Elden Ring: YOU DIED on a horse

Kalameet is where I'm stuck in DS1. He's soooo tough - and I say that after finding a lot of the other bosses not so hard, in fact some of them were a bit of a joke

I have never really played PVP in these games save for a couple of cursory goes either with a friend where we're just larking about or getting merked in the collosseums in Elden Ring

I think you can get kinda greedy/aggressive with Kalameet, you just need to know which attack cues mean 'start running away immediately'.

Midir and Gael are such different boss fights, Gael's phase 2 is so chaotic (like you say) that it's basically impossible to not take damage, they're just going for 'epic. So although phase 1 is very measured, you just need to make it to phase 2 with as many flasks as possible and wing (or at least that's what I remember doing). Whereas Midir, if you learn the fight there's no reason to take damage.

I'm pretty sure I read all the strategy guides, cheese tips, iirc asking here, the whole "get this over with" lot with Midir, and none of them clicked with me.

I probably watched someone like LobosJr do a soul level 1 version of the fight to learn the moves, lol.

The worst thing about this DLC coming now is that "Lords of the Fallen" and "Lies of P" look like totally awesome Soulslikes that now get bumped further back in the backlog.

I still need to try Lords of the Fallen again now that it's gotten one million patches.

It dismays me that Sony are saying the PS5 is already in its latter stages and making out that they're going to slowly phase out new releases. This feels echoed by Miyazaki when he says they're waiting for new technology before attempting a Bloodborne remake. Like, I get it - Bloodborne is a PS4 game and we're only a generation on from that; plus it's true PS5 has technically been out for three years (even though most people could only get it a full year after release), but yeah what did I buy if everyone's just giving up on it?

A recent Dunkey video, while somewhat cheeky, was still kind of OTM.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IA6Rq__Z8PM

I guess the challenge becomes, how do you sell a (rumored) PS5 Pro, let alone a PS6, if the PS4 was still good enough to play most (all?) PS5 games? Sure, you can promise exclusives (like a new Bloodborne, say), but the PS5 failed to deliver on the exclusive front, so why would I expect otherwise from a PS6? Don't get me wrong, I love my PS5, and love Bloodborne, and would love a new Bloodborne. But would I buy a PS6 *just* for Bloodborne? I doubt it. I mean, they're *still* releasing titles for the PS4, so the notion of them phasing out the PS5 seems ludicrous.

Yeah. It's ludicrous. I spent a lot of money on my PS5 and I love it because... well Demon's Souls looked great and I like to have fast loading times but...

The PS4 will probably still play most PS6 releases lol

I feel there's a lot of overreaction to the statement by Sony. It's in line with their console release history.

From this article I found, a bit of reasoning behind the messaging:

In late 2023 Sony introduced the PS5 Slim, a digital only model that came with an optional (and detachable) disc drive. This hardware refresh mirrored the three year timeframe it took for it to introduce revisions to its previous console, the PlayStation 4, marking the "latter stage" of that console's lifecycle. However, although Sony introduced the PS4 Slim and PS4 Pro in 2016, it was another five years before the company discontinued them, as it continued to produce PS4 models for over a year after the PS5 launched. It's unclear if this is a route Sony will take with the PS5 and its successor, but it's a good reference point to illustrate that the "the latter stage" doesn't necessarily equate to "the end". So, while Matsuoka's statement on the PS5 life cycle may sound surprising (perhaps exacerbated by the warping of time we've all experienced through the pandemic), things are actually tracking as normal.

I'd put my money on a PS6 or whatever it's called to be out in late '27 or '28 at the latest, and for games to continue to be made compatible with it (at least digitally), for longer assuming it sells as well as the PS4, which it's tracking to do. Backwards compatibility no longer incentives independent developers from creating too many launch exclusives, so I'd expect what you'd see from this generation's transition: a lot of backwards compatibility and support for the previous console years into the next one's release. One of the two games Naughty Dog is currently working on will be a PS6 exclusive I bet. Development times for AAA games are like 3-5 years, which is most of a console's lifecycle as it is.

My guess is GTA6 will be a watershed game for the current gen that up until now has been lacking one due to the backwards compatibility on most titles the last few years. Demon Souls, Rift Apart and FFXVI weren't it

I feel we're getting to a stage where processing power is so strong that it's ludicrously expensive to make games that truly take advantage of it. And if Nintendo's success with the Switch is proof, game design trumps tech (though to a certain point, of course).

