Recent reviews by Tundy

This game is a masterpiece.

Not only is the story captivating and interesting, but it is incredibly deep too. The storytelling at play here is almost perfect in my opinion, the way its story is so intertwined with the gameplay is phenomenal. One of the best things this game does, is allow the player to become the narrator in some ways. What i mean by this is it allows the player to choose how much of the story is told, whilst controlling the pace and complexity too. If you are someone who wants to play through an RPG, get a basic synopsis of the story and leave it at that, you will love this game and its story. If you’re someone who loves a rich and complex story with twists, turns and complex characters, you will also love this game. The game allows the player to explore the side quests and story’s in a rewarding way that avoids spoon feeding content without making it too hard to find and digest. It also provides a lot of contexts for the world and its characters through item descriptions meaning your understanding for a previously completed side quest could be flipped on its head upon discovering a certain armament or talisman down the line.

On top of its phenomenal storytelling, the game doesn’t disappoint in terms of mechanics and systems. The combat feels smooth, rewarding and almost addicting. Whether it be colossal swords and great axes, or sorcery's and incantations, each of the plethora of builds the game offers feels fun and rewarding to play. Not only do these builds all feel unique and enjoyable but they are also incredibly well balanced for the most part, after 4+ playthroughs I have experimented with every weapon type and plenty of different attribute builds, and none felt nonviable or even bad. On top of being enjoyable and well balanced, the sheer amount of possible builds this game allows for is mind-blowing. Part of this is due to the fact you can use a main hand and offhand weapon, soul ashes (summons) and mix potions that allow various skills from damage buffs to infinite mana for a short amount of time. When combined these unique systems allow for a massive number of possibilities from all ends of the spectrum.

I expected the story to be good (not this good), and the systems to be well designed (again, not this well) but i was sure that the open world aspect of this game was going to be a weak point at the very least. Not only was i wrong in that assumption, but i would go as far as saying the way the world is designed is potentially the best thing about the game, and that’s saying something. Not only is it massive, but it is jam packed full of content. There wasn’t a second i spent running from point A to point B where i was bored or wished i had something to do along the way. Whether it’s a unique pack of enemies to fight that are protecting a rare item, a dungeon I stumbled across with a mini boss inside, or a gaol with a great enemy locked inside waiting to be defeated, there wasn’t a square metre of the map left untouched. Not only this, but almost every single boss fight was unique and original and the same can be said for the enemies spread throughout the world.

Yes, the game had optimisation issues on launch, which can’t be overlooked. However, despite having these problems the games devs worked quickly on fixes that were rolled out successfully and I personally haven’t had any issues with FPS since. I also think it’s important to note that, especially since these issues have been resolved, I don’t think this should take away from the incredible world, in-depth story, and amazing systems that FromSoftware have created here.

Overall, this game was by far the best gaming experience I have ever had, the story and lore are incredible, the vast and breathtaking world is phenomenal, and the systems and mechanics implemented are perfections of ones present in other beloved FromSoftware games.