**Elden Ring: A Game of Unrelenting Challenge**

For fans of the Dark Souls series, Elden Ring is a highly anticipated game that promises to deliver a similar experience, but with more freedom and build potential. And for the most part, it delivers on those promises. The game's open world is a highlight, offering a sense of discovery and exploration that's reminiscent of Breath of the Wild. Players can poke around the Lands Between, searching for secrets and loot without being told exactly where to go or what to do.

However, this freedom also means that Elden Ring can be a demanding game, even for experienced players. The combat is still satisfyingly brutal, but it's not as polished as some of FromSoftware's other games. Attacks clip through walls, enemy hitboxes are hard to predict, and sometimes you'll just die if an enemy brushes up against you. These archaic design quirks can be frustrating, especially for players who aren't used to the Souls series.

Despite its flaws, Elden Ring has a certain charm that makes it feel like a labor of love from FromSoftware's developers. The game is not for everyone, and fans who have never been able to get into Dark Souls may find themselves struggling with its punishing difficulty. But if you're one of those players who loves the feeling of overcoming a tough challenge, then Elden Ring is definitely worth checking out.

One thing that's clear is that Elden Ring is not a game that FromSoftware needs to add an easy mode to make more accessible. The game has a certain "grit" to it that's hard to replicate with ease modes or difficulty sliders. Instead of fixing these issues, the company seems to have learned to work around them and create games that fans love despite themselves.

For outsiders, Elden Ring can seem like a sloppy game. Attacks clip through walls, enemy hitboxes are hard to predict, and sometimes you'll just die if an enemy brushes up against you. These quirks can be frustrating, especially for players who aren't used to the Souls series. But for fans of the genre, these issues are a small price to pay for the experience that Elden Ring offers.

In fact, one of the most surprising things about Elden Ring is just how much it feels like FromSoftware's other games. The game has all the hallmarks of a Soulsborne title: punishing difficulty, satisfying combat, and an atmosphere that's both eerie and beautiful. And yet, despite its similarities to Dark Souls, Elden Ring feels like something new and different.

So what makes Elden Ring special? For one thing, it's the exploration. The game has some of the best open worlds in gaming, with a sense of discovery that's hard to match. Players can poke around the Lands Between, searching for secrets and loot without being told exactly where to go or what to do. This freedom is what makes Elden Ring feel so rewarding, even when things are going wrong.

Of course, there are some issues with Elden Ring's design. The crafting system feels a bit arbitrary, and the horseback combat is a nightmare. But these quirks are minor compared to the game's many strengths. And while FromSoftware may not have fixed all of its design issues, it seems to have learned how to work around them in ways that make sense within the context of the game.

Ultimately, Elden Ring is a game that's all about experience. It's not just about fighting giant bosses or collecting loot; it's about exploring a beautiful and eerie world, uncovering its secrets, and overcoming challenges along the way. And even with its flaws, the game has a certain charm that makes it feel like a labor of love from FromSoftware's developers.

So if you're looking for a game that will challenge you and reward you in equal measure, then Elden Ring is definitely worth checking out. Just be warned: it's not for everyone, especially fans who have never been able to get into Dark Souls may find themselves struggling with its punishing difficulty. But if you're one of those players who loves the feeling of overcoming a tough challenge, then Elden Ring is definitely worth trying.

**The Experience of Elden Ring**

For someone like me, who doesn't typically enjoy games in the Souls series, I was completely won over by Elden Ring after 60 hours. The game's atmosphere and setting are so immersive that even I found myself getting lost in the world of the Lands Between. And while it's not without its flaws - attacks clip through walls, enemy hitboxes are hard to predict, and sometimes you'll just die if an enemy brushes up against you - these issues were minor compared to the game's many strengths.

One thing that struck me about Elden Ring was how much I enjoyed exploring the world. The game has some of the best open worlds in gaming, with a sense of discovery that's hard to match. Players can poke around the Lands Between, searching for secrets and loot without being told exactly where to go or what to do. This freedom is what makes Elden Ring feel so rewarding, even when things are going wrong.

