By Logan Jacobs

When I think about hard games the first franchise that comes to mind is Darksouls with its unforgiving bosses and unique story telling it has become one of most popular franchises of all time but does its newest sequel hold up the standard the other games have set up? Yes.

Elden Ring is one of the most anticipated games of all time with it selling over 10 million copies on pc alone, but sales won’t make a game good, most of the time it needs to have at least one reason for people to play it: story, difficulty, gameplay, all reasons to play a game and Elden Ring has all three in droves.

A story crafted by George RR Martin author of critically acclaimed series A Song of Fire and Ice, a difficulty standard that holds up the Darksouls legacy, and gameplay refined by all past Souls games.

Elden ring also opts for a new style of gameplay, instead of past games where you would go from one boss to another in a very linear order, Elden Ring lets you avoid certain bosses until you are confident enough to beat them.

This new style is best shown off with the second boss you encounter, the Tree Sentinel, he’s first seen when taking your first steps into Elden Ring’s world.

Most players will try and fight this boss thinking it to be the first boss you are meant to fight but most players are wrong. The Tree Sentinel is there to teach you that it’s ok to avoid the fight.

Not everything about Elden Ring is amazing though, because of the nonlinear nature of the game it’s very easy to miss very important parts of the game including the tutorial, which is just a hole in the ground.

One of my biggest criticisms of Elden Ring is the fact that I had to look up so much of the game like, what to do with the dragon heart, where the tutorial is, how the magic system works.

Telling a player everything about a game can ruin the quality of the experience by giving way too much information to a player at once but that problem is instantly fixed if you don’t tell the player anything, just expecting the player to figure such integral things is lazy and can ruin the game just as much as telling the player everything.

Exploration is one of the hardest things to do right in a game, Elden Ring does it well enough to warrant an open world style.

The main reason that I explored Elden Ring was to try and find bosses, because so many bosses are just missed completely if you don’t explore the world.

Those bosses that you find through exploring are the most fun, you don’t just go through a yellow fog and fight a boss but instead you enter an area like a lake, or a bridge and a boss fight just starts.

I do think there is a severe lack of unique items to find while exploring, I have not changed any equipment since the start of the game because I haven’t found any that fit me.

I have found many sets of armor too, but none fit my build of dexterity and strength instead most being heavily magic based.

That brings me to what I love the most about Elden Ring, the bosses, all that I’ve fought have been a fun triumph to beat but never too difficult, but some have been too easy.

I beat Rennala queen of the full moon on the second try, it was harder to beat the two bosses needed to get to her. This problem is not shared with many bosses, but I still feel as though it’s worth it to mention because of how great Elden Ring’s bosses are.

No boss in Elden Ring has felt unfair, every time I died, I knew it was happening 2 seconds in advance because they put so much effort into showing the player when and where a boss would attack.

Because of the time they put into telegraphing attacks it not only feels fair when you die but it also feels amazing when you manage to dodge it for the first time. The same thing happens when you beat a boss for the first time.

As of writing this article I am 25 hours into Elden Ring, I have beaten 10 bosses and two “dungeons” and I don’t know if I could give this game a fair rating, but I can say with 100% certainty that this game is worth buying and playing.

Whether or not you look up guides, farm levels, or spend 15 hours on one boss, enjoy this game the way you want to, because this game is meant to be enjoyed by as many people as possible.