From Software Elden Ring - From Software's new game with writing by GRRM

[d1r]

Almost reached Leyndell and I am fighting for every bit of motivation to finish this game.

This game's world, while looking absolutely gorgeous, is just too big for its own good, and is committing the same crimes (which D_X mentioned) as almost every other open world game out there. Exploring the large open world areas for hours just to find some measily upgrade materials or weapons I will never use is getting really really tiresome. And seeing same enemy variants magically having more health in a new map than their counterparts in the old map is pure shite (ever heard of character progression / growth?). Some people will call this completely normal, but for me, it just reaffirms that I do detest the open world genre to the brink. Gotta say though that the legacy dungeons are pretty great. Stormveil castle was a nice mix between Boletaria Castle 1-1 and Undead Burg, and it was full of secret goodies and hidden pathways. Just wished that every piece of equipment and weaponery could be found in these secret areas instead in one of those 120 copy-pasted Oblivion dungeons out in the wild.

This might actually be the first FROM game I will not finish.

Spoiler

(and let's not forget that PVP has been completely neutered too)

 

[hackncrazy]

This game's world, while looking absolutely gorgeous, is just too big for its own good, and is committing the same crimes (which D_X mentioned) as almost every other open world game out there. Exploring the large open world areas for hours just to find some measily upgrade materials or weapons I will never use is getting really really tiresome. And seeing same enemy variants magically having more health in a new map than their counterparts in the old map is pure shite

I'm not trying to defend ER here, but I'm really curious about what is the solution for this part would be. Are there other open world games that doesn't fall into this or this is intrinsic to the open world genre (not trying to be funny or anything, I'm not a conoisseur of OW games so I really don't know if there is any out there that excels in this departments).

 

[Curratum]

Almost reached Leyndell and I am fighting for every bit of motivation to finish this game.

This game's world, while looking absolutely gorgeous, is just too big for its own good, and is committing the same crimes (which D_X mentioned) as almost every other open world game out there. Exploring the large open world areas for hours just to find some measily upgrade materials or weapons I will never use is getting really really tiresome. And seeing same enemy variants magically having more health in a new map than their counterparts in the old map is pure shite (ever heard of character progression / growth?). Some people will call this completely normal, but for me, it just reaffirms that I do detest the open world genre to the brink. Gotta say though that the legacy dungeons are pretty great. Stormveil castle was a nice mix between Boletaria Castle 1-1 and Undead Burg, and it was full of secret goodies and hidden pathways. Just wished that every piece of equipment and weaponery could be found in these secret areas instead in one of those 120 copy-pasted Oblivion dungeons out in the wild.

This might actually be the first FROM game I will not finish.

Spoiler

(and let's not forget that PVP has been completely neutered too)

Starting to feel this a lot too. I just got to Leyndell. Fucking IMAGINE doing anything BUT galloping up those stairs and past the two fucking tree sentinels...

I just want to push through to the end and finish the game at this point. I have a single bonfire in an area called Mt Gelmir and might visit that too just for the cool vistas but I'm SO done with dungeons, sidequests, storylines and all that jazz.

The game is fucking gorgeous and I love it, but I just can't deal with it anymore. I just suspect I will need to deal with it a lot more, because my weapon is at just +17 right now.

I think the only quest I will do is the one from the white-masked creep at the start so I can get the infinite invasions item and then just beeline for the finish.

 

[hackncrazy]

Almost reached Leyndell and I am fighting for every bit of motivation to finish this game.

This game's world, while looking absolutely gorgeous, is just too big for its own good, and is committing the same crimes (which D_X mentioned) as almost every other open world game out there. Exploring the large open world areas for hours just to find some measily upgrade materials or weapons I will never use is getting really really tiresome. And seeing same enemy variants magically having more health in a new map than their counterparts in the old map is pure shite (ever heard of character progression / growth?). Some people will call this completely normal, but for me, it just reaffirms that I do detest the open world genre to the brink. Gotta say though that the legacy dungeons are pretty great. Stormveil castle was a nice mix between Boletaria Castle 1-1 and Undead Burg, and it was full of secret goodies and hidden pathways. Just wished that every piece of equipment and weaponery could be found in these secret areas instead in one of those 120 copy-pasted Oblivion dungeons out in the wild.

