I platinumed and explored everything I could in Elden Ring, a game developed by FromSoftware, and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Now I am waiting for the DLC which will be released sometime in late 2023 or early 2024. I am quite curious to learn more about its story which I think I got it down, but I decided not to break it down in this review for many reasons. One, it will require some in-depth research on my part. Secondly, there are already plenty of sources on YouTube that attempted to explain the story in detail, although all of them are just based on educated guesses including mine, in which led me to the conclusion of this game: Why do we like to champion over other?

As you can tell from the blog’s post title, this game is epically unique. One, you don’t play as a hero, but as a champion. You are neither good nor bad. You are a Tarnished who is led by the Site of Grace to become the Elden Lord. Not only does the player competes with other Tarnished, but he/she also has to defeat other demigods to establish order in a shattering world. But why is the world broken? This is the question that got me hooked to the story.

Okay so the story is great and so is the gameplay but what’s the problem with that? It has to do with the flow of the game. Well the flow of my review is no better than the game according to AI Assistant so who am I to complain? Anyway, I was overwhelmed with the open-world aspect of the game. If only I followed the main route, I could have finished this game in a decent time. It took over 200 hours in one playthrough. I “wasted” a lot of time trying to get everything which earned me a game completion of 82 % on my first playthrough. Like Sorcerer Rogier the NPC, you might end up roaming the Lands of Between for a very long time until you lose sight of your original purpose.

I’m Tarnished, like you. But unlike you, I’ve seen neither hide nor hair of this guidance for the longest time. Still, I won’t forget how it felt when I first came here, to the Lands Between.

-Sorcerer Rogier

I don’t deny it’s a time-consuming game. Not everyone would have the pleasure to experience it entirely because it requires a lot of dedication like watching Game of Thrones, which unfortunately I have not seen for obvious reason. My preferred method of entertainment has always been gaming. So, this game was like a gift from “heaven”, but for casual and non-gamers, I can see how off-putting it can be. The characters are all interesting that you want to get to know them, but the gameplay gets in the way. Wander too far, you might come across a boss fight! At first, I struggled a bit because there is so much freedom in the game that it’s easy to “waste” time. 1) You had to explore and unlock the map. 2) You have to defeat the surrounding enemies or else you will keep dying and that will prevent you from exploring. 3) You might aimlessly wander off too long because you are bewitched by its beautiful environment. Of course, there is an efficient way to play the game, but I wouldn’t know that if I didn’t refer to a guide. Oh, I am talking about the story portion that is. There are 6 endings. If you are in just for the story, I recommend just sticking to television series. It’s much less work.

In terms of gameplay, apart from the main course where the player defeats the main bosses, there are also a ton of optional bosses. Some are part of the questlines. I found myself referring to the internet and walkthrough guide quite often when I got stumped, which depending on your play style, this could either be rewardingly challenging or simply annoying. The caves and catacombs themselves are like mini-side games. Some are short but some take longer, depending on how many times you slip and die or get killed by pestering skeletons. Just imagine all the indie games (which takes 1-5 hours to beat) you can play in one game. There is always a boss at the end of each “stage”. Once the player has defeated the boss in that area, the player is rewarded with unique items. So, they are worth completing. Personally, I found them quite fun. However, the downfall to this gaming experience is that it kind of breaks the flow of the game since it has nothing to do with the main story. Maybe that was the whole purpose? I was beginning to feel like a witless champion myself, a theme that reoccurred quite frequently in the story.

In conclusion, for such an ambitious game, it did champion over every other game out there for me. It’s a great game with a great story, but it sure burnt me out and I am not sure if I want to play another intense game for a long time. I suppose that might not just be a bad thing after all.

So what about you? Have you played this game? I would love to hear your thoughts!