I have played around 15 hours of the game, and so far really enjoying it. Gonna document my experience below, so spoiler warning.
Started out as Wretch, as I like to maximize stats and I rarely use starting equipment much after the first couple of hours of play anyway. Also started with the golden tear starting gift, because I feel getting extra flasks from the start of the game is a good call considering I am otherwise bare naked. Went through the tutorial without issue, then got into Limgrave. Talked to the shady dude near the first bonfire site of grace, and followed the way the light lead me. I like this generally hands off approach. It gives you a general idea of where the objective is, yet otherwise doesn't tell you much further.
I found the tree sentinel, and decided I would go get some armor before trying my luck with him. Found the church, got the crafting kit and continued on the way the light showed me. Killed some soldier dudes, got a set of pants, and found a cave with a grace in it. I decided to look around, fought a pack of wolves and found a bossfight. Boss was easy enough; two-handing the club and heavy attack stunlocked him through the fight, and his attacks were easy enough to dodge through. Back on track, I reached the ruins, found the bonfire, got a girlfriend, and decided to look around these ruins. The enemies there were easy enough, only real threat is the knight, and that one was dealt by using hit and run tactics (backstab, charged up R2, then running away until he de-aggros, repeat.). I mount my horse and continue following the light.
I run past the enemies, seeing as, equipped with nothing more than a set of pants and a club, I wouldn't fare well against the giant and all those guys firing crossbows at me. Reach the next place, get another flask, meet with the lady, and keep going up. I reach the castle, manage to scrape my way through the ballista, acquire gloves and reach the next bonfire. Seeing as it leads me to a bossfight, and I am still rather naked and only holding a big piece of wood, I decide now is a good time to explore around limgrave.
So I go back to the ruins, and go south. I find the lordsworn greatsword and flail (I missed the fact that the carriages hold treasures in them the first time), then continue on. Fight some varagian-looking dudes on horseback, and I get their helmet and chest piece. Starting to look pretty nice now. Go past the bridge, and see two giants carting a carriage. I sneak behind them and loot the Greataxe, and I'm pretty happy with it. Could use a bit more reach but it'll do well considering I am raising strength. I continue that way, find a church and get a flask upgrade, as well as the wondrous physic. It seems like a novel idea, though depends on what you can do with it. I notice that on places where you don't have the map for, the location of it is actually marked with a little drawing. That's pretty welcome, considering how well the map in general works to communicate various landmarks without the need to be obvious (like Witcher 3 is, for example, by littering the map with question marks.)
Seeing some form of fort to the south, I head there, fight my way through it. It's a fun challenge, with so many enemies. I almost died when I started my way to it, as I got hit by a ballista on the wall. On top I find a half of the dectus medallion, though who knows what that is for. We'll see! I now have enough strength to wield my greataxe two-handed and, feeling cheeky, I decide to fight the tree sentinel.
Tree Sentinel is a fun enough challenge. It hits like a truck and is quite mobile, but its attacks are rather well telegraphed so it's a simple matter of learning its moves. Thankfully after looking around so much I have enough flasks to be able to last through any mistakes I make, and after two deaths, I beat him on the third try. His halberd looks really damn powerful, though I am in no position to wield it yet. Will be building towards it though. I then head down to the lake and find a dragon. I feel confident enough after the tree sentinel, and fight the dragon on horseback. It's a very fun emergent setpiece, though also challenging, as I'm dead in two hits. Thankfully the dragon doesn't do many attacks in quick succession, so I can heal if I fuck up without much danger. Funnest part of the fight is definitely riding towards the dragon as it breathes fire, strafing it and attacking its hind legs. Takes me four tries, but I slay the dragon and get its heart. Metal.
