How I Overcame My Fears and Learned to Love 'Elden Ring' - Review

 

                         Both savagery and beauty are present.

In every sense of the term, Elden Ring is foreboding, majestic, and ill. Its overarching plot about a destroyed country is purposefully obscure – some of it was written by Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin, while the rest was penned by Dark Souls creator Hidetaka Miyazaki. The Lands Between, the environment, is full of numerous tiny joys, such as roving lambs that roll away like armadillos when you come too close. They're also home to a slew of nightmares, such as roving gangs of desiccated peasants, towering knights, and flame-breathing dragons harassing you as you're being pursued by huge dragonflies. The intricate, layered stages that Dark Souls was known for have essentially been replaced with these huge expanses. The option to examine varied scenery — whether a poisonous swampland or a gusty prairie — injects gaming dopamine into Elden Ring (and some genuine fear, too).

It's made even better by your faithful horse, Torrent, a gorgeous elk-like creature. Whistle, and he'll appear beneath you, eager to take you on a trip. While Torrent is inaccessible in many of the game's dungeons, he does give you an offensive advantage, since you can better chop down crowds from atop the saddle than you can on foot. However, his strongest feature is his double jump. Yes, the Breath of the Wild horses is nothing compared to him! Torrent can be used to jump up cliffs or leap down ravines, reducing the amount of damage you take from falls that might otherwise kill you. However, while Torrent can make you feel invincible, you can still be defeated by high heights or exceptionally abrasive opponents.

Despite these advancements in environment design and navigation, FromSoftware sticks to their tried-and-true boss concept, frequently plunging you — a relatively inexperienced fighter — into a dimly lit colosseum to brawl with some gruesomely powerful cretin. But the celebrating begins when this gruesomely powerful cretin's health bar is eventually chopped down to zero, after 43 attempts (yeah, I counted for the first boss). It goes like this: a 24-year-old man with sweaty palms and a racing heart leaps from his couch and exclaims, "F*** YES! FINALLY!" before frantically texting his roommate the news.

A bleak, barren world

Elden Ring's aesthetic is certainly worthy of praise, even if it lacks the glitz and realism of competitor open-world games. Instead, it makes an effort to make you feel insignificant. Eritrea looms large and golden over the entire map, its flaxen, ethereal leaves slowly dropping to the deathly ground beneath it. It's a gleaming beacon amid a gloomy, medieval world that seems to be always out of grasp. While the environment can be sparse and full of similar ruins, I frequently break from the never-ending assault to grab a screenshot of my surroundings. While you're slowly poisoned, bloodied, or ripped to shreds, the shattered turrets of Stormveil Castle or the murky waters of Liurnia of the Lakes create a puzzling backdrop.

However, it is in these moments of anguish and suffering that Elden Ring shines the brightest. Death can feel cheap in other games. Because Nintendo games aren't very difficult, the attle might feel random; most experienced gamers will win after a few times after internalizing an enemy's easy attack routine.

Elden Ring, on the other hand, will not take your hand in his. Three enormous swings from an adversary, and before you can avoid, a final anticipatory strike wipes away the remains of your precious health bar. The game continuously forces you to make rapid judgments because it backs you into a corner. You'll make a hasty dodge into an opponent's ax. You'll lunge, only to misjudge the distance and leave yourself vulnerable. In a desperate retreat, you'll be impaled on an enemy's sword that you can't see. But, as they say, practice makes perfect. Beating a boss brings a rush of pleasure and happiness beyond anything I've experienced in previous video games.

                              A little assistance from pals

Fortunately, you're not fighting alone. Elden Ring is similar to previous Souls games in that it allows you to summon other characters or players to assist you. It does, however, innovate with a system that is similar to Pokemon. Enemies' Spirit Ashes can be collected, allowing you to summon versions of them as allies on occasion. Even if the phantom dogs, skeletons, or jellyfish aren't adept at dealing damage, they can assist even the odds by distracting adversaries for long enough.

But it was how much I laughed out loud while playing Elden Ring that astonished me the most. It's incredibly difficult, yet rather of muttering and groaning, I felt comforted by the knowledge that other gamers will face the same difficulties. I wasn't sure I wanted to play something so taxing at a time when many peo ple, including myself, are worried. It's simple to turn off my thoughts by picking up one of my favorite Nintendo Switch games. Elden Ring became a joy after I realized how thrilling it was to face my fears, explore the Lands Between, and die over and over again, especially as my roommate watched and laughed at my impending demise.