If you don't like this game don't bother playing at all.
It's a 10/10 but I give it a 9/10 because it doesn't have a sequel/spinoff. One of my top 3 favourite games of all time.

Fromsoft goes all in with this definitive Darksouls experience, trying a personal take on the Open-World genre.
Forget uninsteresting aided exploration. Forget aided quest lines. Forget being hand held through your adventure.
The "complete freedom" advertised by other games is often either just nonsense going around without anything to do or following mostly scripted events and quests.
Elden Ring manages to keep alive the core Soulsborne mechanics and vision, adding a further exploration element to it. Follow your nose and curiosity and you WILL BE rewarded with items, quests, weapons etc.

The world uses visual cues to let you know that "there's something going on there", resulting in dense and vibrant environments.
Imagine a Darksouls "level" : you've got those, but bigger and with loads of ways to progress. But you also got a world where each "sub-area" is designed in a similar way. The amount of resulting immersion is unprecedented.
The variety of biomes and new areas is astonishing. You might find yourself like you've seen it all, half way through the game, only to realize there's way more to come, surprising your expectations over and over.

I won't fixate on combat or difficulty as that is very personal, but surely you've given complete freedom on how to best perform in this gigantic world, whether through playstyle, armor, equipment, class etc. In fact, you might find it easier than they make it sound, just feel free to experiment and improve through trial and error (just like most sports, disciplines, competitive online games etc.).

The game is not perfect (there's no such thing as a perfect game) but perfectly managed to create a huge Soulsborne experience that feels well crafted, coherent, inspiring, and visually astonishing.