Those struggling to wait for Elden Ring's release are going to be dealing with even more hype, as the review embargo for Elden Ring has lifted, revealing what critics with early copies of the game think of FromSoft's latest game. We're not even three months into the year, and we might already have a GOTY on our hands, as Elden Ring's reviews are outstandingly, overwhelmingly high right out of the gate. With just less than 100 individual reviews, the game is sitting at an average score of 97--higher than The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, higher than The Last of Us, Persona 5, Metal Gear Solid V, and other titles that tend to sit atop "best game of all time lists".

In fact, Elden Ring is now the highest-scored game of all time critically, tied with 2017's Super Mario Odyssey. This is at least going by OpenCritic's more modern standards of review aggregation--over at Metacritic, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time still confidently reigns supreme with its 99/100. Regardless, the results are in, and it appears Elden Ring might be one of the greatest games out in the past few years. Are you even more excited to try it, or are you going to wait to see what the fan consensus is after launch?

Now the #1 game of all time: pic.twitter.com/UAZClQnKGf

— OpenCritic (@Open_Critic) February 23, 2022

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Elden Ring will be out on February 25th, for PC, Xbox Series, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and PlayStation 4.

 

[RichardTheKing]

Meh, personally I don't care for this at all. No, GotY is gonna be Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (and if it equals XC2's quality, let alone surpasses it, then I'll likely update my profile pic), for sure.

Also Horizon would be a lot more interesting if I could play as a dude, so since I can't, it's utter trash.

 

[SeventhSon7]

I like souls games, but I doubt the hype level for this game. Unless there's some hidden mechanic, it looks like DS3+jump button+horse+chalice dungeons

 

[Xzi]

Since it's obvious a lot of people here aren't reading any of the reviews and are just mouthing off based on a number, here's a solid spoiler-free video review from one of the better-known Souls content creators:

 

[Kioku]

Since it's obvious a lot of people here aren't reading any of the reviews and are just mouthing off based on a number, here's a solid spoiler-free video review from one of the better-known Souls content creators:

Nah, that's clearly a biased review that was paid for by FS. There's no such thing as an unbiased review. Everyone is a shill. According to some of the users here, anyway.

 

[SonyUSA]

I have a hard time believing a lot of those scores aren't severely biased because of hype or wanting to appease the PR company giving out the codes, or to make click-bait for views.

I grabbed a copy because it looks pretty neat, so we'll see...

 

[Xzi]

click-bait for views.

When it comes to great games like this, the click-bait jockeys give them a 5/10 and fail to justify that score in the larger review. Only when a game is trash do they award 10/10s as click-bait.

 

[64bitmodels]

and here the nintendrones and soyny boys come to lap up the semen off of sony and nintendos dick while touting how much better BOTW and Odyssey is and that all soulslikes are "overrated'

Do you guys even like video games anyways? and by video games i mean actual art that isn't just nintendo shit

 

[Xzi]

and here the nintendrones and soyny boys come to lap up the semen off of sony and nintendos dick while touting how much better BOTW and Odyssey is and that all soulslikes are "overrated'

Do you guys even like video games anyways? and by video games i mean actual art that isn't just nintendo shit

BotW isn't a bad game, but I definitely don't think it deserves a 96 average. Maybe an 84.

Sony might actually be looking to acquire FromSoft soon, so that would be interesting.

 

[tabzer]

It does seem a little interesting, with the news of Forbidden West getting review-bombed shortly before this. IMO the Horizon games are a lot funner than Souls. Maybe it's just expensive PR. Are there any reviewers that have integrity or reputation to maintain?

I don't even like Horizon all that much, but at least it keeps my attention.

I honestly watched Xzi's video and it's literally a fanboy telling me how blessed and unworthy we are to have Fromsoft bless us. You can hear the "passion" in his voice as he tells us about the things Fromsoft didn't have to do. Lol.

I'd have to have a lot of nothing to do to play through a Souls game.

 

[Xzi]

It does seem a little interesting, with the news of Forbidden West getting review-bombed shortly before this. IMO the Horizon games are a lot funner than Souls. Maybe it's just expensive PR. Are there any reviewers that have integrity or reputation to maintain?

Well review bombing is stupid, but there are a number of valid criticisms of Horizon Forbidden West. The pop-in is reportedly pretty bad, so maybe the game coulda used another few months in the oven.

I honestly watched Xzi's video and it's literally a fanboy telling me how blessed and unworthy we are to have Fromsoft bless us. You can hear the "passion" in his voice as he tells us about the things Fromsoft didn't have to do. Lol.

A lot of these features are things that other open world games don't do well, or don't do at all. And that includes Horizon Forbidden West, which is far more limiting as an action-adventure game than Elden Ring is as an RPG. Sekiro would be the better comparison.

