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

[hanselthecaretaker]

Every game except Sekiro had a hub. Firelink, Majula, The Dream, The Nexus, take your pick.

That's why I say I think it could have been better served to have a large open world hub area that branches off into more linear sequences. Like if Limgrave split off and led to the other various levels in the game like Lyndell, Nokron, whatever. And after each level the player could be brought back to limgrave to choose a different path as well as have more paths and optional areas available to them, like access to a coffin that leads down.....

As it is, we kinda sorta end up with that after finding everything. Even on a lowly-slowly PS4 it seems like I’m never more than a couple minutes from most points of interest with how many grace sites there are.

I do get however that given how massive the game is it’s probably more discouraging than ever to start a second NG. Hell, I’ve never completed a second NG cycle with any of these games as it is. But for NG+ it’s perhaps more intriguing than ever being able to respec for completely different builds from stuff found earlier. There’s really no need for starting over unless people just have that much spare time and dedication for repeating early challenges.

 

[sXeth]

As it is, we kinda sorta end up with that after finding everything. Even on a lowly-slowly PS4 it seems like I’m never more than a couple minutes from most points of interest with how many grace sites there are.

I do get however that given how massive the game is it’s probably more discouraging than ever to start a second NG. Hell, I’ve never completed a second NG cycle with any of these games as it is. But for NG+ it’s perhaps more intriguing than ever being able to respec for completely different builds from stuff found earlier. There’s really no need for starting over unless people just have that much spare time and dedication for repeating early challenges.

The problem with NG+ in Souls is it just bloats the enemy HP (which base ER already had an issue with, its why Bleed (percentage based damage) was so damn popular/necessary) up and amps their damage and gives you no additional means to keep up (+1 talismans are like... actual garbage improvements. Like the equip load one adds 1lb extra for the +1 to the 7lbs the base gave you).

If you beat the game with something mid-tierish and upgrade to the OMGegaOP build for the NG+, it works, but if you go in the ohter direction in the name of experimentation you usually are just gonna get smash headfirst into the wall.

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

I've decided that on the one hand, I've had "enough" of the game in that I beat the capital and am less interested in the remaining content. On the other hand, I'm not really interested in starting something new. I'm out of town in the first week of June and I think by the time I come back, PlayStation will have changed their subscription and I'll see if I have anything interesting available for me to play. Until then I don't really wanna start something (the other Big Game of 2022 I want to play is Horizon but I know that's also very long so I need a minute before I get into that....)

So, yesterday I'm in Forbidden Lands / Mountaintop of the Giants / Consecrated Snowfield. Well, everything kills me and I can't see any of it so I just pop open an interative online map and run around activating sites of grace, lol. No more caves or catacombs unless I really need to.

But, man, speaking of Darks Souis 4, tell me the stuff I just did ain't Dark Souils:
- Fire Giant. Like, every Souls game has a fire giant? This one is humungous 2-phase boss where I am hacking away at its feet and all I can see are the feet.
- To get to the Haligtree, I had to run across rooftops evading archers. That is like core Dark Souls meme-stolgia.
- Fought a boss fight that was vulnerable to one sword that is in the battle arena (like Demons Souls and Dark Souls 3).

Most important is I uncovered the whole map. That feels like the best achievement.
Also at some point I wanted to get a legendary talisman in the area that finishes Renni's quest. It is guarded by a red wolf and it's impossible, honestly harder than anything in the game so far. The thing I keep complaining about where the enemy flies around too fast for the game's own camera is happening and it's like CONSTANT. I honestly don't know how to handle it.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

The problem with NG+ in Souls is it just bloats the enemy HP (which base ER already had an issue with, its why Bleed (percentage based damage) was so damn popular/necessary) up and amps their damage and gives you no additional means to keep up (+1 talismans are like... actual garbage improvements. Like the equip load one adds 1lb extra for the +1 to the 7lbs the base gave you).

If you beat the game with something mid-tierish and upgrade to the OMGegaOP build for the NG+, it works, but if you go in the ohter direction in the name of experimentation you usually are just gonna get smash headfirst into the wall.

True, but it kinda depends on how much the player is exploring. Having a ton of gear and upgrade materials available via bell bearings, it’s mostly a matter of respec’ing and going to town with something new.

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

the sunken city of Nokia-phones

Yesterday this popped back into my head and lol'ed. Thx, you bastard.

