Elden Ring

[Wrecktangle]

I actually don't mind the concept of trading to a degree. There's a world where I'd love to experience the game not from NG+, but with all un-upgraded versions of the things I want from the very beginning (weapons, seals/spells, etc.).

[molliewoof]

Thanks all!

This popped into my YouTube feed and basically says ' scalings weird' , he gets into it about halfway through

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CzEYyGEfGgc

Also, my mate took this video which I find pretty funny as I hate the invading PvP aspect of the game

https://www.reddit.com/r/Eldenring/c...m_source=share

[Onikaroshi]

There were some excellent Dark Souls mods that mixed up the enemies and game layout. Perhaps modders might do the same for ER one day.

The guy doing the item/param mod wants to add enemies to it IIRC.

- - - Updated - - -

I actually don't mind the concept of trading to a degree. There's a world where I'd love to experience the game not from NG+, but with all un-upgraded versions of the things I want from the very beginning (weapons, seals/spells, etc.).

Do you mean like... if you wanted to play through the game with say... Blasphemous Blade? From start to finish on new game?

[Zenfoldor]

On my second non newgame+ playthrough one thing has become very apparent to me. The reason for the repeated bosses.

The reason for the repeated bosses is not content filler primarily, and also not for vets or people who play these games a lot(necessarily).

The re-used bosses are in the game to show you how far you have come.

Many other games do this(including previous souls games, such as Demon's Souls with the Vanguard Demon), I seem to remember the original FFVII doing it a bit. When you are new in these games, or when you only run through once, it can be very easy to lose track of your power gains. The bosses serve as proper named tests of might. Easy to remember visually. Re-fighting a "difficult" boss 10 hours later shows how much stronger you have become.

This game in particular scales hard after the Stormveil, and again after the capital. The power creep is easy to miss because the enemy scaling is making the game now seem harder than it was before. However, this is relative, and the re-used bosses help to show the player that they are actually increasing in power, when the rest of the game may seem like the player is decreasing. It keeps the player grounded in the knowledge that they are continually progressing, significantly, and so are the enemies.

On this run, I have done zero graves, zero caves, zero catacombs, and zero summons. I'm on track to beat it in about 30 hours(I'm about 20 hours in now) doing everything else, and I won't run into a single repeated boss. This is the path for veterans, and probably the reason for the originally quoted 30 hours.

Of course, on my first playthrough I thought that to be impossible. I am not particularly skilled. However, after like 130 hours and a melania kill, I'm much better, but more importantly, I'm using strat guides and item locations to find meta weapons and somber smithing stones early, and grabbing the scaled armor early and knowing where most of the good talismans are, it's a gigantic, gigantic improvement from my first run, night and day.

Honestly, without the side caves and repeat bosses, the game is pretty short and easy(when you know how to prioritize the right power gains). Even on ng0(it's certainly very easy on ng+) going through it again. When you just let go of the exploration for fun mythos and beat the game, it's a pretty tight experience.

My suggestion, if you don't like a bunch of the repeat bosses, or extra dungeons, skip them. They actually add very little to the game, and imho, are really intended for those who need assistance through the game, or reassurance of power growth, not knowledgeable soulsborne players who aren't here for the "magic" of the games atmosphere, but the utility of the mechanics. I've experienced the game both ways now, and both are super fun and have their own target audience, imo.

Also, for fun factor, ng+ for me is like a 7/10(I haven't done it much this game), but starting fresh with ng0 on a wretch, and just playing to win, that is almost as much fun as the original playthrough here. At least for me. Starting as wretch is a fun little thing the first time one does it, imo.

[Jastall]

I think the enemy variety in Elden Ring is quite good, as it is in most From games. The problem is that they aren't placed correctly. I'm personally waiting for a mod to "remix" the enemies so that you're not just fighting knights 80% of the time and some of the enemies (like the Zamor knights) can only be found in later zones.

I think part of the problem is that none of the zones have any truly "unique" enemies that would give them a bit more personality. I can't think of any enemy in any zone that is unique to that zone and not found elsewhere in the game. Each zone could have its own unique "common" enemies. Liurnia could be those guys who teleport and shoot yellow orbs at you, Mountaintop (or Gelmir) could be the pyromancers, Weeping Peninsula could have been the misbegotten, Caelid could be the vulgar militias, Altus could be perfumers / cultists, etc. Then you could sprinkle some more difficult enemies on top, like the Omens and lions in Caelid, giant Hands / Wolves / Crows in Mountaintop, Royal Revenants and Lobsters in Liurnia, the war machines in Gelmir, Omenkillers and Wormfaces in Altus, Zamor knights in Snowfield, etc.

