HIGH New options for new builds.

LOW My frames… again.

WTF Didn’t realize that was a cliff…

Editor’s Note: This review is for the Remnant II DLC only. For the full writeup of the base game including expanded information and system explanations, please see the main review here.

Playing The Awakened King is like eating a plain dessert after a sumptuous meal — slightly unsatisfying, and easy to forget in light of what came before. Now, I’m not saying Remnant II’s first DLC is somehow so egregiously bad it ruins the main experience — a gem — retroactively. What I’m saying is these piecemeal additions don’t add much to the experience.

The Awakened King does offer several new possible permutations of the base game’s Losomn world, split between the fantastical palace areas of the Fae and the Victorian-inspired urban dredge of the Dran — or, as I affectionately call them, the Bloodborne parts. The new sections that aren’t just new riffs on previous areas are set along a coast, where the ramshackle harbor and derelict lighthouse stand in stark contrast to the majesty of a castle commanding the skyline.

There are only a couple truly new bosses as well (I’m not counting stat-buffed enemies called “aberrations”) that I found mostly underwhelming. Fighting big boss The One True King — the angry, awakened monarch whose magical repose caused conflict in the base game — was the highlight, if only because of his gargantuan size and whiplash-inducing teleportation. However, even including him, no boss encounter here ever reached the mechanical cleverness of those in the base campaign.

Aimed more at die-hard players than casual travelers like myself, the most the DLC has to offer is a slew of new weapons and items to further trick out already-established builds. For example, the Executor mutator increases both melee charge and attack speed for those who want to make hand-to-hand combat more viable, while there are a slew of new items that build on status effects, like the Shadow of Misery ring that increases status damage by a full 15 per cent. There’s also a new archetype, the Ritualist, which similarly plays with those status effects and features a delightfully witchy unique armor.

The previous game, Remnant: From the Ashes, had an infamously content-light initial DLC, and Awakened King is certainly better than that. However, the future additions to Ashes brought new biomes and enemies, and while I had hoped The Awakened King would be of a similar caliber, it falls short — in terms of story and setpieces, a player could probably see most of what’s on offer here in around four or five hours.

Technically, the first thing I noticed when booting up the new area was a precipitous drop in frames — the rainy weather means the shore runs significantly worse than any of the base game areas, at least on my PC. But, with a few setting tweaks I was able to fully appreciate the new gloomy atmosphere.

I was excited to dive back into Remnant II and wanted to see what new wonders Gunfire Games could cook up. There might be something juicier in the next expansion, but this one more feels like a few odds and ends than anything substantial. The One True King may be awakened, but players should feel free to sleep on this DLC.

Score: 6 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is developed by Gunfire Games and published by Gearbox Publishing. It is currently available on XBX, PS5 and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PC. Approximately 3 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. 5 hours of play were spent in multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M and contains Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Strong Language, and Violence. The official description reads as follows: This is a third-person action game in which players assume the role of a human survivor in a post-apocalyptic, fantasy world. Players travel between four different realms to battle demonic forces, alien creatures, and corrupted mutants in frenetic combat. Players use pistols, rifles, shotguns, and melee weapons to kill enemy forces. Battles are highlighted by realistic gunfire, cries of pain, and frequent blood-splatter effects. Some attacks on enemy creatures can result in decapitation, with large blood-splatter. One quest item players must retrieve is a severed, bloody hand, which can be examined at close range. The game depicts a topless elven female character, with an exposed breast and nipple. The words “f*k,” “sht,” and “a*shole” are heard in the game. 

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available. 

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles cannot be altered and/or resized.  Audio cues for enemy presence and attacks do not have a visual component onscreen. This game is not fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls. 

HIGH The many bosses and mini-bosses!

LOW The world is far too linear for a soulslike.

WTF Why can’t I attack that obvious traitor before it’s too late?!

I believe a certain percentage of the world’s gaming audience will take even a moderately good soulslike over anything from another genre, any day of the week. Aside from the difficulty and bleak tones, soulslikes offer an underlying level of intensity that many action titles struggle to maintain for the length of a campaign. At the same time, they effortlessly establish a ‘beat this, if you can!’ relationship with the player — a unique kind of psychological trick, both alluring and treacherous, making them hard to quit for the right sort of person. However, there are many ways a new soulslike can go wrong, and the scrutiny from fans of the genre can be intense. With all that said, I’m happy to report that Lies of P is the latest noteworthy entry in its ever-expanding genre.

Lies of P’s moment-to-moment mechanics combine several aspects from popular soulslikes that came before — for instance, much success relies on how well we can manage the genre-standard always-dwindling stamina reserves. Attacking, dodging, running, jumping — all of these actions drain a portion of the character’s lung capacity, and if it was to deplete, we’d be open to severe punishment from any opposing force lingering nearby. However, we can block incoming attacks. It won’t completely negate the force of the impact, but striking soon after will restore a portion of lost health back.

Aside from blocking, we can also parry if we block at the particular instant when the enemy’s weapon is about to connect. Unfortunately, there’s a hidden difficulty regarding perfect parries — the English localization of Lies of P isn’t as accurate as it needs to be.

For example, the game ‘explains’ that I can nullify any enemy attack if I tap the block button at just the right time to land a perfect parry, but that’s not exactly how it works. In actuality, to perform a ‘perfect parry’ nullification (followed by a satisfying metal-against-metal clunking noise and the possible breaking of an adversary’s blade) we must not only press the block button at the right moment but also proceed to hold it for the next few milliseconds. Without those extra frames of blocking, the parry won’t happen and the player will simply take damage. 

Needless to say, that is not a harmless ‘misunderstanding’ given how Lies of P practically insists that we master parrying via its generous selection of bosses with entertaining rhythm-based attack patterns. Plus, even regular foes have access to special “fury” attacks that can only be repelled by a perfect parry. Therefore, it’s unfortunate that Lies of P doesn’t spend enough time (in its translation or otherwise) to ensure that players understand how this core mechanic works, but I’m inclined to write that off as an oversight, and not an intentional misrepresentation of the ‘proper’ way to play.

However, once we’ve figured out how parrying works, it’s easy to find tons of enjoyment with it! Lies of P offers a voice different from the average soulslike — it sets a peculiar tempo and everything about it works better and better as the campaign progresses! So yes, this game takes a good while to truly get going. Admittedly, the timing to land a parry gets trickier when more dexterous enemies start popping up, but exploiting the system is well worth it in the end, even if Lies of P enjoys racking up the difficulty up to 11. 

