Elden Ring - 5/5
Easily GOTY for me. I Platinumed the game the other day and I booked in 320 hours in total. What it might sound like a lot of time dedicated to the game, it's actually not that bad. It didn't feel like a chore. I didn't even chase the Platinum, it just happened naturally by enjoying the game to it's fullest. Maybe 20% of the time is not actual game time as I had a lot of AFK while waiting to be summoned and help other players with bosses, but still at 200+ hours it feels like a really good deal. And best thing is no extra payments are required for ridiculous extra items and DLCs. Pay for the standard game and have a blast for hundreds of hours.
It's probably also the easiest souls-like game out there. It lets you go at your own pace and explore and get stronger. The accomplishment of surpassing all the challenges are something worth playing for and offer a lot of satisfaction. The quests system might be confusing for some and rightfully so. It doesn't really point you in the right direction, and took me a while to notice the big hole in the ground after defeating Radahn (Which now is fixed anyway and puts a sign on the map), but I still believe the game can be finished without any guides. Some of the side quests might require some reading though.
To me it was really a fresh take on the open world as I was getting really tired with the same style of Assassin's Creed, Ghost of Tsushima and Horizon and I find exploring was rewarding and mysterious rather than tiresome. It got a good amount of bosses and mini-bosses to test your skills and patience, a decent amount of builds depending on how you want to play the game.
Am I done with the game? Not really, and I still want to test different builds and challenge myself to no hit kills with the bosses which means I still have hundreds of hours to put into it.
I definitely recommend and even if it feels daunting at first because of difficulty, explore and get stronger. It gets much easier the more you explore and grow your character.