Elden Ring Review

First Impression

The opening hours of Elden Ring communicate its design philosophy more clearly than any tutorial text could. You emerge from a cave into Limgrave — the starting region — and the world opens up in every direction. There is a castle in the distance. There are ruins to your left. There is a merchant beneath a cliff and a massive dragon sleeping on a lake shore. The game tells you absolutely nothing about what to do next. And that is the entire point.

Within twenty minutes, most players will have died to an enemy far above their level, discovered a hidden cave with a powerful early weapon, and received a cryptic message from an NPC who immediately walks away. Elden Ring is a game that assumes you want to explore, think, and occasionally fail — and it rewards that mentality with a density of meaningful content that very few open worlds can match.

Gameplay and Combat Mechanics

Elden Ring's combat builds on the Dark Souls blueprint while expanding it significantly. The core loop is unchanged: learn enemy patterns, manage stamina, strike windows, and respect aggression. But where Dark Souls rewarded caution, Elden Ring — particularly in the endgame — rewards aggression. Enemies hit harder, move faster, and chain attacks more aggressively than any previous FromSoftware title outside Sekiro.

The weapons system is the deepest in the series. Every weapon class — from colossal greatswords to daggers to bows to staves — has a unique moveset, and every weapon can be equipped with an Ash of War: a special ability that can be swapped freely. This allows for extraordinary build variety. A faith/strength hybrid build plays completely differently to a dexterity/arcane bleed build, and both are equally viable paths through the game.

Spirit Ashes add a new dimension. These summonable companions — ranging from wolves to jellyfish to the notorious Mimic Tear (now nerfed) — can be deployed in boss fights and major encounters. Critics initially questioned whether they undermined the game's difficulty philosophy. In practice, they function as a difficulty slider that the player controls: experienced players ignore them, newcomers rely on them, and everyone is playing a legitimate version of the game.

Story and World

The Lands Between is the most richly detailed open world in gaming. George R.R. Martin contributed the world's mythology — the backstory of the Elden Ring, the demigods who shattered it, and the civilisations that rose and fell before the player arrives. Miyazaki then applied his signature approach: most of this lore is delivered through item descriptions, environmental details, and carefully placed NPC dialogue rather than cinematic exposition.

The result is a world that rewards reading. Every piece of equipment has a description that adds context. The ruins you find in Stormhill tell a story about a siege. The ash-covered plains of Farum Azula reveal the origin of the Elden Ring's protectors. Players who engage with the lore will find one of gaming's richest fictional mythologies. Players who ignore it will still have a complete mechanical experience — they just won't know why they're fighting who they're fighting.

Six distinct regions — Limgrave, Liurnia, Caelid, Altus Plateau, Mountaintops of the Giants, and Farum Azula — each have their own visual language, enemy types, and narrative thread. The underground regions, including Siofra River and Nokron, add vertical depth to the world. The scale is genuinely staggering: 100+ hours into the game, players are still discovering content they missed.

Graphics and Performance

Elden Ring is a visually striking game. The art direction — gothic architecture crumbling under blood-red skies, underground forests lit by glowing roots, the golden spires of Leyndell Royal Capital — is extraordinary. The aesthetic consistency across six massive regions, each with radically different visual identities, represents a remarkable feat of artistic direction.

PC performance at launch was controversial. Frame pacing issues, stuttering in certain areas, and subpar VRAM management plagued the initial release. FromSoftware has addressed many of these issues through patches, and the current state of the PC version is substantially improved — though it still doesn't reach the technical polish of console releases. On PS5 and Xbox Series X, the game runs at a stable 60fps in performance mode with no significant issues.

Difficulty and Learning Curve

Elden Ring is not an easy game. It is, however, arguably FromSoftware's most accessible title to date — not because it is easier, but because it offers more tools to manage the challenge. The open world means that if a boss is stopping you, you can go elsewhere, level up, find better equipment, and return. This freedom, which was absent in the linear Dark Souls games, fundamentally changes the experience for struggling players.

The first five hours have the steepest learning curve. Players who have never played a FromSoftware title will likely struggle with Margit the Fell Omen, the game's first major boss. But Margit is designed as a teacher: his delayed attacks punish panic-rolling, his health bar respects aggression, and his patterns are learnable within a half-dozen attempts. The feeling of defeating Margit for the first time is among gaming's most satisfying moments.

Replay Value and DLC

The base game offers 60–100 hours on a first playthrough. New Game+ scales enemy health and damage, drops additional Rune Arcs, and provides fresh challenge for veteran players. The true replay value, however, comes from build diversity. A strength build that smashes through the game with a colossal hammer is a completely different experience to an intelligence build that keeps distance with crystal sorceries. Most dedicated players complete three or four runs before exhausting the content.

Shadow of the Erdtree (2024), the sole DLC, is one of gaming's greatest expansions. A new map roughly the size of Limgrave, 10 major bosses including Messmer the Impaler and the brutal final encounter, new weapon categories, and a Scadutree Fragment progression system that adds distinct difficulty scaling. It should be considered essential for anyone who finished the base game.

Who Should Buy Elden Ring

Buy it if: you enjoy action RPGs with deep combat systems, games that challenge you to learn and improve, or open worlds that reward exploration and curiosity. If you've bounced off previous FromSoftware games due to linearity, Elden Ring's open world is genuinely more forgiving of early struggles.

Skip it if: you need narrative handholding, dislike trial-and-error combat learning curves, or find the idea of 60+ hour commitment to a single game unappealing. Elden Ring respects your time by filling every hour with meaningful content — but it demands full engagement.

Compared to Similar Games

Against Dark Souls 3: Elden Ring is a superset — everything DS3 does, Elden Ring does more of, with the addition of the open world. DS3 has tighter pacing and a stronger final stretch; Elden Ring has incomparably more content. Against Sekiro: completely different experience — Sekiro is faster, more mechanically focused, and narrative-forward. Against God of War: Ragnarök: different design philosophy — GoW is cinematic and guided, Elden Ring is systemic and emergent. Both are masterpieces of their respective approaches.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Elden Ring good for beginners to souls-like games? ▼

Yes — more so than any previous FromSoftware game. The open world means you can skip difficult content temporarily, and Spirit Ashes provide optional combat assistance. That said, expect a genuine difficulty curve in the first 5–10 hours.

Do I need to play Dark Souls before Elden Ring? ▼

No. Elden Ring is a standalone title with no story connection to Dark Souls. The only carryover is gameplay DNA — if you understand stamina management and dodge timing, you're ahead, but it's not required.

How long does it take to finish Elden Ring? ▼

Main story only: ~45–60 hours. Full exploration: 80–120 hours. With Shadow of the Erdtree DLC: add 20–30 hours. It is one of the most content-dense games available at its price point.

Is Elden Ring worth buying in 2025? ▼

Absolutely. With regular sales dropping the base game to $29.99 or below, and the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC available for ~$30, you're looking at 100+ hours of exceptional content for under $60.

Does Elden Ring have co-op? ▼

Yes. Elden Ring supports up to three players in cooperative multiplayer using Summoning Signs or the Seamless Co-op mod (PC only). PvP invasion is also present, though it can be disabled with certain items.