As for the early areas, they are reminiscent of common soulslike scenarios — corners hiding two or three enemies in ambush positions when only one is easily visible, suspiciously barren uphill sections where a rolling ball suddenly makes an appearance with the intent of squashing the player, and so forth. Still, even if I correctly deciphered these challenges on time, dealing with them in Lies of P feels a bit ‘off’ at first.

Part of this, I think, is that the developers opted to lock some basic moves genre fans expect behind a skill tree. As a result, we cannot pull off intuitive things like rolling after an enemy forces us to the ground or being able to string two dodges in a row. That seems like an arbitrary hurdle that might discourage newcomers to the genre far earlier than intended — in a soulslike, such moves should be completely available from the start, and the gameplay in P suffers due to that imposed sluggishness. Luckily, Lies of P manages to outgrow those shortcomings before it’s too late.

The game’s many weapons come in two categories — regular (found as item pick-ups across the world) and special (armaments that require interacting with a merchant and parting with a specific boss soul to obtain). We can utilize them with the usual assortment of light, strong, charged, running, or jumping attacks, but can also perform special attacks that cost no stamina, yet drain the energy bar instead. Filling the energy bar back up is possible by landing hits on an enemy or by using consumables (which are quite effective in Lies of P, especially those of the explosive kind).  

Furthermore, we can break all non-boss weapons apart and produce entirely new weapons by combining whichever handle with whichever blade. By tinkering with this system, I was able to give longer reach to a fire-infused dagger or transfer a defensive weapon art from an axe to a rapier. It’s a neat inclusion that allows for some player agency, though I found the weapons to be effective enough in their original states. We can also change a weapon’s scaling, which actually mitigates the issue of there not being enough dexterity-based weapons prior to the mid-game. Regardless, P has a lot of decisions to make when it comes to his weapon of choice, and many are worth exploring to the fullest. 

But what about P’s left arm? It’s obvious from the trailers and promo art that he looks like a normal human, with the exception of a mechanical left arm. This limb is the biggest tell that we’re playing as a puppet that’s turned against its frenzied brethren and a slew of more ‘organic’ enemy types to save humanity. To combat those odds, P can equip his left arm with choices like a flamethrower, a string that pulls enemies, a shield, and other contraptions that I won’t spoil here. Thus, P‘s left arm becomes a pivotal part of the character build and greatly complements any given offense.

On that note, having the means to dish out damage within a small window of opportunity is important in Lies of P. The enemies are often more resilient than initially anticipated, and the wide selection of bosses and mini-bosses offer truly epic encounters that warrant an analytical approach. The designs of these baddies lie somewhere between the wacky and the grotesque, but I was pleased with both. If there’s any nitpick to be raised, it’s that most of the bosses have a second stage that’s wildly different from the first, despite retaining a reasonable difficulty. These fights are a definite highlight!

Story-wise, P follows beats similar to the classic 19th-century tale of Pinocchio, but also takes inspiration from a myriad of other sources, such as transhumanism, morality, cabaret art, and more. The plot is easy to keep up with due to a plethora of written collectibles and NPC dialogue to engage with, but I found it to be a bit lackluster despite the effort. Without spoilers, the script spreads itself too thin, yet many times when an enemy or an NPC would initiate monologues, I wished that they would cut them short. A part of what makes Dark Souls‘ storytelling such a success is that it evades revealing everything. Lies of P heads boldly in the opposite direction, but I found myself caring less and less as the conclusion drew nearer…   

Another complaint might be that while Lies of P looks pretty at all times and is populated with supremely animated character models, the levels are actually linear and “blocky”, for lack of a better term. While it’s impossible to get lost in them, the game’s levels are not all that memorable either. After revisiting a few of the early areas before facing the (real) end boss, I was surprised at how few of those layouts I remembered. The final gauntlet drags a bit too long as well — in my opinion, an entire third of it could’ve been cut and the experience wouldn’t have suffered one bit.  

Despite those complaints, Lies of P remains a resounding two thumbs up. While not perfect, there are no serious arguments to be made about this ambitious attempt’s quality. In my view, it most definitely is the strongest contender for best soulslike of the year in 2023!

Rating: 8.5 out of 10 

Disclosures: This game is developed by Neowiz Games and Round8 Studio, and published by Neowiz Games. It is currently available on PC, PS4/5, and XBO/S/X. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PS4 Pro. Approximately 40 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. There are no multiplayer modes.

Parents: This game has received an M rating from the ESRB and contains Blood and Violence. The official summary reads: “This is an action role-playing game in which players assume the role of the puppet Pinocchio in his search to become human. From a third-person perspective, players explore environments, collect items, and battle various enemies (e.g., puppets, mechanoid creatures) in melee-style combat. Players use swords and mechanical arms with ranged attacks (e.g., Puppet String, Flamberge) to kill enemies. Boss battles depict more prolonged combat against larger enemies. Battles are highlighted by slashing sounds, cries of pain, and large blood-splatter effects. Some environments depict bloody corpses and large blood stains on the ground.”

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available. 

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: Every line of dialogue is accompanied by written text, and I personally found the font size to be easily readable. Sound is completely unimportant for playing and enjoying this game since there are no audio-only cues for incoming attacks. I played it for some time with the volume turned fully off and had no problems. This game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: This game offers a controller diagram and the controls are remappable. The default scheme is similar to other soulslikes, meaning we use the circle button to run/roll/dodge, the shoulder buttons are for light and strong attacks, the square button is for using items, the left stick is for movement and the right stick handles the camera.

Today GameCritics is happy to present this video covering Bleak Sword DX from guest contributor Arlyeon. For more from Arlyeon, you can check out their YouTube channel or their Discord.

Hey Folks! It’s time to strap in for some swift suffering, since today I’m going to be talking about More8bit’s brutal hack & slash, Bleak Sword DX. In essence, this expands upon the initial apple arcade release, providing a remixed and extended campaign to cleave through. That said, was I quick to pick up this bit of swordplay, or did it wind up being a deluxe disappointment?  I’m your host Arlyeon, Let’s find out together. 

In just one night, the Kingdom fell – the royal family fell by one of their own. And yet, this was not a brutal act of ambitious politics. Rather, it was caused by the corrupting influence of a dark relic known as the Bleak sword which poisoned, and ultimately possessed it’s wielder. And that was just the start.

Granted unnatural longevity by the blade itself, the Bleak King was granted centuries to enact his reign, plunging the countryside into chaos, as dark magic spread freely, and countless horrific creatures emerged from their slumber. 

A seemingly endless nightmare – were it not for the curious dream a lone wanderer receives. 3 Magic stones, scattered across the countryside- which when united, might be able to overcome the fell magics of the Bleak Sword.

