Recent reviews by MikeyBuds

FromSoftware has a reputation for making challenging, unforgiving, punishing, immersive, and at the end of it all very fun masterpieces, and Elden Ring is no exception. If anything Elden Ring takes the best parts of prior SoulsBorne games and expands on them ten-fold.

The World of Elden Ring consists of some of the most masterfully crafted landscapes and vistas I've ever had the pleasure of exploring. When you pull that door open for the first time and soak in the light from the massive Erd tree it is overwhelming in a good way. Instantly I was filled with curiosity and wonder, and the game doesn't baby you and tell you outright where to go, it clearly takes it's role of open world very seriously, granting the players real freedom of choice on where you want to explore, do you want to poke around the area, talk to an NPC? Kill random mobs in hops of getting a drop, or go straight to a boss fight and get humiliated off rip? The freedom of choice is yours, and that is a theme that remains constant throughout the game. As big as the map is, you shortly learn through one way or another that you have NO IDEA just how massive this game actually is, and the surprises continue the more you play. Most importantly, Elden Ring doesn't have the same trope of massive world, but hollow and empty. Every corner has something to find or discover, making the exploration feel rewarding and exciting.

Visually this game is stunning, and I mean that literally, every new area you wander into at some point has left me awestruck, and I've found myself completely paralyzed looking at the sprawling points of interest on multiple occasions. From the environments, to the legacy dungeons, to the boss arenas, Elden Ring continually outdoes itself.

The music is both beautiful and complimentary to it's environment and setting, some being grandiose and blaring, while others are soft and melancholic, to the point where the saving grace for repeatedly dying to a boss was the chance to listen to the music for a little bit longer. One of my favorite moments for me was realizing that some enemies would literally use their weapons as instruments that would sync up with the music in the area. The fact that they would go so far to implement something as nuanced as that is nothing short of incredible.

The Gameplay adopts the same ideology of FREEDOM of choice. You have an endless amount of weapons to choose from, ranging from magical staffs allowing you to channel your inner Gandalf the Grey, to Colossal hammers and blades that make you feel like a walking natural disaster leaving carnage and ruin to everyone and everything in your path, along with a mix of both. You want to be a Royal knight wielding a halberd or two jousting with your enemies fighting for your honor? You can do that. You want to be a samurai leaving all of your enemies gushing blood? You can do that, you can extract it all and leave RIVERS OF BLOOD everywhere. You want a melee focused playthrough but also wish you could be a Samurai that got accepted to Hogwarts? YOU. CAN. DO. THAT! There is literally so much variety that I am scrambling my brain trying to think of unique weapons because there are so many, but also don't want to rob you of the joy when you find one on your own. One of my favorite aspects is that it's literally possible to wield the weapons and armor of some of the enemies and bosses in the game, and nothing makes me feel like I conquered an enemy more than dawning their armor and weapon.

Speaking of conquering enemies, the diversity when it comes to mobs is plentiful, at certain points they do get repetitive, however I never minded just because of the sheer scope of this game, you do get repeat mini bosses and bosses in dungeons or (surprisingly) out in the world, but they are all designed so well that I was never upset about the fact that I had seen or fought them before, if anything I was excited for the chance to test my knowledge and see if I could dispatch them easily or not.

Each boss fight is a spectacle, once you finish admiring the intricacies aesthetically or functionally of the bosses or the arenas, you begin your master class on learning their suite of moves and attacks, you stalk your prey like a cunning lioness starving for a fresh meal, familiarizing yourself with them and watching for openings with the patience of a scout sniper, waiting for the right time to strike, this evolves into a waltz, a ballet of closing in and evading at the right moment that would make Vaslav Nijinsky develop an inferiority complex. Each boss is surprisingly unique. There are multiple possible endings in the game based off of decisions you make in the game, and how you progress the quests, once again freedom of choice rearing it's gargantuan head into the picture.

The difficulty is up for debate with this game in particular. Once again it adopts the theme of freedom of choice, there are certain playstyles that make this game incredibly difficult, and some that completely trivialize the game as well, the wonderful part is, you get to experience this game however you choose to, as you are the master of your own destiny. There are a multitude of unique spirits you can summon that can make this game much more manageable. Or if you're someone who has fun with more challenge, you can simply avoid using any of them and play the game how you would like.

Overall this is one of those "once every decade" type of games. I think it is arguably as near to perfection as you can possibly get based on the freedom of choice. FromSoftware has redefined expectations when it comes to what an open world game should deliver, officially raising where the bar should be placed. The deeper you delve into the world of Elden Ring the more it sucks you in. I found myself wanting to play while at work, or out, my brain was constantly thinking of Elden Ring, and I loved every minute of it.


TLDR: Games insane, 10/10, top 5 of all time.

it's 2014, my friends and myself are getting ready to go to a club to get drunk and make bad decisions, I decide to log onto my playstation for a quick sec and browse around a little while waiting for my friends to get to my house. I find a game called PT, a silent hill teaser game that takes place in a haunted house straight from the furthest depths of hell.

I immediately call two of my friends and tell them they have to get to my house as soon as humanely possible because I wasn't playing this game alone. They did and we started playing this game ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ our pants collectively, the rest of our group of friends arrive and we tell them to leave without us. We played PT for hours and it was one of the most exhilarating and horrifying experiences of our lives, and one that we would all chase for years to come.

Now after playing and completing Madison I can safely say our chase is over. One of two buddies I called many years ago for PT called me and told me to buy this game, so I did. I launched the game and streamed it on discord for my group of pals, and we journeyed through the melancholic hallways of the main characters house for 9 hours.

