Is Elden Ring a Bad Game?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 พ.ค. 2024
- This week, I wanted to record my thoughts on Elden Ring before Shadow of the Erdtree finally launches. Is Elden Ring as it exists today worthy of all the praise? Could it or should it be better? Is it actually just bad? It's been a tough 2 years and I'm full of conflict.
Hey, really appreciate all the comments (even the not-so-nice ones) but just wanted to clarify for anyone that isn't finishing the video or isn't having the message come through, I do love Elden Ring. I think it's fantastic. I think it gets so much right about what a game should be. My issues represented here are that I'm disappointed with it for numerous reasons and I feel it's important to critique something I love and respect because I want it to be better. I get a lot of comments from people who played Elden Ring before any other souls game and it only makes sense that those people would be hard-pressed to find fault. I'm the same way with Dark Souls, even though I know it has many glaring issues.
I just want to reassure everyone that I only think Elden Ring is "bad" in a very subjective sense, and all of my arguments are going to be largely subjective. For me, that's in the nature of debate and all art is subjective. There is never going to be an objective good or bad when it comes to this kind of presentation and I don't want people to get the wrong idea that I'm suggesting the game is poorly made or anything like that. All my issues, even the ones I consider more objective, are all deliberate design choices (possibly some oversights) that do not devalue Elden Ring's position as a masterpiece and work of art, only that FromSoftware seems to have gone in a direction that I think cost the game a lot more than it gained in a lot of ways. Depending on how robust the DLC is, I'm not confident I'll go back and play Elden Ring years later. I can't know for sure but I wanted to express my feelings and talk about a wonderful game without treating it like an untouchable, unquestionable titan of gaming (though in many ways it is).
Again, I love Elden Ring and could not be happier that FromSoftware is getting the attention and accolades they deserve. I'd just like to see them avoid some of the things I see as mistakes in future titles. Thanks for reading and thanks for watching!
Small Elden Ring is such a promising concept that it’s hard to fully put into words.
On my latest build, I was trying to beat the whole game at RL 15 with +2 weapons. Most bosses melted pretty fast with the easy-mode status effect strats, and it got pretty boring. But then I ran into challenges that weren’t just about combat. Stuff like Ordina town, where a single sniper could one-shot me from 200 feet.
In that moment I engaged with a different part of my brain and remembered there were other mechanics to interact with. I crafted a Sleep Pot and free aimed it over a building to knock out the snipers at key choke points.
And suddenly I remembered - OH. This is Dark Souls. Specifically Dark Souls 1 and 2. I hadn’t worked my brain in this way, arriving at an unusual solution to an extreme difficult puzzle, since I first played those games. And Small Elden Ring could have potentially had more of these moments, placed more densely together, for an experience that felt like it was truly capturing the magic of its inspirations.
But that’s the danger of what-ifs. There’s really no saying if Small Elden Ring could’ve really spared Fromsoft the resources to develop more meaningful content. For all we know, the open fields could’ve been 1% of the development cost, and removing them would’ve changed ostensibly nothing for the other content in the game. I’d still prefer the game smaller, but I think the issue lies with the design fundamentals of the game itself.
It’s not an ideal Souls game because it doesn’t present substantive obstacles for the vast majority of its runtime. It’s also not an ideal open world game, because the world fails as a sandbox for play - it’s almost all set dressing that is usually only enjoyed as a vista to vacantly absorb while on horseback.
There is no interactivity to be seen aside from fighting enemies or mashing the item pickup button. It is firmly in the shadow of better, more innovative open worlds with more interactive mechanics such as Breath of the Wild/TOTK, and it fails to offer meaningful non combat choices in narrative and gameplay as would be found in, say, an Obsidian open world RPG.
And frankly, Small Elden Ring wouldn’t fix that.
The fundamental design choices would need to be different from the get-go. The combat is in dire need of more depth, particularly as it gets overshadowed by the legacy of Sekiro, which can be enjoyed for an Elden Ring amount of time despite being 1/10 of its size, thanks mostly to its vastly more demanding combat. The open world is in dire need of more varied content and more mechanical interactivity. The narrative is in dire need of more interesting character interactions and meaningful player choices.
But still, moments can shine through, when the challenge is steep and the interactive solutions are at your fingertips, when you can remember to craft a sleep pot and stealth through Ordina, where the game reveals its true potential. And that’s what’s so tantalizing to me about the promise of these games. Thats what makes the what-ifs brainworms so hard to get rid of.
Honestly, we’d be better off enjoying the DLC for what it is, and then delve into different hobbies and interests while we await the next game. I used to be a “I don’t play non-Souls game” type, but I’m so very glad I got over that. Because frankly, there are things I value that Fromsoft isn’t currently doing, and a lot of stuff they’ve never done at all. And that stuff can only be found hidden under the big pile of AAA bloatware taking up all the oxygen in the room, in smaller games from more creative minds, who almost never receive the light of day. Dig a bit and there’s more than enough truly stellar games out there.
And even if there aren’t, it’s probably best for all our health that we get a break from Souls addiction, and do something other than gaming for a bit 😅
Small Elden Ring would be something for sure. I'm excited for the DLC and even if it's nothing I want, I'll still have a great time with it. Elden Ring was a ton of fun for me and still can be, I just want so many little changes I end up wanting a big change or a different game.