As for the execution, the game’s intro does most of the heavy lifting, as it introduces both the backstory and premise. Yes, there are some brief scenes to accompany every boss fight, as well as to showcase your journey forward- but the real meat of the narrative comes in this moment, and the finale, by all accounts.

Almost. See, once you clear the central story, there are a trio of epilogue areas- which actually receive a bit more exposition than their peers, insofar as explaining the context for your journey. Even still, it’s overall a fairly straightforward affair- which leans more towards providing cinematic moments, and establishing a mood, than trying to engross players in a complicated narrative.

And this focus on simplicity is equally reflected in how this Hack & Slash plays. The controls are simple enough – being a basic combo, a charge attack, a parry, and a dodge roll. Yes, there is a stamina meter to manage, which imposes some slight degree of tactical consideration- but, even that isn’t too bad, given it’s wholly divorced from your dodges, as well as your ability to parry and counter. Admittedly, getting the timing on counters -can- be a bit tricky at first, but short of the stupid spiders, just about every other enemy in the game is well telegraphed on this front. And if they can’t be countered, their animations still let you know when to dodge.

What’s more, Bleak sword’s approach to stage design really helps to make the experience feel snapping. See, each level is essentially an arena, which tasks you with clearing out the enemies which crop up (ideally in a timely fashion, given certain stages seek to overwhelm you).

That said, even with this basic premise, I remained solidly engaged. Part of this is simply due to the diversity of each of the game’s biomes. In total, there’s 12- with 11 of them having 12 stages, and 1 with 6.

Each of these regions have their own pools of enemies, and suitably dramatic boss encounters- providing you some suitably solid enemy types to learn the nuances of- as well as environmental hazards to adapt to. (And even without those, there’s still a fair amount of attention provided to the stages themselves, as pillars, trees, or even narrow hallways all serve to change how you’ll adapt to incoming enemies.)

But the element which helped to hook me the most, was the overall snappy pacing of Bleak Sword as a whole. Each of those stages are relatively quick to clear on their own- provided you maintain a good pace, making this a -very- good game for people who want something to pick up and play briefly- but also providing enough variety to motivate a player to barrel through it’s content over the course of an afternoon or two.

Still, as brutal as the game can be- there are some elements to facilitate your journey. Namely, items and leveling. Items are straightforward enough- when you clear a stage, you’ll occasionally receive an item, such as a consumable health item, or an accessory that boosts your attack and/or defense. There’s also scrolls that permanently boost a stat- though these are incredibly rare.

Only, well- you only have two item slots, which means optimizing your loadout is a logistics decision- especially with early accessories that might provide more attack, but drop your defense.

Leveling, likewise, is another straightforward element. Gain enough exp, and you’re given a choice to increase either your attack or defense, alternating every level. I mean, you can boost your health- but, well, attack helps a -lot- with keeping combat quick and snappy.

Admittedly, these systems aren’t safe from the game’s overarching difficulty, either. See, when you clear a stage, you don’t actually heal back all your health, only a portion of it. Which is made important, since you bleed out -all- the experience you’ve earned towards your next level -and- drop all your items when you die. While you -do- regain it all, if you clear the stage that killed you- you only get 1 shot to do so. Which is a bit rough, given- clearing that stage when you’ve -lost- all the boosts from your equipment can be rough. There were more than a few instances where I got wrecked, and proceeded to double back to earlier areas to farm up a brand new loadout.

In any case, as much as this provided a -lot- of content for me to pour over (and master, given I collected the majority of the achievements related to clearing bosses without being hit) – that isn’t the full extent of the game. Once you’ve cleared it, you unlock a brutally hard extra difficulty -and- an additional 2 game modes. Namely, a boss rush, that pits you against every boss in the game, back to back- without items or leveling boosts -and- an arena.

The arena, on the other hand, starts out a lot more forgiving, but even its difficulty scales up considerably, as it won’t be long until you’re facing off against foes from the final biomes, all while your gear and level remains the same. It’s, uh, a time- but it definitely provides more content for those seeking a challenge.

But, that’s the gameplay- so let’s move onto the graphics- and, on the whole, I appreciated this quite a bit. Visually speaking, there’s a low-fi quality to the entire thing, but, it still manages to provide decently detailed stages to navigate, which manage to lean into the dark ambience the game is trying to evoke. I was, in fact, surprised at how dramatic the boss intros could be, despite the more simplistic visual presentation.

Also, the fact that each stage is stylized like a Diorama was definitely a unique element- as was the manner in which certain elements of the stage provided an obstacle both as a physical impediment, as well as a potentially obscuring element that might allow an enemy to surreptitiously advance. It -really- coaxed me into playing more cautiously, and making use of the terrain to my advantage.

I also appreciated the weather effects, because it was interesting to navigate the haze of a snowstorm, or a sudden flash of lightning obscuring the battlefield. The latter element -does- represent a hazard to epileptics- but, there is a handy accessibility option that allows you to tune down Lightning Strength. 

That said, what really brings the thunder here is the soundtrack. If you’ve played Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery, or Below, the music might sound familiar to you, since the OST was done by Jim Guthries. And it is just -delightful-. To the point that listening to more of the tunes was another major factor in my desire to just crush stage after stage.

But yeah- all in all, this was my experience with Bleak Sword. Well, beyond the fact that I highly recommend using a controller. Yes, you can remap the keyboard controls (and even include the mouse) – but, it wasn’t my tool of choice here.

That detail aside- I overall had a -lot- of fun. While simple, the overall story felt -fun- to engage with and witness. (And there were- some neat details to be found in the game’s bestiary). That said, the real star of the show was the gameplay. It’s a -solid-, challenging experience, and I was surprised at the sheer amount of variety that it provided. What’s more, if you were like me, and stacked your offense to the high heavens, the Arena provides a -very- solid avenue for you to see the full repertoire of your enemies arsenals- because they -are- more than one trick ponies. A fact that kept me on my toes the entire time.

Which is a lot of words to say, I recommend this game, – enough to call it a very solid HIT.

*

The subject of this installment: Dead Ink, developed and published by Offwidth Games.

In a market oversaturated with soulslikes, it says something that Dead Ink stands out. While much of the basic vocabulary belongs to From Software, one-person studio Offwidth has embellished it with one of the more enticing settings in recent memory. It’s at once calming and terrifying, it wastes no space, and an acrophobic top-down camera system (imitating a wide-angle lens) finds new ways to both share and deviously obscure valuable information. First impressions are quite strong.

Dead Ink‘s story is light on concrete details (to its benefit, as it gets by on atmosphere alone) but the basic gist is that we’re a transhuman construct navigating some kind of tower. Anyone who gets an endorphin rush from opening a shortcut back to an old bonfire in the Souls games will appreciate the intricacy of this place, with a seemingly endless number of alternate routes, hidden paths and secret backdoors. In a climate where major studios only ever seem to be concerned with making games as big as possible, it’s refreshing to see something like Dead Ink get this much real estate out of a relatively small space.

