Elden Ring

[mfnick]

Turns out this is a good podcast game. Played it last night but shoved some videos on in background in my iPad and just wandered about. Enjoyed it a lot more than when I’m fully focused on it. 

[Whiskey_chaser]

I had a really rough start with this game, it repeatedly handed my arse to me on numerous occasions, but I'm finally finding my feet with it. Don't think it helps that I started as Bandit class when I generally go for more tanky roles or ranged. 

Managed to finally take down Margate after butting my head against him for more times than i've ever fought a souls boss. Managed to take down several smaller bosses as well and have some good gear/abilities under my belt.

[Maf]

Miyazaki was saying that Elden Ring was a bit easier than other Souls games but seems like everyone is really struggling (On here and things I see on Twitter). Maybe it gets easier the more you go? 

[one-armed dwarf]

It could be that it has a slightly messed up difficulty curve

 

The first 'main' boss in this is like a DLC boss from the older games imo. But also I think from DS3 these games get more difficult with their mechanics. ER also has way more of an emphasis on hitbox knowledge I think, watching my clear of some fights and comparing to others there's a lot of people out there who are trained to jump over low hitting attacks and bonk the bosses. So it's not just roll and block, it's jump attack during openings Sekiro style. 

 

if you've got all the accumulated knowledge from the other games I bet this doesn't seem so difficult. From my experience I think ER is a lot harder than DS1, I think it only seems easier if you judge it off all the optional boss fights. That said the zones and dungeons are pretty easy, there's been nothing in it like the depths or blighttown, nothing remotely as difficult as those

 

I think it's a side effect also of the open world. Some people will want to explore everything before hitting main path, others are main pathers, others will do a little bit of both. But the game feels like it expects you to do quite a bit of optional content before even attempting the boss it points you towards. I don't think it guides the player really well in this regard

 

https://www.denofgeek.com/games/elden-ring-margit-boss-fight-difficult-balanced-hard/

 

The second 'main' boss fight it such a difficulty downgrade from the first one

[OCH]

Oh one small thing I noticed in a video on YouTube. Did anyone else not notice the ghost in the chair and completely bypass the tutorial area?😅

[Whiskey_chaser]

I think it's just the first few hours, there's a lot to take in with no real guidance other than a big floating path that seems to be trolling you. It seems to be more generous in some regards, i've found tons of smithing stones in some mines so I have a variety of level three weapons now. I've started dabbling with the ashes of war as well which helps, my bow now has charged shot and I can craft fire arrows which seem to do a lot of damage, making ranged more of an option.

Co-op seems to be a lot better in this as well. Difficulty scales well and it's a lot less hassle setting up.

[Whiskey_chaser]

I'm loving this game. I'm starting to see what all the fuss is about. It's pretty unforgiving in some areas, but it's a lot more of a laid back and forgiving game in other areas. It's a Souls game but it isn't. There are subtle differences and it doesn't punish you as much for making mistakes. The combat seems a lot more open and it seems much more of a playground where you can experiment more with what works and what doesn't.

The joy in this game is in the exploration. The map just keeps expanding and this game is huge, with so much hidden away in every corner. I've been playing it whilst voice chatting with friends and the amount of 'whoa' or 'what the fuck is THAT' moments we keep blurting out whilst collectively exploring and sharing information has been brilliant.

I found the games opening a little underwhelming, but once you stop trying to find a direction and just roam around doing your own thing - this game really shines. 

[one-armed dwarf]

I'm still up and down sometimes, but in terms of up I found a more efficient hunting system

 

 

Get fucked sheep

 

I had a really rough boss yesterday which reminded me of centipede demon. Melee just wasn't an option, so I had to have a change of tempo and cull the herds of sheep around Limgrave for their bones, and kill the poison flowers to craft some poison arrows. Then kill the cunt with damage over time damage. Blood rose for bleeding arrows as well. You can also craft arrows that light people up, I think the idea is you use enemies as a light source in caves and dont need a shield, want to try this

 

People give out about crafting/looting in open world games but you need stuff like this so you aren't just always going to gallop past the random enemies. You need a resource/kinda an economy system for this

 

I'm hitting more friction on the main path, I'm on my way to topple some elden lords (demigods? I'm still unclear on the lore terms). But I'm finding more enemies that just one shot me. So I'm taking a step back and unlocking other areas.

[Whiskey_chaser]

I just beat the second main boss. Feels good.

[mmmark]

Is there an order to the bosses? Or can tackle in any order?

 

I’ve been watching Limmy play through it. I’d definitely hate it but seeing someone else of a similar age grasping with it but is good at FS games is a nice watch.

[one-armed dwarf]

Kind of, there is a throughline they try to funnel you through (the first two 'main' bosses), but 95% of the game otherwise is completely free form it looks like. Not quite Breath of the Wild level but not that far off, especially on the part of the game I'm at now (post 2nd boss)

 

Apparently it might even be possible to skip these two bosses but I don't know how or what it effects, like if you can just play the game backwards or something (which would be really interesting)

[mfnick]

I’ve just beat Godrick too. What a bellend. Seems specifically designed to punish melee only builds like mine. First phase is a push over but during his second, what a cunt. The range he has and the AOE’s are ridiculous. Took the longest amount of time just trying to edge regular attacks out of him which I could parry or dodge so I could get a swipe or 2 in more than anything. Tedious, but done. 

