Recent reviews by Slofiend

Best Borderlands game since BL2 imo.
Tons of options, customizations, deep stat and build design choices to be as min/max or as 'whatever' as you want. It took me 50 hours to complete my first playthrough and I only did a small chunk of side quests and collectables, there is LOADS more of this game.

Yes, graphics and performance have been a challenge but on a 3080Ti I managed to get to 50-60fps, which is fine for me.

It's not been enough of an issue to keep me away and I'm still playing!!

Very very fun.
Easy to pickup, hard to put down.
Lot's of depth and build options, with many skills, weapons, upgrade paths and growth potential.
Every time I have to stop playing I wish I didn't. This is a fantastic blend of bullet-hell and ARPG-lite elements.

I really enjoyed this game.
It only took a few hours to complete, but the digging and discovery were fun.
It is a bummer that achievements only 'unlock' after the first play through, but since the game is so short it's not a huge issue. That said, I don't have much desire to replay it, but for $5 this was the perfect game to kill a few hours and have fun. Totally recommend.

Already better than D4, much harder than PoE, and yet, I love it for all the new mechanics, challenges, and new toys to go find and play with!

Better than D4, more feeling of ownership (and less dependence on build guides) than PoE. I'm loving this game. They can all have their places, and LE deserves it's space on the top shelf with my other favorites D4 and PoE. You won't be disappointed playing this game.

Update: 10/15/23
The game runs great at 4K on a 3080Ti. I capped it at 60fps but it runs over 100fps if left Unlimited. DLSS is set at Balanced, and I have no issues.

The game is hard, the mobs are crazy hard, the regular enemies are hard, and the traversal leaves something to be desired. But it runs well from a performance perspective. I am working on getting gud and it's a lot on me, I make a lot of mistakes.

I'll keep plugging away but I don't see the need for all the performance hate as that has not been my experience.

Original review 10/13/23:

Lot's to dig into here, but the main question is, is this game fun, does it have depth, is the combat good, and will you enjoy playing it? Yes!

Also note that I am playing this currently on a laptop with integreated graphics on all low settings and am still playing at ~20-40fps and it is still playable. Just need to tweak settings a bit to align with what I've got on hand at the moment.

i can't wait to bump this up on my 3080Ti when I get home, but it IS playable with really really crappy hardware.

i have played Elden Ring, Dark Souls, Dark Souls 3, Bloodborne, Lies of P, and many others. This game is not those games, but it IS like those games. If you enjoyed them, like I did, for all the pros and cons they have, then you will be able to enjoy this one too.

It seems fair, the blocking/parrying is possible (and I say that as someone who is bad at blocking), it's more forgiving then Lies of P's parry was.

It has a lot of systems to love and many to get used to. I will continue to play and get better and learn more and am looking forward to doing so.

This is the first souls game I ever finished/beat. I loved this game.
I played Elden Ring for 80+ hours but never finished...I also played ER ranged. I am not great at Souls Game's...at least historically I have not been, but I have been trying to get better. Lies of P made me realize how much more I have to learn. It challenged me and made me mad in so many ways...but I kept coming back. There is a lot to love about this game, and plenty to nit pick about, and both are fair approaches, though for me it's 80/20 love/hate in the end. Build diversity is lacking, difficulty scaling is an issue, etc. but it's a great story, the combat IS fun, and the environments and level design are top notch. This game runs flawlessly on PC. I never, never, never had issues, it is so well optimized that it puts most modern PC releases to shame. I can't wait for the next game from this studio and would highly recommend this infuriatingly awesome game to souls-like fans, both old and new.

I liked Fallout 3, I liked Fallout 4, I liked Fallout: New Vegas, I like Skyrim...I also like Starfield.
It's fun, it has loads to lose yourself in, it keeps you coming back for more, and there is plenty to dig deeper into if you want...or not. It's just what it needs to be. The NPCs do look a little lame...and I don't love the art style...but I'm still playing it, thinking about playing it when i'm not, and when I can, I come back and play more...that's what I want in a game and for now, it's what I want and like.

If you liked the first one, you'll really enjoy coming back. Well done, runs and plays well (even if my 10700k roasted nearly the whole time and my AIO now has 14 hours less of its life remaining), looks good too. Not nearly as scary as I remember. Here's to narrative driven single player 3rd person short and sweet games in 2023, I'll take more please!

I hate souls games usually, I played Demon Souls for a few hours and swore I'd never play them again. I played Bloodborne and liked it but never finished it. I am 20 hours into Elden Ring and I can't stop playing. It's hard yes, but it offers so many more choices and options. I'm literally playing this game everyday and loving it. They were all right, this is approachable for lots of different players and even a welcome surprise for me. I'm so glad I picked this up.