I kinda feel console gaming is at a bit of an inflection point. With most game engines easily ported to different platforms and current gen's graphics architectures largely backwards compatible for over a decade now I wouldn't be surprised to see the console market turn into more of a modular setup, like a PC. You get games that will work on the platform no matter the hardware, but with varying improvements to graphics and performance if you pay for more expensive components like graphics chips (and they're stupid easy to replace, like without opening the box). Newer games will just say it requires component X or better to work. The console itself remains the same.

One big prob is spending hundreds of millions on games that take years to finish but don't really move the ball forward. The key is to under promise and over deliver, not the reverse. From seems to have it figured out. The AAA Sony games right now? Not so much, imo, good as the games are.

my twopennorth's fwiw – gaming growth has slowed substantially in decline (across mobile and consoles), sony have just announced a 'significant drop' in operating profits and off of that have said they're in the second half of the PS5 cycle. but in those conditions why wouldn't you do what microsoft is doing and seek to maximise revenue across your gaming IP across a number of consoles rather than launching a new console?

Plus Switch 2.0 is due out (and note Nintendo sweated the Switch 1 successfully for a *long* time), so I think it will be (prediction so i can be proven wrong) minimum three more likely four years before we see a new "PS" launched, if the product even looks like a console then.

PLENTY MORE TIME TO DIE ON A HORSE.

Switch launched 7 years ago in just a week or two. That's an excellent shelf life, and people are still pretty happy with theirs

Worth keeping in mind, of course, that Nintendo's bread and butter is virtually all exclusives, and the company has been among the biggest offenders when it comes to remasters being sold at a premium. Lest we forget, "Mario Kart 8" and "Super Smash Bros.," the current iterations of those games and linchpins of the system, were originally released for the Wii U (as was "Breath of the Wild"). By far "Mario Kart 8" is their top selling game, and it came out 10 years ago.

I dunno what they hope to deliver with a Switch 2 that would inspire people to upgrade. It sure won't be the Ring Fit 2 or Labo 2. If anything, Nintendo is in the opposite place as PS/MS: if people are not buying the system for the graphics and computing power, why upgrade?

ELDEN RING!!!!!!!!!

lol

I'm just gonna post that every few hours until it comes out

lol. I have to say that while I really could care less about the lore for the most part, on my new playthrough it's more interesting to hear about all these weirdo demigods having already killed them all. Y'know, it's nice to put a face to name. Otherwise it was really like someone telling boring stories about a bunch of friends you don't know.

oh the lore is what i live for. but yeah it's more fun the second playthrough when you're like "oh wait, I KNOW that place. I've got a timeshare there"

I've definitely fallen into the lore video wormhole. Big fan of the Tarnished Archeologist. It's crazy how much depth there is in the game and you begin to see where GRRM's influence into it too. Harder to grasp if you just go in and play blind and ignore all the item descriptions

By the end of my first playthrough, I had no idea who I was fighting and why. Second playthrough it all came together, the loreplot is convoluted but rewarding

YEah I got a lot from watching VaatiVidya, Smoughtown, Zullie The Witch and listening to the Bonfireside Chat podcast. I don't think I'd get half as much fun from this without knowing a bit about the lore and why stuff is happening. It becomes like a cryptic detective game, and I'm all up for that.

On this playthrough I'm especially struck by the world/quest design. You really do have a ton of freedom in terms of the order in which you approach things, but the enemy scaling is very clear too. I did most of Altus before ever visiting Caelid (and Radahn is a shadow of his former pre-nerf self, sadly), and now I'm lvl 50 with a +10 weapon and Leyndell is the obvious place to go quest-wise, but that Draconic Tree Sentinel is quite obviously telling me that I should probably go explore all those areas that I skipped (like the underground and Volcano Manor proper) before continuing forward.

The difficulty curve is remarkably smooth if you know what the intended order is. Of course it's unlikely anyone could know it without having played before or consulting a guide, but I found it impressive on my last run; especially considering how much farming and grinding I used to do on this game and previous Fromsoft games. Seriously, I've no idea how anyone can get through Bloodborne without occasionally farming those werewolves on the bridge at the beginning

I'm now up to Stormveil on my third proper playthrough, around lv30, and I'm realising how much stuff I missed on my previous playthroughs, like Dear Ratboy and not-Vampire-Hunter-Undead-Hunter-actually D out in the wild. The Blood Katana with boosted Dex, Arc and Vig build seems to be working well as a build, you can really take down those giants hardcore!

It's been a while since I played but... who is Dear Ratboy?

