Shane Pennino

A game that relies mostly on memorization and a take-no-prisoners difficulty of its boss fights/combat, Elden Ring has to be the most overrated game of my generation. There is no emotional/personal connection to the story or world at all, despite the well- written lore. Which is too bad, really, as the world seems interesting to explore- at first. But once I realized that the only thing really to discover is dozens of enemies and bosses waiting to smash in my face, it became redundant. You’re number one connection to Lands between is violence, it seems, as you are thrust into essentially being the angel of death. It would be nice if there was more versatility of gameplay instead of being an enormous wack-a-thon. Outside of combat, there really isn’t anything to really DO in this game. “A masterpiece,” the “gold standard for open world games”? The magic system is broken and the game reuses a ton of assets and 3 or 4 generic dungeon skins over and over again. I realize the consensus of the gaming community is a 10, but I don’t know- were you all drunk when you played this? Hahaha. But hey, if you want to give the same company your hard earned money for basically the same game it always creates, I won’t stop you. But “masterpiece?” Yeah, I don’t think so.

I loved the game in 2012, and I love the game now. A very underrated, underappreciated RPG set in a vibrant high fantasy world. Great character customization, art by Todd McFarlane, story by R.A. Salvadore, and design by Elder Scrolls veteran Ken Rolstein. ( I may have spelled his name wrong.) And the game is massive. Would give it 6 stars if I could.

Really cool show, great acting performances, and additional props are due for originality and mystery. Highly recommend.

In many ways, Divinity Original Sin II is an incredible rpg. I has pretty visuals, diverse voice-overs, and an absolutely immaculate combat system. However, ultimately there were too many things that I felt ruined my personal experience with the game. One of the major flaws to me is how drastically your role will be depending on what character you play as. Basically, if you pick one of the pre-existing characters the designers made, there is very rich dialogue and they are full of interesting backstories. But if you custom create a character, your dialogue choices are comparatively hollow and the experience is far more shallow. You end up feeling more like a walking husk then a living, breathing character in the world. And then there is the combat. So it is truly incredible how tactical and varied it is, and I admit, the developers attention to the scale of the turn base, strategic combat is impressive. But my God, is there a learning curve. And this game is hard, and I do mean HARD, even on easier settings. An issue I have with the combat system is that battles can take a long time, and can literally happen anywhere. So if you are enjoying questing, you may find yourself locked into a huge fight and you may be completely destroyed. (And if/when your party members die, it is a HUGE ORDEAL to bring them back.) And the developers seem to have a sadistic obsession with filling the game with enemies that always seem to have a spell that will utterly cripple your party that they can easily spam; and amazingly enough you can get spells that seem to lift every ailment except the exact ailment you are afflicted with. And those status affects are worth noting. There are some spells that hit your party that are such a pain in the you-know-what that it takes the experience out of challenging/engaging and just makes it excruciating. Spells that make you take damage every time you cast a spell, status affects that shred your health, et cetera. (If you played the first game you have an idea of what you're in for.) The game can feel like a serious bummer to play at times, even a chore - like they somehow managed to take everything amazing about fantasy RPG's and transform into an experience on par with diarrhea. And when the difficulty ramps up on you in the game, it forces the player to merely find a way to win, a strategy that works - instead of ALLOWING the player to play the way the player wants. Not to put too fine a point on this, but that really, really sucks. This is a hardcore RPG that takes no prisoners and has crushing, extremely merciless combat even on easier difficulties. If this sounds like a great game to you, by all means purchase it.

Outstanding. Simply put, this is a phenomenal, character driven fantasy series that is what I would expect from a mature oriented, modern fantasy show.

This is an excellent RPG that is rough in some areas, (to be expected in a large title from a limited studio) but overall I highly recommend for RPG fans. Fascinating world and great writing. Combat is also fantastic!