Elden Ring Review: Max Difficulty, Gameplay, Graphics & Music

Before starting, here’s a quick glossary:

• Max difficulty: stands for a custom and hard way of playing a game when you can’t choose a starting difficulty.
• SL1: stands for “Soul Level 1” in Souls-like games, the term is used for clearing the game without leveling.
• RL1: some people say RL1 for “Rune Level 1”, but I’m sticking with SL1 for the Souls-like genre.
• Blind: stands for playing the game without any kind of outside information.
• Gameplay: includes character movement, combat system and game mechanics.
• Graphics: includes art, design, attention to details and animations.
• Music: the game’s original soundtrack (OST)

Elden Ring release date: February 25, 2022.

Elden Ring DLC Shadow of the Erdtree release date: June 21, 2024. Announcement trailer of February 21, 2024. Story trailer of May 21, 2024.

Elden Ring Nightreign release date: May 30, 2025. I made a separate article: tier list and character review for Nightreign.

In this article I will be going over Elden Ring, a game that I finished in normal and SL1 difficulty back in March 2022. I’ve also done a SL1 run only for the DLC that I’ve finished in July 2024.

The standalone, Elden Ring Nightreign, will also be covered. I was in the 0.0% of steam users getting all achievements first.

June 22-26, 2024: Added “Elden Ring DLC SL1 Difficulty” (1.c) with my first impressions after killing a few optional bosses and the first non-optional boss. Updated with end of day 2 to 5 updates (I’m on the final boss). Last update of day 6 is me making a new SL1 character because I’m looked out of some important melee ashes in my playthrough.

July 2024: Added precise scaling values for NG+ to NG+7 doing some math with health pools (in section 1.d).

July 2024: Added a second screenshot for the end of the DLC (1.f). Also an additional section “Hardest Elden Ring SL1 Bosses” (1.g).

August 2024: Added an article cover image and corrected a typo in the gameplay score.

June 2025: Added a section about Elden Ring Nightreign (just before the final score).

June 2025: Separate article about Nightreign.

No spoilers. Only 2 screenshots, without context, showing my SL1 character.

In Elden Ring, you cannot choose a difficulty from a menu, but you can choose to not level, which is called a SL1 run. You can also choose to start a New Game Plus once you finished the game.

Elden Ring Normal Difficulty

Normal difficulty stands for the way the game was meant to be played.

The normal run I did was completely blind and aimed at clearing everything in the game (a 100% run). This was very time consuming, I didn’t except Elden Ring to be that much longer then Dark Souls 3. It was fun for the most part, but became redundant after a while.

The game isn’t difficult if you are not under-leveled. Now, the main difference: this game is open world, which means that it’s not a linear game like Dark Souls. This gives you the option to go in higher level zones early on and have some more fun there.

Because of the path I chose at the beginning, I was actually under-leveled the whole game (at least this prevented me from killing half bosses on the first/second try, like in DS3).

Elden Ring’s normal difficulty took me around 80 hours of playtime. I obviously missed a few things, even with very careful zone clearing. I also had to spend some time going back clearing low-level zones that I missed at the beginning.

Elden Ring SL1 Difficulty

SL1 difficulty stands for soul level 1, a run without leveling and is the max difficulty in Elden Ring and Souls games.

After the normal run, I wasn’t quite satisfied with the difficulty. I needed a harder challenge and started a SL1 run. A new game plus would not have been harder, not even NG+7, because you can just keep leveling to 713 (which is the maximum level in the game with all stats maxed at 99) and just use every weapon, armor and spell.

So, I started a level 1 challenge run. I had to clear most of the zones again to get all skills and spells, but at a faster pace. I would try every weapon art and buff spell I could use at level 1 to see which one would make me do the most damage.

In SL1, towards mid-end game, most attacks (even from normal mobs) will 1 to 2 shot you. Against bosses it’s mostly a 1 hit. A smart armor management, equipping a low weight armor effective against the bosses attacks, can grant you 2 hits usually.

