#2
Elden Ring
9.8/10
Elden Ring is probably the most rewarding game I've ever played.
There are a staggering number of locations in this game. 40 hours in this game I was wondering when the map would stop expanding. It feels big not because of the size of the map. But because of what's in it.
The world feels so imaginative and dreamlike. And the environments get more interesting the further you go in. You have massive towering castles, a magical school, A volcanic mountain with a strange mansion at the center, A desolate rotting landscape filled with dead. A ghostly village atop a snowy field. And a giant golden tree that can be seen from almost everywhere across the map.
There are 146 unique enemies you'll encounter in this game. And at least 123 unique bosses. That is a crazy amount of variety. And the combat is kept interesting by the staggering amount of abilities, spells, summons, and weapons you will find in your journey in the lands between.
The boss fights are some of the most thrilling I’ve experienced in any game. And this game has some of the coolest designs of any game I’ve played. A four winged dragon that wields a bolt of lightning. An armored beast that shoots energy blasts out of his sword. An alien life-form with a body I can't even describe. and many more.
The open world exploration is made so great by the variety of rewards and the challenges you face, and also the strange and unique npc's you'll meet along the way many of which have interesting backstories and quests. The game has many cool dungeons to explore the most interesting being the legacy dungeons which are reminiscent of the more linear styled dungeons from Dark Souls. Because the game is open world you can leave a tough boss fight that is overwhelming you, come back and steamroll the boss or at least give yourself a little better fighting chance. This makes the game accessible to newcomers to Souls-likes without taking away the challenge.
Elden Ring is my favorite of the Souls games and has become my second favorite game ever. And I’m looking forward to seeing the next big game from From-software.