I want to spend more time talking about the setting, and if Dead Ink was worth recommending, I would. Unfortunately, the many things that Dead Ink gets right are rendered moot by the one thing it gets terribly wrong – the combat.

The main problem is that there’s very little way to mitigate damage. The AI doesn’t seem to know how to do anything other than make a beeline for the player, and since nearly all of the enemies in Dead Ink can run at least as fast as the protagonist, maneuvering around them is largely impossible and the only option is usually to face them head-on. There’s a regenerating stamina meter but it only applies to defense, so enemies have no incentive to do anything but close in and wail away until someone dies. Nobody reacts to getting hit in Dead Ink, either, so the simple act of landing an attack and avoiding damage from the inevitable counter-blow often feels like it comes down to luck.

There are ways to make the rank-and-file enemies manageable, at least, by upgrading equipment or spawning with extra items — more on that in a moment. It’s the bosses that killed any desire I had to see Dead Ink through to the end, because there doesn’t seem to be any way to defeat them other than to just endlessly kite them around, chipping away at their massive health meters while praying I never took any damage in return.

See, Dead Ink has one of those healing systems that forces players to come to a complete standstill for a moment. This makes sense when combat allows for natural downtime, but since these enemies and bosses don’t provide any breathing room, I’d wager that roughly 90% of the times I’ve tried to heal during combat, I would just immediately get hit again. It’s a classic example of a developer pulling one of FromSoft’s ideas without really examining why it was implemented in the first place.

Compounding the frustration is the way experience and leveling works. Souls in this game are “ink” and checkpoints/bonfires are “printers.” When the player saves at a printer, they deposit all of their current ink into that specific terminal. Respawning from that point costs a certain amount of ink depending on what the player wants to equip. A weapon and shield cost extra, and players can bring as many healing items, grenades, and so forth as they can afford. Dying repeatedly at the same spot without banking more ink means the printer will eventually run out, at which point the player will have to spawn from a terminal that’s farther away, trek all the way back, and fill it up again.

So, if I’m stuck on a boss, not only is it a hassle because the combat itself is lackluster, and not only do I have a lengthy run-up before every attempt, but I can only die against the boss a certain number of times before I need to do some mandatory ink-farming. The game does give players the ability to recover their lost ink from their “bloodstain,” but the boss chambers lock players in, and so any ink lost during a boss fight is effectively lost forever until the guy is killed once and for all.

And just to raise the stakes even higher, there is permadeath in Dead Ink. If the player runs out of ink across all discovered printers, they can no longer respawn, and the save file is lost.

There’s a reason the system works like that, admittedly, because one of the things I love about Dead Ink is how compact it is. The player is never geographically very far from anything, which is why the checkpoint system is, at least on paper, more reasonable than it sounds. It’s meant to test our mental map of the environment, and in a game where the combat was better or at least more forgiving, I would honestly be praising this. Hell, I’m not even entirely sure why this game even has combat to begin with other than to check a box.

Again, the attempt here is admirable. Plenty of larger, more prominent developers have tried to crack FromSoft’s code and failed to come as close as this does. With some major tweaks to the combat, this could have been one of the precious few soulslikes to earn favorable comparisons to Dark Souls. It’s heartbreaking that I can’t recommend Dead Ink, but I’m excited for Offwidth’s next project regardless.

HIGH Still the best example of a shooter-soulslike hybrid ever.

LOW Noticeable glitches, but none gamebreaking.

WTF How is that boss targeting me from behind the boss fog?!

After more than three years of making waves among Souls fans and third-person shooter fans alike, Remnant: From the Ashes finally finds its way to the Nintendo Switch. As an admirer of the original release I was eager to see how it would feel on a handheld. Thankfully, this port is not lacking – it even comes fully equipped with both DLCs, Swamps of Corsus and Subject 2923, both originally released in 2020.

Fans of Remnant surely cherish its frantic pace, creative weapons, build-defining mods, and well-designed areas full of smart enemy placements. For those unfamiliar, this is an action RPG where we create a character, aim from an over-the-shoulder perspective, dodge with a Dark Souls-like roll, and progress in a post-apocalyptic world alongside human NPCs and up to two online players. Standing in our way are the random enemy spawns and fierce bosses guarding entrances to later areas.

After booting it up on the Switch and getting through the admittedly dreadful tutorial, I instantly felt a splash of familiarity and excitement. Even now in 2023, Remnant provides an itch that no other game can scratch — amidst an ocean of similar titles that taught us to respect the stamina bar, Remnant gives us a new spin where guns and futuristic weapons — not swords and shields — take center stage.

Still, that’s not to say that the stamina bar is less important here than it is elsewhere. On the contrary – even if attacking doesn’t cost stamina, the sheer ferocity of enemies makes its management so utterly important. The simple reason for this lies in the “strength in numbers” mantra that all enemies in Remnant live their lives by.

Waves and waves of enemies (they’re all biome-specific and spawn in groups of rangers and axe-wielding grunts alike) will keep on materializing out of nowhere and quickly dominating the landscape. Plus, they do enjoy surrounding the player, so every time we see a group running toward us, we should strive for dispatching them at a distance and not succumb to panicking. In other words: aim for their heads and cherish every critical hit displayed in bright red numbers. Luckily, the player won’t need to memorize their positions or even a world’s layout, as each instance is randomly generated and comes with a mini-map to aid navigation.

Of course, Remnant offers melee weapons as well, but spending precious upgrade materials on them is (mostly) a waste due to their slow attack speeds. No, successfully playing Remnant requires finding a special rhythm of speed and precision, and neither is more essential than the other. Adjusting to this tempo is intuitive, but it’s worth noting that this adventure is tough by design and it can feel unfair, especially early on. But, those who make it to the other end of the devilish tunnels in the first biome, will feel triumphant once the game opens up to reveal more captivating vistas.

On the DLC front, these two additions are worthy. Even if our progress made there has no impact on the main story, both of the DLCs offer exciting and varied ways to experience Remnant’s combat in earnest. A special shout-out goes to the amazingly fat-free survival mode which provides a heart-stomping, vertical slice-like take on the full game. In this mode, the player starts practically naked and needs to carve a path through each area in a randomized order, so no two sessions are the same. Of course, this also means that finding weapons, traits or consumables is up to lucky a roll of the dice as well – which is completely fine. Oh yeah, there’s also a looming timer in the top left corner, counting down the seconds ’till the next increase in difficulty. Combine that with the unrelenting pace of the game, and the result is a truly dynamic mode that produces memorable moments with each new instance!

