*** Elden Ring ***

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Just finished the main story, it looks like there are still a few optional bosses for me to still take out but overall I've cleared the majority of the game blind (aside from checking on NPC questlines here and there). Playtime has come in at a very nearly round 80 hours.

Overall it was excellent, I loved the lack of hand holding when it came to exploration, the freedom to go wherever, whenever. I always love the art design in these games, the atmosphere at times was awesome. I've really just not been able to put it down since release. Probably one of my favourite games in recent years.

Not sure where it ranks on the list of the other souls games, Quite high I feel, but I probably need more time to make that decision yet. Bloodborne remains my favourite for now I think.

They've found a really fantastic formula IMO, but there do need to be some quality of life improvements, especially given the new scope of a massive open world and increased amount of content.

  • It needs a log at this point, something to keep track of all the characters you meet. It's always been very difficult in these games to keep up with quest lines and more often than not you have to rely on the wiki to figure out some obscure location/trick to trigger the next phase. There were quite a few people that I met once and completely forgot existed for the next few dozen hours, inevitably breaking quest lines by progressing too far. Even some of the characters that drive the main plot are non existent for 95% of the game. Something like the character log in Witcher 3 I feel would be great
  • Multiplayer still looks like jumping through hoops unless you are paired up with passwords
  • My issues were very limited, but there's no denying that there's some technical problems with the game. They really do need to put more care into the PC versions at this stage
  • The difficulty felt spot on for the majority of the game, it just seems to spike in some later areas for no real reason. The damage you receive at times is ludicrous, it almost feels like gear pumping stats and gear makes no difference.
  • The camera can still be your worst enemy at times


Some thoughts on the late game bosses:
The final boss was a bit weird and ultimately disappointing, phase 1 is fine, lines up lore wise. Phase 2 came out of nowhere for me, I had no idea what I was fighting or why, it looked like some kind of legendary Pokemon. The camera was awful here as well, it felt like I was wrestling with the thing anytime I got remotely into melee range.

Malenia half broke the game for me, the whole area leading up to her felt like a complete slog. The actual fight itself might be one of the worst in the series for me, the scale seemed to be shifted way over to the broken/unfair side. I levelled up the then unused mimic summon to +10 after a while in a rage, fully intending on cheesing her. I decided against it though and just power levelled my way up to 160, mixed up my katanas to have frost & bleed (feels super OP) and eventually got lucky with the patterns.

No feeling of accomplishment at all, I was just glad that it was finally over. That was the moment I knew I needed to push forward quickly and finish the game off, it knocked me out a good 70 odd hour streak of constantly wanting to come back. I feel for a lot of people who are going to arrive at her, your only option is to not get hit and just go full attack mode in the hopes you get her first. Those relying on shields have absolutely no chance.

The problem after that was that I was so over levelled that I blitzed through the remainder of the game with ease. Godfrey and Maliketh looked like cool fights, but were over first try very quickly for me.
 
Soldato
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Finally took down Radahn last night. I had been pushing on exploring everywhere I could, but felt I hit a dead end up in Gelmir (probably didn't, but couldn't see the way forward) and so warped back to him.

He was visually very imposing, but I don't think you're supposed to be level 78 when you fight him. By waiting until a couple of summons had his attention, a full FP bar of meteorite slammed into him for somewhere between a third and a quarter of his health, and he quickly re-aggroed onto the summons when I rolled away after each one. He only just made phase two. I guess I missed out on an epic battle by over-levelling and cheesing a very powerful spell. Oh well. It still felt very cinematic and imposing.

I need to invest some points into Vig now, since concentrating on levelling my Int so high has left me feeling very squishy in some of the areas after him.

I have definitely come around to the idea that the game could do with a log, or at least a record of NPC conversations. I have lost some of my game notes (or can't read my own rushed handwriting on some...) and realise I've forgotten what I need to do for some NPCs.

I had my first sense of being overwhelmed by the scale of the world and the scope of all the quests last night. I know I saw some bosses I mentally noted to come back later for, some caves I left just before the boss fog having unlocked the final site of grace, but I can't remember where they all are now. Still not quite sure which direction I need to push on in, but I think at least I know which NPC I need to speak to after getting the macguffin I collected.
 
Soldato
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8 Sep 2012
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4,034
So damn envious of people being so far into the game, had it since release and now stuck in the middle of upgrading my PC.

Still haven't ordered everything and I reckon it'll be at least two weeks till I'm done backing up music projects and the rest of my data due to lack of time. Have yet to order some parts as well.

Annoying, it was so fun to experience Sekiro with everyone else on release.

But well, my CPU just wasn't up to snuff in a game that's not well optimised, + a bunch of other performance problems in other stuff so I guess it was high time.
 
