Elden Ring has certainly exceeded my expectations when it comes to its active player base. As of now, its all-time peak of active players is almost eight times as high than its predecessor Dark Souls: 3.
With recent failed launches such as Battlefield 2042 and Cyberpunk, I was astonished by how well this game performed as well as all the positive feedback.
Now having finally been able to dive into the game myself, I must say that I believe this overwhelming reaction is justified for the following reasons;

The impressive environment and interconnected areas that can be found in Dark Souls have been upgraded into an Open-World map. As was the case in From Softwares earlier titles, this game lacks not creativity nor diversity when it comes to obstacles heading your way when you play through it. The vast landscape may challenge you to complete jumping puzzles to acquire a certain item or beat a boss that has caught you off-guard. Furthermore the map is filled with smaller events that the player can encounter and NPCs that have unique, well-written side-quests for the player to ponder about. And when you`re feeling like the king of the world you can enter certain areas before you have even managed to beat your first boss. With the ability to traverse most Open-World areas with your noble steed, it might seem pretty easy to simply to explore another part of the map. However, the game will get you off your high horse pretty quick.
I admire the sheer amount of content that can be found in Elden Ring and when it is not an item or NPC to be found, it is the beautiful landscape. In addition as almost every corner of the map that can be seen by the player, can also be explored, is astounding and making it that much more satisfying to finally break into a tower that you already had your eyes on from miles away.
When you had the chance to make it out of a boss or dungeon alive, you`ll most likely end up with a decent amount of runes to invest into gear or the skillset of your tarnished, which leads me to my next point.
Fresh players and veterans of the Dark Souls Franchise will feel right at home when it comes to the character-building that is still present in From Softwares new title. Elden Ring provides the player with similar options to e.g. Dark Souls 3, allowing you specialise in certain areas of combat. If you adore magic you can focus yourself on acquiring the necessary skills and levels to rival even Dumbledore. What about some slick Katanas? Oh, definetly. You can find yourself those to have a dual-wielding fighting style as well as a set of Samurai armour. Even a berserk cosplay is possible, but you have probably seen that already on the internet.
Not only is your tarnished as skilled and fashionable as possible, but you also get to design his face and body. With the pretty simple yet extensive menu, you can either create your ideal hero or... an abomination. Simply google "elden ring ugly player" and take a look for yourself, if you don`t believe me. [Be aware that you might spoil yourself, as the results may not only refer to player characters but NPCs or Bosses the game]
The last aspect I want to mention is the vast amount of enemies that will seek to kill you. It is no secret, even to individuals unfamiliar with From Software, that Souls-Like games are meant to be challenging.
Therefore, altough in my opinion substaintially easier than the Dark Souls Series, we have sturdy bosses and tricky monsters to greet us everywhere we go. Travelling through the previously mentioned landscape is fun and all, but not anymore as you get your head smashed in by a 40 feet tall monstrosity.

Nevertheless, it is still fun to have your head smashed in by a 40 fett tall monstrosity, if you have your palls with you. Sadly, as of now, the game has very noticeable connection issues, resulting in teammates being thrown out of the boss fight near the end or lagging into oblivion as they are jumped by magicians without the chance to fight back. Especially during more extensive and challenging fights this can be a kickstarter for damaging your gaming equipment. In spite of the relatively stable connection for duos, a group of three friends might face maddening connection timeouts. It is important to note, that this is only my experience. I have tested the connection with various people and there are videos on this topic on YouTube with thousands of views, however you might be spared.

TL;DR
In conclusion, I adore the world of Elden Ring and am currently having a blast playing through it. I can absolutely recommend this game as it keeps the spirit of other Souls-Like games alive, while certainly being more accessible for new players to From Software Games.
You can create your character from the vast amount of available choices and prepare for challenges as you see fit. The game doesnt force you to watch any cutscenes, if you are not interested in the story and there are numerous possible ways to end your journey,

Edit: Still good

One of the core strengths of Hearts of Iron is not only how you can accurately follow the events of World War 2, but also act out alternate history scenarios. For example, start a civil war as Germany against the ruling facists and emerge as a democracy. These alternate history scenarios however are not entirely fictional as Paradox based certain events and options on real life political figures as well as protocols. For example the “Nero Befehl” to destroy German infrastructure given by Adolf Hitler as the Allies marched into Germany also happens when Nazi Germany loses the civil war.

Speaking about [civil] war; the gigantic armies mobilized by countries can be profoundly customized, through the in-game “Template Designer”. One can utilize various units based on the players research and logistical accomplishments and create Divisions for their specific needs, such as Marine Infantry or Mechanized Divisions.

Nowadays it is common for games to expand their base game with paid DLCs. [In some extreme cases, DLCs are required to uplift a game into a playable state] Of course, Paradox is no exception and has created a great number of paid DLCs for its audience to buy. This might initially be frightening, as the expected cost of the game is exaggerated tremendously, however Paradox offers a unique feature for its Hearts of Iron IV multiplayer experience. Only the host of a Multiplayer Session needs to own a DLC for it to active for every participating player in said lobby. This feature helped me establish the game as one of the core activities in my peer group, as the amount of money that needs to be spent in order to enjoy the entirety of the content is significantly reduced. In addition every new paid DLCs bring free content updates.

Furthermore the game offers great potential for roleplaying activities. Creating new alternate history alliances or the effort of preserving the flow of time can lead to interesting scenarios for you and your friends.

As one enters the world of Hearts of Iron IV, one will also gain access to the games profound history of Patches and Workshop Mods. If you dislike certain aspects about the base game, such as the rather questionable decisions of your AI companions when it comes to peace conferences, there is a mod available to address this problem. Furthermore, some countries do not offer individual focus trees or unique military equipment. If you wish to play as e.g. Brazil and establish a facist regime, there exists a mod called “Road to 56”. This modification provides and expanded technology and focus tree for various nations and functions as an overhaul that adds at least 10 years of content to the original version of the game.
It has to be said that the game does not run nearly as smooth in its late game as other strategy games. There is a noticeable and annoyingly present late-game lag when it comes to multiplayer sessions. At the moment, this might be the only problem that might hinder your experience.


TLDR; The game provides [alternate] history trees which are fleshed out as well as various possibilities for you to customize your own army. In addition most problems or needs that one might have playing Hearts of Iron IV can be addressed with opening and downloading content from its workshop area. However, the performance of the game steadily and noticeably decreases as more and more armies traverse the battlefields of Hearts of Iron