I have gone through pretty much everything in the game, a lot of mixed thoughts on this as a product and as art. Below is a write-up that goes through these thoughts, and my experience with the game, as someone who played the Dark Souls series at around 2018 and Sekiro on release in 2019.
Elden Ring Thoughts and Criticisms - Full Spoilers Ahead
I would like to start this off by saying that I believe to have played the game, coincidentally, in the best possible order , possibly the intended order as well. This is a subject of contention within the community, so some of you might not agree.
Of course I can see how easy it could be to ruin many sections for yourself by doing things in the wrong order, resulting in a large stretches of boring and underleveled content until you reach a level appropriate zone once again. That being said, I feel like the game tries to guide you in many ways to clear the areas in a certain order, but it's easy to miss.
Summary
For context, I started off as Prisoner, played with the starting Estoc+0 up until I found a Falchion as a random drop from an early game Demihuman mob somewhere in Limgrave after killing Margit. Used the single Falchion (Quality affinity) on everything from there on out except Malenia, for which I upgraded a Scavenger's Curved Sword to powerstance with my Falchion.
For the most part I avoided all summons, magic, and weapon arts on boss fights. I used Bloody Slash to clear out trash packs that I struggled with and to help DPS down the most commonly reused boss fights. It was quite OP at the time (800 to 1000 damage) and has since been nerfed, although I do not know to what extent. Regardless...
Summary
The game starts off pretty strong, with the first bosses most people encounter being the Erdtree Burial Watchdog and Tree Sentinel. I ran past the Tree Sentinel after trying to kill him for around 10 minutes, I knew that the game had a horseback combat system from the trailers and wanted to try it myself.
Summary
But of course the spotlight here is on the Watchdog (Cat body), very unique design and challenging experience for new players. Certainly a great introduction to players new to the series and veterans alike.
After the first camp, cave, and catacomb, I received the horse and went back to kill Tree Sentinel. Horseback combat seemed appealing and refreshing at first, but it got stale quick. Mostly because of not having an actual dodge which encouraged a very uninteresting playstyle - to me at least.
Then, like most players, I attempted to go into the castle - to be introducted to one of the best characters in any Fromsoft game. Margit, also known as Morgott.
Summary
Truly an iconic encounter. One of the greatest of all time. This guy crushes you repeatedly, until you either bash your head against him enough times to kill him at such a low level, or turn around and explore more, which is what I did (and don't regret it, he is one of the hardest bosses in the game).
Exploring Limgrave, and then moving into Weeping Peninsula took over 25 hours of gameplay time from me over two days. The game here introduces many of the enemies and mechanics that you will be seeing quite a lot as you play.
Summary
The first dragon fight is incredible. Very different from the old dragon-style enemies from Dark souls, and really gets you to get used to horseback combat.
Unfortunately this is the best dragon fight of the game, you learn this guy's moveset and you know them all. Dragons in this game became a chore and are honestly probably worst part of the game. Uninteresting and boring, especially as you get later on and you've fought the same moveset dragon 10 times.
The game also introduces Evergaol minibosses - they're mostly alright but of course one stands out, and it happens to be in Limgrave too.
Summary
Crucible Knight has such high HP/armor I wouldn't be surprised if most people skipped him until they levelled, but this guy provides the most challenge out of anything in Limgrave at its level. It raised my expectations of Evergaols and the miniboss content to a level that was probably not met again.
It is of course in a way disappointing that the Crucible Knight was reused so often, but they were a lot less tedious than Dragons, or the next point of contention...
Summary
Introduced in Weeping Peninsula, these guys get tedious quite fast, especially since they are pretty mandatory if you want to upgrade your Physick Flask (which is by the way a very fun concept!). It's just literally Asylum Demon repeated at least 10 times over the course of the game, as if 3 times in DS1 wasn't enough.
