I am a die-hard dark souls\bloodborne\demon souls fan and I have to say that Elden ring is shockingly superior to those games! Open world, except every square inch of the world is hand crafted. The exploration is top notch, and the gameplay is superb. There are so many ways to customize your character that you'll likely never be able to try them all out, every choice you make is meaningful.
The game is basically the open world of Breath of the Wild, with the gameplay and level design of a souls game, with locations that are rarely cut and paste.