 

[Chary]

People love to just toss any critical opinion aside because "muh shill" and "lmao paid off". That kind of brushing off is always eyeroll worthy.

Click bait also makes no reasonable sense here. There is an embargo that the reviewers agree to. They have zero idea what others are going to score it. Even if someone gave Elden Ring a 7/10 and people called it clickbait, that writer would have had no idea of the rush of 10/10s that were going to happen.

From Soft games come from Bamco publishing and while they're a large company, the PR firm they have handling their games only does PR for them. Reviewers wouldnt lose out much by "angering" them theoretically. I'm not saying it never happens, but I am saying it's laughable for people to claim that Bamco needed to pay people off or leverage taking away review codes from outlets over a game from one of the most beloved developers in modern gaming. Elden Ring was always going to score high. But it seems very well like it earned that higher than average score.

 

[WaffleRaccoon]

Finally, a new game that people don't rate badly.

 

[AlexMCS]

Since it's obvious a lot of people here aren't reading any of the reviews and are just mouthing off based on a number, here's a solid spoiler-free video review from one of the better-known Souls content creators:

It's graphically a 10/10 no doubt. What a gorgeous looking game. First of this gen to look this clean IMO.
But the "heavy" character movement/combat (same old souls stuff) is already a big "no" to me.
It feels almost exactly like playing the heavy hitters from Dynasty Warriors, like Xu Zhu and Meng Huo.
Horse movement looks fine though.
So his "wow, what great combat!" tirade is already laughable to longtime Musou players.

This review goes on about how "big" the game is with 100 hours.
I've played RPGs much longer than that.

He also has the balls to say it's "the best ARPG" ever. Even Kingdom Hearts 2/BBS has a more satisfying combat.
It's good if, and only if, you like this kind of sluggish combat Souls game have. I don't.
It's funny that he says nothing about the plot in a freaking RPG.

Also, I'm a fan of cell-shading and color, not blood or the darker monsters/zombies usually present in modern WRPGs.

In summary, this is a really good 8-9 game (/opinion).
I also think people throw 10/10 too easily though.

To me, 10/10 means "this game can hardly be improved on all areas. It's reached the zenith of perfection for current tech."
With this combat and no plot mentions, I already think a 10/10 is overrating it.

and here the nintendrones and soyny boys come to lap up the semen off of sony and nintendos dick while touting how much better BOTW and Odyssey is and that all soulslikes are "overrated'

Do you guys even like video games anyways? and by video games i mean actual art that isn't just nintendo shit

Not everyone will share your tastes, bud. Souls game aren't even that good as far as I am concerned.
And as I also said, even with my tastes, I find this better than the emptiness called Zelda BotW.

 

[64bitmodels]

Also Horizon would be a lot more interesting if I could play as a dude, so since I can't, it's utter trash.

girl protagonists are 1000x more interesting than dude protags, this is factual

 

[64bitmodels]

BotW isn't a bad game, but I definitely don't think it deserves a 96 average. Maybe an 84.

Sony might actually be looking to acquire FromSoft soon, so that would be interesting.

BOTW is a bad game though. objectively. i'd rather not write a full essay on why it's quite possibly the most overrated game in existence, especially when anyone who plays it with more than 2 braincells can see the glaring flaws and lack of polish when compared to previous zeldas

 

[anhminh]

> Soul game

Yeah, I would give it a try when they have super casual mode.

 

[64bitmodels]

> Soul game

Yeah, I would give it a try when they have super casual mode.

just gonna leave this here

 

[anhminh]

just gonna leave this here

Nah, I not gonna spend my day sit in the basement try to remember the boss pattern like you guy since I have life and all.

 

[Homebound]

I've only played Dark Soul 3 for about an hour. I liked what I played but I haven't touched it since. I enjoy open world games so I will definitely pick up Elden Ring when it's <$30. It looks similar to Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen. I loved the combat in that game.

 

[tabzer]

Well review bombing is stupid, but there are a number of valid criticisms of Horizon Forbidden West. The pop-in is reportedly pretty bad, so maybe the game coulda used another few months in the oven.


A lot of these features are things that other open world games don't do well, or don't do at all. And that includes Horizon Forbidden West, which is far more limiting as an action-adventure game than Elden Ring is as an RPG. Sekiro would be the better comparison.

To me it just looks like Tolkein/Elder Scrolls type of fantasy, and the fighting mechanics of Souls games still haven't grown on me. In your mind, you think you have an objective reason why everyone should like this game. I just don't find it very appealing. I find it kind of strange that there is so much invested in the hype of it from people who have yet to play it.

I don't like watching people play games either. Maybe I have peculiar interests.