The rest of Limgrave and Weeping Peninsula are pretty straightforward. Introduces NPCs, more minibosses that become regular enemies later on - nothing too special. The teleport trap chest that takes you to Caelid is one of the coolest moments of any Fromsoft game, going from a mine with enemies that pretty much 1-shot you, out into what first looks like Hell with a swamp that gives you "SCARLET ROT!" right ahead is an incredible experience that tells you that the game has a lot more in store.
Summary
Stormveil castle is the first "Legacy Dungeon". An excellent level and possibly the best "Undead burg style" dungeon they've made since. The boss of the level, of course, is top notch and is regarded by many to be one of the best bosses of the game. Godrick the Grafted was a pretty good fight, phase 2 being slightly easier than phase 1 though - something that actually happens more than once throughout this game.
Moving out of Stormveil and seeing the huge size of Liurnia was very daunting at first, but it's definitely the intended path forwards. Many people at this point turn and start clearing out Caelid, which I believe to be a big mistake, which I'll explain further here soon.
Summary
The second legacy dungeon in the game is here. The entrance to Raya Lucaria is first found locked, and you have to go through the second Big Dragon fight to get in. I liked this fight at the time, but I doubt I'd enjoy it again.
The Academy itself is a pretty good and short self contained dungeon, better than most DS3/DS2 levels.
The Red Wolf of Radagon actually presented a big challenge for me, I struggled with this guy for at least an hour. Maybe it was because I'd been playing for 10 hours and needed some sleep - but this sticks out in my memory as a hard encounter.
Summary
Renalla is a pretty underrated fight, I liked it a lot - but I think she is just overshadowed by too many other parts of the game. It's the better caster fight than any DS or Sekiro caster boss by far, and summoning a Dragon and a Giant at the same time was a fun and memorable experience.
At this point I'd have killed two "shardbearers" and can now access the capital. I believe this is also the wrong path, and it's VERY misleading for the characters in Roundtable to tell you to go there now.
Instead, I went to explore Liurnia further and ran into Caria Manor, a great mini-dungeon with a good mid-difficulty boss, Royal Knight Loretta. But the true magic and genius of the game's world design comes right after you beat this boss...
Summary
Running into Ranni's questline before starting to clear Caelid is possibly the number one tip I'd give to any player still starting. This quest puts you on the best path you can take, Blaidd tells you explicitly where to go at pretty much every point from here on out. Starting with Siofra River, which I had previously turned away from as well, after getting destroyed by the enemies there and dealing very little damage to them.
After clearing out Siofra River, with its two bosses (both of which are mediocre, nothing bad), and continuing on with the questline, Blaidd sent me to Caelid - to fight General Radahn to gain access to Nokron, which you see above you the whole time with no clear way of getting there.
Summary
Of course as my colleague said already in this thread, I did not like this fight at all. I fought him on foot, and I used the summons as I believed (Or maybe convinced myself) that it was part of Blaidd's quest to summon him.
The main problem here for me is that if you're rolling into him, you end up under him and can't see what he's doing.
You have to fight on foot because he can one shot you on the horse, and you don't have a real dodge on the horse. But at the same time, if you fight on foot you can still get one shot if you get hit by the wrong moves at the wrong time, too many of those compared to any other boss if you ask me. Plus he did an undodgable attack combo multiple times over the hours it took me to kill him (Gravity black orbs + Gravity AOE pull). Just an overall unfun fight and the lowest point in the game for me. This is on the level of Bed of Chaos, if not worse.
Fortunately it was followed up by one of the highest points in the game...
Summary
Right after Radahn, the game of course tells you to unlock his rune in the "Divine Tower of Caelid", which if you explore enough with enough parkour, you end up running into the Godskin Apostle. This guy is introduced here, and you meet him again many times throughout the game - but this is the best version of him by far.
His large HP pool + fighting this guy as a pretty low level gives an experience on the level of Artorias from DS1.
Phase 2 of the fight, while being notably easier, is still extremely enjoyable and makes for a very funny moment.
