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

[Anonymous Wife Scholar]

So finally beat the game at 65~ something hours. Also beat all the "major" bosses save one, but I'll get her eventually.

In comparison with other games of the 2020s, this is probably the easiest 10/10 game out there.

Thank you Tyranicon anon! Good strong wifes game developer friend anon! I do love you anon! I do!

What other recent AAA releases are even competitive on the market right now? Horizon Forbidden West?

No!

It is a mark of prestige that From games can only be compared to From games, or other games of extremely high quality.

Thank you Tyranicon anon! Good strong wifes game developer friend anon! I do love you anon! I do!

Spoiler

 

[Anonymous Wife Scholar]

This game honestly doesn't need dlc.

What! Game does need cute Melina wife DLC anon because she is less presence anon than Dung Eater anon anon! What! Do not worry anon it is okay anon because I do love cute based moonpilled Ranni wife anon but Melina wife does need good strong DLC presence anon! She does! What! Thank you anon! You are a good anon!

 

[perfectslumbers]

but Melina wife does need good strong DLC presence

Thank you I am glad that the Melina train is finally getting some support

 

[Anonymous Wife Scholar]

Thank you I am glad that the Melina train is finally getting some support

Thank you slumber anon! Good strong comfy sleeps friend anon! I do love you anon! I do! I do love cute Melina wife anon! I do! Melina wife does need many cute DLC content anon! She does! You are a good strong friend anon!

Spoiler

 

[oldbonebrown]

The overdramatic tone of the game is getting tiresome to me
The battle music sting every time some insect decides to take a swipe at me as I ride past, or the bombastic main menu theme
then the pompous writing, every dweeb npc having a name like The Crimson Abyss Marauder or wants to waffle on about some trite obscurity for five minutes

I wish the game would calm down a little

 

[MasPingon]

How the hell am I suppose to climb there? Asking for a friend.

 

[perfectslumbers]

How the hell am I suppose to climb there? Asking for a friend.

You get there from an elevator later in the game

Spoiler

at the end of Ranni questline

 

[MasPingon]

How the hell am I suppose to climb there? Asking for a friend.

You get there from an elevator later in the game

Spoiler

at the end of Ranni questline

Ranni is in that mansion to the north, full of those god damn Evil Dead hands, I run out of terrified about 40 hours ago?

 

[perfectslumbers]

Ranni is in that mansion to the north full of those god damn Evil Dead hands I run out of terrified about 40 hours ago?

Yes!

 

[perfectslumbers]

Ranni is in that mansion to the north full of those god damn Evil Dead hands I run out of terrified about 40 hours ago?

Well after the mansion actually, in her tower

 

[MasPingon]

Ranni is in that mansion to the north full of those god damn Evil Dead hands I run out of terrified about 40 hours ago?

Yes!

 

[Ghulgothas]

That's an apt way to think about it, this does feel like a souls game with about 2 expansions worth of content integrated into the base game. No idea what they'll pull out later on.

I think I'm nearing the end, crumbly frumb azool whatever its called, think it'll clock in around 50 hours by the time I'm done. I knew I was never going to force myself to with fill out a list of all optional dungeons and side-quests like some nightmare Ubisoft game, and I think I'll end up coming away with a more positive impression afterwards. Though the marked increase is spaztic bosses with blink-and-you'll-miss-it instakill grapples in the Giant Mountains is just as annoying as everyone said.

Some shit is better saved for a second playthrough.

 

[HumanTotemPole]

Another interesting quote from Miyazaki.

[Question] Given that an open-world game requires more visual assets than your previous projects, did you have to expand the team considerably? Or was it more about leaning on outsourcing partners for assistance?

Yes, of course, both the team's scope and our outsourcing needs increased with the scope and scale of the world and the content required to fill it. But we managed to explore some new systemic procedures as well that allowed us to fill out the world in ways that didn't require people to always be hands-on and do it manually. So there were a lot of ways in which we were able to use not only our existing team, but expand our skill set in that sense, and to apply it to this new challenge with this new world.

Source: https://www.gamesradar.com/elden-ring-fromsoftware-hidetaka-miyazaki-interview/

He then mentions trees and foliage whereas I thought he meant the recycled areas.

Very interesting. I suspect a similar approach was used for mob placement in the overworld. They’re mostly just milling about in their assigned ‘biome’ e.g. those groups of crawling guys with occasional guy on skeleton horse all over the lake area in Liurnia, skeletons near gravestones or the groups of bipedal giant ratdogs in Caelid. Not good when contrasted with the very deliberate enemy placement typical of the legacy dungeon areas.

