I Beat Elden Ring

Elden Ring took the gaming world by storm upon its release less than two months ago. While some savored the exploration of the vast, open-world environment of The Lands Between, others with less patience continued to press their luck against bosses and regions far above their skill set and experience level. I found myself in the second camp, as I often do, looking to grind my way through challenges to achieve the maximum results possible as quickly as possible. In Elden Ring, this means reaching the end of all quests, discovering all areas, defeating all necessary bosses, and finally tackling the final foes: Radagon of the Golden Order and The Elden Beast.

While it would take many blog posts to properly discuss and explain the rich lore and backstory behind this final boss fight, I can succinctly say that FromSoftware made the right choice making this the final duel along this incredible journey. The two-part fight consists of a matchup against a more traditional yet challenging opponent in Radagon of the Golden Order, and then an ethereal battle against the Elden Beast, who the game refers to as a “God” upon its death. Frustrating, attention-demanding, and eventually extremely rewarding, this final boss fight was everything I hoped for to finish Elden Ring.

Luckily, the fun doesn’t stop when the credits roll. In a world as vast as that of Elden Ring, there is still so much to discover and accomplish in the world even after the main story is complete. And even then, the game presents the option to reset the world while retaining all of the collectibles, armaments, and materials gathered along the way in “New Game +,” which is a feature I’ve enjoyed since my formative years on console since series like Ratchet and Clank.

New Game + allowed me the opportunity to relive the joy of finding new enemies, map locations, and weapons, while this time focusing less on the easy-to-learn but hard-to-master combat mechanics the game has to offer. While walkthrough one took me more than 80 hours to complete (you read that right,) New Game + was complete in just about 10 hours, as a ran my way from boss to boss on a wonderful victory lap from Limgrave to Leyndell.

Even though I have now beaten Elden Ring (twice,) there’s still so much to do in this game that I don’t see putting the controller down for good any time soon. There are incredibly difficult optional bosses to tackle, more areas to discover, and plenty to re-visit with all of my best gear. This game certainly won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but the attention to detail, intricate and beautiful storyline, and satisfying gamplay are unmatched, making Elden Ring one of my favorite games of all time, let alone being a lock for game of the year in 2022. If you’re looking for an immersive gaming experience, look no further - and arise, ye tarnished!