Elden Ring, an open world successor to the Dark Souls series launched on February 25th and reviews are overwhelmingly positive. Many outlets are scoring the game 10/10.
Unlike many AAA titles, Elden Ring's launch wasn't plagued by the downtime and server issues seen in so many titles over the last two years.
The game is the first open-world game in the Dark Souls mythos. Previously, the games were confined to dungeons and caves. Now, vast fields are ruins, and yes caves, make up the game's levels.
The Dark Souls games were marked by a high difficulty level that often required practice (earned usually while dying repeated) and precise skills.
In Elden Ring players will discover the unknown in a world that is quite literally out to get them. They will grow in power until they can assume the mantle of an Elden Lord by claiming the the Elden Ring itself.
The character creation is deep and offers a nigh incomparable level of customization. One complaint about the game so far is that the character creation option, while it does provide a variety of skin tons, does not offer enough hairstyles for diverse populations.
Hopefully this is addressed in a future update.
There is a multiplayer element to Elden Ring, where you can connect with other players and traverse the fields of death together, which is different than most games. Also, you can jump.
For Dark Souls fans this is new and welcome.
The game is beautiful, and sweeping, and will use every kb of your machine's processing power to render. It's worth it though. If you're willing to put in the time, Elden Ring is an action RPG worth playing.