I had far too many issues with the controls, jank, and general feel of the game to ever give it a 97 myself. Its a great game and I cant stress that enough but I also found it mind numbingly frustrating at times.
In other difficult games (Hollow Knight, Returnal), I can pinpoint exactly why I died, what I did wrong, and what I need to do to overcome it. For some reason, I didnt get that much in Elden Ring. I often felt like bosses would just destroy me with these odd attack patterns with difficult to pinpoint timings and delays where I would just get rocked in 15 seconds and be left with little to no feedback as to how I ended up that way. My strategy from beginning to end was to level up high enough so that I could rock them instead....and then bleed them with Redania. It worked. I beat the game 3 times and platinumed it...but it didnt really feel all that great.
That gameplay just didnt resonate with me in the ways that I wanted it to. I often see people say that, in Souls games, "death isnt a failure but a learning experience. It just means youre one step closer to succeeding" but I didnt get that. In something like Returnal, I was able to feel actual improvement in my abilities and beating a boss had me practically jumping from my chair. In Elden Ring, I wasnt even happy. I was just relieved that I could stop being frustrated and move on.
Controls and UI need work, too. I fumbled with things a lot. I still made mistakes after 150 hours. People defend these things to death and I dont get it. It just didnt feel good to play at times.
Atmosphere and level design are the best. I cant think of a game that does it better. I love the minimalistic story telling too. And the quirky shit. It rules. Thats the kind of stuff that kept me going.
