GRRM and Miyazaki's story design structure conflicts bad. GRRM is a show and tell storyteller and Miyazaki is more of a cryptic storyteller and "leave it to the reader's imagination" kind of thing. Dark Souls's world fits with Miyazaki's storytelling more and Elden Ring should've been a GRRM story except with Dark Souls combat. Fromsoft should've never touched and "shattered" the story of GRRM in Elden Ring because there are blanks in the lore that should've been filled with context but it's been forcefully taken out.

Open world is a meme. Exploring every nook and cranny in the open world is not rewarding unlike the dungeons. The dungeons usually has the same general structure and changes slightly in other areas, but it offers you better loot than the open world. The dungeons are similiar to the previous Dark Souls games of exploration but not better than DS.

Bleed is the only build effective after NG or NG+2. It will last all the way to NG+7. That is because the damage from bleed is equal to a percentage of the target's Max HP once the threshold is filled up. When NG+ enemies have stat inflation like bonus health, bleed will shred through it.
Using anything other builds is fine but you are gimping yourself when bleed builds takes much, much less time to take down any boss.

Elden Ring is a great starting game for anyone trying to get into the Fromsoft games. If you have played previous Fromsoft games like Dark Souls, Bloodborne, or Sekiro, it may be disappointing and I would not recommend it.

GRRM and Miyazaki's story design structure conflicts bad. GRRM is a show and tell storyteller and Miyazaki is more of a cryptic storyteller and "leave it to the reader's imagination" kind of thing. Dark Souls's world fits with Miyazaki's storytelling more and Elden Ring should've been a GRRM story except with Dark Souls combat. Fromsoft should've never touched and "shattered" the story of GRRM in Elden Ring because there are blanks in the lore that should've been filled with context but it's been forcefully taken out. Open world is a meme. Exploring every nook and cranny in the open world is not rewarding unlike the dungeons. The dungeons usually has the same general structure and changes slightly in other areas, but it offers you better loot than the open world. The dungeons are similiar to the previous Dark Souls games of exploration but not better than DS. Bleed is the only build effective after NG or NG+2. It will last all the way to NG+7. That is because the damage from bleed is equal to a percentage of the target's Max HP once the threshold is filled up. When NG+ enemies have stat inflation like bonus health, bleed will shred through it. Using anything other builds is fine but you are gimping yourself when bleed builds takes much, much less time to take down any boss. Elden Ring is a great starting game for anyone trying to get into the Fromsoft games. If you have played previous Fromsoft games like Dark Souls, Bloodborne, or Sekiro, it may be disappointing and I would not recommend it.