Elden Ring Review - IGN

IGN writes: Elden Ring is a massive iteration on what FromSoftware began with the Souls series, bringing its relentlessly challenging combat to an incredible open world that gives us the freedom to choose our own path.

[Eonjay]

I would like to try to get into the Souls games.

[BigBosss]

Oh man, you definitely should. Amazing games! Demon's Souls, Dark Souls 1, 2 and 3, Bloodborne and Sekiro are amazing games.

[LordoftheCritics]

Reviewer mentions Zelda.....

Popcorn: 'whimpers'

Well done FS.

[TiredGamer]

Can't agree more. Ever since getting into Bloodborne, I've been sucked into every Souls game like no other game has managed. I've tried to convince others of their greatness, but most non-players are extremely resistant. For shame...

[UnSelf]

Sekiro is the best one. The rest are just spam the dodge button. After mastering Sekiro I can’t play anymore souls games

[wiz7191]

I have to get back into Sekiro , patience is very key and at times I don’t be having it lol

[AKS]

Nothing quite like the first experience with an enemy like the red-eyes knight you've agitated and realize one hit takes off 90% of your health and you really screwed up. LOL. Have to learn through practice and experience to get the timings and techniques down. Learning the fundamentals is essential. Button mashing won't cut it in these games, but dying almost always feels like it was fair and your mistake for messing up on your timing or going a bit too far before cashing in your souls. This feeling of fairness tends to be unique to games that are designed specifically to challenge you rather than just artificially mess with the numbers to inflate the difficulty by giving the enemies more health and more damage, which almost always tends to result in feeling like you were killed cheaply and there was little you could do to prevent it.

[UnSelf]

Sekiro requires the least amount of patience if you ask me.

There’s no stupid Action bar that depletes with simple actions like sprinting and dodging.

Sekiro rewards you enormously for mastering combat and you can fly through the game much like a fighting game would reward you for the time you spend learning the techniques.

This is Unlike 99% of souls games that rewards you for exploiting IFs. I wanna get Elden but that Action bar is the worse thing to happen to video games in a long time.

[UltraNova]

From soft games are the only games I get sucked into so much so I keep thinking about them when I'm not playing - at work, at the gym, while out with friends, when I go to bed. The only games I plan my weekly schedule to find as much time as possible to play. It's truly remarkable for a guy at my age and busy life.

[ravens52]

I beat sekiro and bloodborne both the first from software games I beat. I have demon souls for ps5 and I haven't beaten it yet I kinda enjoy the more fast pace fighting in the former 2 but ye, great games. I will beat demon souls eventually. I also bought ds3 on ps4 but never beat it. I'm definitely going to pick this up tomorrow tho...even tho I'm playing horizon

[frostypants]

Souls games are all about "embracing the suck"...you're gonna die, and it will be your fault. They almost encourage you to press too hard, be it an area you just discovered and want to take a peak at, or a tantalizing treasure box behind a mysterious enemy, etc. Appreciate that...learn to blame yourself and appreciate the level design...and they are amazing.

[Abear21]

So true about the design, the exploration in these games is incredible and it’s hard to resist pressing on to see the next thing. I wasted 20 plus hours on Bloodborne and just built a shit character so I have to start over. No shame in researching or a guide to start off on the right foot for newcomers unless you’re planning on sinking a hundred hours.

[rdgneoz3]

Less about sucking, and more about how fast you learn / how many times you're willing to endure getting spanked till you learn the mechanics and such. Certain mobs have certain tricks that will punish you for being too greedy, so patience is a virtue.

That said, can't wait to play it. Looks beautiful and challenging.

[gamer7804]

They really are a love it or hate it type of game so you’ll know if you try one.

[Viljong]

Most people are busy with families, work, different hobbies and want rather quick dopamin releasing experience and when they get owned in souls game thats not the relaxing experience.

[gamer7804]

@viljojg exactly 12 years ago I might be into them but with family and stuff gaming is a time to relax and escape the stresses and busyness of everyday life.

[neutralgamer1992]

Nothing surprising this game was going to be great from the moment it was announced. But maybe it's just me I don't feel like a lot of games should get 10 out of 10. No I am not talking about this game I am just talking in general way too many Blockbuster games get 10 out of 10

That score used to mean something back in the day because only a handful of games had ever received 10 out of 10 but nowadays on yearly basis we have double digit games getting 10 out of 10

[Brazz]

Now is the best possible time, a New world, New lore, New game... Come and praise the Sun Brother, let's enjoy jolly cooperation!

