The Shattered Elden Ring Thread: Tarnished Edition - (Shadow of the Erdtree p. 85)

hanselthecaretaker

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Every video I watch of people playing Souls, they almost always lock-on to everything. Looking at Ryu and Rurikhan playing ER, they are locking on to basically all enemies. Watching Yahtzee and Nick play ER on the Escapist streams and they lock-on to everything as well. There's a reason people lock-on in Souls and don't normally in other games that do have lock-on. Are all these gamers playing Souls wrong?

I know how to deal with mobs, I just don't find them fun to fight. They keep me from getting to the stuff I do enjoy. And yes, you can run around them but then that probably means I'm underleveled for content ahead of me. Like running away from all random encounters in a JRPG can be done but you ain't gonna have damage and defense numbers the dev expects you to be at for the boss fight.
There are bosses and other larger enemies where the wikis specifically instruct to not use lock on because the attack animations can be detrimental to positioning dealing with the camera. I had to fight the hardest boss (IMO) in Bloodborne, Ebrietas in the cursed root chalice dungeon this way to kill it for example. And again, locking on isn’t so difficult. Just one click and flick to change targets, but it’s up to the player to determine when it’s best to use. A cluster will be harder to target since they’re all close together, but if you’re directly attacking a weaker mob then locking is kinda pointless as it focuses damage on only one of them vs the group. The game gives enough tools to approach practically any encounter effectively and it’s partly why there are so many different weapons in the game with different attack types. You wouldn’t use a spear against a mob; switch to a halberd, sword, ax, etc. that has a better way to attack horizontally. Or again, just use any number of spells, pyro, miracle, etc. Or aggro with a projectile to split up a group and focus on the toughest one first, etc. I’m not going to repeat myself any more on this issue as it gets exhausting.

I get not finding mobs fun to fight and agree they can be nuisances, but that’s why they’re typically early game stuff, and not worth always dealing with unless they have a specific drop needed. Hence being able to easily run past them easily. If the game only had bosses it would feel pretty empty, and these games are as much about world building and lore as anything else. SotC got away with being minimalist, but even then it got old when more than half the time spent was just riding around emptiness, holding your sword up as a compass.


Maybe you should try MHW or the new game instead of going based on what it looks like. At least in MHW (I haven't played any others), the actual combat is not awkward outside of not being able to perform another action until your current action's animation is complete, which is why many people complain it's slow or sluggish or clunky as almost no games nowadays don't let you interrupt your current action. It would be like me complaining Souls combat is sluggish because I can't dodge in the middle of a hammer strike. I know previous games were awkward as MH was on handheld for a bit and the controls were awkward cuz of the limitations of the PSP controls (only 1 stick). Also, every weapon in MH is basically a different game as every weapon is completely different with its own suite of mechanics. Even if you just like say 3 of the 12 weapons, that's basically 3 different games in a sense.
Maybe I’ll try it someday if it’s ever a PS+ title, but I have way too much else unplayed as it is to start something that sounds like a huge time sink. Most of the complaints I’ve heard revolve around the end game being where all the good stuff is, so that’s a huge commitment just to try something and hope to like it. I’m sure I could get an idea of the mechanics early on but like, everything I’ve seen on it looks like the character is the equivalent of a tank build from Souls games.
 
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Brokencontroller

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"I just opened a chest and it transported me to another universe..."

Yep, I fell for that one too. I don't trust treasure chests anymore.
Those chests are great ways to get high level items super early though. You should always fall for the trap because at very least you'll get a grace in a new area and you can always teleport away if it is too dicey.
 

hanselthecaretaker

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Kinda funny -



But also some help for reference -

Good thing cell phones can double as gaming companions lol.
 
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CriticalGaming

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Kinda funny -



But also some help for reference -

Good thing cell phones can double as gaming companions lol.
Or just a laptop nearby.

I'm watching guides as I play now because....reasons.
 

SilentPony

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So I went and got this one because my gaming group got it for PC and they're not having any problems. So I spent last night playing it.
I want to preface this by saying it always takes me awhile to warm up to a SoulsBorne game. I didn't start clicking with Bloodborne until after I got Ludwig's Holy Blade, and I didn't realize you could level up your flasks in DS3 until I called in a friend to help with me with Pontiff Sulyvahn.
You can say what you want about git gud and lore building, but SoulsBorne's are obtuse. Nothing is clear, nothing makes sense, its all trial and error or guides to get even basic mechanics and items down, let alone the hidden shit.

