After finally finishing the vast majority of the game (still have not NG+, beaten the optional superboss or fought a few other bosses), I have to say Elden Ring is the best game I have ever played.

Lore and Story 9/10
One of the things heavily anticipated due to the inclusion of GRRM, the lore and story here are absolutely amazing. Taking extremely heavy influence from Norse mythology, Berserk, Tolkien and Dark Souls (obviously), the game is an incredibly amalgamation of the fantasy genre. Everywhere you go, there's something to find or do, and some lore to follow and piece together what happened and what is going to happen.

Gameplay 9/10
Dark Souls but true open-world and more accessible than ever, though arguably harder. The action combat system is as you would expect from Fromsoft, which is great. There are many tools to make encounters easier or even more difficult for you, if you choose to use them (summoning players, familiars/spirit ashes, talismans, buffs/debuffs, etc). The game gives you incredible freedom in your build, allowing you to do what you want, when you want.

Music 10/10
Should this even be questioned? Sure, a lot of bosses reuse some generic themes, but in a game with close to or more than 100 total bosses (counting enemy bosses, AI invaders), the music never gets old.

Multiplayer 8/10
While co-op is amazing and can be fun with friends, the PvP is heavily unbalanced as of launch and the net code really ruins the experience. Co-op good. PvP bad. Fromsoft, please fix.

Optimization 6/10
I ran the game on very high-end hardware, so I cannot comment on low-end performance, but crashes have persisted since I entered late game areas and I even crashed during the final boss. I have not experienced any stuttering or other issues, but I know a lot of other people have, thus I can't say the game is very well-optimized overall.

Final Score 8.4/10
While the game is nearly perfect, the optimization and PvP issues drag down my rating quite a bit; and while these may be issues, I still recommend this game above anything else. I have never experienced a game that made me feel like a child again until this, looking forward to playing every day after coming home. There's something here for everyone, and I do believe anyone who has the possibility of playing- should!

Blessed tidings on your journey to become Elden Lord, Tarnished. And of course, git gud.

After finally finishing the vast majority of the game (still have not NG+, beaten the optional superboss or fought a few other bosses), I have to say Elden Ring is the best game I have ever played. [b] Lore and Story 9/10 [/b] One of the things heavily anticipated due to the inclusion of GRRM, the lore and story here are absolutely amazing. Taking extremely heavy influence from Norse mythology, Berserk, Tolkien and Dark Souls (obviously), the game is an incredibly amalgamation of the fantasy genre. Everywhere you go, there's something to find or do, and some lore to follow and piece together what happened and what is going to happen. [b] Gameplay 9/10 [/b] Dark Souls but true open-world and more accessible than ever, though arguably harder. The action combat system is as you would expect from Fromsoft, which is great. There are many tools to make encounters easier or even more difficult for you, if you choose to use them (summoning players, familiars/spirit ashes, talismans, buffs/debuffs, etc). The game gives you incredible freedom in your build, allowing you to do what you want, when you want. [b] Music 10/10 [/b] Should this even be questioned? Sure, a lot of bosses reuse some generic themes, but in a game with close to or more than 100 total bosses (counting enemy bosses, AI invaders), the music never gets old. [b] Multiplayer 8/10 [/b] While co-op is amazing and can be fun with friends, the PvP is heavily unbalanced as of launch and the net code really ruins the experience. Co-op good. PvP bad. Fromsoft, please fix. [b] Optimization 6/10 [/b] I ran the game on very high-end hardware, so I cannot comment on low-end performance, but crashes have persisted since I entered late game areas and I even crashed during the final boss. I have not experienced any stuttering or other issues, but I know a lot of other people have, thus I can't say the game is very well-optimized overall. [b] Final Score 8.4/10 [/b] While the game is nearly perfect, the optimization and PvP issues drag down my rating quite a bit; and while these may be issues, I still recommend this game above anything else. I have never experienced a game that made me feel like a child again until this, looking forward to playing every day after coming home. There's something here for everyone, and I do believe anyone who has the possibility of playing- should! Blessed tidings on your journey to become Elden Lord, Tarnished. And of course, git gud.