PC Gamer gave Elden Ring a 90 while reviewing a FromSoftware game for being too much like FromSoftware.

First, the arithmetic: PC Gamer spends an entire review dragging Elden Ring for being too much like Dark Souls, then hands it a 90/100 like a firefighter congratulating the arsonist on excellent flame coverage. The verdict says it 'reaches new heights' but spends too much time in familiar territory, which is the critical equivalent of docking a pizza because it suspiciously contains bread, sauce, and cheese. The math aint mathing.

The central complaint is fascinating because it is both technically coherent and spiritually wearing clown shoes. Colp keeps discovering that the new FromSoftware game contains FromSoftware design language, then reacts like an accountant finding numbers in a spreadsheet. There is a woman who levels you up, a poison swamp, bosses that resemble old bosses, and a horse that creates new navigation problems. Fine observations! But then the score says 90, which makes the whole review feel like a ruler made of soup: you can measure with it, but only if everyone agrees not to look down.

The review's funniest trick is its emotional double-entry bookkeeping. 'Elden Ring could have been anything,' it sighs, as if FromSoftware was supposed to release a tax-preparation dating sim with parry frames. Then it admits the world is magnetic, the combat is refined, the best moments are tremendous, and the whole thing is 'family sized' junk food for fans. That is not a 90-point critique; that is a 78 wearing a fake mustache and sneaking into the VIP lounge because the Metacritic bouncer likes capes.

A score should be the thesis, not a corporate weather report. If your review argues that repetition dulls the impact, technical flaws require restarts, progression is confusing, and the open world sometimes turns mastery into wandering around with a flashlight made of pudding, then 90/100 is not a conclusion — it's a peace treaty with the comment section. PC Gamer found a calculator crime scene, stepped over the body, and gave the suspect an A-minus. Sponsored by a decimal point having a nervous breakdown.