A 10/10 would mean a game is practically perfection and an absolute must-play - which very few games are either of those. No, Elden Ring is NOT 10/10; 9 at most, and not a must-play at all if you dislike challenging gameplay.
People withold the use 10/10 so strongly. I'm not saying elden ring is 10/10, but I am saying that perfection is unattainable. 10 means history defining. 10 means best of a genre. 10 is Mario 64, Final fantasy 7, etc. A game will age and a game will have a specific target audience. It can't be this magical status of perfect and it won't be perfect years on.
The game itself is fine. Gameplay is good. Story is... There... However, it needs a lot of tuning. There is no reason the game should change my monitors refresh rate.
@Chary Something can be "history defining" whilst being a truly rotten piece of software; Mass Effect Andromeda, for example, killed off new Mass Effect games, while Warcraft 3 Reforged murdered and replaced Warcraft 3.
Also, "best of a genre" is quite subjective; I find SM64DS to be of far higher quality than Galaxy or Sunshine, and New SMB 2 to be a fantastic platformer, far better than others I've played. So that doesn't work either.
Numerical scores are dumb anyway, since everyone has their own biases and preferences and tastes. What might be a 9 to one person could easily be a 5 to someone else, and vice-versa, and not every 9/10 game is alike either.
Combat, visual, and sound design are all unmatched. Let me put it to you this way: I haven't seen a single section of the open world that looks exactly like any other. Absolutely insane when you consider the scope of it. I also found the way AROUND the first major legacy dungeon completely by accident. Even with millions of players, most will end up taking different paths through the world.