Elden Ring: YOU DIED on a horse

lol, you should give it a shot!

I've twice given it a shot and been unable to beat the very first mini-boss general. For whatever reason my skill set is void in that game

Every other narrative medium requires that the level of plot exposition be evident enough to be parsed by the audience, things that are "obvious" to the creators aren't obvious at all to an audience (to the detriment of the work). From (perhaps accidentally) have discovered that obscurantism actually works in game storytelling, provided that a game is compelling enough without traditional exposition.

i can gush about the lore itself for basically the same reason... from has a level of confidence and commitment to it that i just haven't found anywhere else. most other modern AAA games have a certain self-aware awkwardness in their lore/worldbuilding which is a barrier for me to really get engrossed. i know it's weird and possibly silly to say it about a game where you can spend an entire playthrough with no idea what's going on, but from makes it feel like every aspect of the game springs out of the world/story itself and not the other way around (of course that's not true, but they're really good at making it feel that way)

admittedly i think the lore could be a lot worse in itself and i'd still gush over it because of how well integrated it is/how enjoyable the sense of discovery is

I was dead pleased with myself when I beat Astel quite easily today (only took a few tries). But that was quickly erased when I came up against the bloody glinstone dragon. Apparently spamming him with rotten breath is the go and now - at levvel almost 100- I find out I could have just bought that spell ages a fucking go?!

Some fantastic posts itt. Funny, I thought the Rykard/Tanith story was one of the most interesting, accessible and disturbing ones, and that Gelmir / Volcano Manor was among my favourite sections of the game

And it is peculiar how differently I have come to think of this game to Bloodborne. I had no interest in builds or lore with that game whereas for me with ER that literally is the game. I couldn't imagine playing this as a straight battle romper, no way

One of the many aspects of Bloodborne I liked was the ability to get some of your health back by attacking. I also liked having to find the enemy with the glowing eyes to get your souls back. I feel like that and the faster play in general was Miyazaki actively pushing people *into* combat, forcing them to get more aggressive. Iirc there were no shields in the game, either, save one, which is literally a joke. He took that to its apotheosis with Sekiro, which essentially gives you one weapon that can't be upgraded, but lots of different ways to engage in battle, which itself demands your hyper engagement with the enemy to get ahead. No more winning by attrition and cheese opportunities iirc were pretty infrequent. There was real stealth, though, which was new, and there was the grappling hook, which provided a verticality and speed its relatively methodical/plodding predecessors lacked. With ER, it's back to more weapons, back to more shields, back to more familiar fantasy. There is some degree of stealth, but I honestly forgot it was even a factor. There is some verticality, a little jumping, but that's not really a factor, either. Those are a few reasons why I consider ER a step back closer to the status quo. Again, not criticisms, per se - it's a good game - just some reasons I maybe expected more than just ... more. Lore aside, I guess.

I think reducing Elden Ring to just “more of the same” really sells it short. Yes, it’s more but it’s also a refinement and a significant expansion. Building an open world like this is a massive undertaking that they have never done before. The amount of balancing and design considerations that go into something like this is boggling.

It’s the best, most ambitious game they’ve made by a considerable margin imo. I personally don’t need (or want) entirely new, novel combat systems every time out when the basic template they’ve been refining for years is this good.

I replayed most of Sekiro after ER and while I love the idea of the active combat/parry system, I found it really only shines when you’re dueling. Like that Genichiro rooftop battle is still probably the best From boss fight of all time. Unfortunately, a not insignificant portion of the game is spent fighting monsters or humanoids in a non-sparring sorta way and that stuff can be a chore.

I’d like to revisit Bloodborne but tbh despite it being a more consistent game than its predecessors, I didn’t think it was more fun or memorable (Dark Souls 2 excluded). Hoping for like a 60 fps patch for PS5.

I like their bread and butter best, generally. I thought it was getting a little stale with Dark Souls 3, but they completely re-captured the magic this go around.

I don’t pay for online access but suddenly today i seem to have access to the online functions? I can see messages and bloodstains but haven’t figured out how to summon anyone. I’m guessing they’re giving free access for a limited time to try and entice people to paying for it

dunno about any free trials but to summon another player you need to spend a furlcalling remedy to make non-NPC summon signs appear in your game and then activate the sign of your choice

signs can deliberately be put down anywhere the game allows, but if players use the summoning pool item instead of the "place sign here" item then their signs will cluster around the marika statues

Beat the game last night, to my own surprise!

