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

[Lyric Suite]

I've been lucky i guess because in my case i made a rebound out of the burn out. I quit my SL1 run because i couldn't continue anymore, and was expecting the burn out to affect the DLC as well, which is why i wasn't even planning of buying it just yet, but somehow my interest got rejuvenated in the interim. I'm still taking precautions though. Like i'm not being too try hard on bosses, just killing them as efficiently as i can since if i start spending two days on each i'd likely never finish the DLC. It also helps that i know in advance the DLC is shorter than the main game.

It's also helping that i'm actually able to follow the plot this time. Might just be that most of the things the DLC touches upon are related to the original game, so i pretty much know what's going on but it makes exploring the maps less boring since i'm not just walking in to pick up loot and leave. I'm actually exploring specifically to piece out the plot, which is working for me.

One thing i noticed is that they gave up on rare materials. In the original game you had stuff like Arteria Leaf or those Miquella flowers etc which often compelled you to check out under various nooks and crannies (even though after a while you got a sense of where this stuff might be so you didn't necessarely have to comb every inch of the terrain). This is completely absent from the DLC. I would also say while they added a certain complexity with the way the zones intersect with one another, especially in terms of verticality, the areas themselves are a bit more plain than they were in the base game. In fact, the verticality people have noticed in the DLC was NOT absent in the original game, was just present within the zones themselves and not the entire map. This makes the individual areas less interesting but at the same time they are also smaller and in a way it feels like the DLC as a whole is a single zone. In the base game, if you were in Caelid, you were in Caelid. If you were in Liurnia, your were in Liurnia. Here, reguardless of where you are, it's always the Shadow Lands. It's an interesting dynamic and they were probably clever going this route since the areas had to be smaller by necessity since this is a DLC but at the same time this way they can still have a lot of them and not make their smallness be too apparent since you always have the whole place in front of you at all times.

Kinda of ironic that i was the one who wasn't even gonna buy it but now i'm not experiencing the negativity everybody has. It also helps i'm not seeing anything wrong with the bosses either, at least so far. I don't know if people just forgot how the base game was. I saw people claim the Putrescent Knight was one of the more cancerous bosses in the DLC. I just killed the Death Rite Bird in Charo Grave and there's no way the Knight is even remotely close to that, even now after i killed like a dozen of them.

 

[Hell Swarm]

That to me just demonstrates that you are both retarded. Doom > Halo to such a degree it's comical to even believe otherwise.

I'm sorry, but not altogether surprised, that you weren't invited to any Halo LAN parties back in the day.

I never even had a console and none of my friends had one either. Halo was trash for that reason alone, Bungie betraying their PC fanbase because Microsoft made them an offer they couldn't refuse (except they could have). Fuck them.

Sour grapes huh? Xbox 360 halo 3 and reach were an amazing gaming experience and you're just bitter you didn't get it.

Does any one want to recommend some faith weapons for doing the DLC?

Black Steel Greathammer, except do Flame Art infusion instead of Holy. You then get three different damage types but with an higher AR. Use the Sekiro hardtear and go to town with guard counters.

No Guard counters. I spammed them the first time through.

The new NPCs, the crafting system and scadutree fragments are just superfluous crap intended to hide the fact that the basic systems are mostly unchanged.

This is a strange ciricism. What should have changed, exactly? It's a DLC, not a new game. Were people actually expecting something radically different from the base game? From an expansion?

It's not a strange criticism if you pay attention to the wider discourse with Elden ring.

The map is too large and there's nothing in it - From didn't correct this, we still have large empty fields with worthless loot
The open world loot is all mushrooms - From thought smithing stones fixed this which is strange as the DLC is post having all the bellbarings
Side dungeons are boring and there's too many - Giving credit here, From did some excellent side dungeons in the DLC. They did fix this problem
Bosses are spastics with infinite stamina bars - Made worse in many ways.
Collecting flask upgrades is boring and makes replaying the game tedious - Scadu fragments intensifies.

So what did people expect from the DLC? Better loot, better side dungeons, less empty space with no purpose, less riding torrent around and better balanced bosses. This isn't even my criticisms, it's the discourse of Elden ring since it's release. The legacy dungeons are good, there's too much padding and too much busy work to keep yourself on par with what areas expect from you.

