Like so many From Software games to come before it, Elden Ring is tough. However, unlike these games, Elden Ring is also open-world and mind-numbingly large, making all of its mysteries and madness even harder to keep track of. Though Elden Ring might offer players a generous amount of icons to scatter about their map and some very helpful sites might be hard at work creating some very helpful guides to get you through the game's toughest bits, I'd argue the best companion to help you on your journey from "tarnished" to triumphant is actually something a bit more personal: a journal.

More so than any other form of record-keeping, journaling allows us to perfectly preserve our experience--which matters quite a bit when exploring a world that's so uniquely alive and non-linear it almost feels custom-tailored. Journaling gives us a space to not only keep track of where certain NPCs are located, what tasks we have yet to accomplish, and where that boss is that left us battered and bruised is lurking, but also to note our personal observations--observations that could very well come in handy down the line. Beyond that, journaling also provides us with our own unique history of how we spent our time and, more importantly, how it made us feel that we can remember years later. It is irreplicable and completely subjective data, whether that "data" be a tally count of times you perished fighting Margit or quick remark on how the Erdtree Burial Watchdog is absolutely a cat.

Another optional but compelling reason to keep a journal? To share it with folks on the internet, of course. While no one will ever perfectly replicate your journey across the Lands Between, just about every other player you talk to will be able to relate to your experience. All it takes is a quick scroll through Twitter or Reddit to find thousands of people who also struggled besting a certain beast, or are harboring a very confusing crush on Blaidd. From Software games have always felt a bit like a communal experience--relying on cooperation and communication to unearth secrets and surmount the insurmountable. The idea then, of sharing your ideas and experiences in their most raw form, seems like a perfect way to contribute to this effort and perhaps even show off your penchant for penmanship and illustration.