The game felt pretty good in SL1, if you were looking for a challenge, you found it.

Elden Ring’s SL1 difficulty took me around 70 hours to clear, most time spend is dying on Ma the end bosses.

Elden Ring DLC SL1 Difficulty

First impressions: it’s rough.

After entering the DLC through the Mohg palace you will be in a world where thrash mobs (like peasants and dogs) 2-hit you and any normal mob (like soldiers) 1-hit you.

Bosses take a long time to kill which leaves a lot of room for mistakes. They are also quite aggressive and their attacks cover a wide range, which makes playing under 30% weight to get a longer roll range and i-frames a better strategy to stay alive.

I didn’t survive any hit from a boss so far when trying defensive options (like defense boost while max HP combined with good armor), so I’ve switched to full offensive and will continue like this.

End of day 2 update:

I’m fighting the guy that you can see on the game cover. My SL1 run is also a 100% run because I will not do a normal run; so I cleared all tunnels, caves, catacombs, forges, field bosses (except dragons & furnace golems) that I currently have access to.

End of day 3 update:

Messmer is not dead after fighting him about 10 hours, but got him to 1% HP on the best try. Went to finish some quests & accessing hidden zones, leaving him for day 4.

End of day 4 update:

Finished hidden zones and went back to Messmer. He died after 3 or 4 hours, so it took me a total of 13-14 hours. He is not as strong as Malenia, but not that far away; Messmer is probably the second most difficult Elden Ring boss for a SL1 character.

End of day 5 update:

Cleared the last zones and did a few attempts on the DLC’s last boss. It was a big surprise to find out who it was, I didn’t except HIM. Also, I think that both Malenia and Messmer will lose their “hardest boss” rank to him.

End of day 6 update:

Started a new SL1 character to get all talismans, ashes and items that I got looked out of in my previous 2022 SL1 playthrough. The DLC’s last boss second phase actually counters my mid-range playstyle, so I want to switch full melee, but I have like nothing on this character to do so.

July 14, 2024 update – End of DLC:

I took an Elden break after reaching the last boss with my new SL1 character. It took me 12 hours to get him to 30%, an additional 12 hours to get him to 5% (started using rune arcs at the end). He died the next day in the first hour. Total: 25 hours.

One of the worst things you can do on him is using parry, it skips his whole combos making him completely trivial.

My run involved no cheesing at all: no parry / no OP weapons / no AR boosts (self-status / low life). I did roll all of his hits and found some small openings to punish him mid-combos.

Elden Ring NG+ To NG+7 Difficulty

NG+ stands for new game plus. Every enemy will be stronger, scaling on a percentage.

NG+ will have the biggest difference in boss health and damage, because all weaker bosses that you encounter early in the game, will get a big boost to accommodate to you having cleared the game once. After that, from NG+2 to NG+7, a static scaling multiplier will be applied.

The scaling compared to the baseline x1 NG+ gives, is the following:

• x1.100 (+2)
• x1.125 (+3)
• x1.200 (+4)
• x1.225 (+5)
• x1.250 (+6)
• x1.275 (+7)

This is the rune amount multiplier.

For health pools, here is an example of the NG+ to NG+7 scaling with an end boss (Malenia, phase 1):

• 18473 (base game)
• 18750 (NG+), this is x1.0 for reference.
• 20625 (+2) = x1.1
• 21563 (+3) = x1.15
• 22500 (+4) = x1.2
• 24375 (+5) = x1.3
• 25313 (+6) = x1.35
• 26250 (+7) = x1.4

Bosses in NG+7 have a x1.4 scaling multiplier on their health, which means they have 40% more health points than in NG+.

This is overall very weak compared to the Cinders mod of DS3 (considered the hardest DS3). In Dark Souls III: Cinders mod the value of NG+7, based on NG+, is x3 (yes, that’s a real scaling now).

Note: I cleared DS3 Cinders mod in NG+7, it was nothing compared to SL1 Elden Ring.