On a more technical front, Remnant on the Switch isn’t the smoothest thing out there, with enemies often clipping through geometry, bullets sometimes not registering hits, and bosses that tend to stand perfectly still while their AI figures out what to do next. Other nitpicks stem from the quality-of-life viewpoint. For example, Elden Ring proved that stamina shouldn’t drain outside of combat, so I’d love it if something like that was implemented in this new port as well. I was also wishing that there was a way to remove the two long loading screens that crop up every time we try to purchase items.

With all that said, I again recommend Remnant: From the Ashes to any Souls or action game fan. Even after the last few years and the transfer to a handheld platform, it remains an excellent time, and getting hooked on it is dangerously easy.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

— Konstantin Koteski

Disclosures: This game is developed by Gunfire Games and published by Perfect World Entertainment. It is currently available on XBO/X/S, PS4/5, Switch and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on a Switch Lite. Approximately 15 hours of play were devoted to the story, and the game was completed. Around 2 hours were spent in a team with 1-2 other online players.

Parents: This game has received an “M” rating by ESRB, and contains Blood, Strong Language and Violence. The official rating summary reads: “This is an action game in which players assume the role of a hero in a post-apocalyptic world. From a third-person perspective, players explore different landscapes and battle demonic creatures, mutants, and other human survivors in frenetic combat. Players use pistols, rifles, lasers blasters, and melee weapons (e.g., hatchets, swords, spears) to kill enemies. Battles are accompanied by realistic gunfire, large explosions, and screams of pain. Enemies emit large spurts of blood when shot and killed; a handful of sequences depict bodies lying in pools of blood. The words “f**k” and “sh*t” are heard in the game.”

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game does offer subtitles, but they are not able to be resized or altered. As for sound, due to the strange way that enemies suddenly appear, I’m afraid that audio is quite important. The limited field of view often demands that players listen for freshly-spawned adversaries based solely on sound cues. The appearance of a mini-boss is often not accompanied by enough visual cues, especially if the enemy spawns offscreen, or while the player aims elsewhere. Obviously, such situations are a lot more manageable when playing co-op, but solo players might feel a tad overwhelmed or even outgunned. This game is not fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: This game offers a controller diagram, but the control scheme is not able to be remapped. Attacking is done via the bumper buttons, pressing the movement stick will prompt the character to run, and the face buttons are used for dodging, reloading, etc. However, playing it on the Switch Lite, I had to re-adjust the sensitivity of the sticks since the default setting simply didn’t feel right.

HIGH It’s an excellent 2D homage to the Souls series.

LOW The many, many platforming sections leading to an ambush.

WTF Wait, why is this boss suddenly here AGAIN?!

Salt and Sacrifice is a 2D Action-RPG inspired by the Souls series, and it’s also a sequel to 2016’s Salt and Sanctuary, a title I ended up skipping but have heard described as a modern 2D gem.

In Salt and Sacrifice, we pick a starting class and after a short intro, arrive at the hub area. Story-wise, we are tasked with hunting down various mages that roam the land due to an event that birthed their evil.

To find them, we use a portal in the center of the hub, which leads to five other worlds we slowly gain access to as we keep downing bosses. Aside from the portal, the hub area is home to all sorts of shady characters often acting as vendors for rare items, as well as a special monument where we can spend our souls (sorry, I mean salt) to level up. Each time we do so, we also gain one point to spend on a skill tree, unlocking new ways to arm ourselves.

Though I found this setting to be pretty straightforward, it was the combat that prompted me to assume a humble viewpoint and get to getting good. Like many Soulslikes before it, Salt and Sacrifice revolves around a stamina bar, dictating how often we can attack, roll or block. There are also dozens of cool edged, blunt and even ranged weapons (with very limited ammunition) that also come with a built-in special skill available after we fill a separate bar by defeating enemies.

This system will be largely familiar to any Souls fan, but of course, being able to dominate this title will require a prolonged training period. Needless to say, there will be a lot of frustration, too.

For example, besides dealing with groups and groups of enemies who often attack in coordination, we’ll also have to do a ton of platforming with a grappling hook. Later on, we’ll uncover several other ways to get around. Each time we extend our means of traversal, the game teases us to revisit prior areas and dig deeper. As a result, Salt and Sacrifice fulfills the fantasy of a 2D Dark Souls and then some.

Unfortunately, it also managed to find many, many ways to rub me the wrong way.

A prime example of this is how we approach the mages, which serve as the game’s main bosses. Most of these encounters start after we interact with a special object and choose to fight the boss connected to it. Once we press ‘yes’, the game spawns that baddie and also respawns every regular enemy we‘ve defeated so far in the run. Then, we’ll notice a colored ‘wind’ pointing to the location of the boss we’ve just unleashed, on top of many new enemies that the mage raises in its wake.

At those points, the stages quickly transform from places where each enemy position is carefully calculated, to a real flustercluck of opposing groups. It’s such a mess that the number of bodies present on-screen often gets so large that my character’s sprite cannot physically reach the other end of the 2D landscape. After witnessing such a development, all notions of Salt and Sacrifice being a well-tailored experience flew out of the window forever.

Furthermore, once the player makes it to a boss — generally the highlights of any Soulslike — most of them must be chased around the level before we can corner them and give them what for. But strangely, killing them is often not a big deal. The reason? Their sizeable loot pools. Salt and Sacrifice breaks the Souls mold by allowing us to re-beat most of its bosses in order to completely extract their list of rewards dropped upon defeat. On top of that, some bosses don’t even give us a choice — they simply re-appear again, inserting themselves into our current hunt, which only increases the on-screen chaos.

It’s also worth noting that a large majority of the bosses were mere variations or re-skins of two or three basic archetypes. The more memorable fights were bosses that make only a single appearance, and they generally required careful study of their habits in order to find openings in their defense.

Sadly, these kinds of encounters were the minority. For every boss with a genuinely interesting deck of combos to slap me down with, the developers served me twenty bullshit scenarios. These frustrating ordeals often assumed the form of timed platforming trials which would suddenly morph into unfair gauntlets as soon as I’d land amidst a crowd of enemies. In some of these situations, it was just blind luck that got me through.

Similarly, although the game’s areas are not overly long, the checkpoint system and lack of a map make conquering them one heck of a hassle. My biggest issue with it was that not only were there not enough checkpoints, but mid-level checkpoints also don’t allow for leveling up. To do that, players must teleport back to the main hub, but when they go back to the level they just left, they have to start at the beginning!