Congrats, DL! Which ending did you get?

my PS5 is on the way and i'm looking forward to immediately getting this game

Accidentally kill Boc last week, had to kill Blaidd yesterday ;_; I knew it was coming but that Good Boi did not deserve it.

Felt even worse when I told Iji and then came back and found HIM dead too. This game!

i know i'm pretty overleveled because i just beat godrick and morgott within an hour of each other, second try on each (almost first try on each)

level 98, 160 hours in, lol

zchrys, I got the Age of Stars ending. Are they all that short and unceremonious? I like the economy of it I guess

Haha Z I am in the same boat - I was on a tear this weekend and beat golden shade godrick and morgott without too much pain within one days play! As well as a few nasty sub bosses in Leyndell like the treestump and some annoying zappy knights. Fuck those guys.

FINALLY I am at Rold lift and heading my way into the Skyrim climes.

Godfrey not Godrick.

One game area Ive not managed to get any purchase on is volcano manor which is a shame as I wanted to see Rya as snek girl, but I dunno if I can be bothered. Ranni/Renalla sidequest + Sellen sidequest was quite enough.

I wasnt expecting what came after I defeated Morgott. For one he doesnt seem ... quite dead? Lying in a smooshed pile behind his throne.

And now suddenly I'm being told "hey lets BURN THE TREE DOWN" by Melina and "hey dont burn the tree down LETS BURN THE WHOLE WORLD MUAHAHAHA" by that ninja hat guy and I'm like... wtf is WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE.

FINALLY I am at Rold lift and heading my way into the Skyrim climes.

SAME. i hit the first site of grace with snow and decided to take a breather. I still haven't taken on Rykard, but i thought i'd go try to murder that fool up in skyrim first.

*takes giant elden ring rip from bong*

dude let's burn the tree down

Would smash bongs with u and play co op.

BTW: why is EVERYONE in this game out to kill you no matter what. I was strolling thru the bower of bounty, quietly trying to avoid those walking cthulu-face death monsters, when I spotted an NPC soldier take one on valiantly. He wasnt doing too good. Some friends of his waded inbut were all getitng their deathblight arses handded to them, so then I stepped in and killed the monster. The fucking soldiers then all turned on ME. Thanks a lot, guys.

As Oblivion would have said "hey! I'm on YOUR side!"

I enjoyed some duelling last night. My basic no-magic double lance merryman did great, was winning 80% of the time. I’d typically die to faith-y madness people and/or anybody smart enough to try and parry me. The feeling of being beaten in a duel is unique and wonderful, unmixed feelings of respect and sportsmanship and admiration for one’s opponent

Really got a feel for “trading hits”, too. Twice the duel ended with me getting the killing blow just as their blood loss proc’d or their magma adventure brought me to a sliver.

There were a number of times in this game (offline), I feel more than in past games, where there were both enemies that took out huuuuuge hunks of my health and also fights of attrition that left me with only a sliver of health at the end. I know there's invisible math at work, but I wonder if the game is designed that way to make things more exciting?

There are actually a few enemies here that seem kinda chill. The demi-humans in the woods somewhere, if you kill the big one they just cower harmlessly. Same in one cave, iirc. The wolves will try to get you, but they're nowhere near as aggressive as the bears. Trying to think of any other humans or humanoids that don't just automatically aggro. The miners in some, erm, mines? A few other things here and there. But yeah, certainly by the end of the game I was talking to the screen, basically pleading "don't pick a fight with me because I will destroy your entire enclave." I guess all the more chill enemies are balanced out by the relentless ones, like the spider things with swords or the dogs or big birds or bears or the big guys in one of the sewers or some of the knights that follow you and gang up, and so on. Even the little white blobs that blow bubbles out of their trumpets are assholes, though nothing here is worse than the cheese-proof enemies in DS2 that do not ever de-aggro.

fights of attrition that left me with only a sliver of health at the end.

I have wondered same about attacks - some enemies, my spells will do 95% in 2 hits, and i have to waste too much mana to finish that small sliver off, it feels... intentional and trolly, haha.

