This game sunk it's juicy spiky ass right into me from the second I started playing it. The very first enemy you encounter (who you will come to kill super easily later on) is DESIGNED to kill you and take you to the tutorial of the game. From that point on, I knew I was gonna be losing a lot of sleep over this game. In the first weekend I had put over 20 hours into it and was tempted to write a review then because I just didn't see any end in sight. But I said: "No. You're gonna write this review as an Elden Lord,"...and here I am. An Elden Lord.
I had played a little bit of Demon's Souls but I was never really hooked. I didn't like how difficult it was to maneuver through everything and just how linear it all was. This game lets you go wherever the heck you want. If you don't want to fight a boss and you'd rather harvest some runes to level up before you take him on, feel free. The world is your oyster. Along the way, I completed multiple side quests for other NPC's, I raided other people's games (and got my ass handed to me), I was leveling up my summons and my weapons. It was just FUN. The game is designed to make you feel like you're growing as you progress. There were multiple times when I would go back to the starting area to wipe out all of the beginner soldiers just as a benchmark to see how much easier the game had got.
The bosses in this game are also ball numbingly difficult. You really need to learn how these characters attack so you can learn how to avoid and dodge. You evolve to however these assholes play. And it makes it so much fun. And when you do finally kill a boss that you've spent 3 to 6 hours on killing, it feels SO GOOD. You feel like you are now THAT much more powerful and it makes for such a great experience.
Elden Ring is my new favorite game of all time.