Elden Ring (New From Soft Game)

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Oh I did see some guys default back to the accessibility issue when they got some pushback on their bullshit. It's such an obvious pretense it'd be laughable if it didn't hijack/eclipse legitimate concerns disabled people might actually have.

Yeah, even some of the crusaders for this seem more interested in picking the fight with Souls fans (which, as Walter said, there's no good reason to take up) than actually advocating for achievable things like more industry-wide standards for objective accessibility features such as text and sound options for the visually or audibly impaired, or most importantly controllers that can be customized for one's physical abilities. Beyond that, when it comes down to changing the difficulty to the point of completely altering the game, it really does come down to if you're going to have a perfunctory difficulty or story mode or not, which may not even serve this purpose. At a certain point it becomes the equivalent of watching it on YouTube anyway.

Anyone still seeing lines of grace even after clearing out an area? I’ve done everything there is to do at Castle Morne, (including the boss, passing the letter, telling the old man about the sword), and I’m still seeing the line pointing to the castle (and beyond that is just the open sea, so that ain’t it …).

I didn't even know they went away...? :shrug:

Currently 50 hours in at level 155. About two bosses to go before I have cleared them all. Been a hell of a ride! The underworld is probably some of the most beautiful scenery in a game to date.

Wow, I'm in the 90s after 70+ hours and I thought I was over-leveled, but now I can see it's probably going to be necessary because these enemies are starting to get real hardy.
 
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Johnstantine

Skibbidy Boo Bop
Wow, I'm in the 90s after 70+ hours and I thought I was over-leveled, but now I can see it's probably going to be necessary because these enemies are starting to get real hardy.
There is one boss in this game who is absurdly powerful. Even at my level, I'm getting two-shotted. This reminds me of my time with Sword Saint Isshin in Sekiro.

The last boss is a massive pain in the ass. Isn't even hard, just has a massive field to play on. Very frustrating.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Spoilers for the extreme north east portion of the map, well beyond the Capital area:

Fire Giant: This fuckin' guy! More like Elden RNG, amirite!? So, in grand Souls tradition, I almost took this guy out on my first try, got him to 20% life, felt in control, etc. I actually thought he was just a big field boss at first. So, I figured I'd take him out in another attempt or two, got impatient, started pressing, and then proceeded to get killed by him what felt like dozens of times, but who's keeping score? I call him the RNG Giant because no matter how well the fight is going for you, one wrong turn into an off camera rock or tree and, surprise, you're fuckin' dead! Even my cheese tech wasn't very helpful, if not outright hurtful; Mimic Tear only made his movement more unpredictable, and except for when you knock off the shackle the Night & Flame stance isn't effective enough to justify the repeated risk, especially in the final phase (plus, then you're wasting flask slots on FP refills). Anyway, I beat him the old fashioned way: until I'd seen everything he had so many times that he couldn't even hit me when I finally finished him off with aggressive satisfaction. Good riddance. My favorite loss was when we were both down to our last gasp, my horse was dead, and I was just having to hit, run and outroll this dude until one of his slow homing fireballs finally did me in before I could finish him (in retrospect I should have intentionally set it off and dodged it instead of going for the kill, as always, but he could have just as easily killed me with any other attack while I was doing that). That's when I knew I had him, though.


Random thought: The interface of this game, as in how your character is positioned, feels and moves on screen, and environments very much remind me of Dark Souls 1 and Dark Souls 2 especially, which makes sense given those were the closest the Souls genre had ever gotten to "open world" previously (Elden Ring probably owes more to DS2 than any other; perhaps a retroactive feather in its much maligned cap). I compared it to DS3 last night and that one certainly looks more like the next gen Souls game even though it's over half a decade old. This isn't a criticism, they're going for sheer scale here, it wouldn't have been feasible for them to to do it all with the same level of detail and graphic design as DS3 or Bloodborne (still their most visually cohesive, beautiful game). I also got the feeling early on, especially in Limgrave, that they're going for a bit more of a lighter, more stylized look, ala Nintendo with modern Zelda games for example, that fits the more high fantasy concepts and world while giving their graphics department some latitude in executing it.
 
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Spoilers for the extreme north east portion of the map, well beyond the Capital area:

Fire Giant: This fuckin' guy! More like Elden RNG, amirite!? So, in grand Souls tradition, I almost took this guy out on my first try, got him to 20% life, felt in control, etc. I actually thought he was just a big field boss at first. So, I figured I'd take him out in another attempt or two, got impatient, started pressing, and then proceeded to get killed by him what felt like dozens of times, but who's keeping score? I call him the RNG Giant because no matter how well the fight is going for you, one wrong turn into an off camera rock or tree and, surprise, you're fuckin' dead! Even my cheese tech wasn't very helpful, if not outright hurtful; Mimic Tear only made his movement more unpredictable, and except for when you knock off the shackle the Night & Flame stance isn't effective enough to justify the repeated risk, especially in the final phase (plus, then you're wasting flask slots FP refills). Anyway, I beat him the old fashioned way: until I'd seen everything he had so many times that he couldn't even hit me when I finally finished him off with aggressive satisfaction. Good riddance. My favorite loss was when we were both down to our last gasp, my horse was dead, and I was just having to hit, run and outroll this dude until one of his slow homing fireballs finally did me in before I could finish him (in retrospect I should have intentionally set it off and dodged it instead of going for the kill, as always, but he could have just as easily killed me with any other attack while I was doing that). That's when I knew I had him, though.