[Rebel_Scum]

Try Nioh. The animations and movement is a bit faster than the souls games. You can grind to level up if you get real stuck as well.

[0hMyGandhi]

BloodBorne was my gateway drug into From Software's games and was perhaps one of the most infuriating, most exhilarating, most incredible games I've ever played.
The most important takeaway with a FS game is that they are brutal but fair. The same way a twitch shooter like Unreal or Quake has impeccable mechanics and wonderfully responsive controls, A FS game just doesn't give you the opportunity to fault *it* for your untimely death. You learn, adapt, and win, and that vicious cycle is what playing games is all about.

[kayoss]

is elden ring like the Souls games? For some reason, i assumed that it was a MMO kind of game.

[Sirk7x]

You can basically consider it open-world Dark Souls.

[gold_drake]

me too haha.
but the infamous difficulty is what makes me hesitant.

[alb1899]

The ones saying that it won't be that good...LOL!!

[Old McGroin]

I haven't been this excited for a game in a very long time.

[shepherdzeMan]

people were saying it would be scored around 80,
i mean this is rockstar games level game ratings , 97 metacritic aint a joke

[Class_Viceroy]

Huh? Every game they've released has been between like an 87 and 92. Who said it was going to be scored around 80?

Where do you people come up with these fake underdog stories for Elden Ring.

[Class_Viceroy]

literally nobody said this game wouldn't be good. Even people that don't like Souls-likes understood this would be a well received game.

No idea why you're even posting that besides for attention

[senorfartcushion]

I can’t wait to play the game, but a single review is not a measure of quality. Quality is down to the player. No one can tell you to like or dislike anything.

Think for yourself.

[Ezio2048]

97 metacritic on PS5. It has joined the very top pantheon of legendary games.

[darthv72]

95 on Series as well but there is a large delta between reviews. 44 for PS5 and only 8 on Series (as of this moment). Still... that makes it a 96 average overall. It's also sitting at 95 on PC with 35 reviews.

[roadkillers]

I see meta at 97, I can’t imagine this holds up past release. I would assume it drops to 94/95.

[spambot0815]

no controversial scores usually turn into a too good to be true case over time.

[SniperEdition]

Wow i knew it, friday can’t come soon enough

[I_am_Batman]

Well, I know what I'm doing this weekend.

[AngainorG7X]

I expected nothing less from Miyazaki

[Outlawzz]

Wow I did not expect that. I may have to give this a shot, im not a souls fan but with the reviews coming out its definitely worth a look

[BigBosss]

Dude, you don't want to miss out on Elden Ring. Trust me!

[CS7]

Nice to see the game lives up to the hype!

The review states it takes inspiration from BOTW!
Can we agree that’s cool or is that against the N4G conspiracy?

[Imalwaysright]

BoTW levels of player agency, exploration and freedom + FromSoftware's patented combat, boss fights and atmosphere... This game is like a dream come true and if the metacritic score is anything to go by FromSoftware executed that formula perfectly.

[phoenixwing]

i don't think it's cool mainly because botw didn't invent anything so maybe they took inspiration from even older mechanics that botw copied. What I found interesting is they couldn't help themselves from mentioning botw because they're licking nintendo's boots all the time.

Edit: If zelda ever gets good full voice acting and presentation beyond a few moments maybe we can say they took inspiration from horizon zero dawn or elden ring then right? Because that makes just as much sense.

[TricksterArrow]

"By the gods, the ENTIRE VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY acknowledges that BOTW’s opened ended game design, player agency, exploration, freedom, physics driven game play was innovative."

You mean Minecraft, right?

[Tedakin]

That's the highest metacritic score I can remember seeing in a very long time.

[Ezio2048]

Highest since RDR2

[OneLove]

Once he said you could summon a bunch of different creatures, I was sold.

[Walalon]

You can even heal them! So you can be a Shaman in the game and that’s awesome!

[dmonee]

The replies to IGN’s review of this game, are citing the games lack of difficulty and some are commenting they won’t play it because it’s too easy. Nowhere in any review I’ve gone over has it said the game is easy. If anything they are saying it’s hard and that some bosses they haven’t beaten yet. I have struggled with FROM games because of their difficulty. Not because I can’t overcome those challenges but because, I don’t have hours upon hours of my time to dedicate to video games like I used to. From what I’ve read, this is more of the same just in an open world format. I can appreciate the developer catering to its hardcore fan base, and leaving sales on the table. It’s a testament to art in general. They don’t necessarily care about the potential to reach a broader audience and have stuck to their guns. From a business perspective that doesn’t make sense to me. There are still a large number of potential consumers they have alienated by making a game like this too difficult for some.