The music here is also the best soundtrack of the entire game. Overall the most memorable encounter of the game for me. I love this fight despite its simplicity, and I feel sorry for people who didn't get to experience this the same way I did.
Summary
After, I went to check on the falling star that hit the earth after killing Radahn as Blaidd told me, leading me to the next major quest areas. Nokron and Nokstrella feature some reused fights (namely Ancestor Spirit and Dragonkin Soldier), but they offer some of the best executed exploration and some great boss fights.
Double Gargoyles were very fun and funny, I told myself it was coming and I still was making a big soyface when the second gargoyle came down. Astel was a cool visual spectacle, even though the fight was mediocre at best. Shame he was reused later on though.
Summary
Here ends Ranni's questline, a sequence that takes you through Siofra, Caelid, Nokron, Ansel, Nokstrella, The Lake of Rot, and ends all the way back in classic Liurnia. I believe this contributed to at least 75% of my enjoyment of this game, taking me through all these areas at what feels like perfect level to do all of them.
The amount of work that went into this completely "optional" and "hidden" route makes me think that they really wanted every player to go through this, and I think all new players should be guided towards finding it, be it by word of mouth through friends or any other way.
Summary
At this point it was time for me to find the other half of this medallion that I found all the way back in Limgrave, and make progress into new zones. The item description told me that was in the Dragonbarrow, the sister-zone to Caelid. I took this as an opportunity to clear the rest of the east and I thought it was mostly alright, except for the Erdtree Avatar that dropped 90k runes for some reason. Again, these things are pretty bad, and repeating them 10 times was an awful decision. And speaking of repeated bosses...
Summary
This gargoyle has the same moveset as the one in Nokron, but it's just a lot stronger. I liked these guys and enjoyed fighting them every time, despite their constant reuse towards the late game (I count 3 more after this guy, could be even more).
And of course you run into a stupid "Flying dragon" fight on a bridge right after, which was awful and boring. Especially the part where I fell off the bridge.
Summary
I took the lift up into Altus, but I also tried the other way up just to see what it's like. The Magma Wyrm fight is cool, but was cheapened by the fact that you already saw it in Caelid, depite it having a unique phase 2 here.
Altus Plateau on its own should not, in my opinion, be considered a zone. It's an intermediate connector between the two halves of the game. I believe that the game peaks before Altus, and the quality just plateaus since. Hahahaha.
Summary
Volcano Manor is a pretty good optional legacy dungeon. The biggest flaw here is that it's hidden behind an illusory wall that took me 2 hours of running around OUTSIDE the manor, only to find it inside.
The Iron Virgin (that's what they're called) enemies are the most unkillable mobs in this game, I don't know if they're meant to be skipped or what, but I just ended up skipping most of them - especially after the miniboss fight that makes you fight two at the same time.
Godskin Noble is introduced here and he's the second of the deadly duo - the fight against him is not was not as hard as the Godskin Apostle fight, but it was alright nonetheless. While this guy is not as fight to re-fight as the Apostle, I believe he's also reused less.
Summary
Praetor Rykard was a fun gimmick fight, despite the undodgable earthquake attack in phase one. Best Fromsoft gimmick fight to date and the transition to phase 2 is hilarious. He talks like a snake, great voice acting.
Phase 2 itself is chaotic and insane, lots of running and explosions. Good fight.
Summary
Moving on to the East, getting into the capital was honestly cheapened by the fact that you get teleported through a warpgate at the end of Deeprot Depths. That was a very weird design decision and I hope most people actually don't find that.
Other than that, this is an incredibly well designed city level - better than any other "city" in previous titles. It absolutely trumps Anor Londo and Irithyl, and in my opinion is slightly better than Ashina. It's a sprawling labyrinth of houses, elevators, ladders and sewers with many great trash encounters and minibosses.
The bosses here start off with a nice callback to Tree Sentinel with a Draconic form, but also a Tree Sentinel Duo fight - which I think is pretty awful. But at the start of the area you also run into... Margit? You thought you killed him but he's just there? You kill him again and he just drops some talisman, "How intriguing...", I thought to myself...
