Niko Miranda-Lavertu

I approached Elden Ring without any prior experience playing Dark Souls, and with the sole intent of recreating Guts from Berserk. Little did I know how engrossed I would become with the world of Elden Ring. Through the first several hours of gameplay, I struggled. I found myself wandering, frustrated, and bitter. However, like with any endeavor, it's a matter of repetition. Every battle, every environment, every line of dialogue - it all began to fascinate me. Moments of highest satisfaction included collecting all the pieces for my Guts build, slaying several bosses with the Lion's Claw and an inch of my life, and defeating the Fire Giant (approx. 2 hrs worth of attempts). I completed the game (off-line) just north of 150 hours of playtime, level 181, 85% Steam achievements. Be warned - this game will test you and your willpower. If you find yourself failing constantly against a particular enemy/boss, it's best to set the controller down and find another activity to engage yourself in for a couple hours before coming back; perhaps you'll need to travel elsewhere in the game to level up your stats before fighting said enemy. Although I haven't revisited the game, this game will remain dear to me until the end of time.