Of course, this exploration also means that players will have to deal with some tough challenges along the way. The combat is still satisfyingly brutal, but it's not as polished as some of FromSoftware's other games. And while the game has all the hallmarks of a Soulsborne title, it feels like something new and different.

But despite its flaws, Elden Ring is a game that's definitely worth trying. For fans of the genre, it offers a challenge that's both rewarding and frustrating at times. And even if you're not used to playing games like this, the game has enough charm and atmosphere to make it feel worthwhile.

**Conclusion**

Elden Ring is a game that promises much but delivers more than most players expect. Its punishing difficulty, satisfying combat, and beautiful world are all hallmarks of FromSoftware's style, but they're also tempered by some quirks and flaws. The crafting system feels arbitrary, the horseback combat is a nightmare, and sometimes you'll just die if an enemy brushes up against you.

But these issues are minor compared to the game's many strengths. Elden Ring has some of the best open worlds in gaming, with a sense of discovery that's hard to match. Players can poke around the Lands Between, searching for secrets and loot without being told exactly where to go or what to do. This freedom is what makes Elden Ring feel so rewarding, even when things are going wrong.

Ultimately, Elden Ring is a game that's all about experience. It's not just about fighting giant bosses or collecting loot; it's about exploring a beautiful and eerie world, uncovering its secrets, and overcoming challenges along the way. And even with its flaws, the game has a certain charm that makes it feel like a labor of love from FromSoftware's developers.

