By Izzy Green

Being a fan of the Souls series and other remarkably similar Miyazaki-directed games created by FromSoftware Inc. like Bloodborne, Sekiro, and Demon Souls, it was Elden Ring that unimaginably became the masterpiece that came to life. On Feb 25 Elden Ring, the open map adventure game, hit the market strongly after being on the works for 25 years. The game dominated on Twitch, a popular streaming platform, for ‘most watched games on Twitch’ hours after its release. Elden Ring combines the uniqueness 

of each of the Miyazaki games to create the perfect action role-playing game that allows for each player to build their own personal character through extensive gameplay and secret in-game bosses. The game requires a whopping 107 + hours to fully explore and beat the game surpassing the Dark Souls games which takes 88+ hours to complete the entirety of all three. 

 The best part about this game is the way players are able to grind at their own pace and work through areas throughout the map faster than others. There are a total of  13 different regions within the game that are flooded with special items, armory, and weapons. Some regions are more complex, so they can only be unlocked after completing the main story bosses. Navigating the wide-ranged map can be difficult because of the locked areas, but can be done efficiently if you level up your stats by exploring.

Elden Ring, like the previous Miyizaki games, has an interesting leveling up system. By resting at a site of grace, you can put your runes into one of the 8 stat, also referred to as attributes, which increases your level by one. Runes are equivalent to currency and you can gain runes by beating bosses and fighting enemies. To balance leveling, the game increases the amount of runes needed the higher your level is. Unfortunately, once you die, your runes drop and the only way to collect them is to travel back to your death spot without dying for a second time. This process can be especially grueling if you hold an immense amount of runes and die in a difficult spot. This is one of the many infuriating aspects that make the game a serious challenge. The many challenges, however, is what makes Elden Ring feel extra rewarding.

Elden Ring introduces a bunch of new features which sets the game apart from the others. 

Along with the normal close-combat fighting, there is the addition of magic spells, Ashes of War, horseback riding, summons, and crafting. The complexity of each feature allows players to create unique characters and gain new playing styles with different combinations of each feature. The Ashes of War mechanic allows for special weapon art when attached to your desired weapon. The usage of spirit summoning allows for players to ring a bell and summon passive creatures to help you fight strong foes. The introduction of horseback riding allows for horseback combat against other horseback enemies. This addition also helps players navigate the wide-ranged map quicker, avoid attacks from the ground, and double jump to excel to higher areas. The crafting mechanic is useful when needing certain consumables, ammunition, and to upgrade weapons. The usage of magic spells is what changes the close-combat gameplay into a longer ranged one. These new and creative additions is what makes Elden Ring such a unique and refreshing version from all the older Miyazaki-directed games.

Before you think Elden Ring couldn’t get any more worth it, it has as many as 150 bosses scattered throughout the game, 109 of them being unique. A vast majority of these bosses are not required, but drop important loot that can be helpful to beating the game. The game can be beaten, however, with defeating only 11 as these are the main story bosses. In Bloodborne, there are only 17 bosses, Sekiro 12 bosses, and 19 bosses in each of the Dark Souls games. Elden Ring continues to exceed everyone’s expectations with the immense amount of effort put into the game to make it worth the 60 dollars and it would most definitely higher your standards if it is your first ever action role-playing game.