I fall for the trap in the ruins, and find myself in the middle of a mine. Shit's terrifying. I open my map and see I'm way to the east, and the map's expanded greatly. I love this detail. Most open world games would show you the scale of the map from the start, but Elden Ring withholding it and only expanding as you explore is awesome. Keeps you guessing about how much of there world there is to explore, which naturally makes me want to explore more. Enemies in the mine are pretty strong though, and I am holding 10k souls from killing the dragon, so shit's pretty intense. The fact that I cannot teleport out only makes it worse. After a couple of deaths, I decide trying to take on these enemies a bad idea, so I try to sneak around. I find the bonfire at the start of the mine have a sigh of relief at being able to spend those souls, and go outside to find myself in a hellscape. I am conflicted between exploring and teleporting out, but I decide to look around the place on horseback. This area is absolutely amazing in terms of atmosphere and design. I cannot stress it enough. I find myself in a ruined city of mages, and seeing as they kill me with two magic missiles, I decide I have looked around enough and get back on track.
Girlfriend tells me she wanted to see if I got the chops to visit her house, and that she thinks I'm worthy to crash at her place. I go there, meet some interesting personalities, including a lady that wants to hug me. Wary of what that might mean, I tell her I am seeing someone and leave the bedroom.
I explore the lake area a bit more, finding a mine. I make a mental note that mines appear on the map as red cave entrances, and venture deeper, getting a lot of crafting materials and beating the boss. I also find Patches to the north, doing his usual Patches things. After upgrading my Greataxe, I head southwards, and find the Weeping Peninsula. Once more the map expands, and I realise that I am repeating myself, but I really love the wonderment this little detail causes. I find a blind girl who asks me to find her dad to the south, and I head southwards, though take a turn west. Damn, but this peninsula is bigger than I thought. I look around, and find a couple more churches, and a couple more flask upgrades. It seems the game is telling me that churches = better flasks, so I'll be looking out for them in the future. I find a huge cathedral-bearing stone turtle, and decide to see if I can fight it. I figure out how it stops moving, and I am happy to no longer hear the bell. I also find the merchant who sells the Bass Cannon. I will be switching to that when I get enough materials to upgrade it.
I return back to the road and go to the place the blind lady asked me to, killing a giant and getting another flask in the process. I go through the castle, which is absolutely swarming with enemies, and fight the boss, which is actually quite easy considering how it staggers with regular hits. I beat it first try, and find the GRRM reference. I meet the girl's dad while looking around some more, and he tells me he is grateful for my help. I return to the girl and it's a happy ending! (No, it's not.)
With that done, I also go the mine in the peninsula, and then go back to Stormveil Castle. I have been putting off for enough, and I go in to fight the Fell Omen dude. It's a very nice bossfight. I like how the boss fake-outs some of its attacks, by holding back and only attacking after a veteran player rolls on reflex. It's a good way to catch old players off guard and provide some challenge. I am glad I did not come here from the start, as I would be no match for him without getting some more items and flasks. I beat him second try and go into the castle.
Castle's fucking massive. There's so much to explore, so many alternate paths with secret items, it's a delight. Enemies are also pretty challenging, so I stay on my toes. I must have spent at least 3 hours in the castle just looking around, and am not confident I have found everything. Probably the highlight are the depths of it, though, and that... thing just lurking there. Also Squidface. What the hells is this guy?
I reach the boss, which I will henceforth call the Habsburg. He's a pretty interesting design, and I do like his moveset. Finally, a boss that rolls as much as I do! First phase rolls through rather easily, only real threat is double stomp attack. Then he lets out the most satisfying scream in video games, becomes a scalie, and shit gets serious. Second phase was rather more intense, with more attacks, flame aoe, and expanded combos from ones he already had. Very fun fight, pretty challenging, for an inbred Austrian. Beat him 5th try.
I go through, and find a new church, talk to the guy in there. I head further north, and find a new map. Holy shit, how much is this map going to expand?
And that's about as far into the game I am. It's an absolutely amazing experience. After really disliking Sekiro, DS2 & 3, I am glad that ER is an absolute hit. Game has ironed out the gameplay, and the open world is extremely fun to explore due to the fact that there's so many items to find that are not just more random loot like in other open world games, but things that have a mechanical uniqueness to them, be it different weapons, new talismans, or upgrade materials. It's an open world which is not a chore and actually inviting to explore, and that on its own is high praise given what most open worlds are.