D is a weak link in the game imo, but I forget that it's possible to meet him before you get to the Roundtable Hold. I do like the voice-casting and his peculiar Rotherham (I assume Rotherham based on a friend who sounds similar) accent

Dear Ratboy sounds like Boc to me.

I should do his quest this time, and Jarburg since that was broken on my first playthrough.

I never thought I would become such a halberd enjoyer, but I got the dragon halberd and may try a dual halberd build with the starting one. Also swapped out the Great Stars for a basic (heavy) longsword and I'm much happier.

I'm not sure I've ever been able to do the whole Jarberg quest all the way through

It's low-key frustrating that as a PS player who's completed the game 3 times, I have to go through a significant part of it yet again to get to the DLC. That said, I don't think it's too hard to get to Radahn or Mogh in the earlier stages of the game is it? Besides, I'm looking forward to going back to it.

Did I mention that I applied to go on Mastermind on a whim the other day; chose Elden Ring as my number one choice of specialist subject

Can't you do just it on one of your end-game characters? That's my plan. Or did you go to ng+, and want to do the DLC in new game?

You can get to Radahn & Mogh pretty early, but beating Mogh at a low level is another thing entirely, and I think the DLC will be tuned for end game stats.

I've yet to start a fresh character, on ng+3 at this stage. Wouldn't the appeal to start fresh be primarily for challenge and PvP? I'm kinda PvE only and have a bunch of larval tears and maxed out weapons to play with my build. While at the start of ng+3, it should be fun to get to Mohg again

I got 70k runes from an over-leveled phantom dying during an invasion last night, that was a cool four levels for free.

I'm quite heavily back in - NG+ & overlevelled (250-260), clearing up as much as I can before I burn the shit out of the Erdtree. Feel like I'll burn through the DLC too quick if I stick with this guy so starting to think about a new playthrough - I've never done a thing with INT so maybe fun to be a sorcerer for a bit.

Thought I might commit to Bloodborne or DS3 (both of which I've done about 20% of) before the DLC but I don't want to confuse my hard earned muscle memory with slight variations.

my intentions to do sorcery/INT builds always die after a few hours of play through. wd consider re-speccing a post renala STR/DEX/FAI build tho.

Ha, same. Even if I tell myself I'm going to do more spells or archery, ranged combat is not that satisfying for me, and I'm too much of a simpleton to worry about blue flasks or crafting arrows. A straight dex or str build with a few different weapons/ashes is as much as I can concentrate on. Too busy dodging.

Same really - I always end up thinking ‘f it why I don’t just hit the little shit with a sword’ when I try magic classes - but I might as well try it and I’d rather keep Mr Level 255 as an OP beast who hits things and they die.

I have about three RL 150 characters that have “done it all” except burn the Erdtree, I prepped them for dueling, but also with the purpose of entering the DLC. I hope you don’t need to start a new game for DLC to be accessible!

All three characters were also like “me figuring out which character’s playstyle I most enjoyed” and it is, absolutely, a greatshield dude— my preference is for the Haligtree gs

A turtle! Do you use a poke-y weapon with that?

Dear Ratboy sounds like Boc to me.

― feed me with your chips (zchyrs), Tuesday, February 27, 2024 3:32 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Correct! Going to head to the coastal cave to help him out...

Can't you do just it on one of your end-game characters? That's my plan. Or did you go to ng+, and want to do the DLC in new game?

You can get to Radahn & Mogh pretty early, but beating Mogh at a low level is another thing entirely, and I think the DLC will be tuned for end game stats.

― Jordan s/t (Jordan), Tuesday, February 27, 2024 4:06 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

When you start a new game it uses the same save file you previously had, so you lose all your grace sites but keep all your weapons etc. It shouldn't be too much of a hassle

I picked up the game again for the first time in several months (link if anyone's really interested in watching 3 hours of me going "where's the steed whistle again?" and dying to low-level mooks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0q32xC0NRs).

I had previously started a brand new game as a Wretch, playing it as closely to the intended order as I could, and gotten through about half of it up to Altus Plateau.

Something I don't remember having to do in previous playthroughs was the Yura quest in order to get the Purifying Crystal Tear from Bloody Finger Eleanora.

I know I must have used it to fight Mogh, but I've no memory of the sections at 2:19 where you help Yura fight an assassin, and 2:41 at the Second Church of Marika where you find him dying and then have to fight Eleanora. Was that all patched in later?

looks like Eleanora invades even if you're not doing the Yura quest - see final bullet of the questline on fextra