Just crossed the 15hr mark in Elden Ring. Would like to share my personal comments (as a Uncle Gamer, who has been playing console games since PS1 era).
Disclaimer: My fav games have always been story-driven single player (eg, GOW, Uncharted, Gears, Halo, LOU, FF, RE, Zelda).
Have ‘tried’ BloodBourne & Dark Souls a little bit, I realize it’s too frustrating to continue after the initial few hours.
I have to draw comparisons with Zelda Breath of Wild (my personal all-time fav game) as Elden Ring feels extremely close to it with some exceptions.
Like:
1. Truly open world. The sense of simply exploring and uncovering stuff is insane. Like Zelda BOTW, the game does not teach or provide you with any map locations of side quests. In general, there is only 1 main path. And I honestly have not gone far yet cos the enemies bit overpowering. So just kept exploring, discovering new areas/enemies and levelling up. Honestly, YouTube guides were very helpful and I did not feel I was cheating, cos there is simply so much to discover.
2. Graphically, the Elden Ring world is really a sight to behold sometimes. Varied enemies and different environments. No bugs, cept I felt there was some frame rate drops even on performance mode (PS5).
3. I enjoy the ‘messages’ left behind or the past ghostly apparitions that seemingly appear. It somewhat makes my single journey less ‘lost’/lonely, and surely provides some sense of humor.
4. Lastly, the sense of achievement. I truly like the occasional surprises during gameplay whereby the enemies are defeated despite me having very low expectations. Most times it’s very tough and have to redo again… or I’ll back away. But sometimes that sense of fulfilment really kicks in when the battle is won surprisingly.
Dislikes:
1. The scale of the game is too huge. I’m honestly not sure how big the entire map is (avoiding all online spoilers) .. but I’m guessing I'll stop playing when i've reached too many frustration points or simple bored of exploring . I’m very much into story driven games.. but Elden Ring has no story (or it’s too long-drawn).
Conclusion:
Elden Ring is definitely not for everyone, but this time round, i think its easier for everyone to try again. Cos its open-world (unlike Ubisoft's usual to-do checklist), own-time-own target mentality, coupled with good gameplay mechanics in a gorgeous environment filled with varied characters.