I am absolutely trash with the elden ring series but I love everything about it. I watch people play and enjoy it. I'm sure 20 years ago I'd have been all in on them but my game difficulty is set to easy these days.
My first thought: I love the stories in Elden Ring, there's so many, so much history written into the art. But between constantly getting mollywopped and it being kind of trickle fed, I lose the story(ies). There are a handful of channels that go indepth on the stories, the legend, the history and "archeology" of The Lands Between.
There's a lot of intention and love put into Elden Ring, but do to sucking at video games, sometimes it's easier to enjoy the stories through other avenues.
it took me 200 hours. it took me 6+ months and a few holiday breaks to do it.
most games are like 1/10 of that length. game is crazy massive and long and detailed. and id' probably have to sink 500h+ to get all the details and endings and experience the various play styles.
It took me a long time in the first play through. Mainly because I just stopped for a few months after beating my head against the wall that is Melania.