So if you're looking for a game that will challenge you and reward you in equal measure, then Elden Ring is definitely worth checking out. Just be warned: it's not for everyone, especially fans who have never been able to get into Dark Souls may find themselves struggling with its punishing difficulty. But if you're one of those players who loves the feeling of overcoming a tough challenge, then Elden Ring is definitely worth trying.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enrise now he tarnished he dead who yet live the call of long lost grace speaks to us all it's real it's actually real after years of waiting and endless reddit speculation eldon ring is finally here and of course with so much excitement around this game that can only mean one thing a lot of really angry social media discourse can't we ever have anything nice welcome back everyone i'm giovanni colantonio and i'm here with my review of this year's biggest video game from software's open world action rpg epic eldon ring you're going to hear a lot about this game this year developer from software is best known for creating the infamous dark souls series which is about as polarizing as games get the souls games feature extremely challenging boss fights that require nothing short of perfection from players eldon ring is the evolution of that series retaining dark souls signature difficulty but blowing everything up by throwing players in an expansive open world so does it really live up to the impossible hype we'll get to that but first i want to know do you plan on playing elden ring what character class are you gonna choose when you do and if you refuse to get it what bugs you about dark souls games drop a comment below and while you're down there why not give us a like and a subscribe if you want to see more video game content like this okay let's get to it oh yes tarnished are we come to the lands between for the elven ring let's get the basics out of the way in elden ring you'll create a hero who sets out on an epic quest that takes them through the lands between a fantasy continent with a golden giant erd tree at the center of it this is an action rpg where you'll fight massive bosses capable of killing you in one or two hits patience is the key to victory as you'll need to learn an enemy's attack patterns and carefully strike at the right moment die and you'll lose all the runes you're carrying which are used to level up your stats and buy items be warned it is not easy to be honest elden ring is a bit of a tricky video game to review for people who love souls like games this very well may be the greatest video game of all time it's the kind of thing that you'll hear gamers praise for decades to come like final fantasy vii or the legend of zelda ocarina of time but if you hate dark souls you're going to think the world is playing a very very rude prank on you here the thing is that both sides of this debate are kind of right elden ring is an astonishing once in a generation game that deserves a whole lot of praise that said it's got a lot of issues too that are hard to overlook entirely so to properly review this game i'm going to confirm everyone's bias and break this down from both sides that way nobody and everybody will be happy surely that won't start any fights right right let's start with the positive in this side of my one man debate allow me to play the role of a dark souls fan elden ring is perfect 10 out of 10 end of video okay maybe that's too far with my method acting but but really eldon ring is just about everything a fan could want from a from software game right off the bat the combat is a big highlight here the appeal of these games has always been the sense of mastery you get when you boil a difficult boss fight down to a science and slice down a gigantic gruesome monster like a soft salami what makes fights in elden ring especially great is that the game gives you so many options when it comes to creating a character the world is filled with weapons shields tools and spells that can radically change the way you play elden ring really rewards you if you're willing to experiment rather than stick to one familiar build anytime i'd get stuck on a boss i'd usually head back into the open world and start playing around with new weapons or tools that could give me an edge in battle that led to several eureka moments that had me returning to a boss that previously wiped the floor with me and thoroughly embarrassing them get good pumpkin head i especially love the role magic plays in this game spell casting has always been an option in dark souls games but there's even more of it here you can summon a pack of wolves shoot a bolt of energy or perform a special magic attack by equipping ashes to your weapon all of those things add more flexibility to the combat and can even alleviate some of the game's difficulty if you build your loadout right of course for the masochist you can still strip off all your clothing and try to parry attacks with a dinky shield if that's what makes you happy you strange strange person now great combat wouldn't mean much if you didn't have some great enemies to cut down too and eldon ring really delivers on that front this game is loaded with creative monster designs with no two fights feeling the same the way i beat the horseback riding tree sentinel and this fire-spitting dog statue were completely different even when the battles get tough i simply love discovering a new boss and seeing what kind of deranged ideas from software has in store for me sometimes i worry about these developers but i thank them all the same now in terms of performance you're going to get some super fast load times especially on ps5 which means you won't have to sit through any boring loading screens when you die and that's great news because you will die a lot you're also going to want to play in performance mode here because you're going to need all the frames you can get i did notice a few graphical issues in that mode though including some shadow hiccups or some pop in but overall it's a pretty smooth experience just don't go in expecting the same level of quality as the ps5 demon souls remake this is very much a high end last generation game so if you love dark souls you'll undoubtedly love elden ring too there's more freedom more build potential and more bizarre bosses for you to fight everyone happy so far well here comes the buzz kill if dark souls has never really clicked with you before you are in for a bad time my friend there's more flexibility in elden ring but it's still a pretty demanding game for a long time players have asked for games like this to include an easy mode to let them experience the game without the punishment honestly i don't think from software needs to add a difficulty slider to its games it needs someone to grab them by the face and tell them to make a functioning camera for the love of god it is 2022 and i'm still struggling to see what is happening on screen there's nothing i love more than fighting a big dragon and having the