I hit Souls fatigue pretty hard before Elden Ring launched

I got souls fatigue with 3 and it's still remained. I keep trying to find new action games and I run into Souls combat over and over. I was playing Castlevania lords of shadow and it's such a nice change of pace. Being grabbed and being able to escape with a quick time event seems refreshing compared to being grabbed by a bad hit box and watching my health bar vanish.

It's also helping that i'm actually able to follow the plot this time.

There is no plot. A big criticism of the DLC is it sets up a cast of characters and tries to tell a story but there's no story being told. Tranny boy discards random parts of him off screen, then he discards his rune and then you fight him riding his brother. Souls games aren't good for their stories in general but we're pushing the bar even lower. Most souls games at least give you a reason to be murdering random people and Elden ring doesn't and the DLC gives us no reason to go after tranny boy. He's self contained within a realm you can't escape (except we can because... reasons?) not causing any trouble for any one and not engaging with the player in any way. You go to kill him because you bought the DLC and that's the DLC content. There's no player motivation within the game, there's no purpose to any of the death we cause in the DLC. We're just murder hobos entertaining a prison planet to murder all sides in a war and then walk away.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Maybe you should check out my let's play the plot and the clues you get and where you find them are incredibly coherent. I'm only 50% through this DLC and i'm pretty sure i already figured out the main plot.

Makes me think the confusion i experienced in the base game was all just me being retarded and not paying attention.

 

[Ravielsk]

There is no plot.

And what is there is just a rehash of the main game. Only instead of the elden throne you are trying to reach the "god gate" and instead of Melina you burn Mesmer. Actually its more of a abridged version because in the main game you at least can choose between frenzy flame and Melina but the DLC(despite having Midra, a literal lord of frenzied flame in it) does not afford you even that.

In fact it kind of gets hilarious the further you go because it becomes obvious that Leda and her simp clan have no reason to be in the shadowlands and are just following Miquella to... map out his discarded limbs? Leda at the end in fact appears slightly enraged that you came to kill Miquella when in reality you have no idea if there even is a point to it. For all you know the divine gate is defunct and the only ascension Miquella is going to have is to an early grave seeing as he gored himself all over the shadowlands.

Leda: "You came to kill my dear Miquella!"
Player: "Ehm, I did? Well, thanks for letting me know. I guess..."

I have to seriously question if this is not another case of "The Old Hunters" where they had two DLCs planned out but then some exec decided it will only be one DLC so they just merged whatever was done into one package and that was the end of it. Story or coherence be damned, we got to move on.

 

[Hell Swarm]

There is no plot.

And what is there is just a rehash of the main game. Only instead of the elden throne you are trying to reach the "god gate" and instead of Melina you burn Mesmer. Actually its more of a abridged version because in the main game you at least can choose between frenzy flame and Melina but the DLC(despite having Midra, a literal lord of frenzied flame in it) does not afford you even that.

In fact it kind of gets hilarious the further you go because it becomes obvious the Leda and her simp clan have no reason to be in the shadowlands and are just following Miquella to... map out his discarded limbs? Leda at the end in fact appears slightly enraged that you came to kill Miquella when in reality you have no idea if there even is a point to it. For all you know the divine gate is defunct and the only ascension Miquella is going to have is to an early grave seeing as he gored himself all over the shadowlands.

Leda: "You came to kill my dear Miquella!"
Player: "Ehm, I did? Well, thanks for letting me know. I guess..."

I have to seriously question if this is not another case of "The Old Hunters" where they had two DLCs planned out but then some exec decided it will only be one DLC so they just merged whatever was done into one package and that was the end of it. Story or coherence be damned, we got to move on.

They followed him there because he brain washed them but it's frustrating that the NPCs feel so alive when you first meet them and then they basically have no story. I've done several NPC quests and my only motivation is to make the gank squad easier. It's just sad really.

It's never even explained why him being a God is such a bad idea. We killed the last one because She abandoned the lands between and intentionally fucked it up. What the fuck is controlling the cluster fuck now? If we had been trying to become a God it would have at least made sense. You have to stop him because you can't have 2 gods ruling.

 

[Silverfish]

I never even had a console and none of my friends had one either. Halo was trash for that reason alone, Bungie betraying their PC fanbase because Microsoft made them an offer they couldn't refuse (except they could have). Fuck them.

