Recent reviews by Augcliffe

I never write game reviews, but given the mixed reviews I'm here to say this game is amazing. Manage your expectations folks... This is a NEW franchise (let's be honest the original game can be written off at this point, yes I played and finished that one). The devs are a new studio. This is NOT FromSoft nor a game in their universe, this is it's own thing.

Quick background, I've been playing Souls-like games since Demons Souls. To say I'm a fan would be an understatement. I have figurines on my wall from collector's editions, I have comic books, art books, multiple copies on different platforms of the same game, etc. This game is a must play for anyone like me. Move past the tech issues people are complaining about, I have a mediocre system (was high end 5 years ago) and I can play game on medium (still looks fantastic). Yes, there was cutscene and some frame-rate issues on day #1, they put out a patch on the 14th and now my issues are gone. The devs are super on top of addressing issues. Imagine if this was EA, they would have said "tough sh!t" and never looked back. Let's give some credit to the devs.

Other concerns:
Combat - LegacyGaming said it's not great, I disagree, feels excellent to me. If Elden Ring is a 10 for combat, I'd give this an 8.5, which means it's still very well done.
Weapons and armor - TONS of variety here, zero complaints
Graphics - no complaints here...stuttering was present day 1 and now it's gone
Lack of checkpoints - yes and no, there are definite dry spells between SOME vestige points and even between some flowerbeds to put a seed, but it's manageable. I will admit I think there should be some more, but certainly not a deal breaker.

very epic gamer