Elden Ring - Review Roundup

Reviews have been released, and they look ridiculously positive.

Wccf Tech: 10

Elden Ring is not only the best action RPG developed by From Software but one of the best open-world titles ever made. A masterclass of game design, Elden Ring isn't just a game but an epic dark fantasy journey that no one will be able to forget for a very long time.

Pros: Masterfully crafted world and lore. Excellent open-world design that grants players the freedom to do things at their own pace. Intricate dungeon design
Deep combat and customization possibilities. Improved accessibility, with tutorials providing information on central mechanics

Cons: Minor, yet noticeable, stuttering on PC. No support for framerates above 60 FPS and ultrawide resolutions.

COG: 98 (reviewed on PS5)

Elden Ring is an awe-inspiring achievement. Both a summary and bold step forward, it fuses FromSoftware’s best and most effective ideas with an endlessly engaging open world. Its combat is the most refined of the series, challenging yet accessible to new players. Elden Ring includes an incredible amount of quality content. More importantly, it offers a captivating, polished experience fraught with danger and filled with beauty.

The Good: Incredibly satisfying combat. Immense, beautiful world. Refined mechanics. Fluid control and movement. More user friendly than past Souls games.

The Bad: Some critical path mechanics unclear. A few uninspired enemies and areas. Minor visual glitches. Story might be too opaque for some.

RPG Fan:

It's the best Dark Souls game to date.

Pros: A true sense of place, open world weaves seamlessly into Dark Souls design, options.

Cons: Coming back to old places to find secrets can feel Goomba stompy, graphical issues (will eventually end).

PC Invasion: 10

Elden Ring is a spectacle and a marvel to behold. Although there are some issues, the overall experience remains deeply engaging. It's one of the best open-world games I have ever played.

VGC: 5

Elden Ring is a fantastic game that can still deliver the unmatched thrill of defeating a tough boss after an hours-long battle. Those who worship at the church of Souls-like will find a game that’s basically everything they ever wanted.

Pros: Incredible world. Thrilling combat. Unimpeachable art direction. Some of the series best ever boss fights.

Cons: Occasional technical issues. The graphics are a slightly dated.

RPG Site: 9

After having finished my first playthrough of Elden Ring. I immediately want to play it again. I have never experienced that with an open-world game before - usually, I find myself thankful such behemoth games are over. FromSoftware has managed to nimbly incorporate its deliberate and challenging action RPG gameplay into an open world with a huge sense of freedom. The fact that they accomplished this feat without compromising on difficulty or narrative is a true marvel. Managing to also avoid almost all of the pitfalls of conventional open-world design is a step beyond even that. Even if you're fatigued over the familiar trappings of dark fantasy soulslike games in particular, Elden Ring is a masterful refinement of the formula that is the current zenith of its form - and it deserves glowing recognition. 

PCGamesN: 10

A supercut of FromSoft's very best work, transported to a totally new space. Elden Ring is not only a masterpiece by its developer's lofty standards, but in packing so much density into the Lands Between, it lights the path ahead for open-world games in general.

GameSpot: 10

In a genre that has become wrought with bloated and over-designed games, Elden Ring is defiantly contrarian in almost every way. Its commitment to design by subtraction and to placing the responsibility of charting a path through its world entirely on the player makes it stand head and shoulders above other open-world titles. Elden Ring takes the shards of what came before and forges them into something that will go down in history as one of the all-time greats: a triumph in design and creativity, and an open-world game that distinguishes itself for what it doesn't do as much as what it does.

The Good: Exploration and discovery that's driven entirely by the player. Stunning world design that blends a new open-world with the classic enclosed Soulsborne-style locations. Challenging combat that is both rewarding and thrilling. A visually stunning world that is diverse and memorable. A compelling, layered, and multi-faceted story that demands to be analyzed and unpacked.

The Bad: Still, at its core, a difficult game designed for a specific kind of person with little in the way of approachability options.