FromSoftware’s “Elden Ring” released on Feb. 25, 2022, and was met with critical acclaim. With perfect scores from IGN and Metacritic, “Elden Ring” perfects what FromSoftware’s previous titles failed to do.

Elden Ring is an open-world, adventure game that puts the player in a fantasy world written by George R.R. Martin, the author of “The Song of Ice and Fire” series that HBO based the “Game of Thrones” television series on. With this setting, FromSoftware created a world with beautiful scenery full of foliage, ancient structures and caves that players can encounter and explore, as well as creatures and people players will discover throughout your journey.

“Freedom” is the best word to describe my experience. Within the first minutes of the game, “Elden Ring” shows the player that the world is theirs to explore by instantly dropping you on the map with only a single direction of where to start. 

However, with exploration comes risk, and “Elden Ring”never lets you forget it. To keep you on your toes, FromSoftware added danger to almost every corner, forcing  you to stay engaged to stay alive. 

The best thing about this game is the massive world that they’ve created. After clocking in about 15 hours of gameplay, I still feel like there’s so much I haven’t explored. That’s just how massive the game really is. If you can see a nearby structure in the distance, you can go to it. Another aspect of the game is the multiplayer, meaning you can invite fellow players to assist you on your journey or to fight other players. With other players it really adds to the overall experience.

From Software’s world isn’t the only great thing about this game.he gameplay itself holds up. By improving the game mechanics and how your character fights and defends, FromSoftware perfected what they failed to in previous games. They’ve patched certain bugs and glitches that ruined the experience. They also added some features that make the game more fun and enjoyable, like the stealth aspect. Certain mechanics, like dodging and parrying, were all prevalent in their “Dark Souls” series, however, the timing and impact of these moves were lackluster. “Elden Ring” improves on these, by making them feel more impactful with a well timed animation.

The only problem that I have with the game so far is that, in rare cases, there have been points where I felt like I didn’t know what to do or where to go. However, these feelings lasted only a few minutes before I was intrigued by another element of the game. There have been some performance issues, such as crashing and low frames, but with a stronger system and updates, I feel like those won’t be an issue later on.

If you are a fan of exploration or adventure, this would be the perfect game to get this year. “Elden Ring” is $60, and is available for PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X.