Those struggling to wait for Elden Ring's release are going to be dealing with even more hype, as the review embargo for Elden Ring has lifted, revealing what critics with early copies of the game think of FromSoft's latest game. We're not even three months into the year, and we might already have a GOTY on our hands, as Elden Ring's reviews are outstandingly, overwhelmingly high right out of the gate. With just less than 100 individual reviews, the game is sitting at an average score of 97--higher than The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, higher than The Last of Us, Persona 5, Metal Gear Solid V, and other titles that tend to sit atop "best game of all time lists".

In fact, Elden Ring is now the highest-scored game of all time critically, tied with 2017's Super Mario Odyssey. This is at least going by OpenCritic's more modern standards of review aggregation--over at Metacritic, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time still confidently reigns supreme with its 99/100. Regardless, the results are in, and it appears Elden Ring might be one of the greatest games out in the past few years. Are you even more excited to try it, or are you going to wait to see what the fan consensus is after launch?

Now the #1 game of all time: pic.twitter.com/UAZClQnKGf

— OpenCritic (@Open_Critic) February 23, 2022

​

Elden Ring will be out on February 25th, for PC, Xbox Series, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and PlayStation 4.

 

[tabzer]

People throw around objectivity too much when it comes to games and reviews. Some people will like some games and others won't. That's all there is to it. There's no objective right or wrong here, and that's fine.

If you want to talk objectivity, then we can look at the facts of this thread. A significant number of people who were provided a copy for the purpose of review prior to the game's launch enjoyed it. That's it. Does it guarantee you, or any other person will enjoy it? Of course not. But you can read the words and assess why each person enjoyed it and see whether it marries up to your definition of enjoyment.

I don't understand the arguments around liking and not liking a game. It really is fine either way, and there's no shame in not liking a popular series, just as there's no shame in liking one.

I agree, which is why I responded the way I did. I am not arguing that the game is bad.

I find that the bombardment of reviews and the inevitable stream of content/memes tend to work against the sense of discovery that I am personally fond of when I play games. I will give this game a try after the hype is gone. After that, I'll probably stop playing it after a couple of hours because that's usually what happens when I play Souls games.

With all the gameplay mechanics all rationalized, what is the consensus about its story and how it delivers? One thing I dislike about the current trend in a lot of these games (Horizon included) is how much of the story is delivered through in-game literature.

 

[64bitmodels]

Oh you want to know what's objectively shit? Zombie horror survival games and TLOU2 and Naughty Dog in general.

FUCKING FACTS DUDE. God i don't know how they even managed to survive after jak X.
Also yeah, comparing autistic people to kingdom hearts is an insult towards the autistic people. sorry bout that

 

[the_randomizer]

FUCKING FACTS DUDE. God i don't know how they even managed to survive after jak X.
Also yeah, comparing autistic people to kingdom hearts is an insult towards the autistic people. sorry bout that

Crash was their only good franchise, before they got bought out by Activision/Toys for Bob.

 

[leon315]

more souls-like, how innovative

yep, we love it! but somehow nintendo fans still jerk off on that boring game about plumper who does nothing but jump and abuse mushrooms.

 

[the_randomizer]

yep, we love it! but somehow nintendo fans still jerk off on that boring game about plumper who does nothing but jump and abuse mushrooms.

Then don't fucking play it.

 

[Xzi]

I got that. Just like... Dynasty Warriors.

Yeah, but you ignored the rest of what I said. Dynasty Warriors is mind-numbingly easy and way too repetitive. If you turn the difficulty up it's just artificial nonsense like increasing enemy HP. Basically: it doesn't even belong in the same sentence as the Dark Souls games where combat design is concerned, and Elden Ring has improved upon that formula even more. Monster Hunter would be a better comparison, as it has slightly slower, deliberate combat as well.

You're just telling me you don't actually play the games. Specially the earlier ones on harder difficulties + lower levels.
'Souls' got nothing on DW3XL later stages on hard.

As above, it's artificial difficulty. There's no sense of accomplishment from beating it, only a sense of, "well thank fuck that's over." The combat design is not strong.

That's nice, like I said, but not exactly new or riveting content. I got that from WoW, Horizon and many others.

WoW has plenty of filler and empty space (as all MMOs do), and Horizon is an action-adventure game with just a skill tree and no real character/build customization. I don't think you're grasping the full scope of Elden Ring here. Hundreds of weapons/weapon arts, spells, armor pieces, items to craft, bosses to kill. The Horizon sequel seems good and all, but with Elden Ring out tomorrow I'm in no rush to buy it.

Story beats or overall sense is not spoilers.

Well we already had that given to us in a trailer, which also isn't the same as the long intro cinematic in the game.

It's an WRPG through and through. It has to do with style, not country of origin anymore.
The same way we have tons of indie western JRPGs.

Even by that arbitrary change of definition, it's still a JRPG. No Western developer has even come close to mimicking the fantastic level and combat design of Soulsborne games. Hell, even some Japanese developers have tried and failed (Code Vein, yuck).

It's literally the reason the genre exists today, more than 20 years after the first game.

Lol, the reason Soulsborne games exist is because King's Field exists. Look it up.

