The much anticipated spiritual successor to Dark Souls, Elden Ring, finally arrived this February. Fans are already flocking in herds trying to get their hands on the critically acclaimed new offering from FromSoftware. Being more than everything it promised, the game has blown fans and critics of the genre alike and is currently one of the fastest-selling titles of the year.

But it has to be said that regardless of how open-minded an audience is with relation to FromSoftware titles, the extreme challenge level that the game is designed with is a hindrance to most casual players. While more competitive folks might wholeheartedly embrace the difficulty, most Dark Souls players will attest to finding it frustratingly challenging. 

Earlier, the creator of the franchise and rockstar director Hidetaka Miyazaki had mentioned in an interview that Elden Ring would be more inviting and open-ended with relation to the challenge and new players flocking to see George R.R. Martin’s fantastic world-building. However, he has some further advice for newer players trying to get a grasp of the game, asking them to ‘chill out’ and ‘embrace death’. Adjusting to the game’s skill curve might be difficult, but he also wants players to have fun and delve into the great lore that FromSoftware and GRR are known for.

Trial-and-error has always been the lifeblood or general formula of any game developed by the Japanese studio, and although we do find Elden Ring’s open-world giving us more options, we should never forget that the challenge of the game is what created this ravenous fan following and gave FromSoftware games a permanent place in pop culture history.

Despite all of that, Elden Ring has been called FromSoft’s greatest work yet by critics and fans alike, with praise received for the seamless transition to open-world design, puzzle difficulty, enemies, story, setting and lore. It currently sits at 95% on OpenCritic and 95 on Metacritic. Although there are criticisms about the poor performance on PC and reusing of assets, this should not hinder your experience of what is truly one of the defining gaming experiences of the generation.