"Halo is bad because it's on a console" is pretty much the level of critique I expected from you. So far as Bungie 'betraying' the PC fanbase is concerned? Well, yeah. Who wouldn't? Say what you will about turn of the century console kiddies, but we actually bought the games. There's a reason why Bungie, Bethesda and Bioware persist and Troika, Black Isle and Looking Glass are long since shuttered.

Sour grapes huh? Xbox 360 halo 3 and reach were an amazing gaming experience and you're just bitter you didn't get it.

Even the ramp up to Halo 3 was unlike anything before or since. The Believe campaign, Rooster Teeth getting early access for videos, the reveal of the legendary edition. Crazy amounts of hype.

Maybe you should check out my let's play

The first Codex thread sponsored by Ambien.

 

[abija]

There's a reason why Bungie, Bethesda and Bioware persist and Troika, Black Isle and Looking Glass are long since shuttered.

There's a reason Carmack was a millionaire in a few games, Bioware/Bungie/Bethesda even exist, Blizzard balooned so fast they lost control of the company or Steam became the monopoly we have today.

It was never about piracy shit for brains, but about going for easy guaranteed money from Microsoft (in this case) and targeting lowest denominator to sell slop. But hey, we got masterpieces like Halo and GoW for jockbrains that grew up to do armchair game design, gotta be thankful for that.

 

[Silverfish]

It was never about piracy shit for brains

"Please forget about the pre-Steam era. We've always been on the up and up and companies just turned their backs on us for no reason." How embarrassing.

But hey, we got masterpieces like Halo and GoW for jockbrains that grew up to do armchair game design, gotta be thankful for that.

"XBox 360 games were popular with people who were in shape" is definitely not the insult I saw coming. I'll take it, though.

 

[abija]

Forget about the pre-Steam era? All those examples were in that era. What the actual fuck are you talking about? Doom made bank launched as shareware and being extremely easy to copy. Piracy has always been just an escuse for shitty companies or sellouts.

Pst, I didn't say you were fit like a jock, just ignorant as one. "Best" of both worlds, peak xbox demographic.

 

[Ravielsk]

They followed him there because he brain washed them but it's frustrating that the NPCs feel so alive when you first meet them and then they basically have no story.

No, I get that part. My question is why Miquella even needed them to follow him (and its not like the location of Mohgs palace is public knowledge). They do nothing to aid him and in fact after his rune shatters all except Leda and Dryleaf become a liability. They straight up lead you to him, so in a way they facilitate his downfall.
As things are the story basically makes the point that Miquella is a jackass that brainwashes randos to follow him for no particular reason. Somehow I doubt that the intent was to portrait him as a F- tier hentai protagonist.

It's never even explained why him being a God is such a bad idea. We killed the last one because She abandoned the lands between and intentionally fucked it up.

You could infer that a god who has to literary discard his love and compassion would make for a shit deity but that is me really grasping at straws. He kind of has the exact same issue as Marika in that he is basically a non-character whose actions we only observe in retrospect with little to no context or motivation. Its kind of like trying to form an opinion of a person based solely on their pfp.

 

[Silverfish]

Piracy has always been just an escuse for shitty companies or sellouts.

That must be it. I was afraid I might have to consider the repercussions of my actions for a sec.

Pst, I didn't say you were fit like a jock, just ignorant as one.

It's too late, I've already taken the compliment.

 

[Lyric Suite]

I never even had a console and none of my friends had one either. Halo was trash for that reason alone, Bungie betraying their PC fanbase because Microsoft made them an offer they couldn't refuse (except they could have). Fuck them.

"Halo is bad because it's on a console" is pretty much the level of critique I expected from you.

But it is. Bungie was one of the first companies to cave to console exclusives and the whole concept of the console ecosystem, which from there on became the common denominator for all games, thus destroying western PC gaming in the process, since now games have to be made for console first and foremost or should i say exclusively, 90% of games that end up on steam being defacto console ports to PC aside for those few hold overs from the PC era that have been relagated to tiny niches, I.E., strategy games etc.

The Xbox destroyed PC gaming and Bungie were among the first to sellout.

And imagine even considering playing a shooter with a controller.

The first Codex thread sponsored by Ambien.

You shut your mouth figgit. My let's plays are hightly entertaining and deeply enlightening, offering profound insights into the games and are good fun for family and friends! I'm also the only one apparently who can finish them lmao.