 

[Dalisclock]

True, but it kinda depends on how much the player is exploring. Having a ton of gear and upgrade materials available via bell bearings, it’s mostly a matter of respec’ing and going to town with something new.

Especially the Smithing Stone and glovewort bearings. I found one of the somber ones which allowed me to upgrade some of my somber weapons to +8. With most of the upgrade resource limits removed, it's just a matter of can you wield a weapon and does the weapon work for you. Because +8 Somber is more then enough to make a prefered weapon viable in endgame.

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

Well, I did it, I found the meme-queen herself, Melania. And... lol, yeah, no thx.
First of all, to get to her you have a gauntlet of the toughest "regular" enemies. This was therefore not an exercise in combat skill but in Assassin-Creeding my way through and around everything to get from grace to grace. My mimic tear became a suicide distraction, running in front of Erdtree avatars and those Melania-looking knight ladies so that I can scuttle into passageways.

Attempted Melania with Mimic Tear and co-op and of course anyway we're all dead in one or two hits. Oh, sure I can avoid each of her hits, I just can't avoid the follow-up 12 hits. And so it is with so many of these bosses, ho-hum.

On the other hand I did defeat Mogh because unlike Melania, the Comet Azur + Mimic Tear strategy works enough.

Unfortunately I don't even think I can farm my way to victory. My vigor is now 60 and any more updates just adds 1 pathetic HP so it's not worth it. I suppose I could try tanking with some heavy armor, but something tells me that it wouldn't even matter with this one.

Anyway, Crumbling Farum Azula (or whatever) I think is the last area to check out so bopping around there should wrap up my experience this weekend I think.

I must say the Haligtree area is gorgeous. In terms of visual design and theme, the main areas of Halig, Caelid, and the Lake are really cool and it's the best part about this whole open-world thing.

 

[Dalisclock]

Fire Giant is down. It turns out I just needed to use a different weapon.....and rotten breath, then he went down pretty fast. Ironically the weapon that I mostly used was the same weapon that carried me through most of the damn game so far. I'd gotten Rivers of Blood, upgraded it a bunch and it turns out that doesn't do much against fire boy. Then I went back to Bloodhound's fang(my usual) and that made phase 1 go by super fast.

Honestly, I don't know why but Bloodhounds fang feels just amazing and I've met very few enemies it doesn't just slice through.

Farum Aluza is interesting, though I got to the first grace(which was a nervous run, considering all the runes I still had) and then decided to throw myself against Alecto again as is my ritual because I swear that ***** needs to fucking die. It's no longer about her daughters spirit ashes. It's personal now.

But yeah, getting serious Castle in the Sky, Dragon Aerie and ArchDragon Peak vibes from the place. I'd love to know more about this place and why chunks of it are scattered all over the game world. Yes, I know it's Crumbling but why is it crumbling? Does it just float around? Or did it used to be much, much bigger? Someone get Vaati on the phone!

Sit your butts down, it's Lore speculation time; So I checked into some of the stuff on Crumbling Farum Azula and not only does it appear to exist outside of time, but it's also possible one of the most ancient places in the game world, due to the whole dragon connection(The Dragons reigned before the Golden Order and the Erdtree while the Big Dragon Bonus boss was apparently the first Elden Lord), so that also implies the Elden Ring predates the Erdtree as well. The fact the game is crawling with beastmen implies they also predate the golden order or at very least have common cause with the dragons. Possibly both related to the primordial crucible?

Also, I'm fariy certain at this point that the Omens and possibly the seedbed curse are implicity related to the crucible, though a curse or that primordial pattern leaking through the cracks of the Golden Order I don't know. The whole crucible thing is really interesting and there's a lot that might relate to it: The Dragons, the Omens, the seedbed curse, the misbegotten, the beastmen, etc. I'm just not sure how.

Also, people have already pointed out that the divine towers on the map are shaped like a ring around that inner sea, so maybe Farum Azula was once in the center and possibly directly connected at some point in time?

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

I got Alecto in 2nd or 3rd shot with Moonlight Veil spam, lol. I can see why this weapon is beloved, it really does work on a lot of enemies. It basically got me through the entire Volcano assassins creed side quest.

This morning I came to three decisions:
1- I'm f'ing sick of this game, have no heart to struggle with it. Bought Horizon: Forbidden West
2- Actually, maybe I'll try re-spec to use Rivers of Blood and go at it again.
3- But actually actually, that means I have to get all these sombering smithing stones and, ugh, that's a whole thing....