Random thought: The interface of this game, as in how your character is positioned, feels and moves on screen, and environments very much remind me of Dark Souls 1 and Dark Souls 2 especially, which makes sense given those were the closest the Souls genre had ever gotten to "open world" previously (Elden Ring perhaps owes more to DS2 than any other; perhaps a retroactive feather in its cap). I compared it to DS3 last night and that one certainly looks more like the next gen Souls game even though it's over half a decade old. This isn't a criticism, they're going for sheer scale here, it wouldn't have been feasible for them to to do it all with the same level of detail and graphic design as DS3 or Bloodborne (still their most visually cohesive, beautiful game). I also got the feeling early on, especially in Limgrave, that they're going for a bit more of a lighter, more stylized look, ala Nintendo with modern Zelda games for example, that fits the more high fantasy concepts and world while giving their graphics department some latitude in executing this world.
I'm just starting to work my way through this area now....glad I have something to look forward to :guts: .
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Really loving this game. Haven't felt this way about a game since Dark Souls. It's fully occupied my brain, and I find myself planning out things ahead of sitting down to play it.

My progress is much slower than others. I'm about 30 hours in, at lv 41, and just finished Godrick. I've explored a good chunk of Caelid already, but that place is fucked. Right now I'm mopping up some more of Limgrave before I head to Raya Lucaria for the next big boss. Main weapon is Lordsworn Straight Sword (+9 currently), mostly dual-handing it for the moveset, with a Bloody Slash ash of war, which has amazing reach, and has allowed me to bite off way more than I thought I could chew, in terms of challenging bosses. Speaking of ashes... one thing that bugs me is that I've hardly found any spirits yet. And it's not like I haven't been exploring... Folks, I'm still using wolves!

The music in this game doesn't get much attention, and it is admittedly subdued most of the time, but I find it quite cool. Aside from the awesome title track (which sounds like it's from some unsung '80s fantasy movie), I love how the music intelligently and subtly shifts depending on the kind of action that's happening. And I don't just mean enemy encounters—lots of games have done that. But it actually shifts slightly between things like scaling cliffs and landing on solid ground again. Noticed that in Stormveil.

And probably the biggest praise I can give this game is that it evokes the same feelings I got from Shadow of the Colossus. Not necessarily the big boss aspect, but the riding around and exploring the valley, poking around ancient ruins, trying to decipher any meaning to what I'm seeing. This was also my favorite part of Dark Souls. There's just a whole lot MORE of it in Elden Ring.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Really loving this game. Haven't felt this way about a game since Dark Souls. It's fully occupied my brain, and I find myself planning out things ahead of sitting down to play it.

Love to hear it! Normally I'd use this as an opportunity to pitch why Bloodborne is so sexy too, give it another chance, but I'll just be happy for you instead.

My progress is much slower than others. I'm about 30 hours in, at lv 41, and just finished Godrick. I've explored a good chunk of Caelid already, but that place is fucked.

Sounds like you're doing it right, I'm literally all over the map, which is giving me whiplash as I'm going back to Limgrave and backtracking everywhere for all I missed the first time. I'm probably missing the clues to the next steps I'm supposed to be taking...

Right now I'm mopping up some more of Limgrave before I head to Raya Lucaria

43687507-e4e3-4b76-8672-f2472c5526bb_text.gif


Main weapon is Lordsworn Straight Sword (+9 currently) mostly dual-handing it for the moveset

Yes, straight sword for the win! And that's the same moveset I utilized for the Wyrm fight, otherwise I'm dual wielding two straight swords for the damage or regular R1 for speed.

with a Bloody Slash ash of war, which has amazing reach, and has allowed me to bite off way more than I thought I could chew, in terms of challenging bosses.

I'll have to check that out, I really got a lot out of of the default "Square Off" stance against bosses until I upgraded to the Sacred Blade. Now I'm addicted to the Night & Flame stance, otherwise I feel like I'm holding back or putting on pretensions, "I don't need my nuclear option." I'm also messing around with a +8 upgraded Moonveil. Invade me, bros.:beast:

Speaking of ashes... one thing that bugs me is that I've hardly found any spirits yet. And it's not like I haven't been exploring... Folks, I'm still using wolves!

I just got one from the boss of one of the catacombs, but I'm not sure that's always the reward (don't remember what I got in the others).

The music in this game doesn't get much attention, and it is admittedly subdued most of the time, but I find it quite cool. Aside from the awesome title track (which sounds like it's from some unsung '80s fantasy movie)

Agreed! I totally don't mind waiting to log back on the server out of sleep mode while the title music plays. Sometimes I linger a little longer than necessary until it kicks in, actually. =) Really sets the mood and differentiates the tone of this game versus its predecessors.

And probably the biggest praise I can give this game is that it does evoke the same feelings I got from Shadow of the Colossus. Not necessarily the big boss aspect, but the riding around and exploring the valley, poking around ancient ruins, trying to decipher any meaning to what I'm seeing. This was also my favorite part of Dark Souls. There's just a whole lot MORE of it in Elden Ring.

Yep, they nailed it, though I will admit there are times where I'm feeling kind of in a malaise, like I'm not sure what I should do next, though not for lack of options, quite the contrary (I never had this problem in Dark Souls 3 =). Also, since you mentioned the horse... the horseback combat, which, was awkward at first, so, kind of a perfect adaptation of Souls mechanics to horse gameplay, really allowed them to put any size creatures out there without it feeling overwhelming or gimmicky. I love what an advantage or disadvantage the horse can be in combat depending on the circumstances.
 