As far as other games, I wish I had the interest. I want too specific of a thing and I'm open to any other developer. I've just never found anything even remotely competent at replacing what these games can do. Single Player and Multiplayer and PVP and Character Creation and Build Making all on a single playthrough with no Microtransactions, no Subscription, and no gimmick.
If it's out there, I'm open to it. I want to believe.
Otherwise, I spend most of my game time playing TTRPGs. Just a better hobby overall if you like to have control over the game and customize your experience. But I still need my easy access online gaming fix and right now it's Souls games or bust.
@@emotionaljonxvx what/which TTRPGs specifically good sir?
@@zwidowca1 I make my own!
I did play D&D for years but since WotC burned the community back at the end of 2022 I've pretty much sworn off their stuff.
Anything I make is basically just D&D with an emphasis on dungeon crawling and tactical strategy combat.
@@emotionaljonxvx Solid choice! I also quit the normal DND and made my own Hack of it after the OGL douchebaggery.
Aside from that I play a slew of things from Fantasy Flight Games, Vampire and some Warhammer/Alien.
"Everything about it I find interesting, I found more interesting in a previous title."
Damn it, that line is perfect.
I am not a completionist. I explore the world the way it feels natural to me. I see a road I go down it. Does it mean I missed almost 60% of thr catacombs, minor dungeons etc. Yes.
I think ER was built to promote immersion, from no hub and stamina while not in combat, to the general scale of the world, it was meant for a very natural progression, rather than like in DS games where you look at an obvious side path and explore it for cool loot.
While I can see it antagonising a vast majority of souls players, I am a new player. Started with ER.
Secondly the scale. I generally did not find the world too exhausing because of th aforementioned point. Hoonestly repeat bosses were Ok as long as they were fun to fight. Like many people consider all tree sentinels to be alike, but the have significantly different timings on many attacks.
Do I think the boos reuse is a bit much, yes. Does it make the game unfun for me... no. While I still hold ER too be my favorite as a primarily PvEer, does it mean I want another open world, no. Imo the open world is at times positively boring. However over time I have learned to appreciate the open world as an excellent 1st attempt. What I love about it is well, how open ended your routing can be. So many components for your build is often behind so many bosses in DS3, it detracts from the fun of build crafting. This was especially true for Magic builds. In DS3 magic essentially came down to forward moving prjectiles of 5 kinds go. It was boring. Also, Magic builds in these games (except DS2) need way more stats and way more items to be viable, so it meant 50% of the game b4 u can get your build set up.
ER removing attunement and adding so many items ring at the start mean most playthrough can get setup quick and fight bosses at their full potential.
I completely agree with you about the consumables. Many random exhalted fleshes could have been replaced by bell bearings for usable crafting items associated with a given faction. Throw one for Trina's lily and Miquella's lily in the snowfields. One for Aeonian and Nacent butterlies in thr Swamp of Aronia etc. It would make exploration feel more rewarding.
While I love ER to death, and I dont particularly miss the oppressive nature of the old games (I prefer oppressive boss fights over oppressive areas), I would like a return to a smaller scale world with the High Fantasy feel of ER and Sekiro.
Edit: Forgot to discuss replayability. As a PvEer, I genuinely cannot play DS3 without mods anymore. I felt in DS3 most weapons felt the same. Every weapon class was R1 with the sword. So once u have tried a class, u are mostly done. Most "unique" WAs are just reskinned basic ones. So I never really found much reason to replay DS3 PvE after my SL1. In contrast the variety of AoWs, infusions etc. In ER make it far more replayable to me personally.
The lack of multiplayer improvements is also significantly impacting my view of this dlc as well.
I didn't expect to agree as much as i did. Miss the claustrophobia and aprehension since DS1
It's the price we pay for "accessibility".
Than play DS1
@@debater452 i do. Also miss the armor ASMR
@@debater452 but also, now i don't feel those things anymore, since i know how far i am from the next bonfire
@@marcellocoppede7237That's your opinion. You can't critique Elden ring for not having the thing you want.
One big issue I have with the believability of Elden Ring's world is the lack of meaningful infrastructure. I'm fine with a kingdom being small in scale, but it shouldn't just be one big castle with a few huts and maybe one village in its entire sphere of influence. A really good example of this is how most mines are just random caves from the outside. There's no railways to transport ores or stones to the outside, no storage huts, not even any major roads leading from/to the mines. Elden Ring's world feels like an amusement park with various disconnected attractions that you can choose to visit, not a world that people live or used to live in.
the mines in Demon's Souls were more interesting even
This is a valid point I remember feeling off around the mines the abandoned one in the ravine was most realistic
man imagine how many cool cities they could've put in with their own lore & look. I remember feeling particularly dissapointed with just how underbaked Sellia was
@@Munnwort??? This comment makes no sense lmao
@@xEcuador1 what about my comment are you not comprehending lol
literally made a video on why Shadow of the Erdtree won't change nor improve the PvP.
You are making me go hollow, have some optimism 😭😭
@@Shendapy optimism just ain't the word, the word you're looking for is have some "delusional belief". there's no hint that DLC will enhanced PvP, the fact that they haven't made any patch ever since 1.10 drops says to me that they don't care about pvp anymore. and hell already broke loose in ELDEN RING glitching is now part of that game's pvp something that i know was inevitable after seeing how DS3 ended up.
