Elden Ring - February 2022 (PC, PS4, PS5, XBOX ONE, XBOX SERIES S/X)

[Blitzkrug]

Gave it a fair shake but this game just isn't for me. Played it for about 10 hours and it just didn't hook me.

It's very, very well made. Combat is smooth as butter, graphics look really nice outside of the occasional frame drop and the music is fantastic.

I think my biggest problem with it is I've never been one for medieval fantasy and the fact that this game is almost...too open world for me? If that makes sense.

Breath of the wild is one of my favorite games ever made but even for as open as that was, it still gave you a pretty loose path to follow/work around in dealing with the four divine beasts. It didn't outright tell you which one to do or anything, but they were there so you could kinda build a path on how you wanted to approach things.

This game it throws you right in and you're left with a big ass world to explore with very little idea of where to go. After I killed the beast man in the cave it's just been a constant sense of "k now what?" I stumbled on Margit I'm assuming way, way too early and got rinsed.

Anything without structure I struggle with really.

 

[Beau Knows]

Gave it a fair shake but this game just isn't for me. Played it for about 10 hours and it just didn't hook me.

It's very, very well made. Combat is smooth as butter, graphics look really nice outside of the occasional frame drop and the music is fantastic.

I think my biggest problem with it is I've never been one for medieval fantasy and the fact that this game is almost...too open world for me? If that makes sense.

Breath of the wild is one of my favorite games ever made but even for as open as that was, it still gave you a pretty loose path to follow/work around in dealing with the four divine beasts. It didn't outright tell you which one to do or anything, but they were there so you could kinda build a path on how you wanted to approach things.

This game it throws you right in and you're left with a big ass world to explore with very little idea of where to go. After I killed the beast man in the cave it's just been a constant sense of "k now what?" I stumbled on Margit I'm assuming way, way too early and got rinsed.

Anything without structure I struggle with really.

I think some of the early NPCs (I think even the first one after you exit the tutorial?) tell you that you need to go to Stormveil Castle to face Goddrick.

I think the intention is for you to make your way there while getting distracted by other things along the way. Then once you do face Margit, you'll likely find he's too tough for you right now and that you should explore Limgrave more and come back to face him again later.

The game's structure (as far as I know, I haven't looked up anything past where I am) is that each region has a large dungeon (Stormveil Castle) with a demi god inside. Your goal is to defeat them all.

 

[zombie kopitar]

Only problem I'm having so far is that my PS5 keeps trying to copy the PS4 disc whenever I turn it on, even though I did the upgrade.

i have not experienced it yet as I have no ps4 discs to upgrade, but I hear that is basically just an annoyance that comes with using any ps4 disc upgrade, and there's pretty much nothing you can do

Can anyone else confirm?

 

[JaegerDice]

I bought this on PS5, but Im kinda wishing I bought in on XSX for the VRR.

The framerate drops in some of the more active areas are pretty noticeable, and I feel like VRR would at the very least fix the screen-tearing and smooth out some of the stutters.

 

[aleshemsky83]

Gave it a fair shake but this game just isn't for me. Played it for about 10 hours and it just didn't hook me.

It's very, very well made. Combat is smooth as butter, graphics look really nice outside of the occasional frame drop and the music is fantastic.

I think my biggest problem with it is I've never been one for medieval fantasy and the fact that this game is almost...too open world for me? If that makes sense.

Breath of the wild is one of my favorite games ever made but even for as open as that was, it still gave you a pretty loose path to follow/work around in dealing with the four divine beasts. It didn't outright tell you which one to do or anything, but they were there so you could kinda build a path on how you wanted to approach things.

This game it throws you right in and you're left with a big ass world to explore with very little idea of where to go. After I killed the beast man in the cave it's just been a constant sense of "k now what?" I stumbled on Margit I'm assuming way, way too early and got rinsed.

Anything without structure I struggle with really.

You know I'm about 6 hours into this game having beat margit and I can say that I agree with you that BotW is better so far.

I think some of the early NPCs (I think even the first one after you exit the tutorial?) tell you that you need to go to Stormveil Castle to face Goddrick.

I think the intention is for you to make your way there while getting distracted by other things along the way. Then once you do face Margit, you'll likely find he's too tough for you right now and that you should explore Limgrave more and come back to face him again later.

The game's structure (as far as I know, I haven't looked up anything past where I am) is that each region has a large dungeon (Stormveil Castle) with a demi god inside. Your goal is to defeat them all.

He was potentially beatable for me straight away with a +0 weapon using a summon but I decided to just explore more and beat him only leveling HP with a +2 weapon

 

[Beau Knows]

He was potentially beatable for me straight away with a +0 weapon using a summon but I decided to just explore more and beat him only leveling HP with a +2 weapon

Yeah I try not to use summons against the bosses, hopefully I can make it through the whole game without using them.

 

[sabresfan129103]

I'm 34 hours in and I don't even really think I'm that far. I haven't even gotten to the capital yet. I'm just taking my time and exploring. I'm definitely liking it better than Sekiro which I had to give up on because I just didn't have the patience/reflexes for that game. Once I saw what the final boss in that game looked like I just gave up.

 

[aleshemsky83]

I'm 34 hours in and I don't even really think I'm that far. I haven't even gotten to the capital yet. I'm just taking my time and exploring. I'm definitely liking it better than Sekiro which I had to give up on because I just didn't have the patience/reflexes for that game. Once I saw what the final boss in that game looked like I just gave up.

Tbh this game makes me appreciate sekiro more because it was so different.

Yeah I try not to use summons against the bosses, hopefully I can make it through the whole game without using them.

