Exploring The Lands Between: A Comprehensive Review Of The New “Elden Ring” Video Game

If you’ve ever been a fan of the “Lord of the Rings” or “The Hobbit” and crave challenging gameplay, then it’s time to scrape your pockets because the “Elden Ring” game, in all of its shining glory, has come to the shelves of Gamestop. 

After being in development for 25 years according to IGN and selling 12 million copies in just the first three weeks of its Feb. 25 release date, Elden Ring has blasted through the barrier of mediocrity that has haunted the gaming industry since 2018’s “Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.”

The game starts you off as a “Tarnished Individual” — a realm outcast — in the callous world called “The Lands Between” after the Elden Ring was shattered.

The Elden Ring isn’t an actual ring, rather it’s a way to describe the natural order of things within the game’s universe. It’s a way to make concepts like the cycle of life and death a tangible thing. For example, one ending you may choose to pursue through your actions is to reintroduce the concept of death back into the realm by mending the ring in a specific way. 

To restore your own idea of natural order, a luminous energy called Lost Grace beckons your character back to The Lands Between. Your objective is to traverse the massive land collecting gear, locate Lost Grace and kill demigods to recover the fragments of the ring. 

Once all the fragments are acquired, your endgame will be to fix the ring in order to restore your form of balance within The Lands Between and claim the title of Elden Lord.

Sounds like a tall order, but the objectives give players a unique worldbuilding experience while unveiling the secrets behind the Elden Ring universe. Interactions with personable characters and an investigation of a 79-kilometer map that you freely roam with minimal direction from the game has made the title a standout in the gaming community.

You have to pay close attention and make your own inferences on your surroundings to eventually piece together the information you need to have in order to better understand your goal and environment. With its murky caves riddled with secrets of the past and vast regions littered with decrepit ruins shadowed by a unique lore waiting to be unearthed, Elden Ring has surpassed all expectations when it comes to storytelling. 

It’s this form of unguided gameplay along with the various monster-shaped obstacles that force you to strategize in order to progress along your journey of ash and blood that has generated a meteoric rise in popularity for this game.

While Elden Ring has a multiplayer option, it is best played alone, as there are unexpected consequences in multiplayer mode. But, that only made me love the game more — you travel faster alone, hit damage is higher and the bosses aren’t ridiculously overpowered.

The creativity and detail in the graphics amaze me and bring this game above any type I’ve played. The various enemies you see within the game range from dragons, trolls and giant soulless cephalopods called Land Octopi that keep me up at night, basically all your nightmares poured into the screen — in the best way possible. Somehow, emotions like fear or attributes like battle experience are clearly applied to the design of the land, atmosphere and terrifyingly epic enemies.

The control system is manageable and very similar to that of the “Dark Souls” series — 10 minutes spent coordinating which button causes what action will help you adjust to the many capabilities of the character, like dodging and shield use to block an attack — an essential skill to master. 

As for player customization and classes, you get access to a character personalization screen that allows for you to make your character look as horrifyingly confusing as possible. You have 11 different customization options — making anything from a permanently drunk looking wizard to literally Kanye West (yes, it’s been done).

With 10 unique character bases you can choose from before starting the game such as samurai or wizard, each class leans toward a specific playstyle that hinges on your base’s given skills. For example, depending on what character base you pick you may be better off tailoring your inventory and playstyle towards long range combat because your character has a low starting strength or vice versa. Essentially, the character class you choose to play as will make sure you focus on what items and tactics you will use to progress your journey effectively. 

On top of a wide character selection, traversing across a seemingly endless land of clashing steel and magic spells with more than a few monsters that look like if Ellen Degeneres decided to take a bunch of Oxycontin and give Ann Coulter a piggy back ride, the gameplay is so compelling that it kept me glued to my Xbox controller until 2 a.m. on a school night. While your mom might be less enthusiastic about the game, you’re sure to find it more than amusing when you’re casting spells as a jacked Seth Rogen that has a metal fishbowl for a helmet.