@@DarkspiritLyllianaTVcounterpoint they haven't done any new updates because they are focused on the dlc going smoothly and chances are they release patches with the dlc
@@FighTThePower. hopefully the patches rly going to fix all the known exploits or glitches.
@@DarkspiritLyllianaTV the chainsaw as far as I know can't be changed due to how ps5 and PC works but Xbox is safe only got over leveled phantoms
i guess I am not the only one who saw a decline in armor design of ELDEN RING good to know.
They really went off the beaten track with the armour designs. Even the basic knight set looks boxy and fat. I assume they wanted to be more 'high fantasy' but it went overboard. I think most of them look awful.
@@ianwilliams2632 they're awful, they did took some real life armors and helmet for banished knight but the rest are just meh. how come a game like chivalry 2 and mordhau have better armor designs than ELDEN RING Is beyond me.
I hate the way the sets are so hard to mix and match. It's not impossible, just a lot less appealing than previous games.
@@emotionaljonxvx it's hard to mix and match true! it's because of the color of the tint of those armors, the only thing that i manage to mix up in that game is to just mix veteran helmet and gauntlet with banished knight chest and then top it off with scaled leggings.
@@DarkspiritLyllianaTV W chiv 2 and mordhau enjoyer. my favorite medieval dress up games.
Just asking, how many hours do you have in the game?
800 hours. pve done in 40 or 50 hours the rest is just painful pvp/online experience
800 but 300 on pve. I dropped it four times
Almost 700, with probably a third of that invading or arena multiplayer. It's a lot less than I'd expect to have considering it's the only game I play.
2500 hours mostly invading and hosting
@@DarkspiritLyllianaTV serious question here, why would you spend 750 hours on something you describe as “painful”? I’m genuinely curious…
Everyone says Elden was made to be immersful but whats immersive about warping like fkn mario. Not one time ever playing elden did i feel i had to find a bon fire with that lovley panic. I will never undersatnd why tbey made elden like this and i will never understand why there are no covenants. Such a dumb, dumb desicion to not have them. The fashion sucks so bad too, it really does. Elden is just a bloated mess and it could have been so good if they didnt bite off more than they could chew.
The problem is that Elden Ring IS a bad game, if any other developer name was attached to it, it’d be mocked as a bad dark souls clone and then forgotten. It’s a 6.5/10 at best. It still has so many problems both mechanically and technically; it was literally unplayable on launch which people defend for some reason… it over stays its welcome but doesn’t even have anything to offer from it, the enemies feel the most boring they’ve ever been, a whole lot of nothing in the open world, limgrave is front loaded with dungeons so it feels like content but even then it’s mostly reskins, it feels like weapon arts are only they to give the illusion of combat depth, spirit summons are the intended way to play but also break the game, crafting is worthless unless you force yourself to use it, etc.
That’s not even to say I disliked playing it, it just got old fast. I’d sooner play bloodborne or ds3,2,1 again then Elden ring again and I know that the 40 DOLLAR dlc will fix nothing.
GOTY for a reason bozo
How and why did you get such an audiwnxw just by talking over gameplay? What did you do exactly to get all of this?
I think it's reasonable to expect the DLC will have a feel closer to bloodborne. A big city to explore. I do share a lot of your sentiments re: PvP though. It felt like Fromsoft really turned their back on invasions in this game. I guess I'm still delusionally holding out hope there will at least be some kind of trespasser invasion area in the DLC but I think that is highly unlikely.
The wait has just made me fester. It's literally the only game I play and I barely play it. Having sub-1000 hours is something I would have never imagined pre-release. I need SotE to be everything it can be and then some.
I also hold out hope that the DLC will be a much tighter experience. Like Central Yharnam-Cathedral Ward, or the core loop of Firelink-Burg-Parish that awed us so much when we first played. No more sprawling open fields, please, something curated and claustrophobic. If it's true that it's only slightly larger than Limgrave, the number of large dungeons we've seen hints of is promising. Return to form? Please... please!
Yeah man ima need dark souls 4
Honestly, i think my favorite area in terms of layout and progression was the first half of the haligtree, up in the branches with rot flowers and bubble blowers trying to snipe me every time i moved an inch.
The reason? It reminded me of Blighttown from DS1.
The narrow walkways and corridors, getting shot at by an enemy a half mile away, sneezing too hard and falling off a ledge. It was amazing, like a way to reexperience such an iconic place in gaming, while still being an original experience in itself. I just wish the game had more of these memorable areas. Someone mentions a dungeon/crypt? I probably wont remember which one it is. Haligtree Branches? I know EXACTLY what you are talking about, and i always will.
I have zero hope for improved invasions with SOTE. Michael Zaki tasted that casual money and disowned invaders
Honestly, I just want more cool knight guy armors that mix well together. A lot of the armors in Elden Ring, I think, are either too unique to mix and match, or are just a retexture of another set like the regional soldiers and knights are. The sets in the dlc look interesting from what I've seen, there's also the fact that they decided to make the regional knight and soldier enemies a bit more varried, like the knight helm and chest pieces is different enough and they even use different weapons like greathammers and twinblades instead of the typical knights sword and partisan.