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Johnstantine

Skibbidy Boo Bop
Just finished up the platinum for Elden Ring. NG+3 is where the game really shines.

Favorite bosses:
Maliketh the Black Blade - Hands down the hardest boss in the game for me, especially on NG+3. He's so ridiculously fast for being so big.
Radhan - Just a fun boss. He's so massive and ridiculous looking. Out of all the bosses in the game, he was the most fun kind of challenging.
Regal Ancestor Spirit - Just a beautiful boss fight all around. Not challenging by any means, but I wanted it to last longer. Plus, the music in it is just chef's kiss.
Hoarah Loux the Warrior - More of a second phase favorite of mine. He's so intense!


Worst bosses:
Malenia - Fuck this boss. I was bored all 1,000 times it took me to beat her. I saw some people comparing her to Sword Saint Isshin from Sekiro--Maliketh is more in line with him (hence me using the reference a few posts ago!)
Fire Giant - Fuck this guy.
Rennala - Lame boss. No need for her to have two full health phases.
Radagon AND the Elden Beast - R is stupid powerful and slow (but fast), and EB has a massive arena--it takes you so long to get close to it that by the time you get there, it's on the other side of the arena.


All in all, this is easily one of my favorite games in the last few years (second only to Red Dead 2). I spent 69 hours on it (nice), but from what I've seen...that's really, really fast compared to some others. Even though I got through it fast, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. NG+3 is about my limit, though. Maliketh was basically impossible--took me about 40 tries to beat him.
 
Found some cool Berserk references in some item flavour text that I thought you all may appreciate. I had a quick look and didn't see anyone post about references recently but my bad if it's been discussed.

So first of course is the Colossal Greatsword. Which visually is a reference to/inspired by the sword Guts wields when they rescue Griffith. The first sword Godot made for him. Mixed with a little oversized Dragon Slayer themes. The flavour text reads: A coarse iron lump of an ultra greatsword. Mows down foes by utilizing its incredible weight. Though handling it likely requires the wielder to have surpassed the realm of the merely human, it is precisely for this reason the weapon is used to slaughter even inhuman foes.

Second I came across the Hand Ballista. Basically a giant version of a hand crossbow, not a repeater though but similar look to what Guts has. It gives me some Berserk vibes and the flavour text for me kind of adds to that: An unconventional ballistic device modelled on a weapon used to besiege castles. Only capable of firing greatbolts. Perfect for reckless acts such as storming a castle or facing an entire army alone.

Lastly I also noticed on the talisman called Arsenal Charm there is a reference. This I found especially cool because it raises your equip load so it's a talisman that easily enables a Guts style build. The flavour text is: An iron charm that resembles a mass of weaponry. Boosts maximum equipment load. This talisman was derived from an unusual greatsword once wielded by a hero hungry for vengeance.

I am sure there are tons more and lots of character references too - shoutout to Prisoner Griffith and Blaidd!

Just wanted to share as these made me smile when I saw them in-game. Hope you enjoy :)

PS: This really is one hell of a good game, best of luck in your next boss battle!
 

Dark Emperor

Dweller of the Lotus Moon
Sometimes this game makes you feel like a badass and a wimp at the same time. Like I can go take out a dragon in one attempt with almost no damage taken, then the next moment get my ass handed to me multiple times by an overgrown shrimp.
 
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Found some cool Berserk references in some item flavour text that I thought you all may appreciate. I had a quick look and didn't see anyone post about references recently but my bad if it's been discussed.

So first of course is the Colossal Greatsword. Which visually is a reference to/inspired by the sword Guts wields when they rescue Griffith. The first sword Godot made for him. Mixed with a little oversized Dragon Slayer themes. The flavour text reads: A coarse iron lump of an ultra greatsword. Mows down foes by utilizing its incredible weight. Though handling it likely requires the wielder to have surpassed the realm of the merely human, it is precisely for this reason the weapon is used to slaughter even inhuman foes.

Second I came across the Hand Ballista. Basically a giant version of a hand crossbow, not a repeater though but similar look to what Guts has. It gives me some Berserk vibes and the flavour text for me kind of adds to that: An unconventional ballistic device modelled on a weapon used to besiege castles. Only capable of firing greatbolts. Perfect for reckless acts such as storming a castle or facing an entire army alone.

Lastly I also noticed on the talisman called Arsenal Charm there is a reference. This I found especially cool because it raises your equip load so it's a talisman that easily enables a Guts style build. The flavour text is: An iron charm that resembles a mass of weaponry. Boosts maximum equipment load. This talisman was derived from an unusual greatsword once wielded by a hero hungry for vengeance.

I am sure there are tons more and lots of character references too - shoutout to Prisoner Griffith and Blaidd!

Just wanted to share as these made me smile when I saw them in-game. Hope you enjoy :)

PS: This really is one hell of a good game, best of luck in your next boss battle!
I’ve noticed a number of “Hill of Swords” graveyards around that remind me of Berserk.

Also while it may just be coincidence there is literally a Wyndham Castle later on that I found in the Altus area.

I’m at 44 hours and L62. Taking my sweet time. The weather is starting to get nice again here in the NW but man I want to just be playing this game all the time. I’ve got it bad.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Just finished up the platinum for Elden Ring. NG+3 is where the game really shines.

edge,
lord ahead

You're a regular Ringfinger Tryhard, I can't even quote your posts directly out of fear of seeing your awesome endgame, post-game, and post-post-post-game secrets (and I'm very jealous =).