The lack of a map is just as annoying. While I don’t mind uncovering hidden rooms in a Metroidvania-like manner, 2D games can only get so far in making their levels differentiated enough to be easily memorized. But, if that alone wasn’t enough, Salt and Sacrifice very often blocks our progression by placing magical seals on doors leading to secret areas that must be revisited later. Still, since there is no map reminding me of unexplored locales, I felt little incentive to fully engage with it.

While I found Salt and Sacrifice worth breaking at least one controller over, it’s not for every Souls fan as it commits bizarre mistakes in design and comes with a few baffling omissions — in some ways, the experience is the total opposite of Hidetaka Miyazaki’s teachings. I’m glad I finished it, but it’s not an easy one to recommend.

–– Konstantin Koteski

Disclosures: This game is developed and published by Ska Studios. It is currently available on PS4/5 and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PS4 Pro. Approximately 25 hours of play were devoted to the game and the game was completed. No amount of time was spent in co-op, and the game allows for PvP also.

Parents: This game has received a “T” rating from the ESRB, and contains Blood, Use of Alcohol, and Violence. Though the action is not hard to stomach, the themes at hand are mature and so are the bleak environments full of horrific creatures. Hence, even if these are all mere 2D sprites, the art direction makes it unsuitable for kids.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: Sound is completely unimportant for finishing this game. I’ve played around 30 mins with it turned off, and didn’t notice any relevant audio cues. Text is provided, but is not able to be resized or changed.

Remappable Controls: This game offers a controller diagram, and the control scheme is entirely changeable.

HIGH Finding out how the combat was supposed to work.

LOW The melee combat.

WTF Dolmen is a crystal, by the way.

I wonder how tired every developer is of guys like me sitting down and starting a review of their work by going “Ah yes, I can put a nice little moment here about the first time I played Dark Souls” but the comparisons are inevitable. So, before I get into trouble with my editor, let me tell you about how the new game Dolmen, by Massive Work Studio, made me think back to my first time playing Dark…

Sorry about that.

Dolmen is a third-person action game set on a mysterious planet. The task is to retrieve crystals while fighting off grotesque creatures. The player is required to master melee and ranged attacks, blocking and parries. There are only a limited number of ways to heal, with one source of health also being the source of power for their gun. In typical Souls fashion, health vials can be replenished at specific points in the world, but doing that will respawn all enemies that have been killed.

There’s an elaborate crafting system that allows for creating new weapons and armor. The twist is that each item can be fused with gear collected from dead enemies that imbue it with different stats.

There’s a multiplayer element too, one that I was unable to experiment with due to low player count.

All in all, Dolmen stays pretty close to the formula established within the soulslike genre. The melee, especially, is very much the usual standard attack, hard attack, circling enemies and looking for openings.

Unfortunately, this combat feels undercooked. I struggled to figure out where my attack openings were, and this was not helped by the awkward camera lock-on and the fact that a large number of the enemies will be blocked from sight by the main character, who takes up enough space on screen to obscure them.

The combat is made worse by unpredictability — one enemy will go down in two hits, while an identical foe will shrug off five hits and then drain half my health with a single swipe. If there is a proper pattern to the enemies I fought (beside a glowing symbol above their heads signaling an incoming unblockable attack) then I never figured it out.

The good news is that Dolmen is a sci-fi soulslike, so although there is a whole raft of bladed weapons, there is also an arsenal of very competent guns. Once I had upgraded from a flimsy pistol to a machinegun/shotgun hybrid, combat vastly improved. While ranged options are normally a clumsy afterthought in soulslikes, shooting became Dolmen‘s main event.

After that, I then figured out how to inflict elemental damage, and how to capitalize on it. It was at that point that Dolmen became thoroughly entertaining. Boss fights became games of cat and mouse where I tried to keep my distance and plug them full of shots.

Unfortunately, despite the ranged combat perking the experience up, Dolmen‘s general design feels like it is too indebted to soulslikes and ultimately suffers for it. The melee is not consistent, enemy AI is weak, the exploration is not deep, and the level design is just passable. What Dolmen does well is sci-fi flavored third-person shooting with a good level of challenge that isn’t a cakewalk.

I hope the developers get the chance to take a look at what worked in Dolmen and try again… as it stands, it’s too tempting to make comparisons to games like Dark Souls, and those comparisons aren’t favorable.

Disclosures: This game is developed by Massive Work Studio and published by Prime Matter. It is currently available on XBO, XBX/S, PS4, PS5 and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the XBX. Approximately 10 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was not completed. 0 hours of play were spent in multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated T and contains Blood and Gore and Violence. The official ESRB description reads: This is an action role-playing game in which players search an alien world for samples of a unique crystal. From a third-person perspective, players search various facilities while looking for clues and battling hostile aliens in frenetic combat. Players use swords, axes, and pistols to kill insect-like enemies. Combat is highlighted by gunfire, impact sounds, and blood-splatter effects. Cutscenes occasionally depict characters stabbed through the chest, and some environments depict mutilated/disemboweled alien corpses. Alien limbs can also be seen on the floors of some environments.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles cannot be altered and/or resized. The game is fully accessible without sound, as I found that no audio cues were needed for successful play.

Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls.

HIGH It’s one of the richest open worlds ever created.

LOW Endless invasions.

WTF Seriously, how is anyone supposed to figure these sidequests out?

Mike Suskie’s main review of Elden Ring is a great one and it celebrates many of the same things that I would. Seeing that we were of like mind, I was content to take my time and be as thorough as possible, combing every area and trying to see as much of FromSoft’s latest work as I could in a single playthrough — it’s unlikely I’ll be replaying a game of such immense size anytime soon.

Now that I’ve finally rolled credits after 210 hours, I’m ready to weigh in on this magnum opus and I still agree with Mike’s verdict. He captured what was good and right about it, and since he already did such a great job of singing its praises, I’ll instead offer a bit of contrast by offering some criticism on areas where Elden Ring stumbles a bit — it’s a marvelous experience, but it’s not perfect.

Let’s start with the storytelling.

I’ve never been the biggest fan of From’s patented ‘cryptic’ approach, but it’s now a concept that’s thoroughly worn out its welcome – and it’s a shame! The writers have done a great job in crafting a host of NPCs that each have a sidequest to unravel, and when all of the bits are laid bare, they’re largely interesting and compelling. The problem is that it’s nearly impossible to progress the sidequests (or even find them!) without following a walkthrough.    

