So I'm now finished with the DLC and I can say that I still don't like it. You guys know that I wasn't a fan of Elden Ring originally because i felt that the open world didn't suit the Dark-Souls formula very well. The best parts of ER were the legacy dungeons which were basically just Dark Souls levels, and it's clear that is still where FromSoft's strength's lie.
I went into the DLC with my NG+3 bleed character and trusty mimic tear a bit worried because Rivers of Blood has gotten several nerfs since launch as has Mimic Tear. But it turns out I needn't worry, i melted everything and anything I came across. So for me the DLC was easy as shit. And as a result of my experience I don't give credit to any claims of people crying about how hard the game it. This game is fucking easy, people are just stupid about using ash summons or some shit. You are supposed to use the tools the game gives you to beat it, if you artificially wanna limit yourself then the difficulty is a YOU problem not a game problem.
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@Xprimentyl that video is pretty valid. And it highlights a problem that the overall ER game has, but to an even greater degree. Because the DLC does reward your exploration with mostly trash you'll never need or want. Gravewort's, worthless smithing stones, etc etc. But the DLC is worse in the sense that it doesn't offer you any reason to use the new shit it offers. There are 100 new weapons across a few different types, but the DLC is all end game level shit and the risk of fucking up the build you have that is working to try something you aren't comfortable with already is just silly.
Moon Knight is the first boss I fought in the DLC if you don't count the ghost gravewarden guy ten feet from the start of the DLC. Moon Knight is basically Artoris from DS1 but on crack. Which is whatever fine. Ring ring, Mimic Tear comes out, then I bleed the shit out of him, dead, I win. There was something that was about to happen with like a second phase around 30% or so, but I dunno, he died before he could do really anything. Which again highlights the overall issue with Elden Ring bosses I've had since the beginning.
ER was, for me, a game of melt or be melted. The bosses attack a shitload, deal insane levels of damage, and are hyper aggressive to boot. Which make sense when you consider all the "OP" weapons from the launch of the game. Rivers of Blood, Moonveil, Sword of Light and Shadow, Comet Azure, etc etc, there were tons of weapons in the game that would destroy shit. To me it made sense, because if the bosses were going to murder you quickly, you had to be able to murder them just as quickly in order to balance the fact that your average player wasn't going to dodge-roll their way out of these attack strings. So it became a trade-off where you could melt them the way they could melt you, and getting a solid build online was the way to go.
The DLC continues that. I've watched people quit, rage, cry, scream at bosses that I mopped the floor with in one or two attempts. But the one thing these people all had in common was they refused to use spirit ashes, and were not using weapon abilities. Asmongold for example was just jumping R2 spamming the whole time and while he eventually beat things it was painful to watch because it was like trying to have sex with a Crab latched to your nutsack. There was so reason to make it that frustrating for yourself. Then he goes on a rant about how it's just unfun to play, while at the same time refusing to use more of the toolset he has access to.
Anyway the DLC is more ER, but it's all the bad parts of ER without as much of the good. The bosses are ok, I don't understand the point of the giant fire fuckers in the middle of the zones, I killed one and got fuck all for doing it so I didn't bother with the others. they are a lot of health with only like 3 attacks you can just double jump over so I don't really get the point unless Fromsoft is trolling us. The exploration is worthless, the power gain is almost entirely pointless especially since it's limited to the DLC and is just a flat % boost that isn't enough to turn the tide for a struggling player without getting a LOT of them. I finished the DLC with 12 iirc, but I melted Moon Knight without any so I dunno how much of a difference they would have made if I tried Rahadan without any.
Also keep in mind it might be a scaling problem as well where my level 700 character in NG+ with max health and damage output was just broken over what scaling the DLC could offer. I don't know. I don't care.