All in all, this is easily one of my favorite games in the last few years (second only to Red Dead 2). I spent 69 hours on it (nice), but from what I've seen...that's really, really fast compared to some others. Even though I got through it fast, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. NG+3 is about my limit, though.

Nice to see you have limits, that's about where I ran out of gas with Dark Souls 3 and Demon's Souls, though I got to like NG+5 in Bloodborne, but sadly that save may now be lost for good. It remains to be seen if I get THAT into Elden Ring, as I've actually been drifting back into DS3 on PS5... the 1080p 60fps on the big screen is some nice Souls action from a simpler time. I probably will though because I spent like 300+ hours playing Dark Souls II and it kinda sucks, so the only reason I'd go less on Elden Ring is overall Souls fatigue.

Found some cool Berserk references in some item flavour text that I thought you all may appreciate.
I am sure there are tons more and lots of character references too - shoutout to Prisoner Griffith and Blaidd!

The Berserk homages are definitely more overt this time and I'm all for it, though I wonder how much of the text portions of it are sort of accentuated in translation where it's practically quoting the English version of the series.

Sometimes this game makes you feel like a badass and a wimp at the same time. Like I can go take out a dragon in one attempt with almost no damage taken, then the next moment get my ass handed to me multiple times by an overgrown shrimp.

Yeah man, Dragons run away from ME, but underground lobsters? I don't fuck with that. Then again, I just killed that dragon from the trailer using every one of my 99 poison arrows (plus some regulars to finish him off!), so I'm still sort of a wimp even as I slay dragons. To be fair though, he DID run away from me before when I was winning the straight battle on horseback, along with that sissy glintstone dragon. So, I really just had the extra chess move to counter his. =)

Also while it may just be coincidence there is literally a Wyndham Castle later on that I found in the Altus area.

Definitely noticed that as well.

I’m at 44 hours and L62. Taking my sweet time. The weather is starting to get nice again here in the NW but man I want to just be playing this game all the time. I’ve got it bad.

I'm turning the page towards the goal because if I take too long meandering I'll stagnate. The game is so big I'll sometimes get lost doing some minutiae and basically forget what I was doing/where I was going next. Because of that it probably hasn't grabbed me like BotW did where I played it like 120 hours the month it came out and basically not again since, but on that note it could be a good thing if this one keeps giving me more reasons to come back. What I'm saying is there's real depth here, and a lot of different ways to experience it; you could ride several huge waves to glory and still feel like you're drowning in this game. My guess is I'll be coming back to it for a long time because I STILL feel like I've only scratched the surface and I may be in position to get an ending soon. It definitely won't be like Cyberpunk 2077 where I did the ending where you basically opt out of the final mission and was like, "I'm good." :ganishka:
 
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Johnstantine

Skibbidy Boo Bop
You're a regular Ringfinger Tryhard, I can't even quote your posts directly out of fear of seeing your awesome endgame, post-game, and post-post-post-game secrets (and I'm very jealous =).

Nice to see you have limits, that's about where I ran out of gas with Dark Souls 3 and Demon's Souls, though I got to like NG+5 in Bloodborne, but sadly that save may now be lost for good. It remains to be seen if I get THAT into Elden Ring, as I've actually been drifting back into DS3 on PS5... the 1080p 60fps on the big screen is some nice Souls action from a simpler time. I probably will though because I spent like 300+ hours playing Dark Souls II and it kinda sucks, so the only reason I'd go less on Elden Ring is overall Souls fatigue.
Honestly? I wanted to get through the game (and all endings) before they went and nerfed everything. And, by way of luck, I finished it a few hours before the latest patch went live. Now everything has been nerfed into oblivion!
 
I loved, loved, loved this game. Finished and platinumed it, and ready for NG+.

While I still think Zelda: BotW is the open-world game par excellence, Elden Ring has surpassed it in certain aspects, most obviously scale and scope. Elden Ring was more in line with my taste anyway. I don't remember the last time I was this absorbed in a game.

That being said, I would still say that Bloodborne is Miyazaki's masterpiece, though Elden Ring comes really close indeed.

I played a fairly straightforward swordsman strength build, partly because that's my style in those games and partly to spite some friends who claimed (whined) the game is unbeatable without magic (on a related note: I won a bet to beat Malenia without co-op or magic). Swinging that colossal greatsword Guts-style never got old. The horse-riding was really enjoyable too. Torrent is the MVP.

George R.R. Martin's influence was not hard to spot too, with the differing houses fighting over the land and all the inter-similarity in naming (Eg. Godfrey, Godwyn, Godrick, etc.).

COOP was fun as usual, but not as fun as it could have been. It was a waste of opportunity to restrict the horse to just single-player, especially when you're exploring such an enormous map. There were some bugs and age-old issues (such as enemies hitting you through walls) too. But overall, the game doesn't have any major defects. It's near-flawless, a very rare thing to say these days.

Everything else was really well done. The soundtrack was fire. The main theme reflects the game itself as opposed to Dark Souls for instance. This one is more heroic and upbeat as opposed to the oppressive and depressing Dark Souls universe. I liked that change of tone.