NG+7 is the highest scaling of the game. Now, like I said in the SL1 part (or just in the note above), it’s not even close to be as hard as a SL1 run, because you can just keep leveling and use absolutely everything in the game.

If you are not ready for a SL1 run, you can choose to play the NG+ difficulties first.

Note: You may think that the absolute highest difficulty in Elden Ring would be a SL1 NG+7 run. But in reality, because of some effects doing a percentage of bosses health in damage, their amount of health in +7 scaling can be disregarded.

Elden Ring’s max difficulty is doing a SL1 run.

My SL1 Character Pre-Boss Nerfs

My SL1 Character – Patch 1.02.3 – March 2022

Patch 1.02.3 is pre-boss nerfs.

Game released on 1.02.1, here is what the first patches fixed:

• 1.02.1: game stability improvement.
• 1.02.2: graphic card stuttering fix.
• 1.02.3: controller support fix.
• 1.03+: boss nerfs and additional content.

My SL1 Character – End of DLC

My SL1 Character – Patch 1.12.3 – July 2024

Hardest Elden Ring SL1 Bosses

Spoiler (click to show): this list reveals the DLC’s last boss name

1. [DLC] The Promised Consort / Consort of Miquella (Radahn)
2. Malenia
3. [DLC] Messmer
4. Radagon
5. [DLC] Divine Beast Dancing Lion

This list assumes that you are not exploiting or cheesing. You are dodge-rolling every attack.

I should also probably add this here: no pre-buffing ritual, no external buffs of weapons you don’t keep equipped.

Fights take a long time, having low damage and surviving everything by successfully dodging then punishing is the whole concept of a SL1 run.

Elden Ring’s Character Movement

I played the normal run with keyboard + mouse, and the SL1 run with a switch pro controller. The gamepad makes it a little bit easier in fights, while the mouse is better to look around while exploring.

The movement is the same as in Dark Souls. Your character can do the following:

• Walk
• Run
• Jump
• Roll/Dodge

You also get something to travel faster in this massive world. The gameplay showcase of the game before the launch spoiled that one already, if you didn’t see it you’ll find out soon enough.

It will add the following to your character movement:

• Travel faster
• Double jump

Elden Ring’s Combat System

The combat system is also the same as in Dark Souls. Your character can do the following:

• Look-on enemies
• Light attacks
• Heavy attacks
• Charged attacks
• Jump attacks (leaps)
• Chug flasks to regain health/mana
• Use a variety of items
• Backstabs
• After-knockdown finishers
• Parries
• Shield blocks
• Dual wielding

This, plus a large variety of spells and weapon arts that you can use, some way too overpowered to be in the game.

In and out of combat, the stamina bar will be drained for each action you take, and the mana bar for weapon skills and spells. A little bit of an annoying design choice, is the target look-on that you will lose, if the enemy goes behind a pillar for example. You cannot avoid losing line of sight of some bosses, as it is part of their fight design.

A new type of combat is introduced with the thing you get to travel faster. Double jumps and powerful charged attacks are things you can do on it. Summoning minions is also a new added feature, but it was designed for people that needed some help during boss fights.

Elden Ring’s Game Mechanics

Like in Dark Souls, you can level up with souls, but it’s called runes here. Each level you will need more and more runes. The more you advance in the game, the more runes will drop from each mob and boss you defeat.

The following is what you can use runes for:

• Level up your character
• Level up your weapons (requires additional items)
• Level up your summons/spirits (same)
• Buy items from vendors

For the stats you can put points in, take a look at my previous screenshot again. Depending on your playstyle, you will need to put enough points in stats to use certain weapons that have minimal requirements. Spells also have minimal stat requirements.

Vigor is your health points, and is a good place to start if you don’t know what to do.

Bosses are pattern heavy, and have some more interesting moves then in DS3. Some are quite jumpy…

Elden Ring’s Input Buffering

The only issue is the input buffering. Here is a simple example of what it is:

Scenario: You get hit and input a roll at the same time.

