Elden Ring
Games review
Open-world action RPG from FromSoftware and George R. R. Martin.
As of Aug 11, 2026, Elden Ring is rated 96/100 on Metacritic (93 critic reviews), and 93% positive on Steam (1,147,929 reviews). Each source is shown in its own units, never blended into one score.
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Different sources measure different things, so each is shown in its own units and never merged into one number.
Is Elden Ring worth it in 2026?
A 96 on Metacritic across 93 critics and 93% positive from over 1.1 million Steam reviews is not a fluke, the consistency of praise across open world exploration, boss variety, atmosphere, and soundtrack confirms the scores reflect a genuinely exceptional game. The rewarding difficulty is a real feature, not a marketing pose, with reviewers explicitly calling it satisfying rather than punishing, but expect at least a few specific bosses, Godskin Duo being the most cited, that reviewers themselves call unfair rather than hard-in-a-good-way; this is a real design flaw, not just a skill gap. Replay value is legitimately exceptional, with at least one reviewer logging around 1,000 hours across platforms chasing every ending and achievement. Player messages in the world lean heavily toward community jokes rather than useful guidance, which is a genuine friction point for newcomers navigating an already complex open world.
Players who want a sprawling, atmosphere-rich open world packed with secrets, boss encounters, and multiple playthroughs, and who can tolerate learning through failure, including occasional failure that feels cheap rather than fair.
Multiple reviewers independently flagged specific bosses as unfair rather than challenging, so if consistent, well-designed difficulty is what you're after, prepare for at least one stretch where the game doesn't deliver that.
AI-generated editorial synthesis of the source scores and sampled review themes, not a hands-on test. Reviewer experiences and allegations are not independently verified facts.
Pros
- open world exploration6
see reviews +-
- This has grown to be very likely the best game I've ever experienced. Everything from the scenery, to the story, the enemy diversity and and boss quality and variety hits home with...
- Elden Ring is a game that offers a visual experience unlike any other. The open world, with its fantastic atmosphere, scenery, and unique locations, takes your breath away. While h...
- Elden Ring gives the the best sense of "adventure" I've ever played. Roaming the countrside, discovering dungeons, seeing something interesting on the map so you check out what it...
- music and soundtrack5
see reviews +-
- Elden Ring is a game that offers a visual experience unlike any other. The open world, with its fantastic atmosphere, scenery, and unique locations, takes your breath away. While h...
- Just the peak of video gaming, please buy this game not only for the difficulty, but the amazing atmosphere, the vast open world and the beautiful composition of the open world/bos...
- 10/10 would suffer again. didnt think i would spend the first few hours getting absolutely slimed by a man on a horse (though he was pretty cool), the next 13 hours being emotiona...
- boss design and variety5
see reviews +-
- This has grown to be very likely the best game I've ever experienced. Everything from the scenery, to the story, the enemy diversity and and boss quality and variety hits home with...
- Elden Ring is a game that offers a visual experience unlike any other. The open world, with its fantastic atmosphere, scenery, and unique locations, takes your breath away. While h...
- I found the game to be challenging but incredibly fun. The difficulty never felt unfair: it made every victory sweet. I absolutely loved the open world. It is rarely that I find a...
- atmosphere and world-building5
see reviews +-
- Elden Ring is a game that offers a visual experience unlike any other. The open world, with its fantastic atmosphere, scenery, and unique locations, takes your breath away. While h...
- After playing the game for 1000 hours and then losing all my progress and playing it for a another 600 hours i can safely say this is the best game i have ever touched and I played...
- I found the game to be challenging but incredibly fun. The difficulty never felt unfair: it made every victory sweet. I absolutely loved the open world. It is rarely that I find a...
- rewarding difficulty5
see reviews +-
- This has grown to be very likely the best game I've ever experienced. Everything from the scenery, to the story, the enemy diversity and and boss quality and variety hits home with...
- "the fallen leaves tell a story..." best game ever made. ill die on that hill. between pc and xbox i have around 1000 hours in the game. got every ending, every item, every achieve...
- I found the game to be challenging but incredibly fun. The difficulty never felt unfair: it made every victory sweet. I absolutely loved the open world. It is rarely that I find a...
- high replay value3
see reviews +-
- "the fallen leaves tell a story..." best game ever made. ill die on that hill. between pc and xbox i have around 1000 hours in the game. got every ending, every item, every achieve...
- After playing the game for 1000 hours and then losing all my progress and playing it for a another 600 hours i can safely say this is the best game i have ever touched and I played...
- One of the best games I’ve ever played. The open world and freedom are so good. Visuals, music, and boss fights are a total masterpiece. I love the massive variety of weapons and g...
Cons
- specific unfair bosses3
see reviews +-
- I did try finger but whole and it was ten times better than the godskin duo fight. Elden ring 9/10. Foreskin duo -100000/10
- Just the peak of video gaming, please buy this game not only for the difficulty, but the amazing atmosphere, the vast open world and the beautiful composition of the open world/bos...
- Anyone with a negative review just needs to git gud. This game is peak with amazing OSTS, boss designs and lore. Most fights are also very well balanced with some unfair fights lik...
Themes and quotes are drawn from 17 sampled reviews with text; the scores above reflect all 1.1M ratings. Counts are how many of the sampled reviews mention each point.
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