I was playing Horizon: Forbidden West when Elden Ring dropped, and couldn't go back to it while I played Elden Ring. Seeing the Horizon (and Ubisoft) devs getting salty about ER's success only sweetened the experience. I can't believe the gall those folks have for lecturing others on world and quest design. Their design philosophies are what wrecked open-world games to begin with. Horizon 2 is a lot of fun, but when compared to BotW's or ER's exploration, it falls short (thanks in no small part to the traditional main-quest/side-quest/jobs/errands/other bullshit and that awful quest marker you're constantly looking at, among other issues, such as Aloy being a bland, god-awful character). They should have thought twice about dropping their game at the same time as Elden Ring.

Anyway, Elden Ring was a wonderful experience. I can't wait to see the next evolution of From Software and where Miyazaki will take us next.

On a related note: Elden Ring's success has somehow led woke twitter to discovering Berserk. I won't offend you guys by repeating the horseshit I read over there, but needless to say it wasn't pretty :ganishka:
 
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Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Honestly? I wanted to get through the game (and all endings) before they went and nerfed everything. And, by way of luck, I finished it a few hours before the latest patch went live. Now everything has been nerfed into oblivion!

I saw there were nerfs today! Including to... MY sword!!? :magni: But I don't mind, it was OP, like I felt dirty and cheated using it, and it sounds like it'll still be effective with less range because the point was to be at point blank range for max damage anyway, now it'll just be a bit less (same with the Mimic Tear having it's damage reduced... like, its damage wasn't even the point!). I also heard some of the nuke spells that can one shot bosses are still usable, if a bit more involved to pull off using buffs. Speaking of which, I could always just go back to the old standby: fast rolling with your weapon buffed with the boss' weakness. That build/strategy works for every Souls game.

That being said, I would still say that Bloodborne is Miyazaki's masterpiece

principal-skinner-principal.gif


I played a fairly straightforward swordsman strength build, partly because that's my style in those games and partly to spite some friends who claimed (whined) the game is unbeatable without magic (on a related note: I won a bet to beat Malenia without co-op or magic). Swinging that colossal greatsword Guts-style never got old.

My favorite Bloodborne build is Ludwig's Holy Blade, then transitioning to the Moonlight Greatsword/Kos Parasite. I've never gotten into the big swords in other Souls games, but the "Guts Sword" as the kids call it felt amazing here, so I could totally see myself doing a run with it. One nice thing about the rebirth options in this game is you can basically make an entirely new character, name, looks, stats, with the same levels. I could totally see the switch to a slower, high risk, high damage weapon being a great thing in NG+.

George R.R. Martin's influence was not hard to spot too, with the differing houses fighting over the land and all the inter-similarity in naming (Eg. Godfrey, Godwyn, Godrick, etc.).

Yeah, while I do think you can play this without ever thinking of Martin, it was pretty cool how they did this with Martin creating these heroes and Miyazaki literally corrupting them. :ganishka:

COOP was fun as usual, but not as fun as it could have been. It was a waste of opportunity to restrict the horse to just single-player, especially when you're exploring such an enormous map.

Though the mechanics are probably ridiculous to any newcomers to Souls expecting traditional multiplayer, it does have a lot more potential than the previous games and playing with friends really works. The horse thing IS a bummer, and if they really want to get this right someday they need to create specific solo and co-op movesets for bosses, which would actually justify beating them in co-op in addition to solo.

There were some bugs and age-old issues (such as enemies hitting you through walls) too. But overall, the game doesn't have any major defects. It's near-flawless, a very rare thing to say these days.

Bugs? Those are features; you can hit through walls too! :carcus:

Everything else was really well done. The soundtrack was fire. The main theme reflects the game itself as opposed to Dark Souls for instance. This one is more heroic and upbeat as opposed to the oppressive and depressing Dark Souls universe. I liked that change of tone.

Agree on the music, though tonally I still love the meta nihilism of Dark Souls III, "Oh, dear, another dogged contender. Welcome, Unkindled One, purloiner of Cinders. Mind you, the mantle of Lord interests me none. The fire linking curse, the legacy of lords, let it all fade into nothing. You’ve done quite enough, now have your rest.”

I was playing Horizon: Forbidden West when Elden Ring dropped, and couldn't go back to it while I played Elden Ring. Seeing the Horizon (and Ubisoft) devs getting salty about ER's success only sweetened the experience. I can't believe the gall those folks have for lecturing others on world and quest design. Their design philosophies are what wrecked open-world games to begin with.

Yeah, this had to be a bit of a shock that the underground basically flipped on them in this case. It really is like these guys are making the most polished, state-of-art pop music everyone kind of hates and here comes Miyazaki killing them with a 12 minute variation of the same punk rock song he's been working on in his garage for 15 years.

among other issues, such as Aloy being a bland, god-awful character).

I wasn't far into it when I dumped her for Elden Ring, and I get what they were going for thematically with her being isolated as the world's only savior, but turning your once sympathetic hero into a condescending asshole to everyone, even their friends, is an odd choice! I guess it appeals to the popular notion with the kids these days that any of your awful behavior is justified if you think you're righteous, which... *checks history book* has never gone wrong!

They should have thought twice about dropping their game at the same time as Elden Ring.

Well, to be fair, didn't Plymouth Rock decide to land on them? I know ER got pushed back another month near the end, did Horizon move up to that spot after?

Anyway, Elden Ring was a wonderful experience. I can't wait to see the next evolution of From Software and where Miyazaki will take us next.

If it's a third person action game in a dark fantasy setting with unforgiving combat I won't be surprised (but if it doesn't still use animations from Demon's Souls I will be =).

