5/5 ★ – GoulashDavid's review of Elden Ring.

Order and Disorder —— Tentative steps come first And brazen confidence follows But pitfalls and stone walls Litter the war-torn environments. The Lands Between have treated its Tarnished guest to wondrous vistas, terrible monsters, arduous climbs, and learned perspectives. A once flourishing land, reduced to collapsed rubble by the forces of entropy. No true Order can exist, in a world of differences. The elements’ opposition to each other, in their very being, commands forever an evolution. And without Death, what point is there to Life? Decaying, rotting and withering souls cling desperately to the stability and energy they once enjoyed. But change is inevitable. Through sheer force, the Tarnished submits the world to its Destined Death. As sure as the Stars will turn and the Moon will rise Through growth and glory and defeat I stand here before you, And accept my fate. “A Man cannot kill a God” - Sir Gideon Ofrey, the All-Knowing Ignorant to faith. Despite conviction. Denying belief. Time, that ancient God, marches on against all challenge. But before all is lost To Its tightening grip Let us marvel in the splendour Of fighting to live. —— On the Age of the Stars ending —— I did not come to the Lands Between to conquer them. I have no wish to be its Lord. Let this ancient and withering world be released from its prison of decay, or rot ‘til its last crumb. Nay. Mine journey here was one of exploration. It was spent admiring, toiling, pushing ever onward into the unknown. Many a sight I was treated to. Many a fight, too. It is our wits that should guide us. Undetermined futures are much more exciting than everlasting Order. Behold, before us: an inky blackness, with fragments of light. After all this time wandering… Forward still.