Elden Ring might be the most obtuse Soulsborne to date. Just the opening made me sigh. Oh man, a shit eater, a corpse fucker, a dragon, something to do with a golden tree and fingering maidens. Oh man, Im going to have to watch a lot of VaatiaVidya videos to understand even the most basic of lore concepts, aren't I? I actually felt second hand embarrassment from all the names and proper nouns the intro threw at me, and Im sitting there with a bemused smile like "Is any of this supposed to mean anything to me?"

The open world is ambitious, but its kinda' a lie. Its an open world in the same way World of Warcraft is, in that you CAN go anywhere from the start, but keep in mind zones are based on level and 99.99% of enemies can kill a low level character effortlessly.
I get out of the graves place, and I see an enemy on horseback. He's probably just a starting mook and I steal his horse! Nope, he's a boss, and he wipes the floor with you easily. Okay. First enemy out of the gate and you're supposed to ignore him.
Sure.
Lets go left! Oh look, its a coast! And there's an island in the distance! I'll bet I can go there. So I go to the beach, and oh look, hentai tentacle monsters. Well its just a big squid, I'll bet I can take it.
Nope. Its another higher level enemy that spawns little mooks, and wipes the floor with you easily.
Okay fine. Lets go right!
Well there's a whole lot of nothing here. Oh look, bats, and hey I can kill them. Guess this was the direction after all. Oh look, zombies doing road work. I mean I'd feel bad killing workers, but they are zombies, and this is a fantasy game. So sorry folks, runes are runes. Stab, stab, stab! What's that growling noise? Why is there a giant ghost dire bear materializing out of thin air? Why am I dead from one hit again?
Fuck it, Elden Ring, what direction am I supposed to be going?! Come on player, its an OPEN WORLD. You can go anywhere, at any time. We can't hold your hand and post level recommendations for all the zone. You have 360 directions to go, one of them leads to the starting zone, good luck.
Okay, can you at least tell me how to level up? The only NPCs I've met are just shops, and Im tired of losing what few souls bloodechoes runes I have. Elden Ring? Basic mechanic of your games, being able to level up, wanna give me a hint how that unlocks? Nope, as of writing still haven't figured out how to do it.
Did manage to find a cave with like Ork monkeys in it and they're not too difficult! I saw 13th Warrior, I can kill early-modern humans in a cave guilt free. Oh look a boss, fucking great. OH! I can actually hurt them. OH! I can actually kill them. Well great! Guess I finally found where to go.
Okay so I get like needle and thread from them. Neat. Another mechanic not explained at all. Can't wait to not know what I'm supposed to be doing with this for the next 10 hours.
So I get to an island. Oh! A dragon church, that sounds very high level, but also could be low if its just like monks who worship dragons instead of actual dragon gods. Oh...there's nothing here. Its another unexplained mechanic.

And I just stopped for the night. There's only so many unexplained mechanics I can deal with after school in a day.
Open world + bad controls + purposeful difficulty + purposeful obtuse lore and guiding + trial and error game play = probably not the best game design for people who don't have a second screen permanently opened to the wikis.
 
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CriticalGaming

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Basic mechanic of your games, being able to level up, wanna give me a hint how that unlocks?
The level up NPC comes to you automatically once you activate and rest at three different graces in the open world. If that helps.
 

hanselthecaretaker

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On the scale of Dark Souls to Bloodborne, how's the story?
I’m twenty hours in and still don’t know wtf’s going on, as the only “story” boss I’ve beaten so far is Margit who mentioned me being a fool for seeking the Elden Ring or something. I’ve only been to the hub once, and it’s as cryptic as ever with the NPCs. The “lords” this time around are called “fingers” apparently, and I think Godrick is the next big story boss but I’ve been too busy exploring the map finding stuff before even trying that.

So yeah, I guess the story element is definitely on the slower side at least in NG since there’s a lot more to see and do otherwise than their past games. I guess a conversation log would be one thing that would greatly benefit this game, since NPC’s deliver a lot of details often without proper context yet.

Also the game has dungeaters. Apparently one of them plays a big part, because it was mentioned in the opening cinematic.
 