camera fuse into its body effectively showing me nothing of use or who doesn't love suddenly rolling into a wall you couldn't see so a knight can pick you off with ease this is all fine the truth is that fans have learned to love from software's games in spite of themselves it's like a teenager drinking cheap beer for the first time and learning to muscle through the taste from an outsider perspective these are kind of sloppy games i mean attacks clip through walls enemy hitboxes are hard to predict and sometimes you'll just die if an enemy so much as brushes up against you these are the kind of archaic design quirks that i was hoping would be fixed with a next-gen souls games but nothing has really changed on that front there's also a few systems that are new to this game that end up feeling a little underbaked there's a whole crafting component but it ends up feeling like an arbitrary way to fill blank parts of the world with resources there's also horseback combat and oh boy folks you'll never want to look at a horse again after trying to grapple with that system for all those reasons and more i can see exactly why someone wouldn't like this game at all it demands perfection from players but refuses to be perfect itself in any fight that gave me trouble it felt more like i was fighting clumsy technical quirks than a giant creature if things like that have turned you off from dark souls historically they're probably going to annoy you here too so we've heard both sides of the debate here but in all honesty neither really gets at what's actually special about eldon ring it's not the giant bosses or the rpg customization that makes this a great game it's actually the exploration honestly elden ring has the best open world i've experienced in a game since yeah you guessed it the legend of zelda breath of the wild this isn't your typical rpg world with talkative characters and villages handing out quests no this is very much the dreary eerie world of dark souls on a much bigger scale what's so alluring is that there's a real sense of discovery no matter where you go this game doesn't give you a laundry list of objectives to chase like a ubisoft game it actually really doesn't tell you anything at all instead it's up to you to poke around the lands between and find all of its little secrets i'd compare it more to skyrim where you'll stumble into random caves and find some game-changing loot hidden inside that experience is consistently rewarding and made me actually want to explore every corner of the world honestly i think you could play this game for dozens of hours without ever fighting an enemy and still walk away pretty satisfied i mean it's not like the central story is that exceptional or anything game of thrones author george rr martin worked on it but his contribution mostly seems to be just making up fantasy location names and look i could have done that for a lot less money here uh rudolphic the sun nation dragon's roost dragon's discount dollar store look i can do this all day if you're seeing a lot of praise about eldon ring right now but are skeptical about it i still recommend giving it a try this really is a pretty astonishing video game even with its problems i don't typically like souls games myself but even i was completely one over here after 60 hours i still feel like i barely scratched the surface and i can't wait to see what other secrets await me in the lands between i hope it's not more poisonous swamps it's probably more poisonous swamps hey thanks for checking out our review of eldon ring what do you think did we miss something any games you're excited about that you want to see us review well let us know in the comments below and while you're down there i've got two videos right here waiting for yourise now he tarnished he dead who yet live the call of long lost grace speaks to us all it's real it's actually real after years of waiting and endless reddit speculation eldon ring is finally here and of course with so much excitement around this game that can only mean one thing a lot of really angry social media discourse can't we ever have anything nice welcome back everyone i'm giovanni colantonio and i'm here with my review of this year's biggest video game from software's open world action rpg epic eldon ring you're going to hear a lot about this game this year developer from software is best known for creating the infamous dark souls series which is about as polarizing as games get the souls games feature extremely challenging boss fights that require nothing short of perfection from players eldon ring is the evolution of that series retaining dark souls signature difficulty but blowing everything up by throwing players in an expansive open world so does it really live up to the impossible hype we'll get to that but first i want to know do you plan on playing elden ring what character class are you gonna choose when you do and if you refuse to get it what bugs you about dark souls games drop a comment below and while you're down there why not give us a like and a subscribe if you want to see more video game content like this okay let's get to it oh yes tarnished are we come to the lands between for the elven ring let's get the basics out of the way in elden ring you'll create a hero who sets out on an epic quest that takes them through the lands between a fantasy continent with a golden giant erd tree at the center of it this is an action rpg where you'll fight massive bosses capable of killing you in one or two hits patience is the key to victory as you'll need to learn an enemy's attack patterns and carefully strike at the right moment die and you'll lose all the runes you're carrying which are used to level up your stats and buy items be warned it is not easy to be honest elden ring is a bit of a tricky video game to review for people who love souls like games this very well may be the greatest video game of all time it's the kind of thing that you'll hear gamers praise for decades to come like final fantasy vii or the legend of zelda ocarina of time but if you hate dark souls you're going to think the world is playing a very very rude prank on you here the thing is that both sides of this debate are kind of right elden ring is an astonishing once in a generation game that deserves a whole lot of praise that said it's got a lot of issues too that are hard to overlook entirely so to properly review this game i'm going to confirm everyone's bias and break this down from both sides that way nobody and everybody will be happy surely that won't start any fights right right let's start with the positive in this side of my one man debate allow me to play the role of a dark souls fan elden ring is perfect 10 out of 10 end of video okay maybe that's too far with my method acting but but really eldon ring is just about everything a fan could want from a from software game right off the bat the combat is a big highlight here the appeal of these games has always been the sense of mastery you get when you boil a difficult boss fight down to a