That's not to say you can't mix and match at all to make something cool, you still can, but your options might be limited
My biggest gripes with Elden RIng:
1. Multiplayer:
A. Seamless Coop should've been built into the base game, as it's an Open World and not a series of corridors/rooms like the previous games. The fact that you can't cooperatively go from Open World, to Dungeon, to Open World is frustrating to say the least. It's also a shame that the cooperator is kicked out every single time a Field Boss is slain.
B. The distinct lack of Covenants also makes the online experience with other players fairly bland, as other than the baseline Blue, Gold, and Red summons, there are no rewards or unique functions that make them stand out from previous games. I personally wish there was a Carian Royal Family covenant, just so that I could get Starlight Shards as a reward instead of the 999th Rune Arc.
C. If a Host uses a Rune Arc, with cooperator or not, they should be open to invasions like previous games. As an Invader, it's a constant pain to always invade a gank squad each and every time. It was also a missed opportunity to not have a Tongue weather effect, like we have for the Erd Tree Leaves effect that buffs Rune Acquisition.
2. Lack of Caster gameplay improvements:
A lot of people call Elden Ring the second Dark Souls 2, but for Casters, almost every single improvement that DS2 brought forward for Casters was completely ignored. Seals/Staves have no access to Infusions or Ash of Wars, and Cast Speed is once again trapped into Dexterity instead of Mind (Attunement). We also are missing out on unique armor effects that support Casters beyond just increasing damage. (A deeply annoying trend in Elden Ring's design for Casters)
In Dark Souls 2, you could cast WAY MORE spells at mid-to-high levels than in Elden Ring. We also got a plethora of Spell Recovery options and even a passive recovery option that's completely missing in Elden Ring. (Iron King Crown is passive; Ancestral Spirit Horn is not, as it requires a death trigger to activate. Also, the fact that all FP recovery is flat, whereas HP recover is flat + a % of total HP, punishes Casters even further.)
It also doesn't help that Seals/Staves are treated as a back-up tool and not a Caster's primary weapon. While the current setup works great for Spellblades, since there is a crazy amount of support for that style of play, but it's absolutely terrible for Casters. It's baffling that FromSoft couldn't be bothered to improve Seal/Staff gameplay instead of using damage stacking equipment/buffs as a substitute.
As is, Seals/Staves have these common problems:
R2: Is essentially a dead button, as it does a pitiful amount of damage if you do make an attack with your Seal/Staff. Unlike quite a few other games that offer Casters a way to attack with Cantrip spells (Basic Attack, no FP cost), it seems FromSoft wants Casters to use a weapon instead and play as a Spellblade. (A common trend in Elden Ring)
L1 (Two-Handed): Is also essentially a dead button. When was the last time you've ever seen a player block with their Staff? Never, I bet. Plus, even if you do block with your Staff, you're not even allowed to Guard Counter with it. So, if blocking with a Staff is so pointless for Casters, I don't see why we can't have a Ward (Shield) Spell or a Spell Wheel selection option for that button.
L2: Outside of the *ONE* singular Ash of War, out of 93+ available Ash of Wars, Casters have basically zero access to a whole gameplay mechanic unless they play as a Spellblade instead. Like seriously, why couldn't we get access to the Spell-like Ash of Wars at least? Not even Ice Spear for Staves or Lifesteal Fist for Seals?
As a Caster main, excluding the very-very minimal improvements that were done for Casters, I found Elden Ring to be a big disappointment.
Elden Ring made me question do I even enjoy souls games anymore, but when I went back to DS1 and 3 I still love them, especially DS3 I found to be better than I remembered. ER also was the first game I didn't want to play again, I just couldn't find a good reason for second playthrough.
I've tried to convince people for two years that ER is a fine game generally, but not a good/great souls game. This is mostly a question of taste: the quality of atmosphere, dialogue, lore, and voice acting (compared to the other titles), but also somewhat gameplay. For me the game made next to no emotional impact, which was very important in my embracing of Dark Souls. But in terms of gameplay, from PVP to PVE, it also feels needlessly over-long & tedious, as if the Souls formula has more or less played itself out. Several long time friends of mine agree: it needs to die and be replaced by a new or drastically upgraded style.
As usual, haven't even started the video yet, but your titles provoke strong reactions in me... I look forward to watching lol
newcomers could've just start with DS1 instead of ELDEN RING like i did back in 2018. just give them a heads up on what scaling is or what weapon requirements and what stats soft caps is. hell tell them they can just wear armor and just poise through the game or use sword and board. tell them it's okay to run away from a fight or run past them. tell the newcomers to try DS1! do not tell them to try ELDEN RING. what happened is that we create more crybabies than we actually creating an actual Souls - Vets because we tell em to start from ER. and they would just complained more when they entered souls games. like what happened in DS3 steam forum some rando elden ringer asking for seamless co-op mod for DS3 is just beyond cringe
I'm kind of an opposite mindset. I like the big world, though do recognize the issue with monster diversity and space usage (or lack therefor of.) I don't think the games' story would work if it was a contained and packed experience. And I am not too partial to in any game just milling about in one contained area, as it feels restrictive and containing to me. Not like being trapped, but like being limited and stuck on rails with little freedom or choice.
Noting here, I rarely replay (on an alt -as I don't do that because I find it personally not fun), and rather have one character which I advance within the constraints of my niche interest in being a mage in any game I get my hands on and where it's possible. Contained areas tend to be very anti-mage due to always emphasizing close quarters fights and fisticuffs over ranged attacking. Never mind the fact in Elden Ring sorceries tend to be outside some examples dead easy to dodge for someone who knows what they are doing and isn't lagged out. Plus easy to close distance on. Making ironically ranged attacking a very poor option and the approach the optimal location to score hits on.
