Just... do the quest earlier, lol. It's all perfectly doable that early.
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It's an open world game, very open. If you leave optional stuff too long you overlevel it. You could have done Radhan and the quest much sooner if you wanted to and it would have been a much miore fun challenge.
I'm not found of the whole premiere for his fight (festival thing)
It will be better if you approach the area by ground slowly while hearing Radahn howling.
"fun challenge"
*remembers when the thread was page after page about complaints of how unfair and not fun the radhan fight was*
is mohgwyn palace named after mohg or the other way around? the "gwyn" in the name is suspicious.
Finally did some googling to get some more spells since I was still just with the starter one and one worthless one I'd stumbled across with my prisoner. I'd came near but somehow missed the one ruin that has the spell selling NPC and then looked up and went and got the rock toss spell and meteorite staff that are used in a build video that was part of my decision to roll with prisoner. Digging it so far, helped me beat one boss I'd left a while back but still need to level up more for a couple others I'd stumbled across. Plan to just do some random exploration for a while the next few sessions.
Agree to disagree then. The more I get into the game, the spectacle and variety of the areas to explore remains amazing, but it all quickly faded out when I realize everything is essentially a dungeon of varying sizes and openness. Guessing what happened to a place or the history behind them is very fun though.
With or without quest markers, Elden Ring still has the same principle of open world game design (visually guiding players through object/landmark/enemy placement, environmental storytelling, a critical path with subtle nods on where to deviate, hidden paths that you know are there because something catches your attention, etc). Every building has something to add to player power which may or may not be useful for you. The map still shows the general direction of your critical path. They gave you a return waypoint when you cleared a zone, or you know it by yourself because there's one good item in it.
The world is massive, the level designs are very intricate, and the visual variety is staggering, so in the end the overall package is great,. As you said it's probably the only game whose core philosophy is "Dark Souls, but big" which should be extremely appealing to Fromsoft fans. To me this game doesn't make me want to play Souls games and makes the wait for BoTW2 even harder,
Like every dragon, try to stay as close as possible. I'm really not sure if there is a way to not take a hit from the laser beams.
I was talking about the quest not just Radahn, and not everyone said that about him. People don't come to the thread to say "I enjoyed that" as often as they do "that was horrible!".
Boiling it down to "everything is a dungeon of varying sizes and openess" feels very reducitve to me, the game doesn't feel that way at all imo.
The moon spell makes you float and counts as "jumping" over ground AOEs if that helps. Even though I mostly didn't use the moon at the right time, it inadvertently helped. Also Greatshield Soldiers are a blessing for you in this fight if you're sorcerer.
(19:48 if it doesn't skip - this is an endgame spoiler)
Yes, every open world action adventure game ever made in all of history will have these aspects, because these aspects are staples of the action adventure genre and fit into the open world in this particular and obvious way. No open world adventure game, including Elden Ring, will not have them. If they didnt have them, it would probably suck. Go on Steam and play some low budget open world games for a taste of how such a game feels without these elements (hint: it's boring AF).
You're missing my point, which is that with Elden Ring they very precisely removed the majority of the handholding which open world games including BotW have always done. Yes, the guidance of grace points towards the next objective - but it points from the initial checkpoint, never during the journey itself, and in an extremely vague direction to an extremely vague goal. No other open world games enforces vagueness to this degree. And that applies to almost ALL of ER's systems, where it applies to practically none of the systems in any other given open world game (BotW has a god damn minimap on screen at all times featuring a yellow blip pointing EXACTLY to where the next objective is).
It's a very subtle distinction, but it applies to ER's game design being a rewrite of the core T&Cs of how open world games work (as Edge said in their rare 10/10 review for the game). All the information you assume you'll be given from the countless Assassin's Creeds, Far Cry's, etc - it's all been stripped away. The player needs to do a lot more of the cognitive legwork in ER. And it's intoxicating.
If it didnt work for you, fair enough. But From made clear decisions here which go against the norm of open world design.
For the record I'm also incredibly excited to see what Nintendo's team do for BotW2, they must be furiously taking notes. And to see what comes of Elden Ring 2.
I think it's a fight you just have to be a bit patient on since he can do so many attacks which don't actually allow you to attack that safely. I stayed close around the tail for a lot of it, keeping lock on off outside of when he teleports to do claw attacks, just face the camera towards him a bit so you can see when he does firebreaths or the ground explosions. His left hand claw attack which leads into a fire breath you can actually just roll through the claw to his stomach and attack as the breath doesn't seem to reach there, that was the biggest opening i found to do damage.
Talk about spikes, just got to castle sól and I'm getting curbstomped. Giant lions, ghost knights, and the boss can't say since I haven't managed to kill his bois.
