jk jk

In fact, irony: I didn't find much to say about Zelda at all in Elden Ring... That seemed to be a bit of a stretch lol

If you've played Souls games and many of its "alikes", then you know this subgenre and its penchant for challenging you. But does Elden Ring strike the right balance of old-school challenge and modern sensibilities?

And of course, for the fake cowboy allergics, here's the full written version: https://zyro-eg.com/2022/03/17/elden-ring-review/

There is a ton of BOTW influences in ER. Both are great.

Nah, this game is clearly the spiritual successor to Donkey Kong 64.

Spiritual successor, it isn't a "true" successor. It's also mixing an epic rap song at the beginning. I call upon From Software to make a 90's-style cringe rap with the Elden Ring characters, allies and foes alike.

No, that actually makes sense, ER is very heavily influenced by BOTW, like, its obvious, clear as day. I cant say the same about Horizon - At all. 
Its like... Elden Ring and Horizon are opposing in every conceivable way. It funny even. 
Having that said, I will sacrifice a lamb tonight and bathe in its blood just to ask the gods of hell to finally give the moderators of this forums the balls to finally permaban you ffs. 

Whatever the case, ever since it released I've been having a blast with Elden Ring. I think I might even like it more than Bloodborne. The game is REALLY good. 

Its clearly the answer to mario odyssey

Uhhh, where?  I can easily point out a list of differences without issue:

- Elden is an RPG, "role", as in I can pick different classes, and also build them into different builds stat-by-stat; no such thing in Zelda

- Zelda focuses its exploration on tool-based puzzles, HFW also injects more of this in the latest one, and navigation is also tool-based; Elden does not focus on puzzles nearly at all

- The combat is so different I don't even think that's worth touching upon, but just in case: Zelda focuses on combat specifics, like hitting Gohma in the eye with an arrow so it falls to the ground that way you can use the dominion rod to pound his underbelly with a statue (or more commonly remembered, throwing bombs into Dodongo's mouth); Elden uses the Monster Hunter formula of overwhelming odds and poke damage as well as limited action-based stamina which HFW also focuses on

- The exploration is highly different: Zelda's tool-based puzzles also result in more platforming, and BotW allows you to climb anything (something that is readily mimicked in Genshin Impact).  There is no climbing in Elden, though HFW also uses tool-based puzzles that also result in more platforming and its climbing more closely resembles Assassin's Creed

In fact, one of the only similarities it has is to the one you mentioned: BotW in that it also has a multi-directional open-world.  But even then, the philosophy is different: BotW is more of an open field (hence it's name, indicating that open air feel where one can really breathe); Elden is one massive maze with many mazes inside its maze.  Elden's open world is the Matryoshka method, BotW is the open air method.  HFW also goes for the open air method.

There's simply more Zelda injected into HFW than there is Elden.

I like how you talk as if I've personally attacked you when I don't even know who you are lol... You really shouldn't be THIS offended over videogames, man!

It definitely tops Bloodborne for me, too, though.  Truthfully, I rate it identically with Souls III with it having minor modernizations that eek it slightly above while also not updating enough of its core engine to really have me saying it's "better" than Souls III.  The engine is just getting REEEEEALLY long in the tooth at this point, and the performance problems on ALL platforms is the proof.  The mere fact that one must play the PS4 version on the PS5 just to get a solid framerate is rather embarrassing, and Demon's Souls PS5 really set a new bar of expectation for me.  The fact that Demon's Souls could look damned near CG at times really just shows off how much From Software needs to invest in building from the ground up.

I lol'ed, mostly because you're pretty much on the nail about it.

"From Software's Answer to Mario Kart!"

"It has turtles and their shells everywhere, it's just like racing against Koopa and throwing their shells!"

Currently my game of the year. The only possible contenders to go against it as far as I am concerned is BotW2 or God of War...and those two are not 100% guaranteed to arrive this year with everything going on in the world right now.

I give Starfield the nod as a possible underdog that could compete, but it has a lot more to prove and while I feel confident it will be great...beating Eldin Ring for me is a tall order.

Anyone buying the rumor that Elden Ring success has led to discussions with George RR Martin and himself to launch his own console with the Elden Ring series as its flagship title? There would also be a Dothraki horse racing game to compete with Mario Kart, as well as a deal with Ubisoft to make an Ass Creed game in the Game of Thrones Universe and it will be called Ass of Thrones.

When i first saw the trailer, i got BOTW vibes however i didnt expect it to be close to BOTW interms of its "Open Air World" design.