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EvilRoy

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And I just stopped for the night. There's only so many unexplained mechanics I can deal with after school in a day.
Open world + bad controls + purposeful difficulty + purposeful obtuse lore and guiding + trial and error game play = probably not the best game design for people who don't have a second screen permanently opened to the wikis.
As much as I think this is the most accessible Souls game I've ever played, I'm also absolutely blown away by how impenetrable the first hour or two of gameplay is. My start to the game was really similar to yours to be honest, I ended up going very far south before I figured out what to do because the Knight was such a problem I was scared of north. For some reason after improving the game start so much over previous games, they just shoot you out into the world and don't explain how to get to like four critical things. I assume the point is making finding the stuff organic, but there's absolutely no reason to believe life is anything but pain when you start and no way to know how to make it less painful.

Without spoiling, I swear to god this is what's supposed to happen when you start. You get out of the cave, and go north. You die to the Knight. Then instead of fleeing to the beaches like a logical human would you go around the Knight to the church because I guess you're supposed to assume things will get easier instead of harder. You get access to something really important and have a conversation that explains a fair amount of shit. Then you follow the sparklies north, fuck around a bit, and after a while you meet the walking talking levelling system, have another important conversation, and get another really important thing. Then you need to go back south to the church, specifically after dark and wholly unprompted, and have another conversation and get the last really important thing you need. After all that, finally, you can basically start the game.

I have no idea how you're supposed to figure that out. Once you do all that shit, the game is pretty open world because you have everything you need to either grind, flee, cheese, or bro up against most challenges. Prior to having this stuff I don't really see how you could possibly proceed through the game as a beginner. There are still a bunch of unexplained mechanics, that temple you found in particular isn't going to make sense for a significant amount of time, but at least they start to encourage exploration and give breadcrumb hints instead of just kind of shrugging and letting you struggle in ignorance. I guess the Knight is supposed to teach you that if you meet a hard enemy then sometimes the right answer is to go around them - even in Limgrave you can find some fuckers who will rock your world twenty hours hence and that seems to be intentional - but that's a hard lesson to learn two seconds after you see the light of day.
 

CriticalGaming

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As much as I think this is the most accessible Souls game I've ever played, I'm also absolutely blown away by how impenetrable the first hour or two of gameplay is. My start to the game was really similar to yours to be honest, I ended up going very far south before I figured out what to do because the Knight was such a problem I was scared of north. For some reason after improving the game start so much over previous games, they just shoot you out into the world and don't explain how to get to like four critical things. I assume the point is making finding the stuff organic, but there's absolutely no reason to believe life is anything but pain when you start and no way to know how to make it less painful.

Without spoiling, I swear to god this is what's supposed to happen when you start. You get out of the cave, and go north. You die to the Knight. Then instead of fleeing to the beaches like a logical human would you go around the Knight to the church because I guess you're supposed to assume things will get easier instead of harder. You get access to something really important and have a conversation that explains a fair amount of shit. Then you follow the sparklies north, fuck around a bit, and after a while you meet the walking talking levelling system, have another important conversation, and get another really important thing. Then you need to go back south to the church, specifically after dark and wholly unprompted, and have another conversation and get the last really important thing you need. After all that, finally, you can basically start the game.

I have no idea how you're supposed to figure that out. Once you do all that shit, the game is pretty open world because you have everything you need to either grind, flee, cheese, or bro up against most challenges. Prior to having this stuff I don't really see how you could possibly proceed through the game as a beginner. There are still a bunch of unexplained mechanics, that temple you found in particular isn't going to make sense for a significant amount of time, but at least they start to encourage exploration and give breadcrumb hints instead of just kind of shrugging and letting you struggle in ignorance. I guess the Knight is supposed to teach you that if you meet a hard enemy then sometimes the right answer is to go around them - even in Limgrave you can find some fuckers who will rock your world twenty hours hence and that seems to be intentional - but that's a hard lesson to learn two seconds after you see the light of day.
I think a big problem is that people who say this is the most accessible Souls game are blinded by the fact that they have played all the other souls games and therefore to them it feels easier. But to someone fresh to the series, the lack of instructions and the fact that enemies are far too eager to smack your ass into an early grave, makes the game all the more poorer than even your standard souls game.