This might actually be the first FROM game I will not finish.

Spoiler

(and let's not forget that PVP has been completely neutered too)

Starting to feel this a lot too. I just got to Leyndell. Fucking IMAGINE doing anything BUT galloping up those stairs and past the two fucking tree sentinels...

I just want to push through to the end and finish the game at this point. I have a single bonfire in an area called Mt Gelmir and might visit that too just for the cool vistas but I'm SO done with dungeons, sidequests, storylines and all that jazz.

The game is fucking gorgeous and I love it, but I just can't deal with it anymore. I just suspect I will need to deal with it a lot more, because my weapon is at just +17 right now.

I think the only quest I will do is the one from the white-masked creep at the start so I can get the infinite invasions item and then just beeline for the finish.

Considering you haven't done Mt. Gelmir and Leyndell yet, believe me brother, there's still a LOOOONG way until the finish.

The amount of times I thought: "Ok this is the final boss/area" just to find out I was wrong is not small lol

 

[d1r]

This game's world, while looking absolutely gorgeous, is just too big for its own good, and is committing the same crimes (which D_X mentioned) as almost every other open world game out there. Exploring the large open world areas for hours just to find some measily upgrade materials or weapons I will never use is getting really really tiresome. And seeing same enemy variants magically having more health in a new map than their counterparts in the old map is pure shite

I'm not trying to defend ER here, but I'm really curious about what is the solution for this part would be. Are there other open world games that doesn't fall into this or this is intrinsic to the open world genre (not trying to be funny or anything, I'm not a conoisseur of OW games so I really don't know if there is any out there that excels in this departments).

I think that there is no solution to the open world problem as long as developers want to create whole continents that you can fluidly traverse. You have to fill the areas somehow, and there is just not enough man power to create 100 absolute unique dungeons or encounters. I guess if you want to create a somewhat interesting experience, you go the Baldur's Gate 2 or Fallout 1/2 way of creating unique locations that you can visit on the world map (with random encounters inbetween), or just focus on one big landmark as in Fallout New Vegas with the Strip and build a believable world around it.

 

[Removal]

intrinsic to the open world genre

It's what people expect when you say "open world" due to the big releases that have defined the last decade of open world games. Honestly, From should have cut everything after Lendyll and really reduced the amount of side dungeons/gaols

 

[Curratum]

Did the game seriously make me fight FOUR reused bosses back to back, including major ones that have achievements tied to them?

I was very passionate and heavily in favor of the game but fuck me, I just fought two tree sentinels, one ulcerated tree spirit, one gargoye and one Margit, one after the other, with nothing in-between but empty space to gallop through.
How is this getting 10/10s? What is the thought process behind this? Make the player feel like he's grown so powerful that he can now stomp on bosses that were giving him trouble earlier? This is all so stupid.

 

[cvv]

This game's world, while looking absolutely gorgeous, is just too big for its own good, and is committing the same crimes (which D_X mentioned) as almost every other open world game out there. Exploring the large open world areas for hours just to find some measily upgrade materials or weapons I will never use is getting really really tiresome. And seeing same enemy variants magically having more health in a new map than their counterparts in the old map is pure shite

I'm not trying to defend ER here, but I'm really curious about what is the solution for this part would be. Are there other open world games that doesn't fall into this or this is intrinsic to the open world genre (not trying to be funny or anything, I'm not a conoisseur of OW games so I really don't know if there is any out there that excels in this departments).

It's intrinsic. The open-world genre isn't for everyone and a lot of Souls fans will be inevitably bummed out.

I on the other hand, who has been playing and loving open-world games since Betrayal at Krondor, am fucking creaming my pants every single minute I'm playing this game.

P.S. - that said, the world COULD be a bit smaller and compact, that's for sure. Gothic 1 and 2 and Risen 1 are a perfect example how to do it.

 

[Tacgnol]

Finished it, took 50 hours ended up level 148. Feels like I did most content, though I apparently missed one area as according to Steam achievements I didn't kill either Dragonlord Placidusax or Mohg. Guess I'll get those on a replay in the future.

Last quarter of the game became a bit of a chore, as others have said.