On paper and in practice, the vast variety of landscaped and terrain should offer a very grand experience. I think the multiplayer system just fails to glue itself properly to the base of the game. Rather than an endless variety of different battlefields with need for different tactics and approaches, the strength fails to be taken advantage of.
On the dungeons and catacombs - I was too busy trying not to die to really pay any attention to the repeat elements. This was my first Fromsoft game. For over half of the game, I was too busy fighting with the controls and trying to learn them as well. I rarely made use of Torrent (because learning how to control em takes a while and one too many mystery gravity deaths early on) and advanced slow and steady because it felt safer to be on foot. From the start till I ran out of things to do and spent a few weeks in the coliseums, I was incredibly entertained and amused. Just a month ago on my Newgame+2 run I found a dungeon I had never been in and was immediately interested and had great fun crawling through it. Despite knowing, it likely had nothing of interest to me, it was something I missed and was challenged by.
This makes me have a thought. Perhaps Elden Rings design appeals more to newcomers like me than people who don't spend half a game figuring out the controls? So it was designed more with newcomers in mind than vets. And this is why many vets voice dissatisfaction with the experience. A new player like me is too busy having fun and trying not to get my goose cooked while figuring out the controls. The time it took running around allowed me to contemplate the illusion of the world and take it in far better, thus getting immersed. The checkpoint sites of grace won't serve a vet nearly as well as they do a newb. The amount of times I found relief in a mercifully located field site of grace was numerous, and they were always a sight for sore eyes.
you got that right it's not for Vets who've been through all the souls games and brute force into it without any wikipedia's help
Good to hear from someone for whom Elden Ring is their first Souls game. I think everyone is going to have a wildly different experience depending on where they come from, so it makes sense that without anything else to directly compare against, Elden Ring would just be an easy 10/10.
I've also heard from people who bounced off right away because of the challenge or obtuse design or whatever else, so even for newcomers it can still be an issue.
In any case, we still all have the DLC to look forward to and hopefully it'll make me feel a lot better about the experience overall.
Why are you assuming there won't be patches or let alone a patch when Shadow drops? Lite of assumptions about the future of multi-player but you don't know that they aren't concerned for this too. Even with Shadow being the only big addition it doesn't mean they'll abandon multi-player or not do any updates there. Just chill heh
I’m glad you brought up the armor - I think almost all of the sets look hideous and it’s been kind of driving me crazy how nobody else does. I couldn’t find a single helmet besides the Knight helmet that didn’t look goofy or dumb. They’re all too wide or too tall and I’m not really into all the ornamentation with large fins or faux hair or giant horns etc. I was hoping the bloodhound set would be cool but I hate that helmet too. And I can’t really mix and match pieces without feeling like my character looks like a thrift store toy. Not to mention the Burger King heads you’ll have to wear as a mage. I think thumbprint is the best after the Knight set aside from the actual thumbprints making your character look like they just tanked a couple cannonballs. I just think it’s unfortunate that the only set I like is the one that’s a very intentional throwback
It's really annoying that all the decent looking sets belong to a specific, unique character. Makes it hard for me to fit in as my own tarnished, rather than cosplaying as someone I killed.
I only properly started enjoying this game by deciding to dig deep into the lore for the first time in a Souls game. I really love the mysteries. I got exhausted on my first playthrough and after that I found it quite empty until recently. I don’t invade, but I miss getting invaded at random and I hope that makes a return in the DLC.
Elden Ring is my first experience of a From Software game. A significant amount of my friends have played their previous titles, sometimes well back into their childhoods, but I was not one of them.
Since beating the game, I have bought DS1, DS3, Sekiro, am torn between getting and not getting DS2, and I want to get Bloodborne at some point (hopefully as a PC game - someday).
Elden Ring is one of my most favourite games of all time. Be it the lore, visuals, gameplay, bosses, spectacles, exploration, what have you. DS1, so far, has not been as good of a game as I had hoped. It is a masterpiece, but it is hard to look past the lack of polish that ER has spoiled me with. At the time of writing this comment, I have beaten Seath. I know this is far from the entire game, but I've heard of how even more unpolished the later half of the game is. Truthfully, I am worried. DS1, in my eyes, is FAR from being better than Elden Ring and I mean that to the fullest extent.
I doubt that DS1 will surpass ER as a better game once I am done with it. I can respect it and its charm, but its just not as good - maybe the age is showing for me, I suppose. DS3 may be much closer to achieving that feat, but I honestly still doubt that it will overtake ER for me. Maybe I am simply a different type of player than you, but that is my view of things. I expect to be pleasantly surprised - but not enough so.
Elden Ring is a flawed game on a significant amount of levels, but what it does have to offer is so polished, beautiful and compelling that I simply can't agree that it's not one of the best/better Souls games - not completely, at least. I will never forget each of the bosses, legacy dungeons, or places like Nokron and Siofra. I know that I am mentioning the non-filler parts of the game, but still. It's just how I feel, whether warranted or not. Will that change? Unlikely I feel, but it is very possible. I still have a ways to go with its predecessors.