Then for the legacy dungeons you could keep the beastmen to just Farum (and not found as min-bosses), have the pests and cleanrot knights unique to Haligtree, pages and banished knights to Leyndell, glintstone sorcerors (and all their variants) in just Raya Lucaria etc.

https://eldenring.wiki.fextralife.co...es+and+Enemies

Just looking at the bestiary above and it definitely seems this would easily be do-able, while keeping certain enemies universal around all the zones (knights, demi-humans, animals, etc.). You could even still repeat bosses (Crucible Knights, dragons, assassins, tree-spirits, and avatars), while keeping others unique (tree-sentinel for Leyndell, Wolves of Radagon for Liurnia, Magma Wyrms for Gelmir, Godskin for Altus, Fallingstar beast for Mountaintop).

Yeah, I should clarify, the variety across the whole game is quite good, far above what you find in say, Breath of the Wild and miles ahead of the typical Ubisoft sandbox nonsense or whatever. There's dozens of enemy types even before you get into miniboss/bosses. But it's distributed improperly. The worst about this are Consecrated Snowfield (which is a really shit zone for many reasons anyway) and Miquella's Haligtree which are a moshpit of many different enemy types from across the whole game mashed together and scaled up the whazoo, with the only new one being those incredibly annoying snipers on wolfback. While Stormveil Castle, Raya Lucaria and Volcano Manor do seed some of their enemies across the rest of the game, they still retain an identity IMO, the last two especially. But Haligtree is trumpets+ants into flowers/beastmen/zombies into soldiers, Cleanrots and Erdtree Avatars into Revenants and crystal dudes into Kindred of Rot/tree spirit into Malenia. Good lord, what a mess. I know in theory Elphael and the Haligtree branches are different levels but that's no excuse if you ask me.

Farum Azula is better but not that much. The Beastmen you've only seen as minibosses but you've still seen them. Then you get a bunch of previously-boss dragons as enemies, wormfaces, knights both exiled and Crucible, Godskin Duo as the shit boss, birds and dogs, and finally yet another Tree Sentinel except you fight on foot. Thank goodness Placidusax and Maliketh are good and unique bosses. But still doesn't make the place feel as isolated and different as, say, Fountainhead Palace or Archdragon Peak were.

I do think the snakemen in Volcano Manor are not found literally anywhere else. At least I have no memory of them. But yeah, the model you present sounds more appealing, although the poor placement really only becomes blatant from Mountaintop onwards IMO. The underground's also pretty good about having enemies unique to it.

[Wrecktangle]

Do you mean like... if you wanted to play through the game with say... Blasphemous Blade? From start to finish on new game?

Yes, naturally using makeshift options early on while you level up to be able to use whatever I wanted to. There's definitely a ton of charm in having the more organic experience of using what you find, but it kinda sucked finding the thing I wished for 130 hours in, and not much was left to use it on. I'm on NG+3 now, and decided to just take a break and come back for a NG cycle sometime next year or if DLC comes.

[hellhamster]

It's up. Prepare for epilepsy.

[Zenfoldor]

So, lol, on my second ng0 play, playing as wretch.

I discovered the Bloodhound's fang this playthrough. Never saw it before. Made me fall absolutely in love with Bloodhound's Step and the movement ability that it provides. This game is all kinds of crazy good, these weapon arts make each ng0 playthrough a VERY different experience.

Anyway, I'm just beating the capital now, about 21 hours in. I've decided I am scratching my original paladin build plan, and plan to go dex/arcane and powerstance Morgott's Cursed Sword and Bloodhounds's fang(I've been 2 handing this whole playthrough).

Let me say this, to the shield hiders, who can't understand how to play this game without a shield....try it. It's one of the most rewarding experiences you will find. Try 2 hand and dual wield(powerstance) combat. It is absolutely rewarding from a gameplay standpoint, even if it feels impossible on the first go.