Completed it the other day, now I'm just doing some hoovering up before NG+. I really think this is the best, if not by far the most involving, game I've ever played.

It’s great. Dunno what system you play on, dog latin, but I backed myself up before doing some experimental respecs (and then reverted so I’d save my larval tears etc)

Just read something about an invader who, thanks to a glitch, apparently got summoned to help Rennala! That's kind of awesome.

It can happen, once I invaded into the Fire Giant's arena helped out the big old dummy.

I felt like I was finally doing really well, but Castle Sol is HARD man :( I cant even bear to think what Haligtree and endgame will be like.

I think I ran through most of Castle Sol. It's not enormous (unless I've missed a bit) but yeah, SE of the enemies are tough

Can't believe how much I missed in Mountaintops of the Giants first go through. I'm also taking through other areas of the game trying to get to all the Grace Points I might have missed and there is A LOT.
I mean, I'll look on Fextralife for a specific item or weapon and it'll turn out it's in a bit of Limgrave I just didn't happen to quite scope out properly, despite feeling like I've combed that while area several times over

Two times I've played through the game to completion, I've missed the Highroad Cave in Limgrave until the "taking stock" phase at the end. Something about the place where it's situated doesn't inspire investigation, it's also very well-hidden. I remember feeling like it was a pity, too, it's such a cool little diversion

Castle Sol was tough, iirc. It's got those lion monsters, guys firing explosives at you, some knights, tough/tricky boss fight. Which is the castle with the invisible stairs? That took some time, too.

This is really funny:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6MW-qdNoYA

FINISHED MY FIRST PLAYTHROUGH! the last boss fight was so relaxing but still pretty tough, great music! here's me:

https://i.imgur.com/rZYclJP.jpg

spoilers: idk if i became elden lord or not? i touch ranni's summon and got the age of stars ending i guess

as a sword and shield user i didn't learn about guard counters until 120 hours into the game. probably would've made things a lot easier

Congrats! Tbh I didn't use guard counters either, they seemed too unreliable. Half the time you would get interrupted by an attack before your counter. Maybe if they had given them crazy hyperarmor and damage reduction? Also, they can be parried (which only matters for pvp).

the most memorable battle for me in ANY souls game was the valiant gargoyle fight in the siofra aqueduct. i stumbled into the arena without preparation and very few flask charges. battle was going OK but then ran out of charges before the second gargoyle even spawned. i had a sliver of health, managed to hit 20 of the narrowest dodges of my life and finished the battle. afterwards my partner was like "i didn't say anything, i didn't move a muscle. there was no way i could interrupt that magic"

Age of Stars means you don't become Elden Lord. I believe the idea is that you leave the Lands Between with Ranni as her consort. I don't know what this means for the Lands Between though. As far as I understand, there is no ending that leaves the Lands Between ungoverned by a higher power

I've never got the hang of guard counters either and basically stopped using shields altogether as soon as I learnt how to dual wield. I'm also seriously terrible at jump attacks, despite having a build which is geared towards them (dual wielding greatswords). For some reason I always end up missing the attack and then getting stabbed in the back.

I'm not sure if it actually matters, but for some weapons it seems to work better if you trigger the attack closer to when you hit the ground (as opposed to earlier in the jump)?

Valiant Gargoyles was maybe my fave boss fight tbh. The other duo bosses (Godskin, Abductors) felt unfair

I love guard counters. I’m in love with my lance and am currently enjoying assisting others with the final bosses in a full Haligtree Knight cosplay. Lance+shield makes tough enemies (knights, revenants, Crystallians) a breeze

I installed DS2 again, it’s the one From main game I haven’t spent time on. I previously found it janky and poorly designed but after 300+ hours of Elden Ring these deficiencies have become charming in relief

I didn't have that much trouble with the other two duo fights, since I was pretty leveled up by then, but the gargoyle fight was a real pain. I *think* I only prevailed after one fell off a cliff?

I didn't deal with guard counters either, they were as unreliable/unpredictable as parrying. As with most of the other games, as applicable, best strategy for me was always to be strong enough to beat an enemy down, which may be why I struggled the most with high-poise enemies.