I hated Elden Ring, I gave it 24 hours on my first try and concluded the game was too hard, the controls were terrible and the whole thing was confusing and unfriendly to non souls like players and I never touched it for many months after that.

However there was always a nagging feeling that I should try this game again so besides trusted friends' opinions, I also started Remnant 2 and found I enjoyed the difficulty and it reminded me of Elden Ring... so here we are.

It turns out ER has one of the most impressive open worlds I have ever experienced in a game. It never holds your hand and it gives you nothing for free, in fact you will have to endure a lot of pain to progress and start to feel like you are not dying to literally everything you encounter. Quests and storylines are not laid out plainly on the map for you, there are no markers for the next tower or collectable and important areas can be so hard to find to the extent some are behind invisible walls most people would miss.

The more you discover the more you realise how absolutely massive this game is, in fact there is an entire world underground that is almost a game in itself and there were so many times I had to just stop in awe of a new area that opened up to me simply from wandering almost aimlessly and the game rewards this kind of exploration. There are only very subtle indicators as to where the game suggests you should go but it mostly allows you to just explore and put yourself in areas you are far too weak (or strong late game) to be in.

They really made something that completely rejects the standardised open world formula we have become accustomed to and while it can be immensely challenging and confusing, it is also very rewarding and made me want to explore every area and check every corner to see what I might find. I can’t recall the last AAA dev made game that made me want to explore so much because the world itself was just so fascinating (even if some creatures are repeated throughout). No wonder many mainstream devs hated on ER so much, it really shows up their boring and safe standardised formula

The sound is amazing and I particularly liked the voice acting of some bosses who use what I can best describe as Biblical terminology that really fits in with the demi-God characters. Though many of the human characters mouths flap around rather than in time with their dialogue which is pretty lazy. While the graphics are not next gen, they do a great job of making the most of what they have with some truly breathtaking scenery that had me hitting the screenshot key many times. However the game defaults to 60FPS on PC which is a joke in the 2020's. There is also no ultrawide support and while they added Ray Tracing that looks really nice, even at its lowest setting I found it wasn't worth running as the impact on performance is brutal and they didn't add DLSS/FSR to help and it isn't like I am running this on a low end system.

So is ER absolute perfection as the fanboys would have you believe? Well....no, no it isn't.
Minor issues first; the controls for PC are a lot better than earlier souls games I have tried (and refunded) but they are still quite awkward, which I guess is why a lot of people recommended I use a controller. The lock on system is mostly fine but at times it forces weird camera angles, or will lock on to a goat or flying insect rather than the enemy wrecking your face. Also, why did they make it so if you want to resurrect Torrent (your horse) mid battle, it asks you if you want to use a petty flask and defaults to NO lmao?! So mid fight you have to choose to bring torrent back, quickly press arrow key to select YES, then wait a second or two for Torrent to come back! I died so many times to this stupid confirmation mechanic alone.

I also hate how you cant view the map if a random enemy has you in sight. I get that they probably want to stop you from fast travelling out of bad situations you get in to but why cant I at least view the map to find out where the hell I am? It brings back memories of the mud crabs in Skyrim where a random one you cant see would spot you and prevent you from fast travelling until you tracked it down. Can we all just agree that the key for the map in RPG games should always be 'M' rather than G?

Now to the controversial part that many get very upset with if anyone dares to mention it - the difficulty. Now I knew this game would be challenging and indeed it is but some of the boss fights, particularly later on, felt for me that they crossed a line from being difficult to just plain frustrating and very un-fun. Also some of these bosses are repeated (the strongest ones aren't thankfully) and/or doubled up which just feels cheap and lazy to me. Some of their moves are so difficult to react to and can one shot you, doing the same boss fight dozens of times over may be others idea of fun but it certainly isn't mine. At times it felt difficult for the sake of being difficult, rather than providing interesting strategies from bosses in each encounter.

Again the lock on system can put your camera in very unfortunate positions, so it can be a case of toggling that on and off to get around it. Bosses attacks frequently clip through walls or pillars etc and in a game this difficult, I feel being hit from behind a concrete object (or even one shot killed) is pretty damn frustrating. Some of these bosses gate-keep you from progressing further in the story and while I agree there should not be an 'easy mode' I do think it is a shame that 2/3 of players appear to give up if achievements are any indication. It's a shame because there are a lot of late game areas that are just as amazing as ones earlier on but many will never seem them and to be honest I totally understand why some would say screw this and quit the game. They do allow co-op, summons and NPC allies to assist in fights but as a solo player many will struggle without additional help.

While apparently far better than previous souls games, there can be occasions where you have an annoyingly long trek back to a boss fight. The 'Stakes of Marika' are apparently new additions that act as close spawn points after boss fight deaths and they are great but there were several fights where I had to trek annoyingly far and when you die over and over that gets a bit tiresome.

It was only through perseverance and grim determination that I managed to get through ER, my first true full souls experience. Even at this point I have items in my inventory I do not know what they do, character story-lines I have no idea if I finished or not and mechanics I don't really fell I fully understood. There is a reason people have 1000+ hours in what is essentially a single player game - the depth is staggering. I have tried to do every non-essential boss and quest and complete everything possible (though I will copy/paste my 90% save game to get all endings) but I am sure I have still missed countless hours of content.

Elden Ring has been one of the most challenging, infuriatingly frustrating, yet mind-blowingly beautiful and memorable gaming experiences I have ever had (hence the long rant lol). While it is not perfect I feel if you have the patience and persistence, it is one of the most rewarding gaming experiences ever and it makes me want to go back and revisit previous souls games.

I am so glad I gave Elden Ring a second chance!