Also, Bloodhound's Step is incredible, everyone should try it. Game keeps staying this good, honestly, at 150 total hours, few other games kept me glued to them this long, and even fewer see me turn around and start over on a game the second I beat it. It's just that good. Also I've gotten into the lore now, and wow, this game may have the best story ever too, lol. I'm way into it now. Can't believe I even questioned GRRM's contribution early on, because this lore is legit.

[Devilyaki]

So, lol, on my second ng0 play, playing as wretch.

I discovered the Bloodhound's fang this playthrough. Never saw it before. Made me fall absolutely in love with Bloodhound's Step and the movement ability that it provides. This game is all kinds of crazy good, these weapon arts make each ng0 playthrough a VERY different experience.

Anyway, I'm just beating the capital now, about 21 hours in. I've decided I am scratching my original paladin build plan, and plan to go dex/arcane and powerstance Morgott's Cursed Sword and Bloodhounds's fang(I've been 2 handing this whole playthrough).

Let me say this, to the shield hiders, who can't understand how to play this game without a shield....try it. It's one of the most rewarding experiences you will find. Try 2 hand and dual wield(powerstance) combat. It is absolutely rewarding from a gameplay standpoint, even if it feels impossible on the first go.

Also, Bloodhound's Step is incredible, everyone should try it. Game keeps staying this good, honestly, at 150 total hours, few other games kept me glued to them this long, and even fewer see me turn around and start over on a game the second I beat it. It's just that good. Also I've gotten into the lore now, and wow, this game may have the best story ever too, lol. I'm way into it now. Can't believe I even questioned GRRM's contribution early on, because this lore is legit.

Lol bloodhound step is almost too good. It’s what you use to ween yourself off of shield built XD

[Darkarath]

I really do not get the endgame hate. I think that Snowfield (left part) + Haligtree are awesome, especially Haligtree, the place were I died the most by far, but the zone is amazing. The storm in Snowfield bothers me a bit though.

Snowfield (right part) is barren, but I guess that it makes sense from a lore PoW. There was not much in the zone where all the giants are dead, but it has an unique and sad vibe to me that make it a pretty cool zone.

Farum Azula is also spectacular, those tornadoes are very cool, and is a different zone with all the jumping.

Honestly, endgame zones are probably the best zones of the game for me, with Stormveil Castle being up there too.

[Okacz]

I really do not get the endgame hate. I think that Snowfield (left part) + Haligtree are awesome, especially Haligtree, the place were I died the most by far, but the zone is amazing. The storm in Snowfield bothers me a bit though.

Snowfield (right part) is barren, but I guess that it makes sense from a lore PoW. There was not much in the zone where all the giants are dead, but it has an unique and sad vibe to me that make it a pretty cool zone.

Farum Azula is also spectacular, those tornadoes are very cool, and is a different zone with all the jumping.

Honestly, endgame zones are probably the best zones of the game for me, with Stormveil Castle being up there too.

+1 on that. Haligtree and Elphael were my fav zones in the late game. A lot of corners were cut, but they still make it feel like good old-school rpg zone design. Amp up the enemy count, throw in a couple enemies we faced before but even harder, test the player to the limit. All the while making the zone absolutely gorgeous and worthwhile, with great items and upgrades. And the endboss is probably the most beautiful fight in the game.

Wasn't a fan of Snowfield, but it's a bit of a in-between zone anyway to get you to other places. That Magma Dragon kicked my ass too.

[hellhamster]

+1 on that. Haligtree and Elphael were my fav zones in the late game. A lot of corners were cut, but they still make it feel like good old-school rpg zone design. Amp up the enemy count, throw in a couple enemies we faced before but even harder, test the player to the limit. All the while making the zone absolutely gorgeous and worthwhile, with great items and upgrades. And the endboss is probably the most beautiful fight in the game.

Wasn't a fan of Snowfield, but it's a bit of a in-between zone anyway to get you to other places. That Magma Dragon kicked my ass too.

The wolf pack with the big Harry Potter wolf in Snowfield where you can't see shit is legit the hardest group of enemies in the game.

[Ezyah]

I might have missed something but I just couldn't get into that game. I was dropped into this world with barely explanation and a lore I did not understand and I was like "what now ? Do I just run around and kill mobs ?"
In combat I also felt like a semi truck heavy and slow.

I really don't get the hype. I had a much better time on horizon / Witcher / ghost of Tsushima when it comes to open worlds.

