Panda Talks: Elden Ring

I’ve had the unexpected pleasure of sitting down and experiencing the soul-crushing game that is Elden Ring and its gameplay. Which is ironic as it’s the latest instalment in the ‘Soul’s Borne’ game by ‘From Software’.

*Try saying ‘from From Software’ five times fast*

GAMEPLAY

Now, right off the bat, this game introduces you to one of its most difficult bosses, the Tree Sentinel! However, as hard as he was, he never felt impossible to beat and that is where my strange addiction to Elden Ring began.

The combat, in true ‘Souls Borne’ fashion, is quite difficult but never really felt impossible. It does not punish as hard as in other instalments in the Souls series. That being said, you do still need to be at the top of your game when the time comes and think about how you’re going to tackle certain enemies in certain situations. But, I think there are more ways to advance through the game than one might think possible.

The breath taking open world of Elden Ring allows you to explore a lot of its content before you choose to advance with the main story quests. If you are lucky – or unfortunate enough – you may find yourself in parts of the map that require a much higher level but offer amazing loot to help your gameplay experience. The bigger the risk, the better the rewards!

CHARACTER

Another component of the game I loved is customizing my characters’ look and combat style. From paladins to sorcerers, samurais to knights, you can basically fight with any style. This ranges from magic to brute force – if that’s what you prefer. Personally, I have chosen to run a battlemage of sorts inspired by my favorite anime character “Itachi Uchiha”.

VISUALS

The game’s visuals are incredible and each area you visit has a different mood and aesthetic. I did find that the game does have slight performance issues on PC, sometimes even in higher systems. Even though a few patches have been released, there are still a few players that experience minor frame loss, of which you can find other fixes online.

That does not take away from the beauty that is Elden Ring, as you will find yourself fully engulfed with this game and maybe even find yourself exploring at late hours of the night – or even engrossed in amazing combat with meticulously well-designed enemies. There will always be a challenge in Elden Ring where you find yourself having to think about how to overcome it, this keeps the game fresh throughout the campaign.

MULTIPLAYER

You can also invite friends to come along with you in the multiplayer feature where you can – pretty much – do everything that you do solo including fight bosses. The multiplayer may be somewhat complicated to newer players, but once you can get used to how it works it is quite fun.

In order to make it work, you will need an item called ‘Furlcalling Finger Remedy’. This item is used to summon people into your world. When the host dies, all co-operators are kicked from the lobby. You would then need to use another finger to create a new lobby. It is a bit of a process but gets easier to execute once you get the hang of it.

SUMMARY

All-in-all, the game is an amazing experience for classic core Souls Borne fans that want the raw ‘From Software’ challenge and incredibly immersive/intense combat. It also caters to people who want to experience a Souls Borne game for the first time as this is probably one of the least punishing experiences of a ‘From Software’ Souls game.