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

[Dalisclock]

Um no? I looked it up and its mentioned after 12, and unlocked after defeating bosses.

For me it unlocked once I reached the lake area because I found the road around the castle that lets you bypass it. Literally at the first Bonfire I sat at overlooking the region. The game assumes you've defeated arm-boy but it'll unlock just the same. Or at least it should.

Speaking of which, just killed arm-boy in his....grave filled little walkabout near his thrown room. Charming. That was "Fun". Took me as few tries, even with help. I do appreciate the dudes talking, I admit. Gives them a bit more personality then just big emotive gestures.

Except Micolash. Fuck that guy. That guy needs to shut the fuck up. I'm glad I poisoned daggered him to death.

 

[Elijin]

Well, guess I'm an Elden Lord now. I'm going to be blunt. Everything after the dragonlord (who's optional) was a cake walk. That's like...4? Bosses to wind up the game that I just didnt feel threatened by. The biggest issue I had with the final boss is he wouldn't sit still and let me kill him and I really got my tarnished's steps up that day.

 

[Dalisclock]

 

[Elijin]

I regret pressing NG+. Im not into it, and my preferred activity is lost to me (helping randos fight hard bosses)

 

[Brokencontroller]

Well, guess I'm an Elden Lord now. I'm going to be blunt. Everything after the dragonlord (who's optional) was a cake walk. That's like...4? Bosses to wind up the game that I just didnt feel threatened by. The biggest issue I had with the final boss is he wouldn't sit still and let me kill him and I really got my tarnished's steps up that day.

You found the last bosses easy!? Christ the last gauntlet had me ready to break a controller.

 

[Dalisclock]

If anyone is interested in an hour of ranting on the story presentation in FROM games.

 

[Brokencontroller]

If anyone is interested in an hour of ranting on the story presentation in FROM games.

Whats funny is that the games story is not any differently presented than any other souls game. Yet since elden ring is so "accessible" more people are playing these games and dont quite understand what these games are about.

Im actually planning to revisit Demon’s Souls after this because i wonder how easy it will be going from the fastest souls game straight to the slowest one.

 

[Dalisclock]

Whats funny is that the games story is not any differently presented than any other souls game. Yet since elden ring is so "accessible" more people are playing these games and dont quite understand what these games are about.

Im actually planning to revisit Demon’s Souls after this because i wonder how easy it will be going from the fastest souls game straight to the slowest one.

A lot of people pointed out this isn't really different then the other Souls games(Sekiro is a little more overt in it's storytelling and more characters actually talk) and I think it comes up like once in the actual video.

I mean, I do agree it's annoying you get more story from the Story Trailer then the game itself(the rune of death being story causes death to stop workin properly) and I kinda wish that had been in the game more directly(unless some NPC I haven't reached yet tells you about it).

 

[Brokencontroller]

A lot of people pointed out this isn't really different then the other Souls games(Sekiro is a little more overt in it's storytelling and more characters actually talk) and I think it comes up like once in the actual video.

I mean, I do agree it's annoying you get more story from the Story Trailer then the game itself(the rune of death being story causes death to stop workin properly) and I kinda wish that had been in the game more directly(unless some NPC I haven't reached yet tells you about it).

But if they had done that, would elden ring's world stand out as much? It would be a totally different game if you had story cut scenes and actual mandatory quests to follow.

Sounds like an ubisoft game to me.

 

[Dalisclock]

But if they had done that, would elden ring's world stand out as much? It would be a totally different game if you had story cut scenes and actual mandatory quests to follow.

Sounds like an ubisoft game to me.

I mean, I don't need a bunch more cutscenes, but like, there's essential story information in the trailer that's not the intro cinematic and like.....could that information be incorporated into the game itself directly? Just like have someone tell you about the rune of death and how the demi-gods started going at each other once death went on strike, or you know, something more then "GO watch the story trailer that dropped months ago and then the vaati video talking about it". I mean, the cutscene has already been made, but it's not in the game for some reason.

I mean, knowing that the ring was shattered, Death isn't working correctly anymore and that sparked a huge ass civil war in the land helps gives so much context to the world in ER that pretty much isn't there. Like that perfectly explains why Stormviel is battered with huge ass impact craters from presumably trebuchets or something from a massive naval battle or something, or why nobody really seems to die, etc. I mean, Dark Souls explains the Undead Curse right off the bat as well as giving a quick summary of the mythos of history in that world. ER kinda does that but then puts it in the trailer. That's my issue.

 

[Brokencontroller]

I mean, I don't need a bunch more cutscenes, but like, there's essential story information in the trailer that's not the intro cinematic and like.....could that information be incorporated into the game itself directly? Just like have someone tell you about the rune of death and how the demi-gods started going at each other once death went on strike, or you know, something more then "GO watch the story trailer that dropped months ago and then the vaati video talking about it". I mean, the cutscene has already been made, but it's not in the game for some reason.

