Elden Ring is the best selling FromSoftware game, the 2022 GOTY and one of my favorite games of all time. Many think that Elden Ring is merely Dark Souls with an open-world twist, but trust me, it transcends that simplistic comparison.

Note: This review is entirely spoiler-free. Any potential spoilers will be concealed in black boxes, so feel free to read without concerns about plot reveals.

Elden Ring's character creation stands out as the best among all the previous Souls games developed by FromSoftware. The face visuals are more detailed, and there are additional customization features. The effort put into character creation really paid off, providing players with more opportunities to craft unique and distinct characters.

The opening cinematic in Elden Ring, a tradition in Souls games, left a strong impression on me. The art style, quality, and voice acting exceeded my expectations, making it one of the best introductions in video games.

For those new to this gaming style, Elden Ring may be challenging initially. While I, having played many Souls games, didn't encounter such issues, my advice is to be patient. The game's difficulty is fair. If a boss feels unbeatable early on, it means you're not prepared. Explore more, level up, get better gear—soon, the game becomes more manageable. Surprisingly, Elden Ring felt the easiest among the Souls games I've played from FromSoftware, at least until Malenia kicked my ass for 7 hours straight before I beat her....

Some folks argue that mixing an open-world style with the Souls formula messed up Elden Ring. Here's my take: it's a bit of both. Having a huge map is cool, but it's tough for devs because they can't just copy-paste empty areas. So, they filled it with stuff like ruins and caves. The downside? Some bosses start feeling a bit repetitive. I get it's hard to make a big map and balance it with creativity at the same time, but meeting the same mini-boss a bunch of times got a tad boring, even though I got used to it.

On the positive side, the open world showcases stunning landscapes with distinct vibes in each region. The immersive atmosphere, especially at night, is captivating. Elden Ring's design, featuring captivating night skies and distant, beautifully crafted structures, prompted me to capture numerous screenshots—an aspect I genuinely adore.

However, the open-world setup also poses challenges with quests. Side quests are easy to miss, especially for those playing blind. Elden Ring's vastness means NPCs can be overlooked without exploring thoroughly. While some give hints, it's not foolproof. Not everyone may value these side stories, but they play a significant role in the game, as I'll elaborate on in the next section.

The caves and catacombs scattered throughout the vast lands offer an enjoyable exploration experience, enriched with puzzles and mazes. I relished navigating through each one, and the inclusion of a cooperative element by summoning a friend to explore together adds another layer of fun to the exploration process.

Side quests in Elden Ring are essential for me, adding significant depth to the overall experience. Without them, the game would be less enjoyable. While some may not prioritize side quests, I encourage giving them a chance. Personally, when I invest in a game, I want to explore all aspects. Delving into NPC stories enhances the game's coherence, as these side quests are intertwined with the main lore. Skipping them means missing a deeper understanding of the story. While you can watch them on YouTube, experiencing them firsthand is incomparable.

The uniqueness of each NPC's story in the side quests was something special in Elden Ring. Going through them step by step and keeping track of each character's journey proved to be incredibly rewarding. Emotionally, these side quests had a significant impact on me, and I strongly advise against ignoring them if you decide to play the game. I know it's tough to keep track of all of them, but I managed by using Word and doing some Google research. I did get spoiled at times, but for me, it was better than missing out on these rich and engaging stories altogether.

Elden Ring's lore is truly beautiful and well worth delving into. The game is undeniably complex, especially for newcomers like myself. However, once you start paying attention to item descriptions and NPCs' dialogues, connecting the dots, the story unfolds into a masterpiece that's unique in every way. Initially, I chose to remain ignorant, avoiding YouTube videos and online articles to steer clear of spoilers. Still, I eventually had to seek out essential lore to grasp the basics without ruining the experience.

I stumbled upon a spoiler-free Reddit post explaining the fundamental lore, aiding my understanding of the game. Despite this help, my first playthrough left me perpetually confused—a familiar feeling I've grown to love from previous souls games. After completing the game, I turned to VaatiVidya's YouTube videos (the Souls lore guy) for a deeper perspective. This transformed my view, prompting a second playthrough on the same save file. Now, I appreciate the interconnected details; As an example, even the design and symbols on the enemies' armor carry meaning.

Bosses are undeniably crucial in Souls games, determining the overall quality of the experience. While I acknowledged earlier that the game has repetitive mini-bosses scattered throughout the vast lands, the main bosses are a different story. Each is uniquely crafted, presenting a special and distinct challenge. Not all of them posed significant difficulty for me, except for two late-game bosses, but I genuinely enjoyed every fight, regardless of the level of challenge.

However, my disappointment lies in the lack of memorable soundtracks during boss fights—a departure from the impactful music in previous Souls games. Despite logging 178 hours (for now), I struggle to recall a single boss theme, even for the main encounters (the final boss fight is an exception). Elden Ring fell short of my expectations regarding the musical accompaniment to these pivotal moments.

Elden Ring introduces fresh mechanics, such as Ashes of War and summoning spirit ashes, along with a wide array of weapons—an excellent addition to its expansive world. While the gameplay remains familiar to previous Dark Souls titles, the added features enhance the overall experience, making it feel even more engaging.

The game is so vast that there's a lot more I wish I could discuss in this review, like its online features and the different endings. However, I'll keep it short, especially about the endings due to steam limitations.

Elden Ring features multiple endings, and some players choose to end their journey with the default one, which I personally find less interesting. Therefore, I strongly recommend pursuing the other main endings, as they offer a much more captivating experience than the default one.