She is. Until they nerf her that is.
Congrats!
I'd say 40 is a solid number.
HMMMMMMM 🤔
🤣
I swear this happens 90% of the time the moment M gets down to 25%. Host either becomes super cocky and gets greedy or they kick me and the other player helping out of their game. lol
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Made a new character and doing a faith build this time. The Black Knife Assassin boss in the Black Knife Catacombs was making me hella salty last night. lmao
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Finally finished my first playthrough, 100 hours at around Level 165-170.
The difficulty ramp from MOTG and beyond is way sharper than the rest of the game and was teetering on the edge of "some bullshit" to just all of a sudden have a bunch of different enemies than can obliterate you like they're a damn boss (especially looking at you dual-sword teleporting frost knight).
I would say the only part of the game I was getting really frustrated was Haligtree as it reminded me of the parts of other Souls games that annoyed the shit out of me: lots of tights corridors packed with enemies with plenty of snipers. It was the only area I just started sprinting forward and not worrying about checking every nook and cranny out until I came back way later.
Final boss was the toughest fight for me, it sucked that my bleed build was useless against them, so I had to swap around most of my gear to be more effective in that fight. Was worried that I was going to be stuck on Malenia for a long time, but surprisingly got her in under 10 attempts. A lot of that felt like luck not having them do the mega combo and just not being too aggressive in phase two. The hardest non-final boss for me was Malkeith, thank goodness that's not a "full fight" because that one is brutal, especially that damn black flame damage and those wave beams.
10/10 game for me, but more like a 9/10 experience because of the performance on PS5, kind of a real bummer but down the line I plan on getting it on PC too.
The difficulty ramp from MOTG and beyond is way sharper than the rest of the game and was teetering on the edge of "some bullshit" to just all of a sudden have a bunch of different enemies than can obliterate you like they're a damn boss (especially looking at you dual-sword teleporting frost knight).
I would say the only part of the game I was getting really frustrated was Haligtree as it reminded me of the parts of other Souls games that annoyed the shit out of me: lots of tights corridors packed with enemies with plenty of snipers. It was the only area I just started sprinting forward and not worrying about checking every nook and cranny out until I came back way later.
Final boss was the toughest fight for me, it sucked that my bleed build was useless against them, so I had to swap around most of my gear to be more effective in that fight. Was worried that I was going to be stuck on Malenia for a long time, but surprisingly got her in under 10 attempts. A lot of that felt like luck not having them do the mega combo and just not being too aggressive in phase two. The hardest non-final boss for me was Malkeith, thank goodness that's not a "full fight" because that one is brutal, especially that damn black flame damage and those wave beams.
10/10 game for me, but more like a 9/10 experience because of the performance on PS5, kind of a real bummer but down the line I plan on getting it on PC too.
It bugs me the best way to handle birds is to use your melee weapon. Bows on them is awful feeling.
Melee is just so hit-and-miss with the way they circle around the way they do.
If I can land a good hit with a flame ball, that will one shot them but again they're just so all-over-the-place and that fire hurts as do the blades.
Finished up my first run of Elden Ring last night so I wanted to write up my thoughts.
Personally, I think its one of the best games ever made, but that's not surprising. I already think most of FROM's games are at that level. So, the real question is, among FROM's other works (Bloodborne being my favorite), where do I put it?
I think it's easily their most impressive game. The sense of scope and mystery is unmatched, and I've not had a game capture a feeling of sheer wanderlust in years. With that said, I have a few small quibbles that put it just a hair below Bloodborne for me as an overall package.
The open world is an incredible achievement and 99 percent of the time its amazing to explore. But you do start to notice patterns, similar side-dungeons and reused bosses, as you make your way through the game. This is entirely forgivable given the sheer amount of content here, but its worth noting given the extremely handcrafted feel of FROM's other works.
Then there's the issue of difficulty, which is where my largest (but still ultimately small) complaint comes in. Most of the game is as well balanced as anything FROM has done. The final act fights, without going into spoilers, mark a huge, huge difficulty spike. Bosses have massive HP pools, hit like trucks, and are so aggressive you have very few openings to attack. Because of this, they almost require use of the new "Spirit Summons" mechanic, a mechanic which allows you to summon an friendly character to fight with you, without becoming a frustrating mess.
That's not in and of itself a bad thing, it encourages you to engage with the new mechanic. But it is a marked design change from earlier in the game, where the bosses felt designed to be taken on one on one and the Spirit Summons were more of a way to decrease the difficulty if you were having a rough time, like a single player equivalent to co-op summoning. I preferred that approach, personally. I think if the late game bosses had been just a bit more balanced for solo play, this would have been my absolute favorite FROM game. It's still damn close.