[Rocosaurus]

I am actually glad the difficulty seems somewhat lower, as i found the punishment being handed out in previous souls games become tedious after a while.

[dmonee]

Tedious is a great word for the difficulty in Souls games. It’s not that they’re impossible, it’s that those games require a lot of time and dedication to overcome their challenges. Most gamers will tell me to “go screw and play your games on story mode.” I have a teenager that is going to buy elden ring. I will watch him play. If it’s anything like a souls game, then I’ll be watching him beat his head against a wall, night after night of tedious grinding in order to advance.

[-Hermit-]

Those idiots commenting didn't make it even 20 seconds into the review then because he pretty much starts off with saying how difficult the bosses were.

[GhostofHorizon]

Looks like it's going to be an amazing year for games. Glad to see Elden Ring is doing so well.

[autobotdan]

Game of the year 2022..Game of the Decade

[Rocosaurus]

Seems like a shoe-in for GOTY 2022

[alb1899]

Well it is early yet but definitely they are front runners.

[autobotdan]

Only one front runner

[Elda]

It's basically an open-world DS4 or DS3.5 with new additions. I'll be playing this game throughout the entire year,taking my sweet time playing it.

[ocelot07]

My ps5 copy should be here tomorrow 😃

[goldwyncq]

Elden Ring is about to do to Horizon Forbidden West what BoTW did to its predecessor back in 2017 and it's going to be glorious.

[andy85]

What did it do to its predecessor? They've both sold similar numbers

[Ezio2048]

He means reviews and goty awards. BoTW destroyed everything that year.

[andy85]

It did great and it's a good game but it absolutely got Nintendo points as well. Elden won't get those so I'm actually excited to see what a true 97 plays like

[GhostofHorizon]

I read the comment and just chuckle because I know Guerrilla Games devs will be playing Elder Rings and From Software devs will be playing Horizon. They will play both great games and you will only play one because you chose to be a fanboy.

It's going to be glorious!

[ClayRules2012]

Exactly! Well said haha.

[Elda]

Exactly that.

[Father__Merrin]

both are available on PS5 so ps5/4 owners win out not you.....

[Gatsu]

Do what exactly? HZD has sold over 20 million copies.

[LoveSpuds]

What a tragically pathetic thing to take away from great games like Elden Ring and Horizon 2.

I am so excited for both titles and the reality is, outside of the relatively small hard-core community, nobody pays attention to GOTY. Personally, I am just stoked to have access to both titles.

[frostypants]

Holy crap. I know it's IGN but even they are pretty unlikely to hand out perfect scores.

[andy85]

97 and no Nintendo or GTA points. This is astonishing

[XxINFERNUSxX]

Damn mostly 10's all over 👍

[Aloymetal]

Souls fanatic here but I knew IGN were gonna give this game a super high rating whether the game is good or average because they need to lower the chances of HFW getting GOTY.

[Imalwaysright]

So it begins. Just like it happened with BoTW the pathetic conspiracy theories are already being concocted by useless fanboys to downplay this game.

[Si-Fly]

Spoken like a true “Souls fanatic” 🤣

[Aloymetal]

2500 hrs on all souls borne games plus plats psn tag denonfreak so yeah, good joke;)

[Muigi]

Let’s go!!!

[autobotdan]

Getting this 'game of the decade' nasterpiece on day 1 for my Series X

[Gheritt_White]

This looks weak.

[_Decadent_Descent]

Then stop standing in front of the mirror.

[Gheritt_White]

…but not as weak as that quip, JFC.

[Wrex369]

LETS GOOO!

[TheColbertinator]

Not surprised after I read the Game Informer preview of it. Very detailed and stunning world that From Software worked tirelessly to craft.

[VJGenova]

Already preloaded!

[CrimsonWing69]

I can’t tell you guys how stoked I am to play this finally! Hope y’all have a most excellent weekend with this game!

[Xristo]

“Reviewed on PC”

No stuttering issues. Hell yeah! Can’t wait!

[KINGS47]

LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SIUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

[GoodGuy09]

Fromsoft at it again. A big GOTY contender. Gow2 and botw2s got some competition.

