Just been taking my sweet time because the amount of content / different biomes / enemies etc. is insane, Currently at about 80 hours and level 95, still nowhere near endgame content and still having a ton of fun exploring!

This is a great example of how open worlds don't have to be empty also I still feel even with my slow paced exploring I've probably still missed a ton of secret stuff, makes the replayability all the more worthwhile when I eventually get to that!

So I found the sword of night and flame…. Changed my playthrough forever. Literally pouring anything I can into it. I’ve run around, explored, raided dungeons, and ran through areas simply to unlock the map. Especially when I’m broke. I hadn’t done “ANY” of the main quest. Well once I found that sword I poured all my levels into being able to use it. Now I’m making my way to the main story and after 24 hours of play Stormvale is done. 1st boss in there dead on try 5/6, second boss on try 3. Summons are a GOD SEND.
All that being said, this STARTS as the hardest souls game ever. Once you realize how you’re supposed to play, it gets really easy. In reality though it’s kinda like metal gear. You have to go procure weapons and skills, THEN come back to murder your foes. Exploration can make the game sooooo much easier. I’m literally checking every nook and cranny. Now I just summon things to get the bosses attention (when able) and beat his butt cheeks until I gain aggro. Then I run until Simmons get Argo back and repeat.
This game does have some extremely cheap bosses. Lord it’s insane how lucky you have to be. On souls games I used to beat some bosses without being hit on NG+. Some of these dungeon bosses so cheap that unless there’s may to one shot down them it’s utterly impossible to beat them without being hit. Getting hit by multiple enemies and being stun locked is one thing. Being stun locked by a single boss is not a question of skill. It’s “if I get hit by any of this 7 hit string before hit 5, the remaining strikes are guaranteed.” And when it happens during a bad camera angle it’s Nightmare fuel.

I love the dark souls games but elden ring just don't feel like a souls game, it feels more like a hack n slash with no really direction.
I'm finding it very boring and mediocre at best.
I've stopped playing it now and it's gone in my retro collection boxes where it will stay.
I've put about 15hrs into it and it's just not getting any better.
Just can't see what all the hype is about, there are so many better games than this, I'm going back for my 2nd run on dark souls 3.

This game is great. I love how you can just get lost wandering around enjoying the environment then some ducking bear decides to appear out of thin air.

ER isn’t grabbing me at all. Wish people didn’t overhype it. All this revolutionary open world talk is ridiculous. I do plan on continuing to play it but to me Bloodborne and Sekiro were better releases. That horse gameplay though is really cool.

The hype and over proselytizing over this game is beyond ridiculous and this is coming from a fan of these games.

There something special about it’s open world. I haven’t been this immersed in a open game since RDR2 and Breath of the Wild. I also like the fact ER is more accessible for Souls game. My only complaint is the performance on the PS5 can be a mess at times.

"My favourite part is the terrible performance and optimisation. 10/10".

Seriously, any Xbox or PS game would be slaughtered for the absolutely atrocious technical performance of this game.

My first souls game it’s great it has a dope vibe to it, like a dark vibe sorta I gotta dive into it more too I still been playing assassins creed unity too lol and red dead 2 Lego city

Weren't people saying it was running poorly on Switch 2 at CES earlier this year? I hope they fix that before release. If they can do 60 fps in handheld mode I might pick it up -- otherwise not interest in playing this game at 30 fps.

Placeholder I assume the listed date is 31/12/26