As someone who is very particular in regards to game direction, design, art and music, I can comfortably say that Elden Ring is hands down the best RPG (more specifically souls-like) currently on the market. If Elden Ring is the first souls-like game you're looking to dive into, it can appear daunting right off the bat; however I promise that with a bit of research and scanning through the many publicly available guides, you'll find yourself asking why you hadn't started earlier.

I've played just about all the FromSoftware games and Elden Ring feels like the culmination of all the best aspects from each of them weaved into one exceptional experience. The Lore can be consumed and interpreted in different ways depending on what kind of player you choose to be. If you decide that it's worth understanding the origins of the lands between, quest lines and dialogue throughout do a great job of helping you understand the intricate tapestry of the story. However If just killing bosses and getting as powerful as you can get is more appealing, the game is still entirely playable and just as engaging.

When it comes to how the game feels, the combat mechanics are fluid; granted nothing will ever feel as coherent as Sekiro's combat. The UI should also feel familiar if you've meddled around with any of the other games in the souls franchise. The camera feels fine. I say fine because it can get janky at times, especially when fighting large bosses that loom over you (Dragons, wyrms etc...) but it's still a relatively decent. The graphics however are to be marveled at. Each structure, landscape and arena feel intentional, I find the environment to be an extremely immersive experience; a real testament to how far graphics have come in recent years. It must be said that you need to have a pretty solid gaming rig to run graphics on maximum settings though, Elden Ring happens to be pretty well optimized so honestly it shouldn't be a major concern. Note that this game is more-so CPU intensive. As a music composer myself, I have to say that the soundtrack is truly a work of art. The songs punctuate the grandiose nature of everything in the lands between; dramatic and potent are words I would use to describe them. If you enjoyed songs like Soul of Cinder, Living Failures and Gwyns theme, you can expect a whole slew of songs just like them in Elden Ring. Nothing revolutionary or innovative, but incredibly effective at evoking the emotions they aim to.

My closing remark, play the game! Or don't, but you'll regret it >:D

10/10