[FanboysKiller]

Gamespot has a habit of changing game score in the last minute, yes , game scores do matters and it's not just a number as they say.

[InUrFoxHole]

It's crazy this rated higher than horizon zero by such a large margin.

[JayRyu]

Masterpiece level!
Looking forward to Friday!

[Ramboforlife]

Game of the F*cking Year. I can't wait to play it!

[shihiro1177]

Haven't been this excited for a game in years and only game I've ever preordered. Its like botw for adults... Man, this is gonna be good.!!

[mike32UK]

I must be missing something... this does not look good to me whatsoever. Granted its not my kind of game, but even putting that aside... graphics look average, animations are stiff, the AI seems to be stilted as hell, whacking their swords haphazardly from 2 meters distance not even in the direction of the player.

Can someone explain why everyone is nutting over this?

[Traecy]

Guessing because it's a FromSoftware Souls like game.

[mike32UK]

See I'm not a massive RPG fan either, i really don't like the inventory management side of things it just takes me out of the game for some reason. I love light action RPGs though. However, when Witcher 3 came out I bought that. And whilst I only played about 10-15 hours then sold it because it just wasn't for me, I could still appreciate why people loved it. You could feel the passion oozing from the game that the developers put into it.

[CrimsonWing69]

Why don’t you listen to reviews to understand why everyone is nutting over it? Also how are the animations stiff, like give me an example? Average graphics in comparison to what? I think you’re just not a fan of the art direction because the graphics are great. The AI isn’t “stilted” as all hell, either. Like, where do you see them whacking their swords haphazardly from 2 meters away? Can you give me a time stamp so I can see this?

These games are phenomenal for their world, having a story people spend a career on explaining and theorizing, the challenge of making it through some of the hardest bosses in gaming, all the secrets and discoveries, making epic builds, co-op’ing through the game with friends, PvP, and a lot more.

I’m thinking it’s just not a game for you and that’s ok. You like what you like. Just like how many people like this game.

[mike32UK]

1. "How are the animations stiff, like give me an example" - I was referring to the horses movements mostly and some of the enemy attacks

2. "Average graphics in comparison to what? I think you’re just not a fan of the art direction because the graphics are great" - yeah you could be right, the art direction doesn't strike a chord with me at all, but many other things from skin shaders to textures and lighting. Well to keep it fair ill stick with open world games only, but to name a few recent ones that I've played: Ghost of Tsushima, God of War (although I appreciate that could be only seen as semi open), BotW, Death Stranding, Spiderman, Forza, Demon's Souls remake (again this isn't my type of game really but I gave it a try anyway as mt friend had it, beautiful game), Returnal, Metro Exodus.

3. "The AI isn’t “stilted” as all hell, either. Like, where do you see them whacking their swords haphazardly from 2 meters away? Can you give me a time stamp so I can see this?" - In this IGN review at 3:10

Yeah im no looking to shit om anyones experience with the game I just felt like I was missing soemthing! Anyway, the world keeps turning...

[CrimsonWing69]

1) "I was referring to the horses movements mostly and some of the enemy attacks."

So, of everything seen it's just the horse movement and some of the enemy attacks? C'mon, man... the horse is fine, like I've looked at BotW's horse animations to Red Dead Redemption 2's and while I'd say RDR2's is the highest caliber it's not dramatically much better. This sounds really like you're digging for something to complain about. Look at the boss animations to all of their unique moves. That is incredibly impressive animations.

2) "Yeah you could be right, the art direction doesn't strike a chord with me at all, but many other things from skin shaders to textures and lighting. Well to keep it fair ill stick with open world games only, but to name a few recent ones that I've played: Ghost of Tsushima, God of War (although I appreciate that could be only seen as semi open), BotW, Death Stranding, Spiderman, Forza, Demon's Souls remake (again this isn't my type of game really but I gave it a try anyway as mt friend had it, beautiful game), Returnal, Metro Exodus."

Yea I think you're getting art direction confused with graphics. Can you go into detail what exactly is off with the "skin shaders" to textures and lighting? I'm looking at a lot in this game, take the giant Crayfish for example, the detail on the moss and just overall textures in almost anything in the game are pretty prime. I'm not seeing what's average. Lighting effects and particle effects are also fairly good. Also, if we're mentioning lighting you need to give me examples of what is poor. This game has a day and night cycle, caverns, open areas with god rays breaking through alpha channels in the foliage. Keep in mind some of those games you listed like Demon's Souls are next-gen games. This is a last-gen game.