science and slice down a gigantic gruesome monster like a soft salami what makes fights in elden ring especially great is that the game gives you so many options when it comes to creating a character the world is filled with weapons shields tools and spells that can radically change the way you play elden ring really rewards you if you're willing to experiment rather than stick to one familiar build anytime i'd get stuck on a boss i'd usually head back into the open world and start playing around with new weapons or tools that could give me an edge in battle that led to several eureka moments that had me returning to a boss that previously wiped the floor with me and thoroughly embarrassing them get good pumpkin head i especially love the role magic plays in this game spell casting has always been an option in dark souls games but there's even more of it here you can summon a pack of wolves shoot a bolt of energy or perform a special magic attack by equipping ashes to your weapon all of those things add more flexibility to the combat and can even alleviate some of the game's difficulty if you build your loadout right of course for the masochist you can still strip off all your clothing and try to parry attacks with a dinky shield if that's what makes you happy you strange strange person now great combat wouldn't mean much if you didn't have some great enemies to cut down too and eldon ring really delivers on that front this game is loaded with creative monster designs with no two fights feeling the same the way i beat the horseback riding tree sentinel and this fire-spitting dog statue were completely different even when the battles get tough i simply love discovering a new boss and seeing what kind of deranged ideas from software has in store for me sometimes i worry about these developers but i thank them all the same now in terms of performance you're going to get some super fast load times especially on ps5 which means you won't have to sit through any boring loading screens when you die and that's great news because you will die a lot you're also going to want to play in performance mode here because you're going to need all the frames you can get i did notice a few graphical issues in that mode though including some shadow hiccups or some pop in but overall it's a pretty smooth experience just don't go in expecting the same level of quality as the ps5 demon souls remake this is very much a high end last generation game so if you love dark souls you'll undoubtedly love elden ring too there's more freedom more build potential and more bizarre bosses for you to fight everyone happy so far well here comes the buzz kill if dark souls has never really clicked with you before you are in for a bad time my friend there's more flexibility in elden ring but it's still a pretty demanding game for a long time players have asked for games like this to include an easy mode to let them experience the game without the punishment honestly i don't think from software needs to add a difficulty slider to its games it needs someone to grab them by the face and tell them to make a functioning camera for the love of god it is 2022 and i'm still struggling to see what is happening on screen there's nothing i love more than fighting a big dragon and having the camera fuse into its body effectively showing me nothing of use or who doesn't love suddenly rolling into a wall you couldn't see so a knight can pick you off with ease this is all fine the truth is that fans have learned to love from software's games in spite of themselves it's like a teenager drinking cheap beer for the first time and learning to muscle through the taste from an outsider perspective these are kind of sloppy games i mean attacks clip through walls enemy hitboxes are hard to predict and sometimes you'll just die if an enemy so much as brushes up against you these are the kind of archaic design quirks that i was hoping would be fixed with a next-gen souls games but nothing has really changed on that front there's also a few systems that are new to this game that end up feeling a little underbaked there's a whole crafting component but it ends up feeling like an arbitrary way to fill blank parts of the world with resources there's also horseback combat and oh boy folks you'll never want to look at a horse again after trying to grapple with that system for all those reasons and more i can see exactly why someone wouldn't like this game at all it demands perfection from players but refuses to be perfect itself in any fight that gave me trouble it felt more like i was fighting clumsy technical quirks than a giant creature if things like that have turned you off from dark souls historically they're probably going to annoy you here too so we've heard both sides of the debate here but in all honesty neither really gets at what's actually special about eldon ring it's not the giant bosses or the rpg customization that makes this a great game it's actually the exploration honestly elden ring has the best open world i've experienced in a game since yeah you guessed it the legend of zelda breath of the wild this isn't your typical rpg world with talkative characters and villages handing out quests no this is very much the dreary eerie world of dark souls on a much bigger scale what's so alluring is that there's a real sense of discovery no matter where you go this game doesn't give you a laundry list of objectives to chase like a ubisoft game it actually really doesn't tell you anything at all instead it's up to you to poke around the lands between and find all of its little secrets i'd compare it more to skyrim where you'll stumble into random caves and find some game-changing loot hidden inside that experience is consistently rewarding and made me actually want to explore every corner of the world honestly i think you could play this game for dozens of hours without ever fighting an enemy and still walk away pretty satisfied i mean it's not like the central story is that exceptional or anything game of thrones author george rr martin worked on it but his contribution mostly seems to be just making up fantasy location names and look i could have done that for a lot less money here uh rudolphic the sun nation dragon's roost dragon's discount dollar store look i can do this all day if you're seeing a lot of praise about eldon ring right now but are skeptical about it i still recommend giving it a try this really is a pretty astonishing video game even with its problems i don't typically like souls games myself but even i was completely one over here after 60 hours i still feel like i barely scratched the surface and i can't wait to see what other secrets await me in the lands between i hope it's not more poisonous swamps it's probably more poisonous swamps hey thanks for checking out our review of eldon ring what do you think did we miss something any games you're excited about that you want to see us review well let us know in the comments below and while you're down there i've got two videos right here waiting for you\n"