Tom Valentino

I am playing the Early Access Version. I am really enjoying Nightingale. The game is absolutely beautiful thanks to DLSS support. This is first and foremost a crafting game. Building better gear to increase gear score is essential. I enjoy playing in a party with friends. I have had some issues, but nothing that was major. This is a very enjoyable game that can be awe inspiring at times. I have about 50 hours of play time so far, and I do not plan on stopping any time soon. For a game that cost me 27 dollars, it was absolutely worth it.

Elden Ring opened my gaming world to From Software. I generally loved it. Now I want to play other From Software games, so I started with Dark Souls: Remastered. Similar to Elden Ring, there is quite a bit to love about Dark Souls: Remastered, but there is also some things that diminish the overall experience. The combat in Dark Souls: Remastered is very clunky, and it does not feel good. That is the biggest problem I have with this game. I feel like the majority of the difficulty comes from this subpar combat system. Often times it is better to just run past enemies, dashing to the boss arenas, as opposed to fighting through the levels. The bosses are the best part of the game. They are fun, imaginative, and gel much better with the combat system. Level design is great. However, limited bonfires means I have to budget my flasks and plan my journey, often times doing the same parts multiple times in order to find everything. Long runs back to bosses is tedious and annoying. Dark Souls is very limited on story and character development. The game is very loosely held together by minimal plot lines. Aside from the game giving an objective, I rarely know why I need to do something in the context of the story. In closing, this is a solid but flawed game. It can feel very much like a grind, hindered by a subpar combat system. Still, I think it is worth your time. One final note: I am playing on the Nintendo Switch and they inverted the A and B buttons functions. B is select and A is cancel. This is pretty much opposite every Switch game, and it is really annoying to get used to.

Elden Ring is a really hard game to review. For me, this game is a bit mixed bag. It has elements that I love, but it also has some elements that I dislike. Furthermore, this is my first souls game. Here's what I think is good: The visuals are incredible. This is one beautiful game. I enjoy spending time just exploring this massive world. There is stuff to find in every nook and cranny. The actual game play is quite polished, although I have experienced button lag here and there. After over 120 hours of play, there is still so much left to discover and find. I love that. Here's what I don't think is good: In my opinion, the story and characters are weak. There is a story. You have to play the game to figure it out. For me, it was a let down. Same with the characters. They are very shallow, and many don't have much to offer to the story or overall experience. When I play a game, I need a strong story and characters to keep me engaged. However, I can somewhat overlook this for Elden Ring because of how good the world is. I dislike most not having a quest log and or journal, which has made it nearly impossible for me to keep track of quests and what to do after completing a step. For a world this big, a quest log is essential. I have spent many hours back tracking because I missed a step somewhere. Many times I gave up, then I had to look on Google for help. There were several instances when I felt lost just because I couldn't figure out what I needed to do next, and it became really frustrating. This game is hard. That's not the problem. Many times it feels like the deck is way too stacked against me. Sometimes the game really becomes exhausting and feels like a grind. This is why I will not replay this game for a second time. I had many experiences that I have zero desire to go through again. Facing Radahn being one of them. I can't recommend this game to everyone. It is made for players who want to be heavily challenged in many different areas for the duration of the game. In closing, there is so much to love about Elden Ring it overshadows the areas where the game is lacking. I think you need to play the game for at least 10 to 20 hours. If you don't like the game by that point, there is no shame in moving on from it. It is not a constant death loop. Elden Ring is not for everyone. Many will find it inaccessible. However, the developers made a special game worth your time if your willing and open to being patient and adapting to the many challenges you will face. Update: After a little over 160 hours of game play, I was able to defeat the final boss and win the game. I am very confident I will never play Elden Ring again because I never want to experience the deep levels of frustration and anxiety the game made feel. Furthermore, I highly doubt I'll ever play a From Software game again. I had one goal above all others: Get all the shards of the Elden Ring. I did that. I am most glad it is finally over. Even with the bad, I cannot over look the high quality of the game. I respect the amount of work that went into it. I can see how many players feel this game is a masterpiece. In some ways, it might just be. 7.5/10 Update: I decided to play Elden Ring a second time. I had a much better experience than the first time I played. This is because I did all the hard work of exploring, learning how to build my character correctly, and understanding how to play the most conducive way for my character build during my first play through. Overall, I had a much more rewarding experience the second time around.