*** Elden Ring ***

Im with you all the way, Im loving it, but currently have no idea what I am doing. There has to be a half way house between Ubisoft openworld games and this. It Just appears to be extremes of approach to storytelling and quests. I feel that Elden Ring is too far the other way, by giving minimal clues and no log, which is ridiculous in a game this size.

A simple log would have gone a long way to making the path through the game visible. Im 40 hours in and would appear that I have barely scratched the surface of the game.
 
People are going to think I am mad, but it actually reminds me of WOW classic in 2004. No guidance, a map that had to be uncovered, a large area to cover etc.

I am loving the game and the free roam.
 
Your right martin363, wow before addons and thottbot ruined everything was all about the exploration and actually reading the quest text. Elden Ring is all about the exploration and the more you discover, the more you can piece things togeather. You may not find certain things the first time around, it may be your 2nd, 3rd or even 4th play through that you finally piece togeather things and you get that aha moment where it all clicks into place.

While not the most accessible aspect of the game, it certainly kept me entertained for well over 300 hours so far absolute bargain for the £50 it cost.
 
martin363 said:
People are going to think I am mad, but it actually reminds me of WOW classic in 2004. No guidance, a map that had to be uncovered, a large area to cover etc.

I am loving the game and the free roam.
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I'd forgotten a point I wanted to make and your post reminded me of it, I got a lot of WoW vibes too, early parts remind me a lot of Classic WoW in Darnassus about 2004 when it was really quiet. Something about roaming around just taking it at your own pace, but with danger all around off the beaten path, I hadn't had that feeling since classic WoW.

Darnassus atmosphere was so good, there's even a couple of musical tracks in Elden Ring that may have had some influence from it. An Elden Ring MMO could really be something special.
 
MadMossy said:
Your right martin363, wow before addons and thottbot ruined everything was all about the exploration and actually reading the quest text. Elden Ring is all about the exploration and the more you discover, the more you can piece things togeather. You may not find certain things the first time around, it may be your 2nd, 3rd or even 4th play through that you finally piece togeather things and you get that aha moment where it all clicks into place.

While not the most accessible aspect of the game, it certainly kept me entertained for well over 300 hours so far absolute bargain for the £50 it cost.
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I think you've hit the nail on the head when it comes to From style. I understand peoples' complaints about markers, questlog and less cryptic storytelling that doesn't require reading item description and stuff.
Maybe it doesn't work that great in Elden Ring, nowhere near far enough to tell. But what I can tell, is that you're supposed to not be able to discover everything. Things happen by chance, you wander off and explore. Every player gets different outcomes, sees different things. Compare that to a standard open world game with lots of question markers you tick off one by one and you do quests just because they pop up in your log. It's an open world game but there's nothing open about it, you're confined to the checklist.
 
Well, I have just finished the main boss and the ending was terrible, easily one of thee worst I have ever experienced. I love souls games but what the hell. Heres hoping I get a better ending in my second playthrough.
 
Amatsubu said:
Maybe it doesn't work that great in Elden Ring, nowhere near far enough to tell. But what I can tell, is that you're supposed to not be able to discover everything. Things happen by chance, you wander off and explore. Every player gets different outcomes, sees different things. Compare that to a standard open world game with lots of question markers you tick off one by one and you do quests just because they pop up in your log. It's an open world game but there's nothing open about it, you're confined to the checklist.
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In From games the item descriptions are the lore. Always been the case and is even more evident in this. It sounds absurd but if you read every item you get including armour, weapons you can fill in a lot of blanks very quickly and also figure out how to access some places deliberately rather than stumble on just by luck.

I think the main quest is also pretty well sign posted. Its all the other optional content thats hidden away but that is kind of the point. The last thing this game needs is a log.
 
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iamtheoneneo said:
In From games the item descriptions are the lore. Always been the case and is even more evident in this. It sounds absurd but if you read every item you get including armour, weapons you can fill in a lot of blanks very quickly and also figure out how to access some places deliberately rather than stumble on just by luck.

