Performance issues aside (the recent patch has dealt with some of the stuttering but the 1 second "freeze" frames still exist although they do occur less and less the longer you play), Elden Ring is a masterclass in how to build an open world and fill it with tons of interesting things to fight and discover without overloading it with countless repetitive checkbox tasks that feel more like work than entertainment. Taking a leaf from Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the player is set loose in a huge, expansive environment teeming with all manners of dangers and discoveries and the game basically tells you to go find it yourself and it does so with an art style that is simply unmatched.

There is minimal hand-holding in terms where you should go and what you should do next (think The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim), but the game does provide you with some guidance through grace (little glowing lights that emit from the ground and point in the direction you should be heading). Characters you meet along the journey will give you clues as they dish out Elden Ring's back story, but don't expect lengthy cutscenes and page and pages of dialog like you would find in other RPG's. The joy here is the joy of discovery and boy-oh-boy does Elden Ring contain a treasure trove of discoveries for you to unearth, each one even more satisfying than the last.

FromSoftware have ensured that there are many tools at your disposal to succeed, so those initially turned off by Dark Souls franchise's difficulty should fret-not. The introduction of summoning ashes (the ability for the player to summon in NPC aid) and the scattering of golden runes across the landscape, which the player can crush for the games currency that enables you to purchase items and upgrade stats - is plentiful and should definitely aid the player who is struggling. Co-op also makes a welcome return and is now more easier than ever to play with friends.

Elden Ring is still a difficult game, lets make no bones about it, but these changes to the formula go a long way in ensuring that everyone who is playing is actually having fun. Without trying to sound like a fanboy, Elden Ring truly does live up to the hype and then some. I never knew I needed an open world Dark Souls, and to be honest I wasn't sure the formula was going to work because FromSoftware generally excel at tight linear level design and not sprawling open world levels but they have left me greatly impressed. I have about 40 + hours spread across both the PC and the PS5 version and all I can say is Elden Ring is poised to become my favourite game of all time. It plays out like a FromSoftware greatest hits compilation but on a grand and engrossing scale. I can't recommend it enough.

Masterclass in open world game design

Performance on the PC is not great at the moment. The game suffers from quite a bit of stuttering and freezing. The latest patch released yesterday remedies the stuttering somewhat but I am still getting the occasional freeze frames. The freeze frames do seem to become less and less the more you play. Don't purchase the game if these sort of things bother you, rather wait until all the issues are resolved.

Dark Souls; Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice; Bloodborne

Teens and up

★★★★★★★★★☆ (would be a perfect 10 if not for the performance issues and will get changed to a 10 if they sort the freeze frames out)