Have you ever been so excited for a game that you preloaded it and just watched the countdown on your console's home screen? Well, that's how excited I was for Elden Ring. People who know me or have listened to the show before know that FromSoftware is probably my favorite game developer of all time, and I've played all of their modern games from Dark Souls back in 2013 or so all the way through multiple replays of Bloodborne and Sekiro. So when Elden Ring finally got a release date, I went on full media blackout- muting words on Twitter, avoiding YouTube videos from the network test, no podcasts about it, nothing. I didn't even know you could jump until I booted up the game.
Sometimes that kind of hype can lead to a vicious disappointment, however...anybody else remember that Dark Tower movie? Gross! But anyway, Elden Ring is placed squarely in the "lives up to the hype and then some" category. In my opinion, this is the clear winner of Game of the Year 2022, even though the year is only halfway through. And joining me to break the game down in detail is Ryan Juengling from List Off!. Ryan is a friend and returning guest on the show, first heard on the Death's Door episode. List Off! is a gaming podcast that does top 10 lists about all sorts of gaming-related topics, as well as monthly news roundups, deep dives on specific games, and other fun topics. They're a highly recommended show, and you can find them HERE or on your favorite podcast app.
You can listen to episode 36 (Elden Ring) of Tales from the Backlog in the player below, or you can follow the links to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or search "Tales from the Backlog" in your favorite podcast app!