Final stats:

 

[The Decline]

This game's world, while looking absolutely gorgeous, is just too big for its own good, and is committing the same crimes (which D_X mentioned) as almost every other open world game out there. Exploring the large open world areas for hours just to find some measily upgrade materials or weapons I will never use is getting really really tiresome. And seeing same enemy variants magically having more health in a new map than their counterparts in the old map is pure shite

I'm not trying to defend ER here, but I'm really curious about what is the solution for this part would be. Are there other open world games that doesn't fall into this or this is intrinsic to the open world genre (not trying to be funny or anything, I'm not a conoisseur of OW games so I really don't know if there is any out there that excels in this departments).

It's intrinsic. The open-world genre isn't for everyone and a lot of Souls fans will be inevitably bummed out.

I on the other hand, who has been playing and loving open-world games since Betrayal at Krondor, am fucking creaming my pants every single minute I'm playing this game.

P.S. - that said, the world COULD be a bit smaller and compact, that's for sure. Gothic 1 and 2 and Risen 1 are a perfect example how to do it.

I'm liking the open world too. I've played my fair share of Ubisoft style open world garbage and Elden Ring is the first one that really clicks. Maybe it's because I'm taking my time and playing in smaller chunks, but the repeated content isn't really bugging me. And the rewards are unique enough to make it feel worth it. Also alternating between exploring the world and doing legacy dungeons reduces any sense of repetitiveness.

 

[Cromwell]

I got to the belfrys in the lake region, I opened a door to the star city. There I found a knight. I fought that fucker againa nd again and again... I got out levelled up found a talisman that gave me bonus stat points, I equipped a greatshield (the golden crest one from the grafted scion) I upgraded it to plus 4, I have the Bloodhound sword on plus 6. After a few more tries I finally finished the fucker. That fuck never stops attacking, when you drink he runs at and stabs you its the worst enemy I faced so far (or maybe the second after the stone centipede buffallo beast in some cave in caelid), maybe I am bad but I never found a reliable way to attack him without getting hurt in return, because hes almost never really open since he has endless stamina. I finished him by blocking his attacks rolling and hitting back with my art soaking up the damage I got in return and trying to heal...

When I finally got him I was a little perplexed that he dropped nothing, and then I saw the measly 3k runes I got and realized that that fuckuing endless stamina always attacking greatshield beast is a normal enemy.

 

[Eyestabber]

PHEW battle against Godfrey got my blood pumping. That felt like a classic DS fight, as opposed to the turbo blender bullshit DS3 introduced. One thing must be said tho: it's stupid how much this game punishes you for exploring. Stumbled into a boss room? Say goodbye to your souls if you're underlvl. Don't know exactly where you must go? Enjoy unwinnable fights against mobs whose power far surpasses that of the local boss (for some reason). Any person going fully blind into ER is just signing up for a very unpleasant experience. I just wiiki everything at this point. Bullshit is currently being kept at tolerable levels.

 

[hackncrazy]

Finished it, took 50 hours ended up level 148. Feels like I did most content, though I apparently missed one area as according to Steam achievements I didn't kill either Dragonlord Placidusax or Mohg. Guess I'll get those on a replay in the future.

Last quarter of the game became a bit of a chore, as others have said.

Final stats:

Congrats on finishing it. Mohg it's easily one of the best bosses in the game, it's worth at least playing again until there.

 

[Shrimp]

How is this getting 10/10s? What is the thought process behind this?

Just a tinfoil hat theory, but keep in mind that a lot of the reviewers said they didn't have time to finish the game. If all they saw was Limgrave and Liurnia they likely had a vastly different impression of the game compared to someone who has gone through the entire thing.

 

[hackncrazy]

I've just finished as well. Up until Leyndell and Mt. Gelmir I explored every single inch of the map because I thought the game would end there. After I was presented with several more regions, I got into the "let's just face all main bosses running past all enemies and that's it". This endevour alone probably took me another 20 or so hours.

If it finished in Leyndell, it would be my favorite game of all time without even a contest. The amount of content that is presented later played against From Software in my book, and, as others said, the game became a chore. Guess Outer Wilds it's still reigning happily at the top of the list of best games I've ever played.

 

[hackncrazy]

How is this getting 10/10s? What is the thought process behind this?

Just a tinfoil hat theory, but keep in mind that a lot of the reviewers said they didn't have time to finish the game. If all they saw was Limgrave and Liurnia they likely had a vastly different impression of the game compared to someone who has gone through the entire thing.