On a related note: Elden Ring's success has somehow led woke twitter to discovering Berserk. I won't offend you guys by repeating the horseshit I read over there, but needless to say it wasn't pretty :ganishka:

I couldn't help it and went down the rabbithole, but didn't mind because it does just sound like some whiny teen twitter stans doing what they do, but there was some cool Berserk fanart in the trending topic, including a lot of Souls and even Vagabond crossover (I can't help but feel partly responsible =), plus I found my center of the Venn diagram on this issue, save for the unfortunate username:

 
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Though the mechanics are probably ridiculous to any newcomers to Souls expecting traditional multiplayer, it does have a lot more potential than the previous games and playing with friends really works. The horse thing IS a bummer, and if they really want to get this right someday they need to create specific solo and co-op movesets for bosses, which would actually justify beating them in co-op in addition to solo.
That's a really good point. I never thought about them making separate movesets for bosses in different modes before as opposed to simply buffing the boss' health bar and damage. I don't think any dev will do that though, even hard-working Japanese ones. It's probably too much work. But I hope to be proven wrong here.
Bugs? Those are features; you can hit through walls too! :carcus:
Hey, let it never be said Miyazaki is unfair!
Agree on the music, though tonally I still love the meta nihilism of Dark Souls III, "Another dogged contender."
I do enjoy the themes of Dark Souls, but I'm relieved ER had a different tone to freshen things up. I noticed the FromSoft tones becoming more positive/heroic post-Bloodborne. Sekiro was all about Buddhist themes. ER is grand and heroic, and so on. That said, there are still some depressing mini-storylines in ER too. Guess old habits die hard.
Yeah, this had to be a bit of a shock that the underground basically flipped on them in this case. It really is like these guys are making the most polished, state-of-art pop music everyone kind of hates and here comes Miyazaki killing them with a 12 minute variation of the same punk rock song he's been working on in his garage for 15 years.
Except they've been doing the same thing over and over too (I mean western devs in general). As for Horizon, honestly you could show a side-by-side gameplay of Zero Dawn and Forbidden West and you won't tell which game is which if they had the same graphics.

It doesn't help that their story structure is nonsensical. Aloy has only 4 months to save the world, and yet she's running around doing errands for strangers!

I'm generally tired of the samey approach to western open-world design. It always feels like a checklist you're marking as opposed to actual exploration. At least remove the quest-marker so players can actually look at the world around them.
I wasn't far into it when I dumped her for Elden Ring, and I get what they were going for thematically with her being isolated as the world's only savior, but turning your once sympathy hero into a condescending asshole to everyone, even their friends, is an odd choice! I guess it appeals to the popular notion with the kids these days that any of your awful behavior is justified if you think you're righteous, which... *checks history book* has never gone wrong!
I don't want to derail this thread into a Horizon discussion, but I will say this: Aloy is fucking soulless. No personality to her save what you mentioned (being a condescending bitch). No interests or hopes or desires or whatever. She's perfect at everything she does. Everyone's kissing her ass all the time. She's unstoppable, even by folks who should be a lot more dangerous than she is. And she's only 19! She's basically a Mary Sue.

I suppose the best (or worst) statement about her character is that she reminds me of that other awful, soulless protagonist: Rey from Disney Star Wars. But Aloy is a little better. At least Aloy had training.
Well, to be fair, didn't Plymouth Rock decide to land on them? I know ER got pushed back another month near the end, did Horizon move up to that spot after?
Dunno the details tbh. But regardless, releasing in the same week as ER didn't do them any favors.
If it's a third person action game in a dark fantasy setting with unforgiving combat I won't be surprised (but if it doesn't still use animations from Demon's Souls I will be =).
I'm thinking FromSoft could explore a more modern-esque setting? Maybe take us to outer-space? Who knows? But a new setting would be nice, even though I'd still enjoy another dark fantasy setting anyway.
I couldn't help it and went down the rabbithole, but didn't mind because it does just sound like some whiny teen twitter stans doing what they do, but there was some cool Berserk fanart in the trending topic, including a lot of Souls and even Vagabond crossover (I can't help but feel partly responsible =), plus I found my center of the Venn diagram on this issue, save for the unfortunate username:

Perfectly summed up :ganishka:
 
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Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
That's a really good point. I never thought about them making separate movesets for bosses in different modes before as opposed to simply buffing the boss' health bar and damage. I don't think any dev will do that though, even hard-working Japanese ones. It's probably too much work. But I hope to be proven wrong here.

It would have to be something smaller than Elden Ring obviously, like base game Bloodborne, or maybe only one or a couple major bosses, which would immediately make them legendary. And hey, this is the company that developed a whole separate random dungeon crawler on top of their standard campaign with its own story and unique bosses! Elden Ring may be huge, but Bloodborne is infinite (call me if they find new hidden enemies and areas in this game 5 years from now =).

I do enjoy the themes of Dark Souls, but I'm relieved ER had a different tone to freshen things up. I noticed the FromSoft tones becoming more positive/heroic post-Bloodborne. Sekiro was all about Buddhist themes. ER is grand and heroic, and so on. That said, there are still some depressing mini-storylines in ER too. Guess old habits die hard.

Yeah, my newbie friend did not expect people you're helping to straight up get murdered in the middle of their questlines lol

Except they've been doing the same thing over and over too (I mean western devs in general).

Of course, Miyazaki is working at perfecting something very specific, they're just being derivative of every purportedly "big game" out there. I joke that these From Soft games are all alike, but they're different from all the other AAA action games out there, which are all alike despite being made by different companies! It's the difference between one's individual signature and a mass forgery.