Story is the most optional thing in the game though. Sometimes context doesnt matter, and that has been the case with the souls games for a while. There is context but it is up to the player to get it if they want. Otherwise run around and kill things good luck. Its fine in souls games because they dont really present the story as a key feature.

I dont know maybe im weird. I generally like story. But in soulds games...i dunno i just dont give a shit.

 

[Elijin]

You found the last bosses easy!? Christ the last gauntlet had me ready to break a controller.

Mmm, rolled through beast/maliketh, all knowing traitor, godfrey/conan and gold idiot/spacejellyfish dragon in one attempt each.

I legitimately feel like the ice fog dragon gave me more grief than all of them combined, until I stopped being an idiot.

 

[Dalisclock]

Story is the most optional thing in the game though. Sometimes context doesnt matter, and that has been the case with the souls games for a while. There is context but it is up to the player to get it if they want. Otherwise run around and kill things good luck. Its fine in souls games because they dont really present the story as a key feature.

I dont know maybe im weird. I generally like story. But in soulds games...i dunno i just dont give a shit.

I think the Context does matter though. I mean, the Souls games built the whole "You can't really die, the enemies respawn" mechanic around the undead curse thing, so it's kinda important to justify through story. Maybe you don't see the story in these games as being important but a lot of people do and I know I'm just wishing FROM had a been a little bit more overt with the stuff they already put out, but spare us the trip to youtube to realize "Oh, there was a Civil War and nobody can die" because the intro is really tiptoeing around that so they can tell us about the DUNG EATER guy who who may or may not be important at all.

It's not as bad as Dark Souls 2 which tells you jack shit and dumps you into the game, but it's not nearly as helpful as Dark Souls 1 or 3 which do a pretty good job of setting the stage and introducing the principle cast.

 

[Brokencontroller]

I think the Context does matter though. I mean, the Souls games built the whole "You can't really die, the enemies respawn" mechanic around the undead curse thing, so it's kinda important to justify through story. Maybe you don't see the story in these games as being important but a lot of people do and I know I'm just wishing FROM had a been a little bit more overt with the stuff they already put out, but spare us the trip to youtube to realize "Oh, there was a Civil War and nobody can die" because the intro is really tiptoeing around that so they can tell us about the DUNG EATER guy who who may or may not be important at all.

It's not as bad as Dark Souls 2 which tells you jack shit and dumps you into the game, but it's not nearly as helpful as Dark Souls 1 or 3 which do a pretty good job of setting the stage and introducing the principle cast.

I think most of the souls stuff is not story. Its lore. Its setting. And that is different from story.

A story us something that is currently happening. But none of the lore is currently happening in any game in the series. So it is not story. None of these games has story, they have setting and worldbuilding and nothing more.

Your cgarcter does everything based on unknown drive (probably because there is nothing else to do) and there is very little that ever happens to your character or develops them as characters. They are husks and nothing more. It is the player that makes the husk become something greater. None of that equals story.

 

[Dalisclock]

I think most of the souls stuff is not story. Its lore. Its setting. And that is different from story.

A story us something that is currently happening. But none of the lore is currently happening in any game in the series. So it is not story. None of these games has story, they have setting and worldbuilding and nothing more.

Your cgarcter does everything based on unknown drive (probably because there is nothing else to do) and there is very little that ever happens to your character or develops them as characters. They are husks and nothing more. It is the player that makes the husk become something greater. None of that equals story.

Fair enough. I would still like some of the vital lore points to be More accessible then " go to area that you have no way of knowing even exists and looking in the file cabinet behind 3 false walls at the bottom of poison fucktown". At least hint that something important is down there and how to find it. "Check out the church basement of fucktown" and let you go from there.

 

[EvilRoy]

Learned a few more interesting things, more or less by accident. It turns out all these little cigarette burns are actually meteor strikes and usually there is a mine or some kind of cave/tunnel at them. Some of these have items that let you buy smithing stones infinitely (thank god finally) or just some pretty sick weapons hidden in them. I found a couple swords that make me really wish I had thrown more points into INT down in one of these holes.


Also: crystal darts. Little pokey things that are basically good for single pulling enemies. Except when I tried to do this to an imp golem that was wandering around with a few buddies, it actually made him go berserk and start attacking his friends. Turns out this more or less works on any sort of stone golem - they go nuts and aggro whatever is nearby and moving. It doesn't seem to cause them to attack other golems that aren't "active" but if two are moving around you can get one to attack the other. This even works on the really big creepy ones.