FromSoftware games are the hot crazy chick I just can't quit even though they make me miserable, and Elden Ring is my Amber Heard.

 

[Dalisclock]

I got Alecto in 2nd or 3rd shot with Moonlight Veil spam, lol. I can see why this weapon is beloved, it really does work on a lot of enemies. It basically got me through the entire Volcano assassins creed side quest.

This morning I came to three decisions:
1- I'm f'ing sick of this game, have no heart to struggle with it. Bought Horizon: Forbidden West
2- Actually, maybe I'll try re-spec to use Rivers of Blood and go at it again.
3- But actually actually, that means I have to get all these sombering smithing stones and, ugh, that's a whole thing....

FromSoftware games are the hot crazy chick I just can't quit even though they make me miserable, and Elden Ring is my Amber Heard.

I swear I've had more problem then Alecto then any other asshole in this entire game. Even more then that dick in Castle Sol with his two boys guarding the medallion half.

She's immune to pretty much everything and you can't bring summons so she's laser focused on you the entire time. Not to mention she can annilate you in one or two hits regardless of how high level you are.

No wonder she's locked behind Ranni's quest to even get to her.

 

[CriticalGaming]

Bought Horizon: Forbidden West

I'm personally enjoying Horizon a lot more than Elden Ring tbh. I feel like I forced myself to beat the game 3 times and get the platinum so that when i said I hate the game people couldn't use that "You don't like it because you suck at it" argument.

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

I swear I've had more problem then Alecto then any other asshole in this entire game. Even more then that dick in Castle Sol with his two boys guarding the medallion half.

She's immune to pretty much everything and you can't bring summons so she's laser focused on you the entire time. Not to mention she can annilate you in one or two hits regardless of how high level you are.

No wonder she's locked behind Ranni's quest to even get to her.

Considering I struggled in so many places you didn't, this is clearly an example of "depends on your build" or style or whatever. But yeah the reason it took me a few tries even though I was lucky enough to have the correct move set was to not get hit once or twice. Once I was able to dodge once it was L2/R1 all day, the end.

I'm personally enjoying Horizon a lot more than Elden Ring tbh. I feel like I forced myself to beat the game 3 times and get the platinum so that when i said I hate the game people couldn't use that "You don't like it because you suck at it" argument.

Damn you actually "hate" it, lol. I know I been complaining but we both put in a lot of hours, kind of hard to use that word.
I would just call it a little disappointing, I'd still highly recommend it to any Souls/From fan (who, of course, wouldn't need my recommendation).

A colleague told me he was interested because he heard it was the easiest From game to get into, having been intimidated by the others, and asked for my opinion. I told him IMO it's actually the worst one to start with due to the insane move sets and huge world. But then I stan for Bloodborne and Sekiro real hard.

 

[Dalisclock]

Considering I struggled in so many places you didn't, this is clearly an example of "depends on your build" or style or whatever. But yeah the reason it took me a few tries even though I was lucky enough to have the correct move set was to not get hit once or twice. Once I was able to dodge once it was L2/R1 all day, the end.

I have wierd eccentricities with games like this. Some bosses like the flame demon in DS2 and VIcar Amelia gave me little issue but any bosses that are two or more guys is a pain in the butt for me and always has been. I pretty much need a 2nd person or a good summon to help with crowd control because it's hard enough to keep tabs on everything a boss is doing without the constant threat of his buddy(s) about to hit you with a giant fucking hammer/sword/etc from just offscreen. If I'm watching one guy's complex moveset, I sure as hell can't be watching the others. I can mulitprocess, but that implies one or more of the tasks is routine, not one hand is starting up a nuclear reactor while the other is launching a rocket into orbit and I can't take my eye off either task for more then 5 seconds or one/both of them blows up.

But then again, then you have Alecto where most of my attacks do very little then chip her health while trying not to get horribly murdered the minute I misjudge her intentions at the moment and she she hits me with the slashing knives orb or any other insta kill attack and there's very little I can think of to tip the odds in my favor other then "git gud".

 

[sXeth]

I'd have to say Elden Ring is not From batting to their strengths.


Although you could argue they've never really pulled off the world/level design interweaving since DS1, ER basically is the anti-thesis of that, knock one point off the novelty.