The PVP I enjoy, but dislike a lot as well. I realize how much better it can be and it makes me sad that it's not utilized to its fullest potential. Covenants are a system that could work well in ER's world, too, and I find that to be a missed opportunity as well - at least from what I've experienced of the system in DS1.
I expect the DLC to bring ER even higher in my own ranking. Will it fix the issues with PVP, farming and its filler? Probably not, but the singleplayer portion of the expansion I know is gonna be killer. It will be. I have experienced enough of From Software to know that.
I think to really appreciate Dark Souls you have to appreciate the sort of game it is. It's probably a lot harder to work backward through the series than forward but I don't have any insight on that front.
It's the sort of game where you either get it or you don't and that's what I love about it. Elden Ring has a lot more broad appeal but that has its tradeoffs. Dark Souls just told a story I cared about in a way I cared to learn it. But it was hard to learn. I assume going back now Dark Souls is remarkable easy with just how much players have learned about the series. I suspect so much of the appeal, for any of these games, comes from it being the first. Whichever you experience for the first time is the first way you'll learn to love what you're presented. Probably the same reason Elden Ring doesn't hold much charm for me. It's my sixth souls game and it's not the best take on the formula (for me, at least).
In regards to scenery, Elden Ring is pretty, no doubt. But I never wanted beauty. I wanted tone, atmosphere, setting, and to find the beauty in the dark. Elden Ring is, above most things, conventional. It's not a crime by any measure and it's an excellent game no doubt. It just isn't quite as special as I had hoped.
@@emotionaljonxvx Man there's some pissy replies in this video. I don't think anyone who didn't experience DS1 first, back in the day, can understand why it was so emotionally compelling. ER is pretty, and that's the problem. It's mostly only pretty. Finding luminous darkness and warmth in the cold is far harder. The themes, symbolism, and characters of Souls hit me like a truck. Maybe it just takes a certain type of person, and FromSoft does not want to appeal to that type anymore, or at least didn't with ER.
@@ianwilliams2632 That's fair. I get how the gritty, dark fantasy theme the earlier titles show can be more appealing and to an extent I agree.
I think what you and Jon said about experiencing what game first is exactly the case here. It's sort of a matter of bias, is how I could describe it? You struggle to understand why ER is more compelling to ME, and I find it hard to understand why DS1 is so emotionally compelling to YOU.
I find the first game's themes, symbolism and the like extremely interesting, and characters to an extent as well (I've only really noticed Solaire and the onion guy as people particularly interesting, but that's besides the point) but the game that holds those undertones is showing age. Maybe I am more strict with my view of it, or something, but I can't not be bothered with it.
ER's themes, story, and symbolism, however, are just as compelling, if not more. You can't not agree at least to a degree - the lore is absolutely great, stuff like Godwyn's corpse is some of the coolest shit I've personally ever learnt about. There's very good merits to both, and I just happen to be on the ER side here.
If you don’t like the lands between you could always… burn them... with the yellow chaos flame…👀
FUCK YES
I wish one of the endings would just lop off huge portions of the map. Actually sink the Lands Between or something to that effect.
@@emotionaljonxvx get em to drown just like Ringed City getting consumed by the deep
i dont think ds3 was "indefinitely" replayable. i think i would rather clock in than play through pre pontiff ds3 again
Yeah, not in every capacity. I mostly meant in the category of multiplayer.
@@emotionaljonxvx we can only pray that the expansion will help in this regard. but we cant expect god to do all the work!
@@envylyn463 there's no multiplayer overhaul on that dlc bro 😭 they just give themselves another trouble of balancing the new weapons.
@@DarkspiritLyllianaTV you know nothing. my dad is bill gates and works there
@@envylyn463 bill balls works at from software nah bro😭
This isn’t an easy topic to talk about because in the community if you criticize Elden Ring you are just made to feel like you’re just nitpicking. Because clearly the game is great nobody can really argue that it isn’t a beautiful game or isn’t a success -20 million+ copies sold its the best FromSoft game right?? No. I mean, I’ve even gaslit myself in this regard. Because from jump I’ve known that this game is not From’s best work like so many others seem to think, yet I keep coming back to play it for like hundreds of hours at this point. So I wonder if my criticism are valid even though I enjoy the game and yeah… they are valid this game is very flawed.
I think some of the aspects that made this game so wildly popular are the things that make is also not as great of a game compared to the others: The open world and the design choices that make this the most approachable and easy game in the series.
The open world is really beautiful, probably the most beautiful game they have made, but beauty in itself does not a great game make. And the open world is really lacking like you said. I don’t think that the majority of players have tried replaying the game 3+ times because the emptiness of the world shows after a while. Once you have gone and explored every nook there is so little incentive to go back to places in subsequent playthroughs unless it has the talisman, weapon, spell or other thing you need for the build you’re going for. Legacy dungeons are the only places I will seek out intentionally because they actually have some semblance of level design and fun dungeon crawling that makes these games inherently fun to play without the gimmick of being super big and nice to look at.
Traversing the big world isn’t even fun, there is no forced encounter in the open world since you can always opt out; too much choice isn’t fun. Doing challenge runs are the only thing that keeps this game interesting at times because it is so insanely easy to become powerful and just plow through the game. Some people have fun with that but for me the games have always been the best when they are a challenge. This time around you have to opt in to the challenge. I really think this is part of why Elden Ring is more popular than all the other games.