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Accrington, Lancashire
I need to invest some points into Vig now, since concentrating on levelling my Int so high has left me feeling very squishy in some of the areas after him.

I finished up with 40 odd points invested in Vigor, even then with good armour and extra protection from the defensive talismans, some of the late enemies and bosses can drain most of that in one or two hits.
 
Soldato
Joined
26 May 2006
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Location
Edinburgh
After moaning yesterday about the lack of new weapons. I found the twinblade, Great Epee and Bloodhound's Fang. Absolutely loving the special attack on the Fang. Going invisible for a second before hitting them hard with an extra blow.
 
Soldato
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Sunny Torbaydos
I finished up with 40 odd points invested in Vigor, even then with good armour and extra protection from the defensive talismans, some of the late enemies and bosses can drain most of that in one or two hits.

Pretty much want to aim for 60 vigor to get you near 2k life by the time you finish the game and start ng+, you should be around level 130-150 by then, assuming you have done other content and not just rushed the end. On my current character who is level 150, I have 60 vigor, 77 dex, 30 end, 22 str.
 
Soldato
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I finished up with 40 odd points invested in Vigor, even then with good armour and extra protection from the defensive talismans, some of the late enemies and bosses can drain most of that in one or two hits.

Pretty much want to aim for 60 vigor to get you near 2k life by the time you finish the game and start ng+, you should be around level 130-150 by then, assuming you have done other content and not just rushed the end. On my current character who is level 150, I have 60 vigor, 77 dex, 30 end, 22 str.

Ouch! I was thinking of shooting for 40ish Vig, not 60! I guess I will levelling for a fair bit longer than I had thought.

After moaning yesterday about the lack of new weapons. I found the twinblade, Great Epee and Bloodhound's Fang. Absolutely loving the special attack on the Fang. Going invisible for a second before hitting them hard with an extra blow.

I do like those dodge weapon arts, but I've not used one in ER yet as I was addicted to my Claymore flip and then the Moonveil magic iaijutsu move, but they are starting to feel a bit less powerful as enemies get better resistances and bigger healthpools. I might have to consider seeking out alternative weapon arts too.
 
Soldato
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Posts
8,878
Location
Sunny Torbaydos
Ouch! I was thinking of shooting for 40ish Vig, not 60! I guess I will levelling for a fair bit longer than I had thought.



I do like those dodge weapon arts, but I've not used one in ER yet as I was addicted to my Claymore flip and then the Moonveil magic iaijutsu move, but they are starting to feel a bit less powerful as enemies get better resistances and bigger healthpools. I might have to consider seeking out alternative weapon arts too.

Personal preference really, I prefer a tanky slower playstyle
 
Soldato
Joined
9 Jan 2011
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17,987
Well that's my game over with after 48 hours. Can't light attack at all. I've tried everything. Restarting pc, changing controllers, messing with setting, verifying cache etc. Nothing. What a joke.


Think I might revise my 10/10!
 
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Well that's my game over with after 48 hours. Can't light attack at all. I've tried everything. Restarting pc, changing controllers, messing with setting, verifying cache etc. Nothing. What a joke.


Think I might revise my 10/10!

This happened to me at one point, does it work through mouse and keyboard controls? Should be left click for light attack.

Mine just kind of resolved itself after trying to switch between the two.
 
Soldato
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Personal preference really, I prefer a tanky slower playstyle

Yeah, me too usually in Souls games. I just grativated more into magic in this one after starting out with strength until I got it to the high-20s. Then I dumped everything into Int.

I still have it in mind I will go back to levelling Str once my Int is 53 (which will be 60 with the +7 from the gear I have on), but I'm now rethinking how much Vig I will need for the times I decide to go back to "giant sword goes bash" mode.
 
Soldato
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30 Dec 2011
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Belfast
I've put a lot of hours into this and got as far as the academy part. It's just ultimately a chore and boring and so unrewarding that I have given up. This style of game with no real story or sense of progression fits the linear style of older DS games, but it's just doesn't work as open world IMHO. You get good enough in an area to more than hold your own and eventually outlast the boss, move to the next and it is rinse and repeat.

Farm for souls/runes
Git gud
Fight boss and not get a hit in
die
Farm for souls/runes
Git gudder
Fight boss and get them to 50%
die
Farm for souls/runes
Git gudder
Fight boss and almost win
die
Farm for souls/runes
Git gudder
Fight boss
win without knowing why it worked this time beacsue you did nothing different than the first few times.
Move to next area and do it all again.

IMHO it's not open world, it's a large boring expanse that you roam around hunting for content.

Example quest
A bad man stole my necklace, can you get it back for me
Yeah sure
You will find him down the road at an abandoned house.
I look around and I'm in a shallow marsh/lake and think, "what road"?

