Recent reviews by Ethanol

Good game, great game even. Certainly not Fromsoft's best outing though.

The good:
-Areas like Limgrave and Caelid are amazing to explore honestly some of the most fun i've had in an open world game.
-Graphics are definitely a step up from previous titles fromsoft has made
-Combat is way smoother than any souls game prior, although still doesnt hold a candle to Sekiro
-Some stellar bosses, Godfrey, Godrick, Morgott, Maliketh (2nd phase) and Radagon are honestly amazing boss fights

The bad:
-By the third act the world is not as fun to explore, too much is reused - reuse of standard enemies to create bossfights, sticking two single bosses in the same arena and calling it a day (godskin duo) is honestly inexcusable, especially if nothing is done to change their behaviour when fighting in a duo. Godskin Duo is obviously the worst offender of this, From was trying to recapture the feel of the O&S fight and failed spectacularly
-Some bossfights are generally just not fun or poorly balanced. While few are fundamentally flawed, they have certain aspects that make them feel rushed. Malenia is a good example of this. This boss would have been 10/10 probably one of my favourite fights in the series but due to the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ of Waterfowl dance and the aggresive life steal (which also goes through shields, im sorry what...) makes the boss more frustrating and unfair than difficult and fair. Niall as well, his 2nd phase is really fun but the two spirits he summons at the start are annoying as ♥♥♥♥.

The ugly:
-Poor balance, quality builds are practically dead in the water now, like yeah they're doable but you're playing hardmode.
-Good luck beating the game first time around without 60 vigour, no longer can you run around 10 points below the softcap
-Magic and bleed builds just completely outshine melee builds, links back to my gripe about quality, pure melee is objectively a harder experience than magic and bleed
-Some fights do feel like they were balanced around the use of spirit summons.
-PVP isnt fun, it's a cluster♥♥♥♥ of RoB spam, bleed spam, ranged magic spam etc.

Do I recommend the game? Yeah definitely, it's a solid 9/10 experience. If I had to recomend a particular fromsoft game to play? If you're playing for story, Dark souls 1, if you're playing for boss fights, Dark souls 3/Sekiro, if you're playing for open world and exploration, Elden Ring

Great game, Artorias fight and Ornstein & Smough are already some of my favourite in the series.

Lets me live out my fantasy as Chris Mcandless

Think of this like an interactive movie. And most importantly dont try and rush the main quests, take your time, do gang activities and partake in sidequests. This way all side characters get the true fleshing out they deserve. Oh and do the money lending and other sins quests in each chapter because it improves Arthur's character significantly

Sekiro but 2d and cyberpunk

Better than GTA V

Very fun game, I think i've put like 500 hours in on Xbox but I like PC for mods yeah.
First fallout game I played and while I come back to it the least nowadays, it's still really fun and nostalgic for me so yeah I recommend.

Disliking this game is a shameful display!

Despite only having 46 minutes in this game, this game is a masterpiece.
It allows for the pure rage of a man crippled by modern industrial society and its consequences to unleash as an ape on the broken world that led to his anger.

Honestly astounding title. It is probably the best war game I have ever played. The game starts off very much a classic bravado action film, patriotic and propaganda-ish. However, slowly but surely acts of bravado begin to fade as the game takes a far more serious approach, you see far more death, bloodshed and horror. By chapter 4, any sense of patriotism and bravado is gone and you're left with a raw war experience. I think this expertly mirrors the war as in the beginning it was very much a patriotic affair, many britons volunteered 'for king and country' and the game treats everything you do like you're a war hero, and to some extent you are. But toward the end of the war, much of the patriotic spirit has faded. The way the story is laid out with a changing attitude in line with how attitudes changed in real life is some expert writing.
And well, it was the first game that made me cry.