That's probably it. I'd be very surprised if game reviewers would even have the guts to go through the entire thing.

 

[perfectslumbers]

How is this getting 10/10s?

RPGS are judged by the first ten hours. Same reason DOS:2 got 10/10s

 

[Nifft Batuff]

People complaining about too much content and still managing to complete the game in few days are funny.

 

[Jinn]

Finished it, took 50 hours ended up level 148. Feels like I did most content, though I apparently missed one area as according to Steam achievements I didn't kill either Dragonlord Placidusax or Mohg. Guess I'll get those on a replay in the future.

Last quarter of the game became a bit of a chore, as others have said.

I am amazed you were able to finish it in that many hours, while also being so high level and apparently thorough in your exploration. Hats off to you, man. Honestly impressed. That's some speedrunner type shit.

 

[Brickfrog]

This is the longest rpg iv played since xenogears tbh

 

[cvv]

Spent almost an hour trying to kill the huge black gargoyle near the Beastman dude coz I wanted its axe.

Seriously, fuck this nerd.

 

[Lautreamont]

I ignored all the fancy spells and ashes and went for pure strength build on my first playthrough; just two-handing and medium-rolling my way through everything solo with no summons. It has gotten me far with minimal fuss because I can kill most enemies in 3 hits, stunlock, and break guard with jumping attacks. This play style is efficient if not very exciting. Judging from the bloodstains, no one seems to be doing this build. Everybody is sword and board, samurai, or pure caster. In hindsight after 100 hours into this and no end in sight, I think they made the right call. I have thoroughly explored every region up until Lyndell, and the number of strength weapons I've discovered is awfully pitiful. Seems like I have no trouble collecting dozens of dex, int, faith, even arcane scaling weapons but have found maybe 3 or 4 really good strength weapons. Clearly FromSoft wanted players to go the spellsword and hybrid class route, or if going pure melee then a bleed dex build is favored.

 

[Mortmal]

How is this getting 10/10s? What is the thought process behind this?

Just a tinfoil hat theory, but keep in mind that a lot of the reviewers said they didn't have time to finish the game. If all they saw was Limgrave and Liurnia they likely had a vastly different impression of the game compared to someone who has gone through the entire thing.

It's impossible they finished it at the time of the review. I play it non stop ,110 hours in ,usually doing things3X faster than the average guy , and not finished everything. I mean it ,doing every dungeons and areas till i get stuck inevitably cause a cryptic quest is not completable. I dont like hand holding but sometimes its far too hard to find and solve quests. Some stuff i had to check the wiki , like having to hit a pot to find an hidden character in one of the earliest area to access one of the last secret end zone area, also the npc asked me to bring it to a girl , said girl was dead when i arrived, no idea why or who did it . I missed some dialogue and its not the first time it happens.
Sure there's bullshit like huge boss AOE almost impossible to dodge, when some stuff get frustrating you need to rethink the build, i respecced my glass canon to 30 vigor and its a breeze. Lot of recycling like other mentioned, but its a colossal world and never feel as generic as skyrim . It's the biggest action rpg i ever played, there's no such thing as too much content.It's great value for its price , and the fact its not plagued with microtransaction nor any political agenda is a breath of fresh air.

Would still rate 10/10 cause i cant find any other games beating the experience for me , or if you consider it a 8/10 all other action rpgs besides souls games rate to 5-6 at best.

 

[Ramnozack]

Almost killed Radahn first try, but was laughing to hard at the poor fucking horse he is riding and I got hit by a meteor

 

[Great Deceiver]

I second the notion that From Software doesn't know when to end their games. I'm 70 hours in and after Leyndell I really just want it to end asap. Went back to Mt. Gelmir but I'm just gonna rush through the end at this point.

Highlights for me are the unplanned discoveries - going down that elevator in Mistwood for the first time, for example, was really awe inspiring. Also the optional content is some of the best in the game. Both the castle in the Southern Peninsula and the one in the Plateau are great, with storylines told through items that are more effective than the main plot.

However, the more you play the more the copypasta nature of the open world becomes apparent (ruins with the obligatory chest or miniboss, mine shaft, tower, world dragon, yawn). It is unfortunate. I feel like the game would have been much stronger if it were half as long. Fucking gamers, man.