For example, one of the characters I cared most about was Millicent, the amputee swordswoman suffering from Rot. Her quest started off just fine, with the beginning portion set in a place that would be likely unmissable, and the next few steps were located nearby. At that point, From absolutely lost me as her next events were in places that I had already been to and had no reason to revisit, or they were in places that I wouldn’t see for another 20, 50, or 100 hours. With a world so huge and the possibility of doing so much of it in random order, trying to locate Millicent’s next narrative trigger (or anyone else’s, for that matter) is like searching for a needle in a haystack hidden inside an invisible barn… on another planet.

Complicating things, it’s often necessary to revisit the same location several times in order to get the whole story.

In any other game, a character would give their exposition and impart whatever item or reward was due, and that would be the end of it. In Elden Ring, it’s common to find a character and then have to leave and come back to get the next chunk of the tale, and then to leave and return again to finally get the item that’s needed. In one late-game quest, I had to leave and revisit the same location four times to finish things off, and I only came back so often because a wiki told me to. Because of this absurd requirement I missed out on several things that would have been obvious in any other game — it’s just a layer of annoyance that doesn’t serve any purpose.   

Another bizarre decision? There are at least two separate characters who have enriching exposition or key quest steps hidden as menu options that never call attention to themselves. It’s far too easy to overlook one extra option on a page full of them – why not have these characters simply show up and address the player? They sometimes do, so the inconsistency is not only a disservice to the player, I struggle to imagine how anyone felt like burying them in a menu was a reasonable, effective choice. I went more than 100 hours without realizing that I had been missing sporadic messages and in doing so, had inadvertently avoided a key relationship. When the time came for that story beat to unfold, it fell flat because none of the groundwork had been laid.  

None of these choices are intuitive or logical — especially with the now-vast and wide-open nature of the world — and these interesting, compelling stories are going to waste thanks to a storytelling system that is critically broken.

My other major frustration has to do with something that is otherwise brilliant – the Ash Summons.

During Elden Ring, players will come across many items which allow them to summon AI characters to assist them in battle, everything ranging from a giant jellyfish to stealthy dagger-wielding assassins. These helpers are key since they draw aggro away from the player and give them a chance to heal, or they provide distractions while lining up a killer arrow or spell. Considering how relentless some enemies are, it’s safe to say that the developers absolutely intended that players use them. Unfortunately, their implementation feels arbitrary in a way that undercuts their utility.

Rather than being able to summon them at any time, players can only summon them when From (apparently) thinks they’re necessary. They’re available in almost every boss encounter, and in some areas which, I assume, the developers think are tough enough to warrant some backup. However, there were many times when I wanted to summon some aid and just couldn’t… because reasons? If there’s any logic to where and when these Ash creatures can be used in the world, I can’t figure it out.   

In a similar vein, it’s high time that From stops being so precious with the co-op/player summoning system and just gets with the program. To be fair, it’s easier and better in Elden Ring than basically every other From game, but there’s still plenty of room for improvement. I spent the vast majority of my 200+ hours partnering up with my wife, and we were constantly wishing that we could just join each other in a party instead of summoning each other in specific places. Worse, once the boss of a specific zone is beaten, players can’t be summoned in to help there again. Why not? Who cares if someone wants to explore or just grind for souls with a friend?

But the absolute worst thing about playing in co-op? Non-stop invasions.

I’ve spoken to several Elden players who got through the entire game without ever being invaded by another real player, but when adventuring with my wife, we were invaded constantly. During certain times of the day it was as frequent as every five minutes, and being attacked multiple times between graces was common.  

I understand that the idea is to funnel invaders towards people who already have some backup, but this is in dire need of tuning. After being invaded, it would be nice if there was a ‘cooldown’ timer that prevented another invasion for a certain period, or perhaps a limit on the total number of times someone could be invaded during a session would help. We got attacked so often it was a joke, and having boss runs or exploratory jaunts busted up by people who were geared for one-hit PVP kills was maddening.

There are a few other irritations that could be mentioned. Certain areas feel like they could be trimmed back to promote a leaner runtime or adjustments could be made to how so many of the late-game rewards are Faith-based — it’s a huge bummer for non-Faith players to get an item they can’t use after besting a tough foe.

At this point I’m sure readers are getting ready to send some angry comments my way, so let me just restate that this is a contrasting piece meant to shed a little light on places where the experience could use a tweak or two. Criticisms aside, let me be clear in saying that Elden Ring is an extraordinary achievement that is unquestionably at the top of the open-world genre. The vistas are incredible, the sense of exploration is constant and surprising, and the feeling of finally achieving mastery over this immense challenge is second to none — but like I mentioned at the start of this review, Mike said all of that already.

Disclosures: This game is developed by From Software and published by Bandai Namco. It is currently available on XBO, XBX/S, PS4/5 and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via paid download and reviewed on the XBX. Approximately 210 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. The entirety of play was spent with multiplayer features enabled and the majority of playtime was spent with an active co-op partner.

Parents: According to the ESRB this game is rated M and contains Blood and Gore, Language, Suggestive Themes and Violence. There are a couple of suggestive character designs throughout and a bit of mild profanity, but the violence is where Elden Ring earns its rating. This is arguably FromSoft’s most gruesome game to date, with severed parts and mutilated corpses littering the landscape. While it’s fitting with the tone of the world and tastefully portrayed, it’s not for children.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles cannot be altered and/or resized. Audio cues are frequently used to notify players of either points of interest or approaching enemies, and the game doesn’t offer any sort of visual representation of these cues. The lack of visual cues renders an already-obtuse game even more difficult, and forces players to be even more alert. As such, this game is not fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls. (PS controls shown.)

HIGH When the highest location on the map is also a climactic story beat.

LOW Scarlet Rot, this game’s version of the “toxic” ailment.

WTF That thing under Stormveil Castle.

When the embargo for Elden Ring dropped a few weeks ago, the number-one thing we were all echoing was how unfathomably massive the game is. I correctly estimated at the time that with 40-50 hours clocked, I was only about a third of the way through it. However, From Software are masters of hiding their light under a bushel, and despite our warnings people are still being caught off guard by the sheer enormity of what this team has produced.

What’s more interesting, though, is that every time Elden Ring presents an Anor Londo-esque reveal – a moment when FromSoft raises the curtain just as players think they’re getting a handle on the game’s scale – it’s welcomed as a good thing. In an entertainment industry that’s grown increasingly focused on prolonged engagement where the average new triple-A release looks more like a list of chores than a relaxing way to unwind after a tough workday, it’s refreshing to see something that actually earns its status as the only videogame we’re expected to play for months at a time. It’s a game so good that it makes other games difficult to go back to.