Even still, when "you actually have to use all the game mechanics" is your biggest complaint, you know you've got something special. I'd recommend this game to damn near anybody at this point. I think its going to be remembered as one of the most impressive modern games we've seen.
Personally, I think its one of the best games ever made, but that's not surprising. I already think most of FROM's games are at that level. So, the real question is, among FROM's other works (Bloodborne being my favorite), where do I put it?
I think it's easily their most impressive game. The sense of scope and mystery is unmatched, and I've not had a game capture a feeling of sheer wanderlust in years. With that said, I have a few small quibbles that put it just a hair below Bloodborne for me as an overall package.
The open world is an incredible achievement and 99 percent of the time its amazing to explore. But you do start to notice patterns, similar side-dungeons and reused bosses, as you make your way through the game. This is entirely forgivable given the sheer amount of content here, but its worth noting given the extremely handcrafted feel of FROM's other works.
Then there's the issue of difficulty, which is where my largest (but still ultimately small) complaint comes in. Most of the game is as well balanced as anything FROM has done. The final act fights, without going into spoilers, mark a huge, huge difficulty spike. Bosses have massive HP pools, hit like trucks, and are so aggressive you have very few openings to attack. Because of this, they almost require use of the new "Spirit Summons" mechanic, a mechanic which allows you to summon an friendly character to fight with you, without becoming a frustrating mess.
That's not in and of itself a bad thing, it encourages you to engage with the new mechanic. But it is a marked design change from earlier in the game, where the bosses felt designed to be taken on one on one and the Spirit Summons were more of a way to decrease the difficulty if you were having a rough time, like a single player equivalent to co-op summoning. I preferred that approach, personally. I think if the late game bosses had been just a bit more balanced for solo play, this would have been my absolute favorite FROM game. It's still damn close.
Even still, when "you actually have to use all the game mechanics" is your biggest complaint, you know you've got something special. I'd recommend this game to damn near anybody at this point. I think its going to be remembered as one of the most impressive modern games we've seen.
I was farming the dual-wielding knight yesterday for the unaltered Banished armor, and he is a fully certified asshole. Laughably overpowered. I came back at level 170-180 with +10 Moonveil and he could still kill me if his combo caugh me in a corner. Sick combo, teleportation, loads of health, healing… Give me a break.
I don't think there's any enemy close to that level of bullshit, at least not what I've come across.
The game completely stopped working for me, i try to initiate, and after the artwork/logo screen when it's about to enter in-game screen, screen stays white and the game does not load, till it closes.
Try to verify files integrity and re-install, no success. If any help is welcome, thx in advance.
Try to verify files integrity and re-install, no success. If any help is welcome, thx in advance.
A lot of good tips in the replies. I would add to not be afraid to use Dragonwound Grease. Even if you don't feel comfortable using it in the middle of the fight, having it equipped will let your Mimic Tear apply it, and the extra damage does help. Also, it may seem counter-intuitive, but get as far away when he lands to do the laser attack. I got absolutely demolished by it the first 5 or so times I fought him, but when I got a bunch of distance after he landed, I realized the attack didn't have as much range as you would think. Being farther away also gives you a better view to dodge roll through them, if it comes to it.
I really wish they wouldn't lock the controls when a game message is on screen.
The amount of times I've pulled a lever or something, get the message "a heavy door has been unlocked" or some such, get attacked after I don't notice the message, and then feel frustrated because I'm taking hits and my, attack, block or dodge isn't working.
The amount of times I've pulled a lever or something, get the message "a heavy door has been unlocked" or some such, get attacked after I don't notice the message, and then feel frustrated because I'm taking hits and my, attack, block or dodge isn't working.
This is one of the things that's always felt very unfair. Especially when you kill an enemy, equip their weapon and find that it bounces off walls when it clipped through them when they were using it.
Had this happen to me, it was because I had MSI afterburner running, maybe the game is not happy with one of the applications/program running in the background.
Yeah really hate this, nearly died a few times because of this, that message lasts way too long.
Agreed. When I played I pretty well stopped exploring at Altus, and just went to beat the game. Besides that my weapon was already upgraded to +9 (Somber), so there was nothing else for the game to provide of particular use. Along with the issue you mentioned, I found the spectacle became less and less effective. It was just just too much, with too little substantive mechanical variety to differentiate areas other than the spectacle. I sorta became numb to it, with places like Nokron failing to impress even if it really should have. Compounding this issue, the rewards you get for exploration don't really matter for most builds.
I really wish the game finished at Leyndel, because it is the best designed area and the natural climax in terms of pacing. Beyond that I was pretty exhausted with the game.
