Ahead of Elden Ring's much-anticipated release across PlayStation Xbox and PC later this week, early reviews have begun appearing online with critical consensus currently positioning the game as one of the highest-rated games of all time.
T3's own Elden Ring review breaks down how FromSoftware has once again delivered another fantastic outing with addictive combat, engrossing mythology and an electrifying orchestral soundtrack. This has been echoed and even further amplified across most gaming outlets with dozens of perfect scores awarded.
As a result, Elden Ring is now positioned at the number two spot across the video game review aggregation website OpenCritic. Over 100 Elden Ring reviews have been published so far, though it should be noted due to the scale of the game a lot have yet to roll credits. IGN's Mitchell Saltzman claimed in his review that the game took 87 hours to beat, a big difference from the 30 hours shared by FromSoftware producer Yasuhiro Kitao.
Elden Ring can be found sandwiched between Super Mario Odyssey and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild in first and third, respectively. Though OpenCritic has only been active since 2015, this is still a huge accolade.
Similarly, Elden Ring is currently one of the highest-rated games across Metacritic, another popular review aggregator that has been operating since 2001. Elden Ring is currently sat at 18th spot, in between Red Dead Redemption at 17th and Grand Theft Auto V in 19th, with a score of 97/100. The highest-rated game of all time on the website is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time at a score of 99/100.
Being in such strong company, many people who usually don't jump into Souls games will be considering whether it's worth picking up. While numerous reviews point to the game being much more accessible than a lot of previous entries in the series, I'd personally disagree after spending upwards of 20 hours with the game.
Elden Ring offers a tutorial at the beginning to help players understand the mechanics better, however, it's still a hugely demanding game. You will die a lot – especially early on. If you can get past this it's incredibly rewarding. This is still a Dark Souls-style experience, after all: an action combat with brutal bosses and one-hit kills. If you didn't enjoy one in the past, Elden Ring will likely not sway you. If you did though, there's a chance this might be your favourite new game in years.
Elden Ring will launch across PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows on February 25th, 2022. If you're still looking for more information on the game, make sure to read T3's official Elden Ring review. Or alternatively, if your mind is already made up, here's where to pre-order at the cheapest price.