At least with a normal souls game there is a pretty straightforward path, the game directs the player without having to say anything. But I feel like that formula simply doesn't work in an open world.
 
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EvilRoy

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I think a big problem is that people who say this is the most accessible Souls game are blinded by the fact that they have played all the other souls games and therefore to them it feels easier. But to someone fresh to the series, the lack of instructions and the fact that enemies are far too eager to smack your ass into an early grave, makes the game all the more poorer than even your standard souls game.

At least with a normal souls game there is a pretty straightforward path, the game directs the player without having to say anything. But I feel like that formula simply doesn't work in an open world.
I guess when I say accessible I'm referring to the ability to apply the "Fuck It Adjustment" to problems in the game. DS1 and Sekiro stand out in my mind particularly, but most of the soulslikes have suffered from this in general, as games where you eventually get to a point where there is nothing left to do but smack your head against the wall. You've got the weapons you've got, you can level up some more or upgrade weapons some more but the gains and improvement system in those games were pretty brutally capped particularly early on. Fighting O&S was that point for me in DS1, where my souls to level was way to high to reasonably grind up anymore and I just didn't have the shards to improve my gear any more or improve different gear to try out and that was it. Nothing to do but try and try forever.

In Elden Ring we have a really wide ability to see a challenge, try it, and then say Fuck It and do something else instead of struggling indefinitely. In my playthrough that has applied all the way up to the demigods, which is nuts. It hasn't stopped me from needing to grind or find a bunch of poop to make poison bombs or get some summon help or just get really frustrated and go back to the underverse or the grosslands to do other shit for a while, but at least I have those options and a ride to get there.
 
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SilentPony

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I think a big problem is that people who say this is the most accessible Souls game are blinded by the fact that they have played all the other souls games and therefore to them it feels easier. But to someone fresh to the series, the lack of instructions and the fact that enemies are far too eager to smack your ass into an early grave, makes the game all the more poorer than even your standard souls game.

At least with a normal souls game there is a pretty straightforward path, the game directs the player without having to say anything. But I feel like that formula simply doesn't work in an open world.
See I wouldn't say Im a veteran Souls player. I would say Im a veteran Bloodborne player, I 100% that shit over multiple runs and found all the secret chalice dungeons. Dark Souls 3, still a few of the optional bosses I've never done, and don't really want to. Looking at you Dark-Eater Madir.

But with Elden Ring the open world feels like a hinderance rather than a boon, because its really not open world. There is still a pre-determined escalation path you're supposed to follow. There was a little branching in other games, but it was clear the next area follows on from the one you're in. With Elden Ring, who the fuck knows?! I saw a giant crab. It is a tough giant crab? Is it easy? Is it a boss?
Now I know some people are going to say that's the point, go and find out, and 99% it grinds you to dust. But hours of trial and error gameplay with no progression isn't fun.

I looked it up after seeing your post about the grace checkpoints, why the NPC didn't trigger after I found two grace points in the cave with the Orc Monkeys. Turns out you have to get grace checkpoints above ground. The ones in dungeons don't count. So not only is it a secret mechanic, it has double-secret requirements.
In Dark Souls 3 you have to beat the first boss to unlock the chick who levels you up. In Bloodborne, you just have to see the first boss to get the Doll to wake up. In this one you need to know to find 3 separate grace points, and know the ones in the dungeons and caves don't count, and like myself its entirely possible to go hours of this game dungeon crawling, fighting and killing bosses and not to go a 3rd above ground grace point and trigger a cutscene the game gave zero hints was going to happen.

Im sure Im going to like the game eventually. But the obtuse nature of the SoulsBorne game does not work with just a cold open full open world game. An extra hour explaining mechanics and getting things set wouldn't have gone amiss. And this is just getting through like the first day of playing.
I have no idea how Im supposed to figure out about the princess in the tower who asks you to rescue her dog, but if you give a starfish a meatloaf in the Forgotten Gallery, it gives you a seed that you take to the one patch of dirt you can interact with outside the Atlas Cathedral and plant it and stand there with the torch for 5 days until the tree grows and gives you an apple, and if you bring the apple to the princess in the tower before you first speak to her, you can give her the apple and she gives to the Ivory Key, that you then take into the Cellars of the Damned Grapes and behind a fake wall you'll find a locked door that you open with the Ivory Key and unlock the Solar-Knight Greatsword.
That type of SoulsBorne quests are bullshit and I hate having to look up wikis just to even know there is a quest, let alone the steps.
 