As I conclude this exploration of Elden Ring, I encourage fellow Tarnished to venture beyond the conventional and embrace the myriad tales this intricate world has to offer. May thou journey be filled with discovery and triumph in the Lands Between.

NOTE: There will be mistakes in my english below, sorry for that but I will try my best to describe my experience while I was playing this game. Spoilers will be hidden in black, don't view them until you finish the game.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is an open world RPG game, you might have played a lot of RPGs in the past but trust me this one will be different, you will play as Geralt Of Rivia, your actions and choices will be the factor for every quest's ending. I'll be short and say: buy it, it's worth it and don't forget the dlcs they are so important and you will miss a lot if you don't try them.

The first question that comes to mind to every player who want to try this game is whether you should play Witcher 1&2 before this or no, the answer is it depends on you, sure Witcher 3 is a sequel and you might get confused if you don't play the first games (you will ask who is that and what is this place and what am i doing) but for me I didn't have to play them, I just watched recap of the previous games to understand whats going on and I recommend you to do as well before playing this game unless you wanna play the previous games, Witcher 1 has an old engine and graphics and most of you will not like the old gameplay system so you might skip it but for Witcher 2 its more modern than the first one and a lot of people recommend it, it explains even the storyline of the first game so It's all depend on your choice. And for the books you don't have to worry about them, the books and the games are different story not completely different but the books ended on a specific point of the storyline and the games made a sequel to that point and continued, characters, the world, the history is all imported from the books but you don't really have to read them to understand.

The best plan I recommend is:

- Watch Witcher 1 recap on youtube or read it on the internet.
- Play Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings or just recap it.
- Start your adventure in Witcher 3!

NOTE: Witcher 3 has a special section for characters that describe a lot of things about them, there are also "Books" as an in game item you loot and gain additional information about the world.

There are 4 Difficulties you can choose from at the beginning of the game, you can also switch it during the gameplay in the settings menu, I started my first playthrough with Blood and Broken Bones! (Hard) and I can say it's perfect, it doesn't make the game too easy or too hard, sure you might die sometimes but there is no fun in completing the game easily (in my opinion), Death March! (Very Hard) is the hardest one and I only recommend it for NG+ (New Game plus is basically a new game with the same character and level you were using in the first playthrough including gears, swords, items...etc).

So, i can say If you want to be challenged in your first playthrough go for Blood and Broken Bones! (Hard) but If you only want to finish the game and care only about the story go for Just the Story! (Easy) or Story and Sword! (Normal).

The gameplay is a little complicated for new players, I had some difficult time learning it but you will get used to it by time, It relies on Level system, Skill Tree, Looting items and Gaining materials, and crafting weapons and gear. As long as you level up, you will upgrade your gear, obtain new skills and become stronger!

The combat system isn't too hard, I didn't find any issue playing with mouse & keyboard, I find many people complaining about the combat system but I can't see any problem with it. each enemy has a specific level that tells you if you are ready to fight it or not.

In this game you play as Geralt of Rivia, a witcher which is a super-human (they have strong immune system and strong senses not like normal humans, they also live longer) made to kill monsters and get paid for that , I'll not go in details because you will learn more about them in the game.

The game is Quest based, there are Main Quests (Campaign), Side Quests, Witcher Contracts, Treasure Hunt Quests, each quest has a level that tells you if you are ready for it or not, I recommend you to do all of the quests in level order. (If your level is 10 and the quest level is 15 don't do it until you reach 15)

There are even Side Quests that affects the Main Story so don't skip them, Also Side Quests in this game are different than the other games, each has a different story and a different ending you will not feel at all like you are doing the same quest over and over again, and thats what I love about this game, skipping the Side Quests is totally a sin and you should never do that because you will play half of the game or even 1/4 of it, I even can say I enjoyed doing Side Quests more than the main ones.

Buying this game without the DLCs is a sin too, Witcher 3 is known for it's unique DLCs some people even call B&W expansion The Witcher 4, they are full of content (new locations, new soundtracks, new stories...etc) So never buy this game without them.

There is also a mini-game called Gwent, it's a card game, to be honest I wasn't interested in it, it's an optional feature and it's quests are optional too and they don't affect the story but If you are a hardcore gamer who wants all the achievements go for it, it's not hard at all and they say it's easy to learn.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0i88t0Kacs
The hardest part in the game is not beating some boss or finishing some hard contract, but it's "Picking Choices", the game makes you feel like you are a witcher, almost all the aspects of the game are choices based, be wise and neutral and choose what you think is best for you and for Geralt, accept your fate that you draw with your own hands, don't look in the internet for the best choices to get the best results out of every quest, thats not how the game meant to be played.

"There is no perfect game in the world" - random guy on the internet.

I run into some glitches in this game during gameplay and cutscenes they are not a big problem but you notice them (just wanna say its not rare to run into one of them).

The game lacks some physics like falling alone or while riding a horse (the horse will just disappear if you try to jump from a high area or in water).

The npcs faces are similar and you might run into the same face a lot of times there is just few changes like the hair color or the clothes, sure I know that making unique faces take a lot of work and cdpr didn't have the budget for that so I hope the next-gen version will work on that part more.

There is a quest that broke the RPG rule which is "Reasons of State" a very important quest that decide part of the ending, In the end of that quest you will have two choices but because of the bad writing of that quest, the game indirectly force you and make you choose only one even If you don't want that choice because Geralt would never pick the other one.

The positives of this game make you forget that the game has issues, It's a good game and a masterpiece and I hope the next-gen version will improve it.