The biggest problem with Elden Ring is that it is the most creatively bankrupt possible version of "Dark Souls: Open World Edition" that Miyazaki could have made. There are no towns, villages, human encampments or otherwise any sentient things worth ruling in this game where the main objective is ruling the world. I know the instinctual cry of Soulslurpers here is 'muh Skyrim' as if Skyrim invented towns in RPGs, but it really does shatter immersion when the game is claiming to give us access to every corner of The Lands Between. If Fromsoft was less pozzed, they could have made a story about rescuing a princess, but we'll never get that from the A/B bodytype company now because EVERYTHING has to be some fucking will to power narrative even when there is nothing to wield power over.

None of the bosses interact with the open world in any interesting ways whatsoever. There are no bosses who roam, no bosses who stalk you, no bosses you have to hunt, no bosses who flee, no bosses who attempt to ensnare you by feigning being NPCs, or anything. In this game where the only thing meaningful distinguishing it from any other Souls game is the vast open world, somehow, every fight is just a completely standard brawl in a fog wall arena. The fact that they have no good ideas for difficulty left so all of them need to have cartoonishly delayed attack animations just to fuck with the player is icing on the slop cake.

to this day I find it so bizzare they hired George RR Martin to write this game and the plot is literally non existing and everything is like Dark Souls but with different names and no connection or internal structure. I wonder what the Fatman actually write, or considering how winds of winter are going he probably give miyazaki note with "ooh the elden ring' and called it a day, I like the game but can't take it seriously when the setting and lore is so nonsensical

Long time Souls fans, how did we feel about Elden Ring?

For me, it's simply too long. DS2 had a sense of overstaying its welcome, Elden Ring turns that up to 11. I'm a completionist by nature and the sheer size of Elden Ring makes the idea of replaying it daunting.

Back in the day Bloodborne and DS3 bosses were often strawmanned as being spastic anime spectacles, but I feel in Elden Ring that strawman has become a reality.

I feel like Elden Ring still hits the mark in terms of lore, aesthetics, and atmosphere, and I keep getting the itch to come back, but playing it quickly starts to feel like a chore.

This is just the Skyrim of the 2020s.