Elden Ring is a great game but it is far from the greatest Fromsoft game in many ways. There are so many little things I could say about Elden Ring since I’ve played this game so damn much I’ve got a lot of critique but damn this just a TH-cam comment I need to chill. Great video EmoJon 👍
ER was my first From Soft game, and my first playthrough was absolutely magical, and I wanted to do and interact with as many things as I could possibly find. But going back in the series and playing through the Souls games, I get what you mean with enjoying being trapped somewhere and needing to push through anyway. ER was magical, but DS1 was an unforgiving and unforgettable experience and I cherished every second of it. Excellent video mate, wishing you success. Your video essays are brilliant.
My fear is that they'll never go back and fix/rework some design choices when it comes to weapons that feel like they should've had something unique to them but instead got some aow that can be found everywhere and sometimes not even a unique moveset. Im also sure whips that arent a somber weapon have no unique aow on their own and because they are whips they are locked out of many aow that directly do damage with the weapon. I get your frustration. I've never played souls games and i love elden ring but everytime i play, instead asking why i ask "why couldn't they have done this or that" around every corner. It always feels like something is missing due to either lore reasons, game balacing or maybe they just forgot or didn't have time. It bothers me that stuff like a majority of time is in fact set and stone with no justifiable answer. But other devs for other games are fully open to reworks, redesigns and whatnot so why not elden ring? Oh and as a console player it hurts to know there are mods that probably fix many issues i have with the game but I can't access. Which is why i can only pray.
Scold
In all seriousness, I also had a very mixed experience with ER. Not the same as you, but I think that's a matter of taste. But i also experienced the fatigue of playing through as i neared the end. I largely attribute that to trying to binge the game rather than approach it from a reasonable pace for me.
I also played the game so much when it came out that exhaustion was all but guaranteed. It's just too much to do in a reasonable amount of time first time around.
Then again, I did it with every other souls game and never had an issue. Elden Ring definitely tested my patience to the point of breaking them outright and that's really where so much of my frustration with the playthrough experience comes from.
Everything else is all about how they backstepped on multiplayer. I'd forgive everything else if they just left the multiplayer like how it was in Dark Souls 3 or, even better, improved it.
I do like the idea of an open world game with Souls mechanics. The idea of playing Souls in a high fantasy setting like Zelda would be a dream come true. What I do not like is having padded content, re-used content, grindy mechanics, and a limited selection of just high fantasy armours (Give me everything!). I think there is merit and roleplay in having the player experience the scope of the lands by traveling from place to place with a horse. However, not finding a way to weave and balance that mechanic in multiplayer--instead opting to cut it out entirely was a horrendous design choice. I love the idea of being able to pick up random trinkets and being able to craft items. . . when it is a bonus. Making certain items gated by that mechanic and that mechanic alone rather than available through vendors turns what could have been a bonus into a chore.
However, the thing that I do not like the most, is that FromSoft limited the player count back down to four in their game with the largest open world! Just look at Elden Ring's entire playspace, and tell me that it's just not begging to have Runescape style dedicated server where 1000 players can join at once and live out their highest PvP and RP fantasies! The closest we will ever get to that point unfortunately is the Seamless mod. With a few adjustments, namely balancing coop and invasions properly such that multiplayer is actually a double edged sword, Seamless should have been the way the game was originally designed.
Thanks for listening to my rant, lol.
@5:34 there should have been some weapon or armor at the face of stormvale but the big special thing is the story and lore. Rewards don't always have to be items
Yeah. I know about lore. I know about the story. It's just not that special. Maybe the DLC will make Godwyn a little more interesting but as a player, I didn't get a whole lot out of finding his silly corpse and then not having any real follow-up other than "that's where deathroot comes from."
On the whole, I don't think the lore of Elden Ring is especially exciting. Certainly not bad by any means, but left me wishing there was a little more to it.
@@emotionaljonxvx I do agree some sort of item should have been there, but that's an interesting reveal. One of the biggest issues is the Lord got cut up between base game and DLC, so I hope the dlc really fills the hole since the lore feels like it's missing a huge chunk.
@@jake212 I hear ya. I just really wish Godwyn's body wasn't in two places because it really muddles the lore for me.
I think Elden Ring is a good game :)
No. What a stupid title.
For me I can keep finding build ideas which makes the game replayable but I know one day that’ll end far into the next soulsborne game From software pushes out, the main concern is the invasions imo, cos 8/10 times I invade I either get pushed into a 3-4v1 gank or get pushed into an unwinnable invasion cos the coward that goes by the title “host” more often than not hides behind his summons and will most likely have the white cipher ring (or bracelet) on now I’m nowhere near “pro status” for invading, but I love invading. I just can’t invade anymore due to these hosts needing to heavily rely on summons and blues to defeat one invader there’s only been a handful of times where I actually had fun invading and not needing to sweat so much that my entire house becomes flooded. I really hope they revamp the invasions when the dlc drops but I have doubts they will.
I can’t elaborate on strengths and weaknesses of this game as you did. Also, I have not played other souls games, but I have clocked 1,500h in this game, so I guess I like it! 😊
I wish I wanted to play that much. Just with being a primarily PVP-focused player, the draw isn't there.
