Elden Ring is a captivating game
There have only been a few video games where I felt like I was completely free to explore without an arbitrary wall. Fortunately, Elden Ring was one of those experiences.
Elden Ring is FromSoftware’s newest action role-playing title made in collaboration with George R. R. Martin and it takes place in a high fantasy setting known as the Lands Between.
The game uses mechanics found in their older games along with some new ones. The player can jump and dual wield. The combat is fast, and they revamped the weapon skills mechanic from Dark Souls 3 into Ashes of War which lets the player equip any skills they find to a weapon (if said weapon can use that skill).
The most advertised new mechanic is the introduction of a horse for traversal and mounted combat. The reasoning for this mount is the vast open world of the Lands Between.
It is an expansive region that wants the player to explore everything they possibly can, and it rewards them for doing so. These are not new ideas for gaming, but their execution in Elden Ring felt fantastic.
The horse controls stray from realism as you can turn quickly, double jump and perform precise platforming without much lag time which is not typical of most games that have rideable horses. Unfortunately, mounted combat does not feel that great. It is a bit finicky at the best of times, so I would recommend only using magic for mounted battles.
The standard combat has a good sense of weight and precision with that feeling depending on the kind of equipment you are using. There is a wide array of weapons you can find in the Lands Between and each one comes with the potential of becoming your new favorite.
Aside from more physical based combat, there is also magic with plenty of sorceries and incantations to choose from. Unlike FromSoftware’s older titles, magic felt like a fun and viable alternative to physical combat encounters. By the end of the game, I was using a weapon type I would have never considered if it wasn’t for the game providing the room to experiment.
Since Elden Ring’s release, I had spent considerable time playing and finishing it. Since the start of the game, it felt like an endless yet intricately designed expanse with many landmarks to catch your eye. It does not mark locations until you have discovered it yourself and it was a fun getting lost in that world.
I could not recommend this game enough despite its immense difficulty and openness, so if you love video games, definitely give Elden Ring a try.