Replayability takes a huge hit simply due to gigantic game too. Like this may be the first legitimate 40-50 hour of actual main playthrough open world game. But a lot of that is dead space. And on a replay it becomes checklisting very quick. New Game + isn't even a great considerationn as you could do almost everything you would in NG+ simply by horsing your way around to pick up things (with the bare exception of the last few zones)


Combat, there's probably enough material, again, for that baseline short and sweet run through of their prior games. But spreading it thin over the plate of the open world leaves too much repetition. They also did creep a bit back into the DS2 PItfall too, where its a series of dudes (and occasional ladies). I'd have trouble picking out the "wow, thats neat" enemy in Elden Ring.

 

[Dalisclock]

I'd have to say Elden Ring is not From batting to their strengths.

Combat, there's probably enough material, again, for that baseline short and sweet run through of their prior games. But spreading it thin over the plate of the open world leaves too much repetition. They also did creep a bit back into the DS2 PItfall too, where its a series of dudes (and occasional ladies). I'd have trouble picking out the "wow, thats neat" enemy in Elden Ring.

Yeah, one of my issues is the same issue I had with DS2 and to some extent, Sekiro. There's a ton of bosses but very few of them are memorable. It's not as bad as "Dudes in Armor" forever(though the crucible knights lean into this) but I swear most of the bosses are either Reskins, Phantom versions or "Boss but 2 of them now". I get it with Margit and Morgott(and even then it's a bit thin, only works because of who Morgott is and his importance). Don't get me started on the godskin fucks. I groan every time I see one of those guys. Especially as a boss. I started exploring the Caelid Divine tower, then after some falling and such, checked out what was at the bottom and guess what. A godskin boss. At which point I stopped trying because that's not fucking worth it to spend the time and effort on

I'm enjoying the exploring and character quests far more then the bosses for the most part. For every Radhan there's like 20 wierd cat statue things in the catacombs somewhere and made me stop caring about dungeons other then the main Dark Soulsy ones, just go check the wiki for which dungeons have what I think I want or need so at least I'm not wasting time. Which, yeah, is a problem.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

I'm personally enjoying Horizon a lot more than Elden Ring tbh. I feel like I forced myself to beat the game 3 times and get the platinum so that when i said I hate the game people couldn't use that "You don't like it because you suck at it" argument.

If you have to force yourself to play a game three times to get a digital reward, of course you’ll probably wind up hating it. I know I would.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

@Dalisclock for your Bloodhound’s Fang -
First on the list at 2:40

 

[Dalisclock]

Took a trip down into the Lyndell Sewers/Subterrean Shunning grounds and....well, that place is fucking disgusting. It's like FROM decided "What if we did the Depths one more time.....but this time much bigger and full of as much literal shit as we can get in there?". At least I unlocked a grace so I can explore a bit. On one hand, it's a really awful place and I hate it, but OTOH, the FROM level design compels me to explore and see just how fucking deep it goes and what lies down there.

Also explored a little bit more of Crumbling Farum Azula and found where it starts to branch a bit. Went down an elevator near the 2nd grace and....Nope. JUST NOPE. I don't know if there's anything worthwhile down there but I'm not sure I care to find out.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Took a trip down into the Lyndell Sewers/Subterrean Shunning grounds and....well, that place is fucking disgusting. It's like FROM decided "What if we did the Depths one more time.....but this time much bigger and full of as much literal shit as we can get in there?". At least I unlocked a grace so I can explore a bit. On one hand, it's a really awful place and I hate it, but OTOH, the FROM level design compels me to explore and see just how fucking deep it goes and what lies down there.

Also explored a little bit more of Crumbling Farum Azula and found where it starts to branch a bit. Went down an elevator near the 2nd grace and....Nope. JUST NOPE. I don't know if there's anything worthwhile down there but I'm not sure I care to find out.

Nice. Definitely will be checking that shithole out at some point. It really seems like the underground stuff is where they compromised for not having much of the typical interconnected stuff they’re known for, outside of some castles. Just checked out Nokia city last night and was surprised to ultimately drop into Siofra River. The other thing about phone city is how much of an Artorias of the Abyss vibe it gives structurally in the beginning. What’s funny is that place looked dead and devoid of light, while here at least has the subterranean celestial thing going on.

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

For both the Lyndell sewers and the Haligtree, the enemies are taking this approach of throwing mini-bosses all around as "regular" enemies. I don't how I feel about that. Both are optional, end-game areas so it's probably fair to consider those in that sense- they are there for the super hardcore how want the ultimate challenge.
My problem- and this is all on me- is that I don't play From games like that. I platinum them, because I want to see all the areas and boss fights. My first (and still best) From game was Bloodborne and all the trophies are just that- see and kill everything important.