I don't necessarily have this rule for myself, and in fact if I meet an NPC that personally asks me to summon them I usually do it since it's usually part of a questline. Although I do admit an NPC aggroing the boss can make it way easier.

 

[CBJx614]

Played a bit over 35 hours as a samurai and had a lot of fun. But my buddy is starting up tonight and I wanna play with him so I started a new game as a wretch and got a few hours in before we played. I gotta say I'm actually having a lot of fun as a wretch.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

Really enjoying it but quite bad at it. First Souls-like game for me so I expected that.

 

[aleshemsky83]

Played a bit over 35 hours as a samurai and had a lot of fun. But my buddy is starting up tonight and I wanna play with him so I started a new game as a wretch and got a few hours in before we played. I gotta say I'm actually having a lot of fun as a wretch.

he can summon you with a password regardless of level you dont need to restart the game although you probably know that

 

[blue425]

Tbh this game makes me appreciate sekiro more because it was so different.I don't necessarily have this rule for myself, and in fact if I meet an NPC that personally asks me to summon them I usually do it since it's usually part of a questline. Although I do admit an NPC aggroing the boss can make it way easier.

If Sekiro had a flaw it is that it could have used another location or two. You spend a lot of time in one area. Other than that it's an S tier experience.

I just passed the 50 hour mark. Game is great. Although the real money for me is the legacy levels. In my NG+ run I'll be skipping most of the overworld.

 

[CBJx614]

he can summon you with a password regardless of level you dont need to restart the game although you probably know that

Yeah I just wanted to restart as a different class to be honest. And I feel like I'm having more fun in this playthrough, partly because I know what I'm doing but I've also been able to level up my guy exactly how I want.

 

[Kcb12345]

About ~20 hours in now, running a Dex/Int Samurai build at level 55 and absolutely loving it. Thanks to all the people who gave me tips on here, they really did help.

Dual wielding the Moonveil katana and the meteorite staff with rock sling. Able to finish off a few bosses without even dying on my first try (magic definitely feels OP, but I don't mind lol). Of course, simply leveling up helps a ton too. I took on Margit wayy too early (like level 18) and learned my lesson there despite defeating him/her after a ton of tries. Went back to Stormveil castle at rank 55 and cruised through with no problems. Learning a lot about the game as I go on, even 20 hours in. Definitely see the appeal, it's a lot of fun leveling up and trying to make your guy as powerful as you can. I dreaded the boss fights coming into this game, and now I seek them out lol

 

[Kranix]

Finally beat Rennala with my vagabond-turned-wizard. (level 54, 46 INT, 16 STR lol) WHhheheeeeewwww. Meteorite Staff and Rock Sling. I've just been wandering around for so long so I'm at 56 hours.

 

[aleshemsky83]

Finally beat Rennala with my vagabond-turned-wizard. (level 54, 46 INT, 16 STR lol) WHhheheeeeewwww. Meteorite Staff and Rock Sling. I've just been wandering around for so long so I'm at 56 hours.

I beat her at 15 hours at LVL 33 by just summoning with a password inand letting him do everything, lol. It's weird though though I actually got to her with zero trouble severely underleveled. The bosses in this game are so much harder than the actual areas they're in.

 

[Kranix]

I beat her at 15 hours at LVL 33 by just summoning with a password inand letting him do everything, lol. It's weird though though I actually got to her with zero trouble severely underleveled. The bosses in this game are so much harder than the actual areas they're in.

I needed a few tries to beat her. I kept getting one-shotted by her spells in phase 2.
I had some frustration getting through that dungeon, before I relaxed and realized I should just run up and melee the sorcerers. Some of those choke points where they can pummel you with pebble though...

 

[Tonneau]

The bosses in this game are so much harder than the actual areas they're in.

Some of them are, some of them aren't.

 

[Tw1ster]

Godrick absolutely spanked me for over an hour. Got him with in one hit on my second try and then just shit the bed repeatedly afterwards. I went in naked and finally beat him but good lord, just couldn’t read his moves

 

[Andrei79]

I'm exploring Liurnia, which the design is somehow even more impressive than limgrave and its surroundings. This game is brilliant up to now.

 

[SpookyTsuki]

put some of your bias aside. How does this rank compared to dark souls 1? Should I play it?

 

[Tw1ster]

put some of your bias aside. How does this rank compared to dark souls 1? Should I play it?

I put it at the top of the Souls list right alongside Bloodborne. DS1 had the interconnected level design that tied everything together but the games real downfall was its latter quarter plus of the game. So far Elden Ring puts everything that Dark Souls did well, and slapped it down into an open world setting.

 

[aleshemsky83]

put some of your bias aside. How does this rank compared to dark souls 1? Should I play it?

Its not as good as dark souls 1, but you should still play it.

 

[Commander Clueless]

I caved and picked it up.

I'm not a Soulsborne fan by any stretch but I gotta say....I'm loving this game so far.

I'm shocked at how much I like it.

 

[Beau Knows]

The open world in this is so much more interesting than what you get in stuff like Assassin's Creed, Far Cary, Horizon, etc.

Those games are terrified of letting you miss anything so there's no real secrets in the world, it doesn't feel like you're exploring. They've been playtested to hell to make sure everyone can and will advance past each challenge so that nothing you do feels like an accomplishment. It's just a matter of time before you fill all of the buckets the game throws in your face, to beat those games you're mostly following checklists.

Elden Ring doesn't give you checklists or even a quest log, you need to write things down and mark things on your map yourself. You're guided to interesting things by seeing them in the distance rather than being just another icon on your map to check. There's some things that are repeated a few too many times, but it's not as bad as most of those other games at doing that.