some map geometry just isn't that good. See a jump that looks easy? Nope, you slide down a wall and get pushed 4 feet to the left our of nowhere, then missing the platform and dying. or a certain jumping puzzle, where you land on a flat surface, stand up, and proceed to slide off and die before you are able to do anything about it. There are other examples, but you get the idea.

So, do I recommend the game? Well of course! I love Elden Ring and can't wait for the dlc to arrive. I will likely pass 2000 hours just exploring the dlc, and will almost certainly edit this review after the fact. There are some small flaws, sure, but this is as close to my perfect game as anything has gotten yet. I would certainly recommend it. A quick last tip, if anyone happens to be on the fence, Elden Ring is almost always half off during steams big yearly sales (spring, summer, fall, winter, and christmas sales) and occasionally 20% off)