No map marker, no general direction and no roads to go down. I'm not asking for HUD markers showing exactly where to go, but is it really too much for this person to say "I've marked a general area on your map?

Some tips for those perservering

When mounted on a horse, left trigger/button on a joypad will hit to the left side
Holding down on the item selection button will bring it straight to the first item you have equipped. So have your estus/health flask there to quickly replenish health in a fight. Same for your favourite magic spell.
 
Soldato
Joined
15 Oct 2003
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14,772
Location
Chengdu
The example you gave, there was some blue lamps lining where the road went? I found the shack in about 30 seconds.
Much happier to be looking myself for things, and having to pay attention to what characters are saying in game.
 
Joined
10 Jan 2004
Posts
9,839
Location
Poland
After moaning yesterday about the lack of new weapons. I found the twinblade, Great Epee and Bloodhound's Fang. Absolutely loving the special attack on the Fang. Going invisible for a second before hitting them hard with an extra blow.

The Fang hits so hard its silly, i have mine at +6 and it carried me a long way, till i found the Godskin Peeler, holy crap what a weapon!
 
Soldato
Joined
26 May 2006
Posts
6,057
Location
Edinburgh
I've put a lot of hours into this and got as far as the academy part. It's just ultimately a chore and boring and so unrewarding that I have given up. This style of game with no real story or sense of progression fits the linear style of older DS games, but it's just doesn't work as open world IMHO. You get good enough in an area to more than hold your own and eventually outlast the boss, move to the next and it is rinse and repeat.

Farm for souls/runes
Git gud
Fight boss and not get a hit in
die
Farm for souls/runes
Git gudder
Fight boss and get them to 50%
die
Farm for souls/runes
Git gudder
Fight boss and almost win
die
Farm for souls/runes
Git gudder
Fight boss
win without knowing why it worked this time beacsue you did nothing different than the first few times.
Move to next area and do it all again.

IMHO it's not open world, it's a large boring expanse that you roam around hunting for content.

Example quest
A bad man stole my necklace, can you get it back for me
Yeah sure
You will find him down the road at an abandoned house.
I look around and I'm in a shallow marsh/lake and think, "what road"?

No map marker, no general direction and no roads to go down. I'm not asking for HUD markers showing exactly where to go, but is it really too much for this person to say "I've marked a general area on your map?

Some tips for those perservering

When mounted on a horse, left trigger/button on a joypad will hit to the left side
Holding down on the item selection button will bring it straight to the first item you have equipped. So have your estus/health flask there to quickly replenish health in a fight. Same for your favourite magic spell.

It's more rewarding than the last 8-10 years of open world games in which your hand is held the whole way. What style of games do you generally play out of interest?
 
Associate
Joined
23 Feb 2017
Posts
1,083
Location
Westleton
I've put a lot of hours into this and got as far as the academy part. It's just ultimately a chore and boring and so unrewarding that I have given up. This style of game with no real story or sense of progression fits the linear style of older DS games, but it's just doesn't work as open world IMHO. You get good enough in an area to more than hold your own and eventually outlast the boss, move to the next and it is rinse and repeat.

Farm for souls/runes
Git gud
Fight boss and not get a hit in
die
Farm for souls/runes
Git gudder
Fight boss and get them to 50%
die
Farm for souls/runes
Git gudder
Fight boss and almost win
die
Farm for souls/runes
Git gudder
Fight boss
win without knowing why it worked this time beacsue you did nothing different than the first few times.
Move to next area and do it all again.

IMHO it's not open world, it's a large boring expanse that you roam around hunting for content.

Example quest
A bad man stole my necklace, can you get it back for me
Yeah sure
You will find him down the road at an abandoned house.
I look around and I'm in a shallow marsh/lake and think, "what road"?

No map marker, no general direction and no roads to go down. I'm not asking for HUD markers showing exactly where to go, but is it really too much for this person to say "I've marked a general area on your map?

Some tips for those perservering

When mounted on a horse, left trigger/button on a joypad will hit to the left side
Holding down on the item selection button will bring it straight to the first item you have equipped. So have your estus/health flask there to quickly replenish health in a fight. Same for your favourite magic spell.

You don't have to lvl up to beat any boss, it's about learning the moves of the boss. People will do playthroughs soon if not already finishing the game without leveling up once.
 
Associate
Joined
3 Nov 2012
Posts
1,635
Location
London
There needs to be so kind of way to track quests especially in an open world game as large as this, especially when compared to previous souls games.

You can start a quest with one NPC but then don't see or speak to them of 10s of hours, how would you remember what was said or where you had to go?

I've taken to using some quest guides as I don't have an infinite amount of time trying to find certain things out.

On the whole a great game so far but not the 10/10 everyone keeps banging on about, espe ially when they forget about the performance issues it has :rolleyes:
 
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