I'm at a point where I either missed the explanation of a story beat or I did something wrong. At Round Table Hold there are no characters around the table at all. Did they get killed by that invading guy? Or did I miss something else?
It's like the one thing that dismisses the argument of "deaths in Souls games are never unfair and always the players fault" lol.
Oh my. I might have to abandon my glass cannon build then. I only beat this boss because I could exploit frostbite with Adula's sword.
Probably an 8/10 for me. Everything in Limegrave and Liurnia is a legit 10/10 but everything after is either just good or meh. Caelid kinda sucks, Atlus Plateau was cool, Mountaintops of the Giants was ass, and the underground areas varied wildly in quality. Boss fights are largely terrible which was surprising to me. Only Margit, Godrick, and Morgott were the only standouts. Malenia could've been an incredible boss fight if not for the heal and the bullshit hundred slash move that feels impossible to dodge. Adding a proper jump button was a winner though and felt like it opened up the level design tremendously in a lot of spots.
I'd put it above Dark Souls 2, Sekiro and maybe Dark Souls 1 but well below Demon's Souls, Dark Souls 3, and Bloodborne.
Edit: Forgot about Rykard. He was a pretty fun boss if only for the spectacle.
I really think Elden Ring is going to have a colossal impact on open world design.
Might be a bit late for BOTW2 though.
I wish Horizon 2 would have taken some notes from BOTW, and I really hope Horizon 3 takes on some elements from ER and BOTW as well.
True, but toward the end it gets repetitive like every other open world game.
INT being the easier way to play really is a constant in FROM games lol rock sling and pebble are real good, the others are pretty alright too
It's a 10 for me. I slightly favor BoTW because of the series and how Nintendo took an age old formula and shoved it to the side for something completely new and pulled it off; like Santa Monica did with God of War.
Elden Ring is simply spectacular in design, content and combat. I wanted an open word Dark Souls and that what I got an more. The level design is classic From, Volcano Manor is superbly laid out.
IIRC, spent almost 400hrs in BoTW. I think I can get close or pass it with ER. All I know is, BoTW 2 and the next ER are going further break open world design. I played and finished Horizon:FW and it can't touch ER's open world.
Not saying the game is not compelling.
Every area has still some unique elements that makes me want to continue playing.
Be it the new dungeons, bosses, enemies, environments, etc It's still an amazing open world game, don't get me wrong.
However I've stopped doing every little side dungeon, bandit camp, etc because it was becoming too repetitive.
I beat horizon forbidden west before elden ring. And while fw is a great game, er is on another level.
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My bread and butter through most fights. It gets even crazier once my mimic jumps in and starts using the same spells.
You can turn off the motion controls or just remove all of them manually. It took me a long time and many mistakenly used emotes to realize that.
All done and Platinum got.
This game absolutely craters at the end and brings the whole thing down. It really should have ended after the fight with Morgott. It would have been very fitting...the Tarnished taking down the first story boss of the game and claiming the Elden Throne there and then. Instead it went off on a wild tangent to some incredibly poor areas. Mountaintop of the Giants is the nadir of From's work up until now and The Haligtree and CFA were not much better.
I liked this game a lot, and feel satisfied and got value for money with it but given the crappy endgame, gargantuan amounts of bloat and repetition, poor balancing and the unsatisfying narrative, it's never a 10/10 game. I give it a 7/10 and rank Demon's Souls, Dark Souls and Bloodborne above it easily. Hell, given how bad the endgame was, I'd put Dark Souls 3 above it too.
This game absolutely craters at the end and brings the whole thing down. It really should have ended after the fight with Morgott. It would have been very fitting...the Tarnished taking down the first story boss of the game and claiming the Elden Throne there and then. Instead it went off on a wild tangent to some incredibly poor areas. Mountaintop of the Giants is the nadir of From's work up until now and The Haligtree and CFA were not much better.
I liked this game a lot, and feel satisfied and got value for money with it but given the crappy endgame, gargantuan amounts of bloat and repetition, poor balancing and the unsatisfying narrative, it's never a 10/10 game. I give it a 7/10 and rank Demon's Souls, Dark Souls and Bloodborne above it easily. Hell, given how bad the endgame was, I'd put Dark Souls 3 above it too.
9/10. Last chunk of the game is simply not as polished or well considered as what precedes it. This is not an unusual problem for From but it's unfortunate to see it carry on here.
Spoilers for Big Boggart quest:
Then Dung Eater invades you after killing Boggart outside of Lyndell so you get a chance to fuck him up anyway. It's pretty counterintuitive, but felt good to wreck him.