Souls Amalgamated
I'm a FromSoft fan, so take with a grain of salt. However, this might be the best game I've ever played. I don't say that lightly. Since it came out, Bloodborne held that title. Elden Ring has taken every lesson from previous games in the series and compiled them into an excellent, open-world experience. I've put just over 30 hours into this game and I still have so much to discover. I have beaten 4 of the main story bosses and a heap of the optional ones. What I love about Elden Ring is, every time I load up the game, I discover new things. The map mightn't be on the scale of an Assassin's Creed game or Horizon Forbidden West, but all the item and enemy placement is so purposeful that I'm never bored and forever finding new places to explore. A week before Elden came out, I played around 7 hours of Horizon Forbidden West, and as beautiful as it's world is, I don't think I'll ever return. The bloated map, filled with objective markers, fetch quests, boring characters, repetitive combat scenarios, etc. I've had enough. The open-world, sandbox game has been redefined by Elden Ring. This is a masterclass in how to do things correctly. I'm not going to mention the combat, as it's what you'd expect FromSoft to do. It's safe to say, I'm going to get 100s of hours out of this game, and not a moment of it will be dull. Get with it AAA. Miyazaki, you've done it again.