I wrote up some impressions of Elden Ring back when the embargo dropped. I’ve since tripled my playtime and finished the game, and I’m pleased to report that nothing I’ve seen has dampened my initial enthusiasm. My opinion hasn’t changed – it’s a masterpiece. What has changed is that Elden Ring has since become a massive mainstream success. This may seem to be coming from out of nowhere to anyone who’s been scared off by the studio’s ‘hardcore’ label and dismissed their past work as niche. But to those who have been following FromSoft’s work since they launched Dark Souls, this particular entry feels like the natural conclusion to a years-long journey on the studio’s part.

While the term “soulslike” has been heavily misused in recent years – usually to simply describe any action-RPG that happens to be tough – it’s undeniable that director Hidetaka Miyazaki and his team have essentially created an entire subgenre with its own cadence and vocabulary (souls, bonfires, flasks, etc.). We’re increasingly seeing other developers attempt to emulate the formula, and while there have been scattered successes, playing Elden Ring is like sipping my favorite craft beer again after years of nothing but domestic swill.

In fact, part of the reason that Elden Ring works so well is that FromSoft has the basics down for a while now. Most crucially, the combat is more-or-less perfect. The rapidly-recharging stamina meter has always been a particular stroke of genius in the way that it lends an element of decision-making to every offensive or defensive maneuver. Victory hinges not just on reflexes, but on the player’s understanding of the fundamental rules by which everything in this world abides. Downing a tough adversary under such conditions makes me feel both powerful and smart.

The most immediate upside of moving the FromSoft formula to a truly open world, then, is having a seemingly endless number of ways to engage with that satisfying combat loop. While there are some repeated fixtures throughout the Lands Between – the catacombs with their environmental puzzles, or the mines that yield upgrade materials – everything is individually authored and houses unique rewards. I can boot up Elden Ring, microdose on some of that Souls gameplay I know and love, and always end my session feeling productive.

Although Breath of the Wild isn’t a one-to-one comparison – players cannot literally go straight from the tutorial to the final boss, for example – the spirit of Nintendo’s benchmark is in full force here since the overwhelming majority of Elden Ring is optional. A player’s specific route to the endgame rests entirely on how much of the world they want to see and how easy they want to make future battles via doing more prep work. The game is almost like a FromSoft buffet table, allowing us to pick and choose the components of our perfect meal.

Bolstering that flexibility is a returning emphasis on character builds. While there’s an undeniable joy in games like Bloodborne and Sekiro forcing us to master new tricks, bringing shields and magic back into the fold goes a long way in making this hundred-plus-hour behemoth palatable. Those who like to study boss patterns and minimize the number of hits they take can do so, but tanking is viable again, as is slinging projectiles from across the room. Whatever type of action-RPG we want Elden Ring to be, it can be.

The wealth of options expands beyond how we build our protagonist. The ability to simply bypass entire groups of enemies has never been easier, thanks to both the openness of the world and the presence of a surprisingly reliable stealth system. Is it the silly variety of stealth that mainly involves crouching in bushes? Sure, but it’s amazing how much that doesn’t matter when developers stop striving for cinematic realism and treat these spaces as the abstractions that they are.

Elden Ring becomes more linear in its final hours, as objectives decrease in number and all paths begin funneling toward a conclusion. That’s where I finally started hitting walls, but by that point I’d collected so many tools and learned so much about the systems that I needed only switch up my strategy. I could experiment with new weapons or even respec if necessary. I could summon a Burger King cosplayer to fire lasers at it, or unleash an AI-controlled familiar as a distraction to buy some breathing room. Or, as ever, I could just find something else to do and come back once I had a bit more confidence.

The free-flowing structure of Elden Ring is made possible by a story that is, as always, happy to stay in the periphery. The lore is extensive and fascinating, with new details constantly being pieced together by the community, including further work on at least one genuinely unsolved mystery. However, it’s only there for people who care enough to go looking for it. Everyone else will be focused on the real story, which is the same story that all FromSoft games have – the epic tale of a shriveled-up little weirdo who slowly and steadily works up the power to topple gods, for no other reason than they wanted to.

The overwhelming mainstream success of Elden Ring has resurrected old questions about the approachability and user friendliness of FromSoft’s work that diehards have long stopped caring about. All I can say is that it never occurred to me not to jump down the deep, perilous hole in which the game hides its tutorial, nor does it strike me as bad design that Elden Ring is full of obscure secrets that no one player could ever hope to find on their own. These games simply have their own language. The darkly humorous trolls are part of that language, as is the steep learning curve and the communal experience of sharing notes.

That may sound like an excuse, but it’s hard to argue with the results – FromSoft has stuck rigidly to this formula, and their fanbase has exponentially grown. More and more people are learning the language.

Elden Ring has already become too big for rival developers to ignore, and I worry that many of them will seek to emulate its surface-level qualities while ignoring the real lesson here – that some of us want games made by artists, not algorithms. Chasing trends may lead to short-term gains, but it’s no substitute for a developer spending more than a decade fine-tuning a creative vision so singular that it defies our usual metrics for what can be considered “good” or “bad” design. Whether Elden Ring is perfect is beside the point. What matters is that it’s the ultimate expression of a blueprint first laid out in Dark Souls. It’s made my favorite game of all time feel like a practice run.

Disclosures: This game is developed by From Software and published by Bandai Namco. It is currently available on XBO, XBX/S, PS4/5 and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PS5. Approximately 160 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. The entirety of play was spent with multiplayer features enabled.

Parents: According to the ESRB this game is rated M and contains Blood and Gore, Language, Suggestive Themes and Violence. There are a couple of suggestive character designs throughout and a bit of mild profanity, but the violence is where Elden Ring earns its rating. This is arguably FromSoft’s most gruesome game to date, with severed parts and mutilated corpses littering the landscape. While it’s fitting with the tone of the world and tastefully portrayed, it’s not for children.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles cannot be altered and/or resized. Audio cues are frequently used to notify players of either points of interest or approaching enemies, and the game doesn’t offer any sort of visual representation of these cues. The lack of visual cues renders an already-obtuse game even more difficult, and forces players to be even more alert. As such, this game is not fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls.

In this episode, Carlos & Brad discuss Time Loader and Aztech: Forgotten Gods before deep-diving into the world of Elden Ring.

Elden is the first Souls game that Carlos has sunk time into, and Brad has been a FromSoft fan for 27 years. The two of us are bringing hugely different perspectives on what is sure to be one of the biggest games of the year, and we spend the majority of the show chatting about the bad, and the Tarnished.

SPOILER WARNING – we don’t hold anything back in the Elden Ring segment, so heads up that there may be spoilers of all kinds during the chat. We do give warnings during the show before we start to spill. = )

Please send feedback and mailbag questions to SoVideogamesPODCAST (at) gmail (dot) com, or post them in the comments section below. Thanks!