3) "The AI isn’t “stilted” as all hell, either. Like, where do you see them whacking their swords haphazardly from 2 meters away? Can you give me a time stamp so I can see this?" - In this IGN review at 3:10

So, I believe that's PvP. It's an invader where it's an actual player who performed a move that goes through an animation. Bad timing on his part, but as you can see it does have a bait move where you think it's finished to go in only to get hit with a strong finish.

I get that you're not trying to piss on anyone's parade, but it does seem kind of silly saying there's nothing great about this game and not understanding why it's getting the praise that it does even when the reviewer points things out.

[Demetrius]

Man we getting some dope ass games this year for real I hope there’s an unannounced title in the works that’s bout to come out 😍 good year for all 3 gaming giants

[Redrex7000]

this video confuse me on y Breath of the wild
at least in this case is the standard for other open world games
seeing as its compare to this for some reason

[NukeDaHippies]

Can we get a real review please? Who goes to ign for reviews anyway....or who goes to ign period. 10 would be great if they didn't hand them put like candy.

[BoneMagnus]

I’m not reading any reviews or watching any videos. I have it preordered and ready to download.

I just want to experience everything new.

Can’t wait!

[StarkR3ality]

Usually don't like souls games, except sekiro, that was an amazing game.

This looks too good to miss out on, best reviewed game so far. Pre install in operation. Stunning piece of art if nothing else.

[XxINFERNUSxX]

Well I will probably pass this up on the PC going by PC Gamers review: "There's a 60 fps lock, high RAM requirement, and limited graphics settings (you won't find DLSS or granular options for anti-aliasing). I hoped for better options and performance from a developer that's released several games on PC at this point." Maybe a patch later on? You don't transfer console settings over to PC, on PC FPS should always be unlocked, include DLSS, FSR, HDR, Ray Tracing, and much higher graphic options. Was this ported over? Or built from the ground up on PC? 🤔🤔 We need more PC games built from the ground up, not ports if this is the case.

[CorndogBurglar]

Funny how no one complains about not trusting IGN reviews when it's a score they want to see.

[Ninver]

We need a remake of all souls games for current gen asap. Also Sony needs to hurry up and pump out more ps5s

[babadivad]

With all the hype, scores like this aren't surprising.

[WGAF]

There are so much to love about Fromsoft soul games (dark majestic world presentation, enemies, especially bosses design, the mysteries, the deep philosophical lore that many seems to be overlooked, the massive amount of weapons, skills, and crafting, etc...).

Sadly, I just cant get into the somewhat limited or repetitive approach to most combat situations (wait, dodge, approach for some damage, roll out and repeat); I tried them all from demon soul, dark soul, to bloodborn etc...just couldn't get into it. I gave them so many tries, but it just doesnt resonate well with me like it would for many other gamers, which is ashame because I do like everything else about them.

The only recent games made by fromsoft that I could get into so far was sekiro (I played fromsoft games back in the day with otogi, tenchu, armor core, etc...) because it allows more flexible approach to combat. I guess I'm so used to the more aggressive combat gameplay from ninja gaiden (even on master), devil may cry, bayonetta, sekiro, or metal gear rising and the likes that I find soul like games combat quite slow and not as challenging.

[gold_drake]

ahhh Friday cant come fast enough!!

[repsahj]

Eventhough the graphics are not that next gen great, I still believe this will be an epic experience! Cant wait to play this gem!!

[DazaMc]

The load times after death are what really put me off the previous souls games. Are they any better here?

[Zhipp]

If you have a PS5, Series X|S, or PC with an NVME drive then it should be pretty fast. I played Sekiro on PC and it took me a little over 4 seconds to load from death.

[PCgamer98]

Bought this on steam. Man this is going to be an amazing experience.

[Imortus_san]

I just had a look at the ElAnalistaDeBits youtube video and this is yeat another frame drop and even framareate feast from From Software, the PS5 version is running with PS4 assets, LOL, PS4 Pro destroys the PS5.

[on_line_forever]

❤❤👍👍 Masterpiece 👍👍❤❤

[Nerdmaster]

No quest log and no quest markers? Ugh.

[pietro1212]

I've always sucked at these Souls games, but Elden Ring looks awesome. I'm going to die a lot, but I must play it. haha