I guess I'm not the right audience for that game.

[Okacz]

The wolf pack with the big Harry Potter wolf in Snowfield where you can't see shit is legit the hardest group of enemies in the game.

You're right, those wolf packs were some of the hardest enemies to face. I don't even recall actually killing any of them, just hitting them, seeing how much they hit back and feeling like investigating anything else

I might have missed something but I just couldn't get into that game. I was dropped into this world with barely explanation and a lore I did not understand and I was like "what now ? Do I just run around and kill mobs ?"
In combat I also felt like a semi truck heavy and slow.

I really don't get the hype. I had a much better time on horizon / Witcher / ghost of Tsushima when it comes to open worlds.

I guess I'm not the right audience for that game.

All above are examples of more "modernized" open worlds that started with Assassin's Creeds or Far Cries. Elden Ring is more open in a sense that Breath of the Wild is. World doesn't restrict you in any unnatural way, but doesn't force itself on you with obvious "clear this camp" missions etc.

I wasn't that sure about this game at first too, but when I approached it as a non-linear playground with dozens of wacky options it became amazing. Agree that the lore could be slightly more player-friendly, I swear like 90% of it turned out to be hidden in random item descriptions, like what the fuck.

[Fencers]

I might have missed something but I just couldn't get into that game. I was dropped into this world with barely explanation and a lore I did not understand and I was like "what now ? Do I just run around and kill mobs ?"
In combat I also felt like a semi truck heavy and slow.

I really don't get the hype. I had a much better time on horizon / Witcher / ghost of Tsushima when it comes to open worlds.

I guess I'm not the right audience for that game.

Nothing wrong with your view here. Though I would guess from your wording and reference to other games, you had an expectation to be led to objectives in the game space and perhaps with some contextual &/or narrative component to that disambiguation. That is the opposite of the game expression in Elden Ring.

The game is meant to be explored and played for its own sake primarily. The adventure itself is largely the point.

Perhaps if you played again with a different expectation in mind that will be more enjoyable. I understand how in a modernist context one might not dig this type of game too.

[Zenfoldor]

I really do not get the endgame hate. I think that Snowfield (left part) + Haligtree are awesome, especially Haligtree, the place were I died the most by far, but the zone is amazing. The storm in Snowfield bothers me a bit though.

Snowfield (right part) is barren, but I guess that it makes sense from a lore PoW. There was not much in the zone where all the giants are dead, but it has an unique and sad vibe to me that make it a pretty cool zone.

Farum Azula is also spectacular, those tornadoes are very cool, and is a different zone with all the jumping.

Honestly, endgame zones are probably the best zones of the game for me, with Stormveil Castle being up there too.

Agree with this 100%.

Haligtree = Best Dungeon
Ordina Liturgical Town Puzzle = Best Puzzle
Farum Azula = incredible Dungeon
Mogh's Palace = Awesome area and boss
Melania = Best Boss
Fire Giant = Most Memorable Boss that ain't Melania

Challenge goes from easy to tough at the endgame, which is awesome.

The list just goes on and on. The game gets way better towards the middle/end. The capital area is incredible and right before the snowfields too. End game is best game. IMO, that becomes a LOT clearer on the 2nd run. 2nd run starts super challenging until after Stormveil, then gets really easy, and gets hard/fun again right at/after the capital.

[Katchii]

Nothing wrong with your view here. Though I would guess from your wording and reference to other games, you had an expectation to be led to objectives in the game space and perhaps with some contextual &/or narrative component to that disambiguation. That is the opposite of the game expression in Elden Ring.

The game is meant to be explored and played for its own sake primarily. The adventure itself is largely the point.

Perhaps if you played again with a different expectation in mind that will be more enjoyable. I understand how in a modernist context one might not dig this type of game too.

This^

I just got it yesterday and am only maybe an hour past the tutorial. I was prefaced by several friends and this forum of what to expect, but it was still a bit of a shock just how unapologetically unforgiving the game is. It's a large departure from what I'm used to, with games like Horizon, Ghost of Tsushima, Assassin's Creed, and even Breathe of the Wild.

I really enjoy the combat, mostly. It feels weighty, real and meaty. I just wish dying didn't feel like such a huge consequence (maybe it just feels that way to me right now and I'll eventually get over it?) because it's made me afraid/ anxious to get into combat with anything and really experiment with my play style. See what works best.