I think the Context does matter though. I mean, the Souls games built the whole "You can't really die, the enemies respawn" mechanic around the undead curse thing, so it's kinda important to justify through story. Maybe you don't see the story in these games as being important but a lot of people do and I know I'm just wishing FROM had a been a little bit more overt with the stuff they already put out, but spare us the trip to youtube to realize "Oh, there was a Civil War and nobody can die" because the intro is really tiptoeing around that so they can tell us about the DUNG EATER guy who who may or may not be important at all.

It's not as bad as Dark Souls 2 which tells you jack shit and dumps you into the game, but it's not nearly as helpful as Dark Souls 1 or 3 which do a pretty good job of setting the stage and introducing the principle cast.

I don't know why they aren't more immediately clear about the whole "death not working" thing, but as you play the civil war part is just like an environmental story that gets told to you. All the factions are pretty distinct in enemy type, dress, weapon type and so on and you sort of slowly get introduced to more and more of it as travel different countries. Limgrave has hardly any conflict which is implicitly addressed by a dude at roundtable and some item descriptions, Caelid has a bit more with more direct explanation there, but as you go far north you see way more and get a better sense of whats going down. You know who teaches a lot of the story? Ghosts. I dunno why but From decided that solitary ranting ghosts would be the best people to tell direct portions of the story.

I think some of the issue here is that past DS games were very much about things that happened untold ages ago whereas Elden Ring is much more in-the-present. As in, this stuff is happening right now, and while many major parts of the battles and plot elements have already happened, it was pretty recent and you're coming into an ongoing conflict that's just starting to fall apart. Some of the quests and cutscenes make this a bit more clear, but as an example there's a person you can do a quest with who is very explicitly not waiting for anybody and its presented as a "you came along at the right time" sort of situation more similar to an Elder Scrolls game than the quests in previous Souls games where it felt like the NPC had been waiting for something for ages before acting.

 

[BrawlMan]

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[hanselthecaretaker]

Um no? I looked it up and its mentioned after 12, and unlocked after defeating bosses. Also its another one of those "the dungeon grace sites and dungeon bosses don't count towards your total" game mechanics where not only do you not know there's a hidden mechanic that needs to be unlocked, there's a hidden restriction within the hidden unlock.

This is exactly how I first got there -
How to Get to Roundtable Hold in Elden Ring | DiamondLobby

Requires no major boss defeats, and she showed up automatically when I rested outside the cave. The other way I've read is by defeating Margit the Fell Omen and resting at the first site of grace.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

I mean, I don't need a bunch more cutscenes, but like, there's essential story information in the trailer that's not the intro cinematic and like.....could that information be incorporated into the game itself directly? Just like have someone tell you about the rune of death and how the demi-gods started going at each other once death went on strike, or you know, something more then "GO watch the story trailer that dropped months ago and then the vaati video talking about it". I mean, the cutscene has already been made, but it's not in the game for some reason.

I mean, knowing that the ring was shattered, Death isn't working correctly anymore and that sparked a huge ass civil war in the land helps gives so much context to the world in ER that pretty much isn't there. Like that perfectly explains why Stormviel is battered with huge ass impact craters from presumably trebuchets or something from a massive naval battle or something, or why nobody really seems to die, etc. I mean, Dark Souls explains the Undead Curse right off the bat as well as giving a quick summary of the mythos of history in that world. ER kinda does that but then puts it in the trailer. That's my issue.

...Yup, was just going to say it's kinda what gave people like Vaati such a lucrative career. He'll still be talking about this stuff by the time FROM's next game comes out, and probably long after.

Story is the most optional thing in the game though. Sometimes context doesnt matter, and that has been the case with the souls games for a while. There is context but it is up to the player to get it if they want. Otherwise run around and kill things good luck. Its fine in souls games because they dont really present the story as a key feature.

I dont know maybe im weird. I generally like story. But in soulds games...i dunno i just dont give a shit.

It's just FROM's thing because as the story goes, Miyazaki grew up poor and read books in the library as a hobby, but didn't understand a lot of the concepts so he filled in the blanks with his imagination. I think that's kinda what his approach to these games are too, in the there's just enough for the player to latch on to but the rest is veiled in mystery where people like Vaati spend hours discussing and theorizing it all.


Anyways, something gameplay-related for reference -

https://www.thegamer.com/elden-ring-players-soft-cap-sheet-levelling-stats/

 

[SilentPony]

This is exactly how I first got there -
How to Get to Roundtable Hold in Elden Ring | DiamondLobby

Requires no major boss defeats, and she showed up automatically when I rested outside the cave. The other way I've read is by defeating Margit the Fell Omen and resting at the first site of grace.

I mean with the exception of the graces I put red slashes through, this was how much I had done before what's her name brought me to Roundtable, and it required me to kill this random boss.