After 70 hours and close to the end I think my initial concerns re the structure were justified. The typical problems I have with generic open world design are all present here in the overworld. Cutpaste encounters (both mobs and bosses), lots of near identical outposts sorry locations (even down to boss arena layout here), location type largely determines reward type, overly stretched out item/stat progression, asset fatigue once you exhaust the available biomes, compromised story/player journey pacing etc. Elden Ring is so huge that it takes the issues longer than usual to become apparent but they’re all here. Frequent breaks from the game haven't stopped the slide into standard open world ennui.

The game's too big for it's own good. Massive big wadges of content on offer here but somehow spread very thin towards the end. Too many mobs and bosses are reused to populate generic locations that didn’t need to exist or fill overworld areas that didn’t need to be as big as they are. I’m sad to report that I wish I’d used a wiki from the start. Too much potentially unnecessary content (build dependent etc.) to get mixed up in otherwise. The time and money used to create the giant overworld could have been better spent elsewhere.

The game remains worth playing for those unique locations but I don’t think I’ll be back for a long time once I’m finished.

Edit: saving thoughts on combat mechanics, specific enemies/bosses till I'm finished.

 

[Eyestabber]

So...

1)

This is THE best weapon in the game and can be upgraded to +9 before Godfrey.

2)

This farming spot is utterly fucking insane and you can get there very early/easily. Went from lvl 77 to 94 in like an hour or so. Absurd.

That is all, I have unlocked the true Easy Mode™.

Seriously, tho, the Moonveil is on a league of its own. Unlikely it will stay that way for long.

 

[Lautreamont]

Whoever designed the Fallingstar beast and the fire breathing eagles deserves to be taken to the cornfield and dealt with appropriately.

Beating the Fallingstar Beast variant in Mt. Gelmir--solo, on foot, and as a two-handed STR build--is the most excruciating task I've accomplished in all of soulsborne.

 

[perfectslumbers]

Seriously, tho, the Moonveil is on a league of its own. High unlikely it will stay that way for long.

It's in the same league as the other op weapon art weapons like sword of night and flame and icerind hatchet and anything with bloody slash and blasphemous blade, in pve at least

 

[OneManArmyGames]

one of which is a completely regular, unmarked cliff face in the open world

I won't be one to claim that From's quest design isn't obtuse (and frankly, I think that's part of the charm, as it adds to the atmosphere of a dying, demented and uncaring world); but in this particular case there's a merchant in north Caelid selling the following note:

And the otherwise completely out of place enemy mage guarding the hidden entrance should make the player suspicious (the same happens with Seluvis sex dungeon).

 

[Lyric Suite]

So i was strolling in the lake towards some guys chanting around some guy (or girl) strapped on a stake when the fucking dragon came down and killed everything.

That wasn't an NPC i could have freed, right? It was just food for the dragon, right?

 

[The Decline]

So i was strolling in the lake towards some guys chanting around some guy (or girl) strapped on a stake when the fucking dragon came down and killed everything.

That wasn't an NPC i could have freed, right? It was just food for the dragon, right?

Yeah, that was just how the dragon enters the area.

 

[Tyranicon]

So...

1)

This is THE best weapon in the game and can be upgraded to +9 before Godfrey.

2)

This farming spot is utterly fucking insane and you can get there very early/easily. Went from lvl 77 to 94 in like an hour or so. Absurd.

That is all, I have unlocked the true Easy Mode™.

Seriously, tho, the Moonveil is on a league of its own. Unlikely it will stay that way for long.

I'm pretty sure you can upgrade it to +10 before Godfrey or anywhere near endgame. The last upgrade mat can be found in several different places.

For extra fun time, bring mimic tear +10 with it and watch the hardest bosses in the game cry.

 

[oldbonebrown]

Has anyone figured out how to use the Pale Blacktongue?

The item description is matching the shrine at Hawthorn Ridge but there's nothing there
(other than graffiti from other players)

 

[toro]

 

[Curratum]

one of which is a completely regular, unmarked cliff face in the open world

I won't be one to claim that From's quest design isn't obtuse (and frankly, I think that's part of the charm, as it adds to the atmosphere of a dying, demented and uncaring world); but in this particular case there's a merchant in north Caelid selling the following note:

View attachment 23338

And the otherwise completely out of place enemy mage guarding the hidden entrance should make the player suspicious (the same happens with Seluvis sex dungeon).

The illusory cliff wall in Sellen's quest is nowhere near that place...

The mage isn't guarding the hidden entrance, when you see him, he's guarding a bunch of graves, possibly the biggest gravestone.

 

[thelegend]

Its funny seeing reviewers do a u turn on elden ring

 

[OneManArmyGames]

The illusory cliff wall in Sellen's quest is nowhere near that place...

The mage isn't guarding the hidden entrance, when you see him, he's guarding a bunch of graves, possibly the biggest gravestone.

Aren't you talking about "Sellia Hideaway"? It's part of Sellen's quest and it's hidden behind an illusory wall on a cliff (right behind the gravestone you mention) at Sellia's graveyard: