Live, Die, Level, Repeat

When I pushed the 'Buy' button for Elden Ring, I wondered whether I was getting caught up in all the hype for the game and just buying it for the sake of it. I have all the previous Souls, Sekiro and Demon Souls (both the original and remake) games, but I never seem to get very far. The difficulty combined with having to retrace your steps if you die was not something I seemed to enjoy, and I was quickly getting frustrated. Could Elden Ring hold my interest longer than the other FromSoftware games? As I write this, I am currently 32 hours into the game and nowhere near finished - both in playing it and the story. I'd be a lot further, but baby and life take up a large portion of my time. Nevertheless, Elden Ring has me hooked and has indeed stolen my heart. Is it perfect? Hell no, nowhere near. But it is brilliant. I didn't know where to start when it came to creating my character, and I probably spent a lot longer than I should have to adjust every part of his looks—aiming to create an authentic-looking Samurai character. I changed everything from the face shape to tweaking each limb to the exact proportion best suited a fast and ferocious Samurai. When I loaded in, I noticed that I needn't have bothered as you couldn't tell anything about your character model with all the armour he was wearing. There was no way to remove the headgear to show his face unless you unequipped the helmet, which would lower your armour, so there was no way I was doing that. Lesson learnt for future characters - don't worry about how they look. I (unlike some) followed the spectre pointing down to the 'tutorial area' and found my way through nice and simply, learning about the art of crouch crits, blocking, counters and more. So far, so good. Running happily onto the platform, I made my way up to the world and pushed open the large double doors to get my first glimpse of 'The Land Between' and Limgrave. Wow. While it may not be the most beautiful game ever created, it is still gorgeous to behold. The game's scale becomes apparent as you look around and take in the various landscapes you can immediately see. Knowing there is a lot more out there made it even more incredible. I looked for a quest to undertake but couldn't find a quest journal, so after touching a Site of Grace which are Elden Rings checkpoints, I approached (somewhat cautiously) the first dude I saw. He gave me some cryptic clue, and I was off on my own. The lack of clear guidance is both the beauty and the beast of Elden Ring. On the one hand, you can go about exploring the lands without any interruption or fear of not doing a side-mission. There are no waypoint markers or journals in Elden Ring, so you are free to do as you wish and go where you want - there isn't anything stopping you, except enemies. To begin with, I found this frustrating. I wanted to know what to do next, where should I go? But, over time, this frustration feeling changed to a one of freedom. There WERE no restrictions. I could happily go where I pleased and do whatever I wanted. My biggest 'a ha' moment was discovering the markers that I could place on the map, and I used these to place markers over any NPCs, Dungeons, Merchants and high-level enemies that I found. This revelation made navigating far more manageable, and I could always fast travel to a Site of Grace near a merchant if I wanted to buy something. The map is vast and exquisitely put together. I'd often stumble upon a hidden cave or door that would then lead me to a new area in my explorations. Often these areas had their own mini-boss, each with a unique fighting style and looks. Granted, some are more fun than others, but each adds something to the game, whether it's a particular weapon or just a bucket ton of runes. Speaking of which, Runes are your currency in Elden Ring. Each enemy you kill will drop a certain number of Runes, which can then level up your character at a Site of Grace. If you die while holding onto Runes, you will drop them. If you die again before you recover them, they are gone forever! A mechanic that will often see you return to the area even if there is a brutal enemy so that you can 'hit and run' the pickup of your dropped Runes. Runes can also be used to buy items from traders, and I'd highly recommend picking up both a Torch and Crafting Kit as soon as possible. The combat in this game sets it apart from other open-world sprawlers from the likes of Ubisoft. It feels tight, with timing somewhat akin to a beat-em-up. Each battle has a strategy, and every attack has a different feel. I either run my character as a two-handed Samurai if I'm taking on a big boss or character where they hit heavy or with sweeping attacks, but bust out a shield if going piling into a group of lower-level enemies. Each battle is like a dance, with each participant finding the opportune moment to close the distance and get a strike in. The chance of winning a fight against the main boss types the first time (I feel) is relatively low as you need to learn their attack set. The patterns they will use. The strikes they will reign down on you. Do you need to recoup and come back later? Maybe, but nothing is stopping you from trying early in the game. One of my finest moments came straight after opening the doors to Limgrave for the first time. I merrily head towards what I now know is the Church of Ellah and come across a giant golden knight atop his steed - unfortunately, he didn't look upon me with the same admiration that I had for him, and he struck me down within a second. I've come to learn that enemies don't scale with you, they remain at one level, and this is genius. So I left the Knight and just explored. I tried to find every nook and cranny within the first map area, taking on characters as often as possible, learning the ropes in ruins near Stormgate and slowly levelling my character. Soon I was taking on mini-bosses in the smaller dungeons and caves, dying to some of the more giant bosses but learning every moment. Like something out of a Rocky movie, my training montage was furious. Enemies were falling fast, and each time I'd try something new, I got the Ashes of War, I got my steed, I learnt about Smithing Stones and Golden Runes, Sacred Tears, and so much more. I felt invincible... Then I took on the Flying Dragon Agheel and died pretty much instantly. But that's okay; I know it will die at my hand, though when I don't know. It's going to be fun getting to the point I'm capable, and that's the greatness of Elden Ring. ——— Original ratings: • Visual Design: 10/10 • Sound Design: 8/10 • Gameplay: 8/10 • Longevity: 9/10 • Fun: 8/10