I suppose the best (or worst) statement about her character is that she reminds me of that other awful, soulless protagonist: Rey from Disney Star Wars.

I thought the exact same thing and made the comparison in my last post but deleted it since its just another hornet's nest, but Rey's transition from The Force Awakens to The Last Jedi is the PERFECT comp to Aloy in Forbidden West. Who is this arc relatable to, though? I feel like these writers are making characters and stories they don't even like to purportedly appeal to some theoretical audience (maybe the twitts that Berserk just mind-fucked). Anyway, hopefully they won't completely ruin Aloy by totally overcompensating for this in the finale!

Dunno the details tbh. But regardless, releasing in the same week as ER didn't do them any favors.

They're bridesmaids now to BotW and Elden Ring, but funnily enough maybe the connection to both will help its legacy in the long run. Pretty good company, even as competition to be second to!

I'm thinking FromSoft could explore a more modern-esque setting? Maybe take us to outer-space? Who knows? But a new setting would be nice, even though I'd still enjoy another dark fantasy setting anyway.

My dream is still King's Field V-R, and they did already do a very different, lightly toned PSVR game. I don't think it would be good for business though. Maybe Miyazaki is the madman to realize my other dream of the perfect hybrid standard FPS/VR crossover game. If anyone knows how to navigate the complex logistics of UX, graphics and PC stability for such a Herculean task... it's From Soft!:troll:

Perfectly summed up :ganishka:

This was the other totally worth it part:

FNlxRXMVgAIHCOd


Makes me pine for the climatic final volume cover we'll never get from the late master himself.


Anyway, back to Elden Ring, the game is still great, I continue to be blown away by the size and variety, and I'm still not even close to done exploring it and the weird whimsey of these latter areas, at least I think they're latter(!?), just keeps building (and my sword art still crushes, nerf or not =). I just wish I had more time to really play this week. By the time I get home, take care of the wife and kid and put them to bed I'm passing out in my Lazyboy trying to reach the next Site of Grace and riding Torrent into a cliffside. :ganishka:

Update: As for the game's objective performance...

:isidro:

Sales graphs? I'm in! :guts:

I did feel like Dark Souls III was when From Soft broke into the AAA mainstream with Bloodborne being their last "cult hit," but that seems almost like a technicality now compared to this. I guess From Soft's next big game should be Elden Ring 2.
 
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I’m glad they nerfed the mimic tear. I’m not sure what they were thinking with it costing HP rather than FP? I’ve heard it has more HP than your character when it’s fully maxed out. It doesn’t seem like a great design choice for what stands out as the best summon in the game in most cases.

I’ve still only scratched the surface of this game but I’m already thinking about where they could go from here? Even as far as DLC. New mounts? Horse armor? More PVP style arena stuff? The horse armor would be funny but I feel they could expand the mount system a bit.

I had the same feelings had Walter with this game. It reminded me of playing SOTC for the first time. It’s a feeling that I haven’t felt while playing a game in a long time. A rare one for sure.

Someone also brought up how FROMSOFT probably reused a lot of dark souls assets for this game and just built off it to create more content. I agree and I’m so glad they did. The amount of content in this game is staggering and who knows how it would’ve turned out if they tried to make the whole thing from the ground up.
 

Dark Emperor

Dweller of the Lotus Moon
I’m glad they nerfed the mimic tear. I’m not sure what they were thinking with it costing HP rather than FP? I’ve heard it has more HP than your character when it’s fully maxed out. It doesn’t seem like a great design choice for what stands out as the best summon in the game in most cases.

I’ve still only scratched the surface of this game but I’m already thinking about where they could go from here? Even as far as DLC. New mounts? Horse armor? More PVP style arena stuff? The horse armor would be funny but I feel they could expand the mount system a bit.

I had the same feelings had Walter with this game. It reminded me of playing SOTC for the first time. It’s a feeling that I haven’t felt while playing a game in a long time. A rare one for sure.

Someone also brought up how FROMSOFT probably reused a lot of dark souls assets for this game and just built off it to create more content. I agree and I’m so glad they did. The amount of content in this game is staggering and who knows how it would’ve turned out if they tried to make the whole thing from the ground up.
Yeah. Before the nerf mine had around 10k hp at +10. You could pretty much use it as a tank to distract the boss while you trickle it down. I was able to take out Malekith in one go by just watching my summon trickle down most of his hp before I joined the fight. I haven't played today yet, so I haven't had a chance to inspect all the changes, but from what I gather, it can't heal itself anymore, and they might have reduced its damaged output. I don't think they've reduced the hp on it though
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
I’m glad they nerfed the mimic tear. I’m not sure what they were thinking with it costing HP rather than FP? I’ve heard it has more HP than your character when it’s fully maxed out. It doesn’t seem like a great design choice for what stands out as the best summon in the game in most cases.

I’ve still only scratched the surface of this game but I’m already thinking about where they could go from here? Even as far as DLC. New mounts? Horse armor? More PVP style arena stuff? The horse armor would be funny but I feel they could expand the mount system a bit.

I think the best thing to improve, and not even as DLC, is co-op and specifically giving you more solo game options, particularly the horse. I do like that they essentially weaken your attack to the host's level if there's a big disparity so you don't break their game using your main character, though the cutting all life and flasks in half is a bit much, and they should get rid of being dumped after beating a boss, etc. It's just being true to Souls co-op with those things, but I think they did enough normal stuff otherwise, passwords, etc to go all the way and just let you 2 player the game essentially. Other than that, well, I'm not even through enough to want more yet

Someone also brought up how FROMSOFT probably reused a lot of dark souls assets for this game and just built off it to create more content. I agree and I’m so glad they did. The amount of content in this game is staggering and who knows how it would’ve turned out if they tried to make the whole thing from the ground up.