I picked Confessor as the starting class because it had a self heal and a shield, which made it seem like I could recover in combat easier, but the combat can happen so fast sometimes and movement so necessary that taking the time to switch to the finger seal thing that I need to have equipped to cast the heal and then actually cast the heal which takes a couple seconds, feels more like a liability than something I can lean on to help.

Either way, this is the first game in a while where I've felt a sense of danger and adventure, and I'm excited to keep going but yeah...it's different, takes getting used to and a different frame of mind than other games.

[Fencers]

Haligtree = Best Dungeon
Ordina Liturgical Town Puzzle = Best Puzzle
Farum Azula = incredible Dungeon
Mogh's Palace = Awesome area and boss
Melania = Best Boss
Fire Giant = Most Memorable Boss that ain't Melania

I think Farum Azula is one of From's best dungeons actually. Though not especially challenging (at least to me), Stromveil Castle is the best piece of dungeon design they have ever committed.

The sheer accomplishment of design encounters, encounter assembly, layout, traversal logic, encounter space, and so on in Stromveil is some of the best level design I have ever seen in all of video games. That Thief, Dues Ex, Resident Evil 2, Super Metroid type of game level design.

I went back through Stormveil like 8 times and discovered something new or design aspect anew each time. It was the longest section of notes I have ever taken from a single instance in a game since the opening of Morrowind.

- - - Updated - - -

A thought that occurred to me because it was brought up, was regarding Horizon Zero Dawn. In particular Forbidden West. I really enjoyed Horizon a lot- I love the setting, characters, and concept. Had a lot of fun playing the game. Looked forward to the sequel. I played the sequel and was fun but, but forgettable in a sense.

I kinda played Forbidden West in a checkpoint-to-checkpoint manner. I never use guides or walkthroughs for games I am actively playing. But I cleared a lot of Forbidden West on the first go, which was fun at the time, but I forgot like almost everything about the game.

When I dove fully into Elden Ring only a few days after Forbidden West's completion, I could not stop thinking about Elden Ring. About character builds, secrets, lore, why an encounter was placed in such a place, and the use of certain wording and speech. I remember most of ER over hundreds of hours of play.

At one point, I woke up like at 4 in the morning, turned on Elden Ring, fast traveled to Nokstella and spent like an hour looking at the way From Software used geometry in that area. Brilliant.

This might be the finest game I have ever played.

[hellhamster]

I might have missed something but I just couldn't get into that game. I was dropped into this world with barely explanation and a lore I did not understand and I was like "what now ? Do I just run around and kill mobs ?"
In combat I also felt like a semi truck heavy and slow.

I really don't get the hype. I had a much better time on horizon / Witcher / ghost of Tsushima when it comes to open worlds.

I guess I'm not the right audience for that game.

Just play a little longer lol. I'm guessing you closed the game 5 minutes into Limgrave, probably right after the dude on a horse whooped your ass.

[PACOX]

I might have missed something but I just couldn't get into that game. I was dropped into this world with barely explanation and a lore I did not understand and I was like "what now ? Do I just run around and kill mobs ?"
In combat I also felt like a semi truck heavy and slow.

I really don't get the hype. I had a much better time on horizon / Witcher / ghost of Tsushima when it comes to open worlds.

I guess I'm not the right audience for that game.

Its an open world game and a FromSoftware game, so it has the quirks of both, which aren't for everyone. FromSoftware games give you little direction, especially if you have never played one before so if you are lost then you are not alone. If you find the game does not explain much, you're not alone. The flow at its primal level is to get your ass kicked until you learn how to overcome whatever is kicking your ass...by any means afforded to you by the game. The game will mess you up as long as can stand it.

Open world means there's few barriers baring your path. FromSoftware open world means they will put enemies that severely outrank you in the "starter zone". They will also allow you to run to areas 'underleveled', sometimes they will teleport you to high level areas and say "glad it ain't me".

People are drawn to this world because of the rush you get when you final learn a enemy that has been wipe the floor with you tens/hundreds of times over. They like starting off a feeble guy who can barely carry a stick to wielding a club the size of Hordor. You become a god but only after you've clawed your way through the mud.


Its a janky game but to some that's the charm. Also the world is surprisingly detailed, sometimes beautiful, for a hellscape.