Elden Ring
Hacker ApprovedThe most recommended of 14 action role-playing games
Praised for tight, guidance-free design and strong Linux performance, though critics find it dense, hard on bosses, and stuttery on PC.
Praised for tight, guidance-free design and strong Linux performance, though critics find it dense, hard on bosses, and stuttery on PC.
33 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 25
- criticize it
- 8
- approval share
- 76%
Recommended in 10 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 25 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3.1 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 10 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Runs well on Linux
“On Linux, I play THE FINALS, Elden Ring, and a couple of other EAC-"protected" games without any troubles.”
Comment from 28 Jan 2026 in “Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux” “Elden Ring on launch day worked flawlessly, anti-cheat and all, on Linux”
Comment from 5 May 2026 in “Linux, Windows or macOS: Which Operating System to Use in 2026?” “had better performance in its first week on Linux than on Windows”
Comment from 2 Jan 2026 in “Linux is good now; to feel like you actually own your PC, put Linux on it” Persistent jank that defines its style
“I do actually appreciate some of the persistent jankiness like this that hasn't changed since their original games.”
Comment from 23 Jun 2026 in “The Low-Tech AI of Elden Ring” “But it works for them, and that's what creates their flavored games”
Comment from 24 Jun 2026 in “The Low-Tech AI of Elden Ring” “I'll take the jank over what the western industry is filled with”
Comment from 24 Jun 2026 in “The Low-Tech AI of Elden Ring” Little hand-holding and no waypoints
“the best gaming experiences I've had were the ones with the least hand-holding”
Comment from 10 Oct 2026 in “Triple-A Minesweeper” “No quest ledger, no waypoints.”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “PlayStation 2 Recompilation Project Is Absolutely Incredible” Cited as a top example of its style
“Skyrim and Elden Ring are better examples because you can do a couple boss fights and get straight to the end”
Comment from 16 Oct 2026 in “'500-hour' Order of the Sinking Star is as complex and exhausting as it sounds” “Best example is Dark Souls 1 and Elden Ring.”
Comment from 25 Jun 2026 in “GTA 6 will cost $80” “I can only think of Elden Ring.”
Comment from 2 Aug 2026 in “Fasttracker II clone in C using SDL 2”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Little quest guidance, hard to follow
“IMO the density was too low in Elden Ring, their system showed a bit of weakness in the less-guided context”
Comment from 16 May 2026 in “SANA-WM, a 2.6B open-source world model for 1-minute 720p video” “Oh I have to reload the area and exhaust it again to advance your quest.”
Comment from 23 Jun 2026 in “The Low-Tech AI of Elden Ring” “the game is incredibly dense and has little to no quest tracking”
Comment from 27 Aug 2026 in “Hollywood's Video Game Era Is Here. Will It Be Any Good?” Stuttering and poor PC port
“Some games (Elden Ring comes to mind) have bad enough PC ports when they come out”
Comment from 16 Jun 2026 in “The time the x86 emulator team found code so bad they fixed it during emulation” “have unfixed stuttering issues on Windows that were fixed on-release in Proton”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “France Launches Government Linux Desktop Plan as Windows Exit Begins” “The PC (mouse+keyboard) experience was terrible.”
Comment from 16 Nov 2025 in “I don’t need a Steam Machine”
Other action role-playing games people recommend
The four most recommended other action role-playing games, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elden RingThis page | 25 | 8 | 76% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Dark Souls | 23 | 6 | 79% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Diablo II: Resurrected | 19 | 3 | 86% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Mass Effect | 19 | 5 | 79% | 5 | — | Approved |
| Path of Exile | 15 | 5 | 75% | 9 | — | Approved |
What people said
35 of the 37 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“they would not have been possible at their scale back in the day”
“It would be sad if we wouldn't have games like that.”
“Skyrim and Elden Ring are better examples because you can do a couple boss fights and get straight to the end”
“the best gaming experiences I've had were the ones with the least hand-holding”
“the best game after Elden Ring of the last 10 years”
“the game is incredibly dense and has little to no quest tracking”
“a great example of how small wins added up can solve large problems when executed with the skill and judgment gained from experience”
“I can only think of Elden Ring.”
“Best example is Dark Souls 1 and Elden Ring.”
“But it works for them, and that's what creates their flavored games”
“I'll take the jank over what the western industry is filled with”
“But, yeah, it's a bad design.”
“it also contributes to the ludonarrative cohesion”
“I do actually appreciate some of the persistent jankiness like this that hasn't changed since their original games.”
“Oh I have to reload the area and exhaust it again to advance your quest.”
“Some games (Elden Ring comes to mind) have bad enough PC ports when they come out”
“IMO the density was too low in Elden Ring, their system showed a bit of weakness in the less-guided context”
“All of them are incredible games spanning a vast series of game style”
“Elden Ring on launch day worked flawlessly, anti-cheat and all, on Linux”
“have unfixed stuttering issues on Windows that were fixed on-release in Proton”
“Boss fight in Elden Ring: your inputs are still 45hz, eyes see 90.”
“I'm not a fan of the hardcore, memorize all the moves of the boss, boss fights.”
“No quest ledger, no waypoints.”
“Even darlings such as Elden Ring or BG3 failed to grab me.”
“Elden ring is another 200”
“On Linux, I play THE FINALS, Elden Ring, and a couple of other EAC-"protected" games without any troubles.”
“There's been some good releases from big names recently”
“the next closest game in play time for me is Elden Ring at ~400 hours”
“had better performance in its first week on Linux than on Windows”
“Removing EAC substantially reduced the amount of incredibly noticeable hitching and stuttering”
“that game is infested with PvP cheaters”
“The PC (mouse+keyboard) experience was terrible.”
“They all run worse than BF6, even now.”
“He doesn't feel this way about Elden Ring, for example.”
“Cutscenes are kept to a minimum and gameplay is is tight AF”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.