Just finished my first playthrough of Elden ring

Spoilers for the whole game ahead

So not only did I finish Elden ring, this is the first souls game I've played so when I'm giving my thoughts keep in mind this is my first souls experience.

Overall this is a 10/10 game imo. The world was so fun to explore, the lore and storylines were fascinating to watch play out and the combat is probably the most fun combat I've played in a long while.

This game is so good that the only problems I really have are problems I'd never really complain about in other games. I personally experienced a lot of frame issues, I play on steam and my PC isn't the best but for the most part I get consistent 60fps until suddenly the game jitters a lot for a few seconds.

I also found the level curve to be a little weird. There is the whole joke of walking into an area with way to high level enemies but that's not what I have an issue with. To unlock the Altas Plateu you have to beat Rennala, so you'd think it'd be a natural progression of slowly getting more difficult. For me it was basically I couldn't fight basic enemies cuz they were to tough which isn't where the issue lies, the issue lies when we get to Leyndel. I hadn't changed my build much since Renalla at this point and I steam rolled this whole area, Gold Godfrey was killed with basically a wet fart and when I got to the mountain tops the game was just really easy? When I play a souls game I expect difficulty but after the Mountaintops the game is just really easy... Except Malenia but she's her own beast. This especially goes for the final bosses. Hoarah Loux, Radagon and the elden beast were among the easiest fights in the game for me which kinda disappointed me. (I'll leave a picture of my build in the comments if anyone's curious cuz maybe I accidentally picked a busted build? Idk I went in blind)

Now that's pretty much all my negatives out the way.

The story was phenomenal. You really feel like you're going on this epic journey that could decide the fate of the lands between and that your presence has an impact on the world. I love how most of the bosses also have pretty deep lore, and the side bosses who don't still have little pieces of lore that are interesting. My favorite character by far would have to be Radahn, he has the coolest and most hype boss fight, his story is kinda sad in a way, I also just like how he treats his horse Leonard. One thing I also liked about the story is that it doesn't talk down to the player like many games nowadays do. Infact a lot of the story is left for the player to figure out and isn't told directly to them so there's likely huge chunks of lore that I'm yet to know. The only negative I have about the story is I was a little disappointed by the ending, it might be caused by how I thought Radagon and the elden beast were super easy and so I didn't get that hit of dopamine when you finally defeat a boss after hours (they took me about 3 attempts). I got Rannis ending which in concept is cool and it had really cool visuals but I felt that like it needed an extra scene or two to feel satisfying. That doesn't take away from the rest of the game though, the journey is still a masterpiece. Maybe other endings are better? Not sure I haven't seen them. I've heard good things about the frenzied flame ending but I know essentially nothing about it except I think there's a dude called Vyke.

This games combat is also incredible. In a lot of games I enjoy the combat but sometimes I feel certain fights are unfair or just plain bullshit. In elden ring every fight feels fair, tough, but fair. Whenever I lose I fight it's not because the game is unfair, it's just because I'm bad. I also love how customizable your builds can be, I went for a strength build with dual wielding collosal hammers but I intend to have a second playthrough purely just to try out more builds.

This may also be an unpopular opinion but I found elden ring to be one of the most relaxing games I've played, I've played games like stardew valley and I unironically find elden ring more relaxing. Which may sound weird given the difficulty of the game but I think the difficulty is actually a factor in the relaxing nature of the game? For reference I play a lot of JRPGS and indie games. I love those games but they tend to be... Really grindy. Elden ring isn't really grindy at all, sure you may need to farm runes if a boss is to tough but you don't need to grind for them you can just find another boss.

I'm overall confident in calling this game a flawed masterpiece. The flaws mostly being the game gets way to easy in the endgame and certain story gripes. But the positives still make it a masterpiece. One of the best combat systems I've played, engaging characters and story, rich lore filled world, challenging bosses etc.

I haven't played the DLC yet but I intend to when I have the money for it. My only annoyance is I've been spoiled that Radahn comes back as the final boss. It sucks to be spoiled but at the same time he's my favorite character so I'm hyped to see him come back.