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CriticalGaming

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I would say Im a veteran Bloodborne player
Same thing. They call them Souls-borne games for a reason. It's all ice cream just different flavors.

But with Elden Ring the open world feels like a hinderance rather than a boon, because its really not open world. There is still a pre-determined escalation path you're supposed to follow.
Not entirely true, you can do quite a bit at any given time. The problem come from the nature of the Souls games in that "are you underleveled, or do you just suck?" Which makes it hard to determine whether you are where you should be or if you've crossed some line into buttfuck town.

Now I know some people are going to say that's the point, go and find out, and 99% it grinds you to dust. But hours of trial and error gameplay with no progression isn't fun.
i agree I think the over world design in this game is VERY overhyped. And I don't think it's good design at all. Maybe if the first zone was a big open area that then branched out into more focused zones, almost like you are picking your level like a Mega-Man game, then I think it could have been cool and the core design of each zone wouldn't have to change so much.

At minimum there should have been a button to press in which your character could hold up a piece of the bonfires and that would show you a trickle of light towards the nearest "thing". Some sort of guidance I think was really needed.

I think the game will become infinitely more fun once speedrunners and wiki-writers map everything out and plot you the perfect path through the game.
 
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wings012

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The open world is ambitious, but its kinda' a lie. Its an open world in the same way World of Warcraft is, in that you CAN go anywhere from the start, but keep in mind zones are based on level and 99.99% of enemies can kill a low level character effortlessly.
I get out of the graves place, and I see an enemy on horseback. He's probably just a starting mook and I steal his horse! Nope, he's a boss, and he wipes the floor with you easily. Okay. First enemy out of the gate and you're supposed to ignore him.
Sure.
I kinda don't mind this. But I grew up with and have huge nostalgia goggles for some older CRPGs that do this. If going one direction in Fallout 2 got my ass killed, I'd just go in another direction. I was kinda pleased that in Fallout New Vegas - trying to take the direct route to New Vegas got your ass mauled by Deathclaws. Yet I think if you tried hard enough, sneaking past is an option. Granted you end up skipping a lot of the game, though I think backtracking through the easier areas with higher powered gear is another type of fun.

I've also seen videos of people just... gitting gud against things they should have no business beating. Like the big Tree Sentinel, I know people that just went FUCKIT and just practiced repeatedly until they beat it with starting equipment. One of my friends just went eh fuckit and went somewhere else. His brother however decided that his pride was more important than his time, and went at it for over 2 hours until he finally got it.

I've also seen a clip of a streamer that was new to the genre and decided to smack the starting NPC about, aggroing him permanently and discovering that he remained aggressive after respawning. Left with no recourse, she just tried and practiced and eventually beat him.

I think that's sorta the magic of the Soulsborne gameplay. While it's probably unpleasant and highly tedious, it's theoretically possible to learn and practice against an enemy so much that you can beat it with a starting character. For those that do succeed, there's undoubtedly a sense of satisfaction different from just overcoming challenges through more standard progression.

So in a way there is a choice. Do you attempt to overcome an obstacle with raw skill and practice? Or do you just explore other places, find other solutions or grind familiar spots? I'm definitely in the search for upgrades camp. I played Dark Souls 3 and Ender Lilies alongside a friend once, he had the tendency to practice and retry bosses until he beat them. I would instead backtrack and explore for more upgrades after losing a few times. My friend learns to parry and riposte a boss, I show up with the biggest shield ever and block everything. Which I think is perfectly fine. That or I figure out a cheesy ass solution to my problems, like see if I can exploit the enemy AI or whatever.
 

hanselthecaretaker

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I kinda don't mind this. But I grew up with and have huge nostalgia goggles for some older CRPGs that do this. If going one direction in Fallout 2 got my ass killed, I'd just go in another direction. I was kinda pleased that in Fallout New Vegas - trying to take the direct route to New Vegas got your ass mauled by Deathclaws. Yet I think if you tried hard enough, sneaking past is an option. Granted you end up skipping a lot of the game, though I think backtracking through the easier areas with higher powered gear is another type of fun.

