Elden Ring Review
by Jake Mackin 2025
The game for gamers, hardcore and even casual alike. Never have I been so captivated by a game over and over, and I didn't even know a lick about the lore until about my third playthrough when I came across VaatiVidya on YouTube. Then I was captivated yet all over again. What is it about Elden Ring that makes it game of the year? Hell, it could be game of the decade at this point. How could a game with such brutal and punishing mechanics be so replayable? Allow me to elaborate.
I had never really gotten into the Souls genre despite my cousin repeatedly telling me that I need to play Dark Souls 3 and Sekiro when that came out. I tried Bloodborne, but it never really grabbed my attention and held it long enough. I was familiar with the punishing mechanics. One mistake, boom, you're dead and now you gotta run back to your body and hope you can recover your precious souls. But like I said, I never dove deep into these games. At the time it just wasn't for me. Out of all the Souls games I've tried, Elden Ring is easily the most approachable.
I think the reason Elden Ring really grabbed me by the crouch and held me hostage for so long is because I'm a sucker for open world games. I grew up a GTA kid playing Vice City, San Andreas, and eventually the apex of them all, GTA 5. I love being able to get lost in these worlds and spend hours doing nothing but appreciating the hard work that developers put into these beautiful games. As far as I'm concerned, Elden Ring now sets the standard for open world games moving forward.
FromSoftware made something special with Elden Ring. The standard for open world design should now be considered The Lands Between. You might see a building, a castle, or the Erdtree far in the distance. Knowing that you can actually go to these places in the distance is cool by itself, but the journey along the way is what's special. I can't tell you how many times I've set out to go visit a tower or something and got side tracked by ten things along the way. If a game can do this(which Elden Ring most certainly does) and make it feel meaningful each time, that's when you know it's great. "So much to do so much to see so what's wrong with taking the back streets?"
Elden Ring captures the beauty of the open world genre all while mixing in their own Soulslike formula to it. As I said, I never dove deep into the Souls games, but I get it now. Watching your health, stamina, and mana(FP) bars get bigger. Seeing the damage numbers get higher and higher so you can start one shotting enemies that once gave you a hard time. The overall feeling of progression with your character is unmatched to any other RPG out there.
How about the variety of playstyles the game has to offer? You can live out your combat fantasies in pretty much any way you want. Do you want to be a gigachad warrior with a big 2 handed axe? You can do that. Do you want to be a Samari warrior with a katana? You can do that. How about a sneaky boy ninja with daggers? Doable. What about a wizard reminiscent of Gandalf? Also possible. How about all of the above? Yeah, you can do that too. There are so many weapons, armor types, and items in the game, I couldn't even explain how many different combinations of playstyles you can mess around with. My preferred build is with intelligence weapons, Moonlight Greatsword, and a staff for spells. So like a wizard boy that can smash stuff if he wants.
Concluding this, I just feel like Elden Ring is a must-play game. It's a real test of skill, patience, and perseverance with a progression system that is so satisfying.