It's more than that, there's a direct throughline from the original Demon's Souls to this game, and not just philosophically and thematically, but down to the graphics, animations and physics engine; this is like the DS Engine v7.0. The biggest departures since were Bloodborne, DS3, and especially Sekiro, yet this game's engine almost feels like a return to traditional Dark Souls and DS2 with the addition of a dedicated jump and stealth buttons (thanks, Sekiro =). I'm all for it by the way, all this wouldn't have been possible, not only Elden Ring but Bloodborne, Sekiro, etc, without them standing on the shoulders of those earlier games and assets.

Speaking of stealth, a short digression: even though the stealth is obviously more intuitive and useful in Sekiro and this game, I would argue Souls always had stealth in the form of walking up behind enemies slowly enough, barefoot, or with noise concealers so they didn't hear you for the backstab. I'd argue forcing yourself to carefully move the joystick just barely enough to move forward so they can't hear you is a far more tense, immersive and accurate approximation of stealth. I had an entire stealth build in DS3 that was practically imperceptible... except to bosses, unfortunately. Anyway, given all the complexities of this game it's probably better to put it on a dedicated switch or "stealth mode," but I just wanted to give some credit to the previous games' less is more approach.

Yeah. Before the nerf mine had around 10k hp at +10. You could pretty much use it as a tank to distract the boss while you trickle it down. I was able to take out Malekith in one go by just watching my summon trickle down most of his hp before I joined the fight. I haven't played today yet, so I haven't had a chance to inspect all the changes, but from what I gather, it can't heal itself anymore, and they might have reduced its damaged output. I don't think they've reduced the hp on it though

I may not even notice since I relied on him almost purely for the distraction factor while I blast the guy point blank in the back until one of them dies. So, leaving the HP alone is about the best case scenario nerf to me. Now, if the bosses were calibrated to largely ignore the Mimic and focus on you... :magni:
 
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I think the best thing to improve, and not even as DLC, is co-op and specifically giving you more solo game options, particularly the horse. I do like that they essentially weaken your attack to the host's level if there's a big disparity so you don't break their game using your main character, though the cutting all life and flasks in half is a bit much, and they should get rid of being dumped after beating a boss, etc. It's just being true to Souls co-op with those things, but I think they did enough normal stuff otherwise, passwords, etc to go all the way and just let you 2 player the game essentially. Other than that, well, I'm not even through enough to want more yet
I agree with everything except the horse bit. I don’t think the game engine could handle two players on horse back. At least not the last gen consoles.

can anyone confirm if the new update also nerfed some of the bosses? I heard rumors but I’m not sure if they were true. I hope it’s not the case.
 

Vampire_Hunter_Bob

Cats are great
can anyone confirm if the new update also nerfed some of the bosses? I heard rumors but I’m not sure if they were true. I hope it’s not the case.
I just beat Godrick for the first time. I'm not sure if he was nerfed but after every two or three combos he stopped to wheeze for like a minute.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
I agree with everything except the horse bit. I don’t think the game engine could handle two players on horse back. At least not the last gen consoles.

Hmmmm... well, when it comes to multiplayer you can never be sure if it's a matter of the game not being able to do it or From just not doing it. BTW, From Soft's passive aggressive form of multiplayer is my favorite. I'm actually bummed they relegated invasions to invitation only. That defeats the purpose of them showing up at the worst possible time! :ganishka:I need to start remembering to wag my tongue at the beginning of each session.

can anyone confirm if the new update also nerfed some of the bosses? I heard rumors but I’m not sure if they were true. I hope it’s not the case.
I just beat Godrick for the first time. I'm not sure if he was nerfed but after every two or three combos he stopped to wheeze for like a minute.

Sounds like it, that guy never used to give me a break, they've also added some powerful phantom summons to certain fights, like a certain yellow hue'd pair.

Speaking of which, I finally beat them and am progressing again. I've been spending post-patch updating my build for the new era, trying to get back what I lost plus more in the deal. Gone are my Sword of Night and Flame and Sacred Lordsworn, in are the Moonveil and Rivers of Blood both at +8 (these do comparable damage, have longer reach, are almost as fast, and the blood build and weapon arts tear dudes up in PvE or PvP).

I'm at 55 intelligence so if need be I can put on the Stargazer Talisman and bust out Comet Azur to replace my Night Beam, though I haven't really used it yet. I only found the Cerulean Tear the other day by accident (same region as the spell, helpfully) and finally did an unlimited FP blast for like 2,000 damage (not exactly world destroying, but before I figured out the tear I was doing like 300 damage and wondering what the big deal was =). I need to get an upgraded staff and add some magic damage buffs to really start deleting bosses health bars. The last fight was not fun, and with all I had to put it into intelligence and arcane I don't have as much left for life and stamina, but at least I know where to put my levels now (the life, stamina, faith build was kind of maxed out already).

Depending on how things go, I may try switching out Rivers of Blood for another intelligence scaling katana for the synergy, but then I'll probably want to invest more points into arcane and bleed eventually anyway, so I'm just "toughing it out" for now. My guess is the most OP endgame build possible is still tons of endurance so you can do unlimited fast rolls around the boss arena and essentially be invulnerable with i-frames until you figure out the safe openings to attack.
 
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