• Your character starts the hit animation
• The game registers your roll input
• Your character exits the hit animation
• Your character rolls

Your roll will happen after you are done with your hit animation, because it has been queued, after that you will probably get hit again.

Overall Theme

Dark fantasy, probably my favorite. The whole world art is based around some kind of dark medieval era, staying really close to what Dark Souls looks like. Things like castles and monsters wearing different type of medieval armors and weapons is quite common.

The characters have an interesting and unique design. Extra limbs, decomposing corpses and the usual dark stuff. Same goes for bosses, other monsters and any visual effects (like weapons arts and spells particle effects).

You may figure out that not everything that has extra limbs is considered a monster.

Environment Details

Wherever you look around you in this open world, everything looks gorgeous and very detailed. The actual amount of environmental details for that big of an open world is insane.

There are a few paintings in the game, where your goal is to find their real location. Each one ends up showing you a pretty nice scenery.

A very polished game, I wouldn’t want it to look any different.

Animations & Hitboxes

Animations are fluid, you usually get hit when you see that you get hit. The end hitbox of breath-type attacks can be a little confusing, this includes the fire traps in catacombs where you should stand a little bit more away then what you would think.

Sound Effects And General Ambience

Each zone has a nice ambience to it, if you like dark ambiences that is. The SFX of bosses and monsters are on point. Same for spells and attacks.

Original Game Soundtrack

The music is the best part of the game. Epic orchestral tracks and strong choirs, my favorite music type.

Most bosses have their own theme, this is a lot of work, and they all sound unique. Elden Ring composers: Yuka Kitamura, Tsukasa Saitoh, Shoi Miyazawa, Yoshimi Kudo and Tai Tomisawa did an amazing job making the music for the massive world of Elden Ring.

Top 5 Tracks

• Starscourge Radahn: the definition of an epic battle.
• Final Battle: that cinematic adding even more to it.
• Regal Ancestor Spirit: the Nordic atmosphere…
• Godskin Apostle: the godly dark (souls) choirs
• Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon: beautiful fantasy

You might have noticed, in the navigation menu of my website, a “playlist” category. I curate playlists and all my Epic genre playlists have at least 1 Elden Ring track in them. For example, the first one “Epic Battle” has Starscourge Radahn in it, which is my favorite 2022 game OST.

Elden Ring Mood Playlists

After looking at the final score just below this, click on one to go to my curated playlist page. You can find content information and direct links to Spotify, YouTube Music, Deezer, Tidal and Amazon there.

My Epic playlists are, for the most part, updated on a weekly basis.

A Standalone Elden Ring

Nightreign is not part of the main game but feels like a mod for it.

It is a 3 player co-op game where your main objective is to kill the end bosses (Nightlords), but can also be played solo.

It’s a fun game to play if you enjoy the main game, also there is some replayability to it, as you can try all sorts of builds.

Elden Ring Nightreign Features

It shares everything with the main game, the overall gameplay doesn’t change, you just get preset classes with special abilities.

This means, of course, the specific gameplay of each character is something different from the main game and cannot be reproduced there.

Many elements are tuned down, like gear has 4 rarity color grades (grey, blue, purple, orange) and only 2 smithing stones (a blue one and a purple one) are required to up that rarity from grey to purple.

The main difference is the time constraint. You have a limited amount of time to kill and collect loot in Limgrave before the final boss fight. The maximum level of 15 is still pretty easy to get to (still depends on map rng like structure placements and Shattered Earth modifiers).

Elden Ring Nightreign Price

$40 is a little bit of a grey area, knowing there is also a $15 DLC planned.

It hits $55 which is almost the price of the main game.

My issue with this is: all assets of the main game are just reused in this (besides Nightlords).

What About The Story?

I don’t play these kind of games for the story, nor do I deeply invest myself into lore, so it’s not part of the final score.

The story overall was pretty straight forward, the side quests were interesting and the cinematics were good (especially the end-boss introduction one). For a general ambience, that old English voice acting, also used in Dark Souls, is always nice to have.

Total: 9.75/10