I hated Elden Ring, I gave it 24 hours on my first try and concluded the game was too hard, the controls were terrible and the whole thing was confusing and unfriendly to non souls like players and I never touched it for many months after that. However there was always a nagging feeling that I should try this game again so besides trusted friends' opinions, I also started Remnant 2 and found I enjoyed the difficulty and it reminded me of Elden Ring... so here we are. It turns out ER has one of the most impressive open worlds I have ever experienced in a game. It never holds your hand and it gives you nothing for free, in fact you will have to endure a lot of pain to progress and start to feel like you are not dying to literally everything you encounter. Quests and storylines are not laid out plainly on the map for you, there are no markers for the next tower or collectable and important areas can be so hard to find to the extent some are behind invisible walls most people would miss. The more you discover the more you realise how absolutely massive this game is, in fact there is an entire world underground that is almost a game in itself and there were so many times I had to just stop in awe of a new area that opened up to me simply from wandering almost aimlessly and the game rewards this kind of exploration. There are only very subtle indicators as to where the game suggests you should go but it mostly allows you to just explore and put yourself in areas you are far too weak (or strong late game) to be in. They really made something that completely rejects the standardised open world formula we have become accustomed to and while it can be immensely challenging and confusing, it is also very rewarding and made me want to explore every area and check every corner to see what I might find. I can’t recall the last AAA dev made game that made me want to explore so much because the world itself was just so fascinating (even if some creatures are repeated throughout). No wonder many mainstream devs hated on ER so much, it really shows up their boring and safe standardised formula The sound is amazing and I particularly liked the voice acting of some bosses who use what I can best describe as Biblical terminology that really fits in with the demi-God characters. Though many of the human characters mouths flap around rather than in time with their dialogue which is pretty lazy. While the graphics are not next gen, they do a great job of making the most of what they have with some truly breathtaking scenery that had me hitting the screenshot key many times. However the game defaults to 60FPS on PC which is a joke in the 2020's. There is also no ultrawide support and while they added Ray Tracing that looks really nice, even at its lowest setting I found it wasn't worth running as the impact on performance is brutal and they didn't add DLSS/FSR to help and it isn't like I am running this on a low end system. So is ER absolute perfection as the fanboys would have you believe? Well....no, no it isn't. Minor issues first; the controls for PC are a lot better than earlier souls games I have tried (and refunded) but they are still quite awkward, which I guess is why a lot of people recommended I use a controller. The lock on system is mostly fine but at times it forces weird camera angles, or will lock on to a goat or flying insect rather than the enemy wrecking your face. Also, why did they make it so if you want to resurrect Torrent (your horse) mid battle, it asks you if you want to use a petty flask and defaults to NO lmao?! So mid fight you have to choose to bring torrent back, quickly press arrow key to select YES, then wait a second or two for Torrent to come back! I died so many times to this stupid confirmation mechanic alone. I also hate how you cant view the map if a random enemy has you in sight. I get that they probably want to stop you from fast travelling out of bad situations you get in to but why cant I at least view the map to find out where the hell I am? It brings back memories of the mud crabs in Skyrim where a random one you cant see would spot you and prevent you from fast travelling until you tracked it down. Can we all just agree that the key for the map in RPG games should always be 'M' rather than G? Now to the controversial part that many get very upset with if anyone dares to mention it - the difficulty. Now I knew this game would be challenging and indeed it is but some of the boss fights, particularly later on, felt for me that they crossed a line from being difficult to just plain frustrating and very un-fun. Also some of these bosses are repeated (the strongest ones aren't thankfully) and/or doubled up which just feels cheap and lazy to me. Some of their moves are so difficult to react to and can one shot you, doing the same boss fight dozens of times over may be others idea of fun but it certainly isn't mine. At times it felt difficult for the sake of being difficult, rather than providing interesting strategies from bosses in each encounter. Again the lock on system can put your camera in very unfortunate positions, so it can be a case of toggling that on and off to get around it. Bosses attacks frequently clip through walls or pillars etc and in a game this difficult, I feel being hit from behind a concrete object (or even one shot killed) is pretty damn frustrating. Some of these bosses gate-keep you from progressing further in the story and while I agree there should not be an 'easy mode' I do think it is a shame that 2/3 of players appear to give up if achievements are any indication. It's a shame because there are a lot of late game areas that are just as amazing as ones earlier on but many will never seem them and to be honest I totally understand why some would say screw this and quit the game. They do allow co-op, summons and NPC allies to assist in fights but as a solo player many will struggle without additional help. While apparently far better than previous souls games, there can be occasions where you have an annoyingly long trek back to a boss fight. The 'Stakes of Marika' are apparently new additions that act as close spawn points after boss fight deaths and they are great but there were several fights where I had to trek annoyingly far and when you die over and over that gets a bit tiresome. It was only through perseverance and grim determination that I managed to get through ER, my first true full souls experience. Even at this point I have items in my inventory I do not know what they do, character story-lines I have no idea if I finished or not and mechanics I don't really fell I fully understood. There is a reason people have 1000+ hours in what is essentially a single player game - the depth is staggering. I have tried to do every non-essential boss and quest and complete everything possible (though I will copy/paste my 90% save game to get all endings) but I am sure I have still missed countless hours of content. Elden Ring has been one of the most challenging, infuriatingly frustrating, yet mind-blowingly beautiful and memorable gaming experiences I have ever had (hence the long rant lol). While it is not perfect I feel if you have the patience and persistence, it is one of the most rewarding gaming experiences ever and it makes me want to go back and revisit previous souls games. I am so glad I gave Elden Ring a second chance!