Summary
"Morgott" is the boss of this area, after an underwhelming "Godfrey, first Elden Eord" ghost form fight.
This is honestly the most genius thing in this game. This is undoubtedly my favorite moment in the game, when you see him walk down the stairs in the intro cutscene. After struggling for hours to beat him in the early game, he's back. He's back... and his name is... slightly different. How did they come up with this? It's honestly unbelievable. I was laughing and clapping at the same time when I first saw this.
The fight itself is honestly easier than the first Margit encounter - but it's still a good challenge, the phase 2 transition has interesting dialogue but that's about it. It feels like a way to show the player "look how far you've come". It's very a respectable fight and is extremely funny every time I think back on it. Why did he lie about his name the first time we met? Will forever be a mystery...
Summary
Suddenly being told that you have to Burn the Tree is a bit odd at first but you accept it pretty fast. The mountaintops is an uneventful zone with a lot of recycled stuff. The mains thing that stand out are the Death-rite Bird fight (which apparently is not even original, as he appears during night time in previous zones, I just never found him until now!) and Commander Niall (who is a tougher rematch of Commander O'Niell).
The Fire Giant fight was alright. Definitely on the low side, mediocre at best, but still it's at least unique visually. He's a fire giant but he lives in the snow. Pretty messed up if you ask me.
Summary
And just when you think that you're about to be done with the game, it throws you for a huge loop and sends you to this crazy place. Crumbling Farum Azula. A nice callback to what is many people's first boss of the game - the beastman of Farum Azula.
Unfortunately the reveal was once again cheapened by the fact that you already get teleported here from Liurnia! One of the waygates at The Four Belfries area in Liurnia takes you here. Quite upsetting and it honestly feels like they yet again PUNISH you for exploring too much, just like how they did with the capital. Hopefully these "spoiler-teleports" get removed in a patch or something, but I doubt it will happen.
Other than that this is a great spectacle zone with an alright concept - jumping on platforms was never especially fun in these games, but the theme of the area makes it fitting.
Summary
And to everyone's surprise, the first mandatory boss of this area is the Godskin Duo. It's quite shocking at first, but I have honestly grown to really love this fight. It's not Ornstein and Smough, it's more like Team Rocket from the Pokemon anime.
You've seen these guys many times before, at least twice each - and now they're finally back to get you. This is it.
This fight is tedious, unfun, hard, and honestly just annoying in every way - I hate it but I also love it. When you kill one of them for the first time, that moment when the music goes quiet for a second then the other one rezzes the dead guy... and then music that you've heard so many times already switched into a SECOND ACT?! Stunning moment and definitely one of my favorite phase transitions.
It's unfortunate that you can't simultaneously kill them to end the fight early like Lorian and Lothric from DS3, but I believe that it's for the better since you won't miss out on the epic transition into phase 2.
When you beat these guys, they don't appear anywhere else after that - they're actually dead this time, and that feels like a great conclusion to their arc.
Summary
Not long after the duo, you run into the next main boss. Maliketh has a pretty interesting phase 1, I think the transition between two completely different fights was a good idea, but the fact that he spawns phase 2 with so little HP really undermines the fight. I think his moveset is fun and engaging, if not slightly too punishing but I think the low HP offsets that.
A good fight, one of the better ones.
Summary
Then you immediately get teleported to Leyndell, completely burned down to ashes. At this point it clearly felt like the end of the game was at arm's length - and I went back to find the one area of the map that wasn't explored...
Finding the other half of the secret medallion is quite unreasonable to be honest, having to hit a random pot in a random corner of the map 3 zones away - but that's expected from these games, I suppose.
The consecrated snowfield is a whatever area, quite uneventful - but it leads into the final two optional areas, Moghwyn Dynasty Palace and Miquella's Haligtree.