[one-armed dwarf]

Hmm I thought it was the opposite tbh. He has so much stuff that can punish 'keep away' builds.

 

I thought it was a way better fight than Marge. Felt tough but fair and had lots of rope to hang himself with, not like this absolutely discouraging war of bullshit that Marge was.

[mfnick]

I prefer Godricks first phase, find that fun, but when he starts spitting fire fuck him. He has attacks which are punishable for sure but mostly he just spits fire everywhere with nowhere for me to go quickly enough.  Much prefer Marge overall. 

 

Also just want to mention performance since it came up, I’ve not actually found it that bad on SX. Especially considering how bad it’s meant to be. I’ve had a couple of sections which have slowed to a crawl but they were isolated and didn’t last long. Not happened during a fight either yet. Mostly it feels solid.

The load times though… wow. First time I’ve noticed them in a intrusive way on the SX. Which is stupid. If a game like Horizon 5 can load near instantly this should easily be able to do it. They’re not actually long, compared to previous gen but they’re noticeable and I’ve not been able to say that about any other game I’ve played on it. I think it’s a From problem not a Hardware one. Just like the frame rate could be better if they didn’t strive for 4k still in performance mode, some silly decision has been made somewhere. Always been a bit technically ropey their games IMO. 
 

Least I don’t have to worry about my save data though. 

[OCH]

Ambling around...

 

Decided to test some unexplored paths. Found a fort and my first instance of an enemy using the Bleed mechanic in this. Which has faster build-up than I'm used to. Then I robbed a convoy that was being led by two giants. After that, I spied an eldritch horror on a beach. The damage from one sword swing told me to save it for a later time. Walked innocently through a wood and physically jumped when I spied Yogi The Bear stretching. Didn't fancy that one. Decided to explore the waterways around the Dragon. Skeletons are just as much a pain in the ass as ever. When horse dissolved halfway down the ravine, I knew what was coming next. Another invasion. This one with bleed heavy attacks. Ran behind him to what he was guarding. Discovered a catacomb. Brief. But filled with more bleed inducing enemies. Then a thematically unrelated boss at the end. Got halfway with the first try. Found a new Ash of War in the meantime that has given my broadsword +3 a beam attack. Very Zelda.

 

Went back to Marge and got him down to 3/4 health. Next session I'm going to keep throwing myself at him till he dies. Had enough of the sightseeing now.

[retroed]

I haven't beaten Margit yet, almost did last night literally a millimetre of health left when I died, but I have been exploring a lot and found three of the maps.

 

Playing astrologer and I'm level 22. Loving it.

[OCH]

I've got the east and west map. Also got a teleport to some church in the north eastern corner. Spoke to a very large NPC inside. Afterwards I thought to explore the area outside the safety of the bonfire. I got one-shot by an enemy projectile...

 

Intelligencer, level 21.

[one-armed dwarf]

I beat my third main boss, one of a multiple selection of fuckers I could punch with my sword and magic. As I go for glass cannon builds I'm at that point now where I need to build up sustainability a bit, cause I die too fast. I find progress hard tho, it's very hard to get a sense of the recommended power level for each domain.

 

I am still not connecting with the game as much as I'd like, and that makes me sad. It's not to the point I want to quit it or anything, I do enjoy it but the peaks aren't that high for me compared to the other titles. The world is really cool looking and I'm enjoying getting all these lore fragments and everything solidifying (it's not as opaque as other Souls games either). But it still feels like I'm playing a really difficult version of Skyrim or something. There are so many chalice dungeons and they all have so many big gameplay impacting things to find in them, but getting through them isn't rewarding. I guess they're the equivalent of BOTW shrines, but I found the puzzles a nice break from the roaming in BOTW. It's not the same when fighting curse infecting frogs or bleed goblins.

 

Still I'm getting to that point now where I can see buildings on the horizon and recognise what they are, and if I wanted to I could find my way around without a map probably. Which is nice

 

also btw, my game crashed last night during a load screen. Didn't murder my game save tho, that was close. Still backing it up every hour or two, hope it will help

[radiofloyd]

Finally got back on this today. There was a patch, and the game didn’t crash. We’ll see how long that lasts. Mostly been doing stuff I didn’t do first time around. I can’t shake the fear that the next crash is just around the corner though. But hopefully I won’t be so unlucky again.

[OCH]

In a bad mood today, so I opted for exploring over boss fighting. Stumbled across who I assume is supposed to be the first merchant (given everything I picked had a tutorial attached) and bought a torch. Headed to a pitch black cave I avoided before, and cleared it out. Plus a twin-type boss fight. More sub bosses, than a proper one. Funnily enough they called little minions throughout the fight. As soon as the boss died, they began to de-aggro and cower. A nice touch... as I killed them all. Followed the cave through to a new mini island. With an impressive looking altar that did... nothing🤔

 

Back on the mainland, I soon fell foul of my own treasure hunting. Cleared out the enemies and descended the stairs. Opened the chest and.. found myself in a new area of the map. A lethal new area of the map from the name. The biome on the east side of the map isn't for low level challengers. I had to escape a different kind of mine and a city, which looked awesome. Along the way, I have slowly started to increase my stats.

 

Might try to go map hunting next session. See what the other parts of the game look like.