Elden Ring
in which I am finally tempted to return to this site to get down some thoughts having recently rolled the credits on From Software's epic. Souls First up, as most of you know, I'm a massive Dark Souls fan. That is to say, I was a huge fan of the first one, but my engagement with the series dropped off with each successive attempt. To me, the sequels missed what made the first one so good. They were still excellent and, if anything, the combat mechanics only got better and better - smoother, less opaque. But the level design really suffered in my opinion. And don't get me started on the fast travel or the Ring of Life Protection. Free Roam The first and most important thing about Elden Ring is its structure. It's an open world adventure and boy, what a world. The vistas are stunning - from rolling grasslands to snowy mountaintops to the obligatory poisonous swamp... And you really can go wherever the hell you'd like. Not since Oblivion have I felt that same sense of...