Summary
Moghwyn Palace is an incredible short zone that just serves as decoration to the boss arena. The Mogh fight is quite fun, I liked it a lot. Phase 1 is great mix between melee and spellcasting attacks, the transition forces you to drink 3 estus which is quite stupid (unless you do some weird questline) - but I got over it pretty quick when I realized that it's undodgable, especially since phase 2 is so good.
The boss heavily punishes defensive play by filling the room with fire and jumping/thrusting towards you repeatedly, forcing you into said fire which leads to blood loss and eventual death. You have to find a balance of aggression while still having to worry about his close range fire aoe. Great fight.
Summary
The Haligtree features a tree platforming dungeon akin to The Great Hollow in DS1, then takes you on a rematch against miniboss Loretta, which serves as the calm before the storm...
Malenia is quite possibly the worst and simultaneously best fight in the game. I won't get into too much detail about this fight, but the fact that to reasonably dodge her waterfowl dance attack at any given range you have to equip a dodge weapon art makes it quite a bad mechanic, other than that this is the peak of the games melee combat - she's fast and strong and needs you to be faster, and stronger. I couldn't kill this with my single Falchion, and had to upgrade to powerstanced curved swords just to have a chance, and then I equipped a dodge weapon art on top of that to kill her.
A good experience that definitely resonated within the community, I'm very happy she's in the game despite her flaws, but I can't in good faith say that it's a "good" fight. It's a perfect capstone to the game nonetheless.
Summary
Back to the main line though. The fight against Gideon Ofnir was only expected, after he left the Roundtable. It was only a matter of time.
I thought that it's an incredible caster fight, despite his extremely low HP - which I don't really understand. I loved how he used the spells from previous boss fights, and apparently he wouldn't use them if you hadn't fought those bosses; because you're supposed to be "sharing" this knowledge with him. Best caster fight in any Fromsoft game, just wish he had more HP.
Summary
Right after you fight Godfrey again, who is also revealed to be Hoarah Loux. I thought this was a very solid fight, first phase he is the same as the ghost, but with a few extra attacks and a lot more HP. Second phase he turns into a fighting game character that juggles you in the air. All around decent fight, but nothing too special.
Summary
The intro to this fight, as the game's main theme song plays, is mesmerizing, and the first time fighting Radagon is visually extremely cool. This guy is not easy by any means, he's just a guy with a mace but is a lot stronger than he looks. Great delays on his attacks, engaging and fun fight.
Linking this fight back to the trailer is quite epic. Looking back at the trailer after this intro and seeing that the hair color switches between yellow and red is quite insane, as nobody would've ever guessed that Radagon and Marika were the same person before seeing this. The character design is through the roof by GRRM and Miyazaki here, hats off.
Artistically this is on the level of Gwyn, but unfortunately this is all undermined by what comes next.
Summary
Unsurprisingly, I think that Elden Beast is a huge disappointment. If this guy was BEFORE Radagon, as it's own boss fight, and then Radagon had a real phase 2 (Maybe he turns into Marika for the final fight?), it would've been a perfect ending 10/10.
And honestly, if this guy wasn't even there and Radagon only had 1 phase, it still would've been better.
The issue here isn't the fight itself (which isn't that good either), it's the fact that it undermines Radagon so much, and that it comes completely out of the blue. It's just weird.
The fight itself I honestly think is not good, but not as bad as other stuff in this game. He wastes your time a lot by swimming underground or flying up in the air, a lot of running chasing him - plus he has unavoidable damage in the form of that light orb that follows you around shooting smaller orbs.
Summary
In conclusion, I still think that this game, despite all its flaws, is one of the best games I've ever played. Dark Souls 3 and 2 pale in comparison.
It's on par with Dark Souls 1 in terms of quality and sense of "magic" as you explore the first half of the game, especially if you did it in the order I specified above, which I happened to do by sheer luck and am incredibly grateful for that.
It's a 9/10, but it also sucks.
Thank you for your time, and I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this great game.
I will be probably be replaying it in the near future, and will make sure to update you guys on my thoughts then too.