 

[Lyric Suite]

I had to skim all the posts dealing with Miquella because i have yet to get there and i don't want spoilers.

So far the game has dealt mostly with the Hornsent and that part is pretty fascinating, especially if the plot is going where i think it's going (I.E., Marika had a pretty good justificaiton to send Messmer to incinerate those fuckers).

It's an intereresting subplot because it involves motivations that are more easily understood. I don't know what Miquella's deal is but the reasoning of those gods or demigods appears to be quite esoteric so understanding their actions from a "mortal" perspective didn't quite work in the base game either. So far the game has claimed Miquella is doing what he is doing as atonement for what Marika did to the Hornsent, but likely there's going to be more than that.

Anyway, i should probably just stop before the whole plot gets spoiled for me.

 

[Silverfish]

Bungie was one of the first companies to cave to console exclusives and the whole concept of the console ecosystem, which from there on became the common denominator for all games, thus destroying western PC gaming in the process, since now games have to be made for console first and foremost or should i say exclusively, 90% of games that end up on steam being defacto console ports to PC aside for those few hold overs from the PC era that have been relagated to tiny niches, I.E., strategy games etc.

Should have bought more games, bro.

You shut your mouth figgit. My let's plays are hightly entertaining and deeply enlightening

The important thing is that you think so.

 

[Lyric Suite]

They followed him there because he brain washed them

Did he? I got the impression Miquella just has an effect on others purely by virtue of what he is. Maybe he never intended anybody to follow him. Those NPCs just met him and decided to become his followers entirely on their own after falling to his powers.

 

[Lyric Suite]

"XBox 360 games were popular with people who were in shape" is definitely not the insult I saw coming. I'll take it, though.

It's definitely an insult because jocks and dude bros are notoriously known to be braindead for a good reason: because they are.

 

[Hell Swarm]

As things are the story basically makes the point that Miquella is a jackass that brainwashes randos to follow him for no particular reason. Somehow I doubt that the intent was to portrait him as a F- tier hentai protagonist.

I don't think he intentionally mind fucks people, he's just very very charismatic and naturally does it. He clearly has stronger seduction (grabbing) but I think in general people do what he wants because his great rune forces it on them.

But it is. Bungie was one of the first companies to cave to console exclusives and the whole concept of the console ecosystem, which from there on became the common denominator for all games, thus destroying western PC gaming in the process, since now games have to be made for console first and foremost or should i say exclusively, 90% of games that end up on steam being defacto console ports to PC aside for those few hold overs from the PC era that have been relagated to tiny niches, I.E., strategy games etc.

Please stop posting Lyric you fucking idiot. Square enix has console exclusive deals with Nintendo and then Sony for final fantasy. There are loads of companies before Bungie to sign exclusive contracts. You have no clue about what's being released either. PC has been the lead platform this generation because both consoles have flopped.

You shut your mouth figgit. My let's plays are hightly entertaining and deeply enlightening, offering profound insights into the games and are good fun for family and friends! I'm also the only one apparently who can finish them lmao.

They're boring buff fests and you're not even skilled enough to make those entertaining. Where's your bug eyed dumpling head faggot?

They followed him there because he brain washed them

Did he? I got the impression Miquella just has an effect on others purely by virtue of what he is. Maybe he never intended anybody to follow him. Those NPCs just met him and decided to become his followers entirely on their own after falling to his powers.

You don't know what you're talking about yet again. Don't comment until you've finished the 'story' which doesn't really exist except for 1 major change.

 

[Silverfish]

It's definitely an insult because jocks and dude bros are notoriously known to be braindead for a good reason: because they are.

Didn't mean to make you relive those high school memories. Sorry, man.

Square enix has console exclusive deals with Nintendo and then Sony for final fantasy. There are loads of companies before Bungie to sign exclusive contracts.

In before "it's different when the squints do it because they didn't betray me".

 

[Hell Swarm]

Oh hey a helmet that acts as a mini FAP ring.. Better farm it!
Oh cool a fire great sword.. Better farm it!
Gee, this is getting tiresome.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Please stop posting Lyric you fucking idiot. Square enix has console exclusive deals with Nintendo and then Sony for final fantasy. There are loads of companies before Bungie to sign exclusive contracts. You have no clue about what's being released either. PC has been the lead platform this generation because both consoles have flopped

Here we go with the sophistry again.