The game is visually stunning, and has a lot to offer other than it's realistic surroundings. The sound effects are at times loud and booming and make you feel like there is a demon standing behind you staring so hard that it's piercing the back of your head, and at other times there are more subtle sound effects that make you feel the breath of something on the back of your neck. Either way it will leave your hair standing up.

The puzzles are incredibly well thought out, and at times pretty difficult, which makes it that much more satisfying when you solve them.

The story is pretty good, I do wish they got a little bit more in depth with certain things, but all in all it was good enough to immerse me into the protagonists life.

TLDR; scary game many jumpscare, very fun alone, more fun with friends watching. 9.3/10

From 2014 until now I have been encapsulated and entranced by this game barring one minor break, ( Curse of Osiris Expansion) and all I can say is just like anything else that's special it has it's pros and cons, except the highs faaaar outweigh the lows. The lows are all things that I can easily overlook because of a dedicated dev team that is constantly updating the game and community with fundamental changes to make this great game even better. As far as the highs go, not only are there a multitude of them, but they are also very high highs.

The PVE in this game is unmatched, you get MMO like activities like 6 person raids, 3 person dungeons with interesting encounters ranging from your regular boss type fights, puzzle/problem solving, or wave based encounters, and much more. The game recently added the best story campaign to date with a legendary difficulty option that has just the right amount of challenge so you're having fun and don't want to rip your own testicles off. The game also has seasonal activities that usually involve 5 other players along with a seasonal story that features weekly missions which also has some of the best story telling. There are matchmade activities like strikes, or PVEVP activities like gambit which albeit is probably the most unpopular mode in the game but at the very least is an innovative take on implementing a core activity.

The world of destiny is one of the most breath taking experiences you can have in a video game. The skyboxes are beautiful enough to leave me awestruck in the middle of any activity where I'm frantically turning my HUD off to try and snag a quick screenshot. The amount of depth they put into the world design is baffling. I still find myself revisiting older locations in the game, and finding something new, a piece of architecture, a detail in the landscape, or a hidden area that I hadn't noticed before.

The gunplay is top tier and to the point where even if the game was going through a dry spell, I find myself akin to an addict with a needle, needing my fix, and that fix was hopping in and shooting aliens in the face.

The PVP in this game has always had a hold on me for various reasons, the recurring factor being the gunplay. I always enjoy testing out different loadouts with weapons and as of recent buildcrafting my character as well because they have reworked how the subclass systems work in the game giving the player more freedom to mess around with aspects that define each element in the game.
Admittedly the pvp as of current is in a weaker spot due to certain mechanical changes (Airborne effectiveness, or lack thereof) along with a lack of map diversity (the newest map they've added took 3 years) but even with the negatives or lack of attention, I still find myself loading up the crucible, and at the times it has been what has kept this game feeling fresh. If certain things are addressed (like map diversity) the pvp in this game can easily be one of the best.

Last but not least, the lore and the score are so incredibly deep and rich, that they deserve their own platforms. I would easily binge watch a show based on the lore, and the intro music from the first game has a special place in my heart. Everytime I hear the nostalgic medley of horns it's as if I'm taken back to 2014 in my living room with three television screens, and two buddies booting up Destiny for the first time.

TLDR: This is my favorite game 10/10

Best BR out IMO

it's a cool game if you go in with an open mind, it definitely is a bit lackluster especially compared to what was promised, but with no expectations, it's a pretty cool game. Pick it up on sale.

Edit:

CDPR has a soft spot in my heart, so when I initially left this lackluster review, about a game that I felt was also lackluster, it hurt me deep down. I remember opening my Witcher 3 case after purchase with my eyes wide open and illuminating with wonder, because in a time where game cases were being filled with nothing but advertisements, they were gracious enough to put in stickers, a beautifully drawn map of the game, and perhaps the most heartwarming addition, a thank you letter for the consumer. So keeping that fond memory close to my heart, seeing the state Cyberpunk released in hurt more than it should have.

Fast forward a few years and the game has been overhauled and optimized. They've redone the leveling system, reworked how armor stats work, as in fashion choices are just that, FASHION choices, the skill trees have been watered and cared for with love, going from a mere sapling from the launch, to fully grown redwoods forming a lush forest. The combat, and gameplay are littered with a multitude of different approaches, which are all viable, and insanely fun to play. You can channel your inner Bruce Banner, and opt to hulk out with a melee based playstyle wreaking havoc and leaving destruction in your wake, or go for a more stealth based cyberkinetic cerebral ninja playstyle, and thats just naming two of the many different paths you can take.

The world of cyberpunk is astonishing, the tremendous scale and feel of the different areas is so visually striking, that I chose to physically travel to whatever destination I was headed towards instead of fast traveling as much as I could.

The story telling on repeat playthroughs felt so much more gripping, I became emotionally invested in characters, especially based on certain endings.

Phantom Liberty, their DLC, took full advantage of the QoL and gameplay changes they had made in full, and succeeded in going even further. The story teeters on the line of duality, making your choices feel more impact than a bombastic entrance from Adam Smasher, and I found myself familiarizing with the phrase "okay one more mission."

At launch, I had one playthrough of this game at around 70 hours, at present day I have gone through multiple playthroughs, at 300 plus hours and unlocked all achievements, having an absolute blast while doing so.
Now I find myself with a bittersweet feeling because while the game is incredible, I need more, I want to explore more and hate that I have to wait so many years before a sequel is released.

When I would recommend this game at launch I had to tip toe around it and tell people to keep an open mind, or say "It's not as bad as people say!" At the present, all I need to say is "Play it."

Games a 10/10