I've also seen videos of people just... gitting gud against things they should have no business beating. Like the big Tree Sentinel, I know people that just went FUCKIT and just practiced repeatedly until they beat it with starting equipment. One of my friends just went eh fuckit and went somewhere else. His brother however decided that his pride was more important than his time, and went at it for over 2 hours until he finally got it.

I've also seen a clip of a streamer that was new to the genre and decided to smack the starting NPC about, aggroing him permanently and discovering that he remained aggressive after respawning. Left with no recourse, she just tried and practiced and eventually beat him.

I think that's sorta the magic of the Soulsborne gameplay. While it's probably unpleasant and highly tedious, it's theoretically possible to learn and practice against an enemy so much that you can beat it with a starting character. For those that do succeed, there's undoubtedly a sense of satisfaction different from just overcoming challenges through more standard progression.

So in a way there is a choice. Do you attempt to overcome an obstacle with raw skill and practice? Or do you just explore other places, find other solutions or grind familiar spots? I'm definitely in the search for upgrades camp. I played Dark Souls 3 and Ender Lilies alongside a friend once, he had the tendency to practice and retry bosses until he beat them. I would instead backtrack and explore for more upgrades after losing a few times. My friend learns to parry and riposte a boss, I show up with the biggest shield ever and block everything. Which I think is perfectly fine. That or I figure out a cheesy ass solution to my problems, like see if I can exploit the enemy AI or whatever.

I’m kinda doing the same thing. Covered most of Limgrave before even trying Margit. Died once rather quickly and went exploring further out, to the crystal caves and the sorcery town. Found rotten stray ashes of war among other things, then eventually went back to Margit with that and some weapon grease poison, which when combined went to work on him for about the last half of his health bar while I stood back and waited lol.

For people that don’t mind exploring or actually enjoy it there’s of course more chances for that than ever, so I’ve been eating it up. Wherever the grace is pointing after finding a new site, I’ll pretty much go anywhere else that will let me. I’m too low level yet for sorceries and haven’t found many worthwhile anyways, so if my sword ain’t killing shit in four or five hits then I’ll ride somewhere else. Haven’t run into any roadblocks yet. It’s kinda liberating roaming around just finding new shit for your build vs needing to rely on a certain area to farm if you’re having trouble with the main path forward. I haven’t really had that issue since DS1 but I think if this was my first FROM game I’d welcome the added freedom just as well.

I got to the top of Stormveil castle but went back exploring to get some better offensive options under my belt for whatever boss is waiting there. It’s a nice change of pace from the brute force approach in the past.
 

SilentPony

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See my worry, and problem is this: is the game hard vs. am I bad and need to improve vs. am I good but need to level up vs. am I in the wrong location vs. do I have the right equipment vs. did I level correctly vs. was this an enemy designed for multiplayer.
There's a LOT of variables you have to consider after your, lets be generous here, 3rd attempt at a boss or location. Most SoulsBorne games limit that with the linear story and game progression. I'm not convinced the open world is the right choice.
 

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I have mixed feelings about the game. When its great its great but when its not it is constantly annoying me. It feels weird cause I consider myself a pretty big souls fan but Im not sure I like it. Im on the third main boss atm but he one shots me with most moves so Ive been grinding i guess. In my travels what has annoyed me most is the amount of asset reuse in the open world and even in some of the "level" areas. I have killed several bosses twice now just in different areas with slightly different move sets. Its a bummer since it just cheapens a lot of boss fights when you go into a room and realize I just killed you two hours ago. The open world design makes difficulty fluctuate wildly across encounters. I have basically four shot bosses while getting my teeth kicked by basic enemies just down the road. Its cool for exploration but it also makes it hard to gage your progress sometimes.

The mini dungeons are starting to wear thin so far they come in three main flavors mines, catacombs and general cave system. There are a couple of unique ones but for the most part I can see the assets and rooms they use repeating. The elevator shaft for the mines is probably the most egregious example. The non linear nature of the game has also caused me to break a quest line and skip over large parts of others because I cleared stuff tied to the quests before meeting the npcs.

Right now I am seeing potentially four endings depending on if some npc quests are going where I think they are going.
 

CriticalGaming

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Didn’t realize ER and Sekiro were being developed simultaneously.
Well when you think about it, it's only been 3 years since Sekiro came out. Elden Ring had to at least be in early deelopment since then.
 
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