Japanese companies are not part of the argument because consoles is all they do. They never had a PC scene so for them the destruction of the PC gaming ecosystem due to the advent of "multiplatform" development doesn't apply.

Halo would have been a VASTLY better game had it come out on PC. It was likely the first game to have to be forced to make "concessions" to fit to an inferior platform and a control sheme that wasn't intended for the genre. Halo was also among the first console "exclusives" when that was a foreign concept in the west, and the game was originally set to release on both console and PC in case we have forgotten about that.

With the xbox Microsoft nearly literally shat on one of the few reasons the windows platform was so dominant (becuase that's where all the games were) and were only saved, unwittingly, by steam. The level of stupidity on display by Microsoft is beyond words. Steam should have been THEIR creation and the shitbox should have never existed because consoles are an inferior platform and only lingered on because the Japanese were too stubborn to let it go.

 

[Lyric Suite]

They're boring buff fests and you're not even skilled enough to make those entertaining.

Nah they are fun (and are also more fun to make than i expected, the Sekiro one was a blast). You guys are just negative nancies and pretty boring ones at this point. All you do is screech and moan it's becoming a bit repetitive.

 

[Silverfish]

All you do is screech and moan it's becoming a bit repetitive.

Praise one of Lyric's videos. "You're retarded."

Defend loot games on the basis that some are more skill-focused (Nioh) or can eventually be put down since you've seen all the content anyway (Diablo). "They're trying to make me gamble. It's just like microtransactions."

Share enthusiasm for a top 5 FPS series. "It's bad because it's not on my platform of choice."

"All you guys do is complain."

 

[abija]

You actually said loot system in Nioh is better than From games (and Diablo is fine) because you stopped playing the games before loot mattered.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Again with the sophistry. Nioh has no such thing as "skill based" loot. The skills are tied to the weapon type, it has shit to do with the loot system as such. You could literally remove the loot aspect entirely and the game wouldn't fundamentally change all that much (might have even be better, getting closer to Sekiro except with a greater variety of weapon types at the expense of better designed bosses and tighter fine tuning).

And Halo is a colossal pile of shit only consoltards think is good because they don't know any better. They grew up playing on the shitbox exclusively thinking the dumbed down garbage they were slurping over was actually the genuine pinnacle of gaming. This crowd, comprised mostly of dumb Americans, is completely oblivious of anything that may exist outside their consoltarded bubble, and those people are the primary cause of decline in the west. Ask them what their favored shooter is, and they'll say Halo. Ask their favored RPG, and they'll mention stupid shit like Zelda or Ocarina of Time (babby's first RPG), or even worse Final Fantasy. I remember reading a comment on the Baldur's Gate 3 steam forums where some guy was confused why the name "Baldur's Gate" was supposed to be such a big deal. He didn't understand what the fuss was and literally mentions Zelda as the standard he was used to, i shit you not. The dangers of a PC franchise suddenly going "mainstream" i guess.

Go to any youtube detailing the history of RPGs, and even when the author of the video doesn't go out of his way to pander to the console crowd, 50% of the comments will mention nothing but Zelda or FF. They literally don't know anything else. And if you see Fallout mentioned of course it's gonna be Fallout 3 (or Fallout 4 at this point because consoltards have the memory of a gold fish and new generations don't even know older console games).

And for someone who belongs to a prestigious old school forum, comments like this betray the insular consoletarded mindset:

In before "it's different when the squints do it because they didn't betray me".

Dude, i never even fucking played a single Square Enix game in my entire existence. But to a consoletard, it was just an automatic assumption i was a fanboy of that company because their wolrd is the only world they know.

 

[Anonona]

Ironically enough, Souls game started as console exclusives, and even today the main platform is still consoles, as the sources I posted early show that PS4 and 5 are where more of the player-base is. This include Sekiro and AC. From has always been a console dev first and foremost.

Never cared too much about PC vs consoles debate. Played both, there are good games in both of them. Wouldn't mind consoles being phased out so all games come to PC, but the quality of games usually depends more on the developers than the platform. Many emblematic and creative elements of games of old came about due to the developers finding ingenous solutions to the limitations of the platform they were working on. Nowadays, in a development environment where those liimitations are gone and we have access to many more tools somehow games manage to be worse.