How Elden Ring Reminded Me of My Love for Gaming

I have been a lifelong gamer. When I was younger I remember playing Super Mario World on my Super Nintendo, Kid Chameleon on a Sega Genesis, and beating up Bowser in Mario 64 when I would visit my friend’s home. Games have been part of my life for as long as I can recall and like many interests and hobbies, it has ebbed and flowed in and out of my life. However, there has been twice in my life that I have nearly fully given up on one of my passions.

When I was a poor kid growing up, living in a single-parent home, we did not have a lot of extra funds for video games. I was stuck with hand-me-downs from my uncles and friends unless I found something special at a garage sale. I replayed the Jak and Daxter games more times than I could count, and I was losing interest in my DS titles and games in general. I was ready to move on to something else.

It wasn’t until I found myself in a small comic convention in my city that I stumbled across God of War for a whole 4 Canadian dollars! I was in a big Greek mythology phase in my life and instantly had to play it. I picked it up and for the first time, I was able to see where the video game industry was going. It had a dark story with a tragic protagonist, an interesting world, great bloody combat, and a cool twist on Greek mythology. Needless to say, I was hooked.

God of War kept me gaming well into the 8th generation of consoles and series like Persona, The Last of Us, Uncharted, and Kingdom Hearts (just to name a few) kept that love alive. However, this passion started fading around 2018 or 2019. I found that with each new release, I was becoming less and less excited over the prospect of something new. At least, other than excitement for a few notable releases here and there.

I was burning out. Each big AAA game was starting to feel like a copy-and-paste. There was more focus on battle royales and games as a service as well. Of course, there was always the exceptions to the rule, like The Last of Us Part II and Fantasy VII Remake. I was interested in games that truly broke the mold and did something new fresh and exciting. Aside from those rare instances, I felt as if I was gaming more out of obligation than passion.

I started feeling the urge to quit gaming other than for the few developers and IPs that I adored. Then came Elden Ring, which interestingly enough (as a Soulsborne fan) I was not all that interested in until two weeks before release. I was worried about it being another open-world game. The gameplay trailer shown off in November seemed dull and quite frankly I found the game’s art style to be unappealing.

Fast forward a few weeks and approaching 20 hours (I wish I had more time) and I have fallen head-over-heels in love. Stepping into The Lands Between for the first time showed off so much depth and promise that I immediately had to explore. I found myself running towards the ocean and stumbled across a massive giant. I fought “The Tree Sentinel” without Torrent and died 15 times or more.

Elden Ring reminded me that my time spent gaming isn’t a waste. It respects not only my time but also my intelligence as a player. Every corner I turn there is a surprise, every stone I turn has a reward, and for every difficult area there is a worthwhile challenge. Elden Ring doesn’t hold my hand either, it lets me experiment and try new tactics to fight my foes, and allows me to play in any way I desire.

Right now I am running a samurai who is also adept at spell casting. I have the best of both worlds and I am already thinking of different builds in an eventual new game plus. I have beaten one major story boss and a handful of optional bosses, though I do seem to be stuck fighting Godrick The Grafted’ssecond form. Even writing this I am thinking of several ways I could improve my build and tackle Godrick.

Elden Ring is a rare game that only comes around once every generation or two. The last game I felt I had this much freedom in was The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Even then I had many issues with Breath of the Wild’s lifeless world, repetitive side quests, and shrines. However, the gameplay and the freedom of movement kept me going through the story but not far past that. Breath of the Wild walked so Elden Ring could run.