Fromsoft games are usually an experience that amazes, and while Elden Ring has all the typical components of a Fromsoft title, it's bosses and mobs are overbalanced compared to the player. Especially in mid to late game. From the start, tracking, reach, and speed of bosses are insane. I've played FS titles before and never had more than the average beginning issues when someone is first learning the game. Bosses can snipe you in one to two hits no matter your vitality, they anticipate what the player does and where they land and use AI input reading to do so. Rather than reacting to the player, the bosses know what we will do and react first. DS3 had a similar system, but their bosses were not overtuned with limitless combos, AOEs with no cooldown, and tracking. Most boss fights are spent running to the boss, dodging a 10 part combo, then going back to running to the boss. Fighting a boss in a FS title should and has consistently left the player feeling accomplished and revved up. The bosses in Elden Ring feel like trudging through something that was designed to be hard for difficulty sake and not something that's designed to encourage strategy and the player learning and anticipating a moveset they can work around. It doesn't feel like a dance, it's a stagger fest. The open world is beautiful, the NPCs and story are interesting, but the main staple of the game which is enemies and boss fights are unbalanced unless the player is using OP builds, which will probably be nerfed in updates to come. I wanted to like this game, but it's disappointing.
Review of Elden Ring