 

[Noctosphere]

Yea well i see that kind of reviews very often
For example, a tv series based on an already very succesful book or video game or movie will almost automatically get high rating
While a tv series that comes out of nowhere will almost automatically get low rating
I saw that with a series called The 100, the book wasn't a great succes, so the series got low rating... However, the viewership were very high compared to the budjet of the series. Well, strangely, the rating at season 2 skyrocketed.

No matter how bad it may be, a movie produced by someone like James Cameron will always get high rating, just because the name James Cameron is on the poster...

 

[Phearoz]

Without question, the Souls series is the most influential of the last decade (Minecraft a close second probably lol), but now with Elden Ring we'll see about the 2020s.
Wild how good these reviews are. I knew it was going to be good, but this is an entirely different level.

 

[the_randomizer]

I'm still hesitant given that this game may be difficult for newcomers to souls games getting into, just saying.

 

[Noctosphere]

I'm still hesitant given that this game may be difficult for newcomers to souls games getting into, just saying.

Maybe you can explain me what exactly is a "soul like" game please?

 

[Phearoz]

Maybe you can explain me what exactly is a "soul like" game please?

https://gamicus.fandom.com/wiki/Soulslike_video_games

 

[Marc_LFD]

Mario Odyssey and BotW are up there? Well, they're excellent games though I reckon there's ones that deserve that ranking more.

 

[Xzi]

I'm still hesitant given that this game may be difficult for newcomers to souls games getting into, just saying.

Even veterans that have beat FromSoft's last five games will die in Elden Ring at times (myself included), that's part of the design. What's important is that the game gives you more tools than ever for overcoming any situation.

For example: every class except Wretch starts with a shield, and one of the first things you'll be taught in the tutorial cave is a new mechanic called guard-counter. After an enemy strikes your shield, you hit R2 and you'll deliver a quick but heavy counter-attack. Not only does it do lots of HP damage, it also does a ton of stance damage, which will stance break the enemy if you follow with successive attacks, opening them up for a riposte. Some people are already calling it the "noob parry," but it really is more than that because certain weapons (and jumping attacks) cannot be parried but they can be guard-countered.

Also, if it makes you feel any better, FromSoft has stated in interviews that the hardest bosses will be optional and well-hidden off the beaten path. This is keeping with tradition, as DLC bosses were usually the hardest in previous games.

 

[Phearoz]

I'm still hesitant given that this game may be difficult for newcomers to souls games getting into, just saying.

There are games where you can just turn your brain off and move around (go play Flower) and there are games where the challenge is part of the design.

The most accomplished I ever felt in 25+ years of gaming was beating Sekiro - and if I could've just sweeped the Sword Saint on the first try, or the second, or the 25th, there's no way it would have been such an epic moment after finally learning his move-set and mastering the timings etc.

I wouldn't want to play Sekiro everyday...

 

[Xzi]

I wouldn't want to play Sekiro everyday...

Sekiro really is the anti-Elden Ring, which is why I guess FromSoft released them one after the other. It's the most limiting of the Soulsborne games, as it's not an RPG but an action game. You're forced to play it in one specific way, whereas a lot of people get through the entire Dark Souls series without needing to parry once.

 

[ertaboy356b]

Probably too easy if journalists gives this a high score.

 

[the_randomizer]

Even veterans that have beat FromSoft's last five games will die in Elden Ring at times (myself included), that's part of the design. What's important is that the game gives you more tools than ever for overcoming any situation.

For example: every class except Wretch starts with a shield, and one of the first things you'll be taught in the tutorial cave is a new mechanic called guard-counter. After an enemy strikes your shield, you hit R2 and you'll deliver a quick but heavy counter-attack. Not only does it do lots of HP damage, it also does a ton of stance damage, which will stance break the enemy if you follow with successive attacks, opening them up for a riposte. Some people are already calling it the "noob parry," but it really is more than that because certain weapons (and jumping attacks) cannot be parried but they can be guard-countered.

Also, if it makes you feel any better, FromSoft has stated in interviews that the hardest bosses will be optional and well-hidden off the beaten path. This is keeping with tradition, as DLC bosses were usually the hardest in previous games.

There's that, the but the lack of quest markers, keeping track of NPCs, that may just overwhelm me, no?

 

[TheGodMauro]

> Soul game

Yeah, I would give it a try when they have super casual mode.

It does, it's called getting carried by other players on MP, or using one of the very broken magic builds.

 

[Xzi]

There's that, the but the lack of quest markers, keeping track of NPCs, that may just overwhelm me, no?

You do have a compass in the UI and a pretty detailed overworld map which you can place custom markers on. Though yes, quests given by NPCs are more organic in the sense that they'll point you in a direction or give you a vague description of an area you might've been before, and part of the fun is figuring it out for yourself. That aspect is gonna be new to everybody.

OTOH, there will be much more obvious hints toward some secret areas in the overworld as well, like ghostly apparitions that lead you straight to a treasure chest in a secluded grove. Sites of grace (this game's bonfires) also give off golden rays which guide you straight down the main story path if you're feeling overwhelmed with optional content. The game is about 60-80 hours in a "standard" run, and 180+ for a completionist run. So it's a little of column A, a little of column B, just depends on how much of the game you want to experience.

 

[Plasmaster09]

gee I sure am glad all of these glowing, nigh-perfect pre-release reviews are one hundred percent legitimate, unbiased and most certainly not bribed-up-the-ass for