I think the main quest is also pretty well sign posted. Its all the other optional content thats hidden away but that is kind of the point. The last thing this game needs is a log.
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Yeah, I know, I'm pretty well acquainted with From games. In fact, that's one of the things I like the most about them. I was just alluding to some posts saying this game has no story and that it needs a quest log, neither of which I agree with.

I've been wandering about for more than 10h since yesterday and I wouldn't want the game to have question markers, quest log or drawn-out cutscenes/dialogues. It just doesn't suit these games, they're supposed to be alienating and make you connect the dots yourself. It's a huge part of the allure, IMO. The main quest is pretty clearly outlined so far and the hidden stuff... well, it's supposed to be hidden. Makes it much more impactful when you find it.

I can understand why some players can't gel with this formula but I wouldn't change it at all, there are other standard games for that.

The only slight problem I have is that I'm playing in Japanese and quite a few items have pretty damn obscure names so I have to check stuff and make sure I understand properly, I love names for made-up things:p

Other than that, good fun so far.
 
apatia77 said:
How would you rate the difficulty of the game compared to FROMSOFTWARE previous games?
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Less difficult by virtue of being open world with multiple progression paths. That certainly doesn't mean the fights are easy though, its just that you don't have to keep throwing yourself at the same boss and git gud to progress.
 
The difficulty of actual combat seems in the ballpark of the series but, as above, you're simply not forced into hard encounters anymore, you can postpone them, go explore, you have stealth and it's easier to avoid enemies in the open world. The game also seems to give you quite a lot of stamina from the get-go.

From other things that actually surprised me, Torrent feels so good to ride on compared to games like AC Odyssey or Witcher. Makes traversal super fun, which really adds to the open world experience.
 
I've finished the game multiple times now, got 40/42 achievements (still need to do Fia's quest line and the complete all achievements achievement) my current build is really have a tough time vs the last boss, the build relies on status ailments, yet the boss is immune to them all. I could just respec and 3 shot him but that would be kinda lame.
 
Been trying to finish this game for hours now, but keep finding new bosses and catacombs as I comb over the areas "one last time."

Did this in souls games too upgrading stuff getting prepped for NG+ taking almost as long as playing though multiple dungeons, but I think at least I've seen a lot of the game on one playthrough.

Found a great defensive tanking spear by a boss I'd forgotten about that is mostly for a boss fight gimmick, but also has crazy strength scaling upgraded with A for str and E for dex. Upgraded to +10 at 64 str and 22 dex it has 271 base damage, but a massive 447 bonus damage on top mostly from str. It's got the shield poke move too so you can turtle up still hit enemies while holding up a shield. Really shows the importance of getting good scaling weapons for your stats.
 
Amatsubu said:
Yeah, I know, I'm pretty well acquainted with From games. In fact, that's one of the things I like the most about them. I was just alluding to some posts saying this game has no story and that it needs a quest log, neither of which I agree with.

I've been wandering about for more than 10h since yesterday and I wouldn't want the game to have question markers, quest log or drawn-out cutscenes/dialogues. It just doesn't suit these games, they're supposed to be alienating and make you connect the dots yourself. It's a huge part of the allure, IMO. The main quest is pretty clearly outlined so far and the hidden stuff... well, it's supposed to be hidden. Makes it much more impactful when you find it.

I can understand why some players can't gel with this formula but I wouldn't change it at all, there are other standard games for that.

The only slight problem I have is that I'm playing in Japanese and quite a few items have pretty damn obscure names so I have to check stuff and make sure I understand properly, I love names for made-up things:p

Other than that, good fun so far.
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Don't think anyone is asking for quest markers, arrows or paths showing the exact route for all content. A little side menu with notes from characters you have interacted with would be welcome to read back later on and provide a log of info you have gathered.
 
SonicSW20 said:
Less difficult by virtue of being open world with multiple progression paths. That certainly doesn't mean the fights are easy though, its just that you don't have to keep throwing yourself at the same boss and git gud to progress.
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I am guessing you are not in the final areas yet, including haligtree. It gets much much harder imo. I finished it yesterday with the age of stars ending. Loved every second of it.
 
I don’t want to finish, I am deliberately taking my time and trying to explore everywhere, I reckon I could make my play through last a couple of hundred hours.
 
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