Elden Ring Reviews - FromSoftware's Magnum Opus
The first reviews of Elden Ring have appeared in the web. Everything indicates that FromSoftware has provided fans of dying with an absolute masterpiece - but not without some technical problems.
Oh, Elden Ring. In less than thirty hours we will be able to begin our adventure in the world of The Lands Between. As it usually happens, reviewers received this opportunity much earlier, as a result of which today the first reviews of fromSoftware's new game hit the net. Or perhaps we should say, another hit in the developer's output. Industry expert opinions are thoroughly positive.
On Metacritic.com you can currently find a total of 87 reviews - 35 for the PC version, 44 for the PS5 edition and 8 for the XSX/S release.. The two lowest scores are 8s (from Digital Trends and ZTGD). All the rest are 9s, 9s plus and round 10s. See for yourself.
Elden Ring - selected reviews
- VGC - 5/5 (PS5)
- Daily Star - 5/5 (PS5)
- Gaming Nexus - 10/10 (PS5)
- PCGamesN - 10/10 (PC)
- Game Informer - 100/100 (PC)
- Wccftech - 10/10 (PC)
- GameRant - 5/5 (PS5)
- NME - 5/5 (PC)
- IGN - 100/100 (PC)
- GamesRadar - 5/5 (PS5)
- ScreenRant - 5/5 (PS5)
- Twinfinite - 5/5 (PC)
- TheGamer - 5/5 (PS5)
- VG247 - 5/5 (PC)
- GameSpot - 10/10 (PC)
- MGG Spain - 97/100 (PS5)
- CGMagazine - 9.5/10 (XSX/S)
- Xbox Achievements - 90/100 (XSX/S)
- Digital Trends - 4/5 (PC)
- ZTGD - 8/10 (PC)
Metascore:
- PC - 95/100 (out of 35 reviews)
- PS5 - 97/100 (out of 44 reviews)
- XSX/S - 95/100 (out of 8 reviews)
New open-world quality
So let's focus on the pros. Elden Ring is described as a spectacle and a wonderful experience. Reviewers agree that the game is incredibly addictive and, despite some minor flaws, outright wonderful.Daniel Tack from Game Informer put it nicely by when he wrote that "Elden Ring is the culmination of a formula developed and refined over the years by FromSoftware. It's a game that shows you can defy the prevailing trends in the industry, even if you follow them.
I'm talking, of course, about the open world, which for many is the biggest unknown in the studio's new work. Fortunately, Hidetaka Miyazaki and co. knew what they were doing, thanks to which - according to many - they created a design of virtual space, which will become one of the patterns in creating video game landmasses. In fact, some of the locations have been hailed as the pinnacle of the developer's work and a true display of creativity.
Satisfying combat and exploration
Also praised are the complex, satisfying combat system, the boss design (although in this aspect at some stage of the adventure a certain amount of duplicity is said to appear) and exploration. Zhiqing Wan from Twinfinite stated that Elden Ring rewards players of all types - from the curious explorer to the action- and adrenaline-hungry warrior.
Performance issues
In other words, on February 25th a masterpiece will hit the market... a masterpiece which, however, is plagued by some technical problems. On PlayStation 5, the game is expected to run at 40-60 frames per second in performance mode, but only 20-30 fps in quality mode. And while this is not supposed to interfere with fun on the consoles, optimization on PC supposedly leaves a lot to be desired. Performance is said to be poor even on configurations with 32GB of RAM and a GeForce RTX 3080 GPUs. Apparently, however, this is just a small fly in an otherwise wonderful ointment.
Elden Lords and Ladies wanted right away
Lastly, let me mention that the game's publisher, Bandai Namco Entertainment, has announced its intention to make one hundred players into real Elden Lords and Ladies. What does it take to receive such an honor?
Enter to win one hundred commemorative plots of land, sized from 1-100 square foot (0.09-9.3 square meters) in the Highland Titles nature reserve near Glencoe, Scotland. You must tell the devs why you are entitled to this honor, provided we are a resident of the UK or Ireland and are at least sixteen years old. More details about the campaign can be found here and here.