4:57 BRO THAT'S GODWYN
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?????????????????
very hyperbolic rhetoric, but it's to let off steam. every point you make is valid. going back to DS3 after ER as a first timer shocked me, streamlined experience was much cleaner than this BOTW empty overworld. I did no Torrent run. I have a 3080 and loved this game graphiclly, like walking thru a painting. so much of this game was copy/paste and a "best of" fromsoft
Playing Elden ring I miss the deliberately crafted encounters that require more from you than dodging and hitting. When I think about dark souls 1 one of the 1st things that comes to mind is one of the most inconsequential moments in the game, after you’ve beat the Taurus demon and go underneath the bridge guarded by the dragon and there’s an undead enemy with a spear and shield. It’s a narrow path with a wall on your right and a drop to your death on your left, if you try and attack him mindlessly your swing collides with the wall and leaves you vulnerable to him. It’s an encounter you can’t steamroll over and you have to treat carefully every single time no matter how much you play or how good you are at the game. Elden ring is definitely a souls game combat wise but with how powerful you can become and how fast you are lots of the game borders on the line of hack and slash, even in some boss fights. I worry about the future of these games and that fromsoft are struggling to find a way to make these games more difficult other than just making them faster and more reaction focused.
Totally agree. Fromsoft needs to hop on the metroidvania trend instead of the open world trend. A game with DS1 world design and DS3 boss fight and PVP quality would be the perfect game imho.
Elden ring is not a great Multi player game. The base game is amazing.
I mostly agree with you in regards of ER in comparison to past souls games. I just recently started a new playthrough (after my initial release 120hr playthrough) due to the hype around the expansion and I thought after my long hiatus I could jump in and experience the game a new to hype myself up for the DLC but.......nope. What ended up happening was me kind of enjoying the first few hours until I came to the realization I was not really having fun, and everything felt pointless to interact with outside of the main dungeons and main bosses.
The reason why I was not having much fun is because essentially everything that made me enjoy the previous souls game is 100% missing in ER:
- After one playthrough, exploration is useless and the game becomes bee lining it to the items you need to make your build and pretty much boss rushing the game.
- The premium zones like the initial castle are WEAK imitations of past FS level design because the combat puzzles of the past games are completely GONE in ER, as you can just run past everything and its easier then ever thanks to the new jump button.
- The addition of a jump button and how high it lets the player jump, gives the player too many movement options to avoid enemies which essentially turns the game into one of the easiest of the FS souls-likes (also I hate how powerful jumping heavy attacks are compared to everything else).
- Every enemy in the open world has no meaning outside of the few world bosses (dragons, birds, ...etc) because your horse can literally outrun anything, they have no special drops, they don't give much runes, and there is literally no incentive to attack or fight them.
- There is no risk to entering higher level zones early because you can teleport at whim and once again you can ride past the most dangerous enemies with no risk of geting stuck or having to fight your way out of that harder zone.
- Combat while clearly visually better looking, is the worst Feeling its ever been imo, as everything just feels too loose and floaty for my taste, and I believe this onec again goes back to the addition of the jump button which gives the player a little too much freedom in a game like this.
I could go on and on, but let me stop here. Also let me note my whole perspective is 100% as a pve only player as I personally have never liked the souls PVP side of things because of usualy terrible netcode (I like the invasions, but not really the area type stuff).
I don't think ER is a "bad game" (like you said), but it is a bad "souls-like" for sure and was clearly made to cater to much more casual audiences, which explains why it blew up in popularity so fast and attracted many of the people who never liked the original 4 Souls games. FS actuall game the people the "difficulty options" they wanted by making 99% of the content either brain dead easy or pointless to interact with.
To end this long comment, I am 100% disagreement with you on your view of other souls-likes "not getting it" as there are many of them that get the CORE of the souls-like feel but they do their own take on it. Like Surge 1, which is a souls-like in terms of combat, leveling, level design, progression, boss fights,..etc, but almost feels like a dead space spin off with its errie scifi world the devs created.
Also I actually enjoyed the Lords of the Fallen game A LOT (much more then ER) because I as a player that has played Demon Souls, Dark Souls, Dark Souls 2, Dark Souls 3,....etc, LotF actually NAILS that feeling I had when I booted up DS1 for the first time and got lost in the world cray world they laid out before me. I understand the viewpoint that no game can get the FS feel, but imo a game does not need to copy FS to be a good "souls-like" it just needs to get the core elements and build something unique/interesting around it. I should note that while I love the souls series I play A LOT more games/genres then just those, so I know there are thos die hard FS fans that literally play nothing else, to each their own I say.
Great video though!
Good to hear from the PVE crowd for stuff like this. As far as other games "not getting it" I've just never found one that managed to tick every single box for me and make me consider it as a worthy addition/replacement.
I'm very picky, but if a game can't get the core functions of the single player and multiplayer and PVP and lore and combat and setting and etc etc etc then I find I'm generally pretty dismissive. Not that I'm being all that fair to other developers but From set the bar pretty high when it comes to my very silly expectations.
Thanks for the comment!
I agree ref the armor and after playing DD2 for many hours, the fast travel as well.
balancing wise this game does be a little scummy
Yes, it's just your regular Dark Souls with an "open world"
I definitely get what you mean with some of these points, but i feel a good portion of this is just subjective - and that's fine. I get why people like the oppressive nature of Dark Souls, and would prefer that to ER's tone, and i get why people may not like ER's open world, but i dont think that makes it any worse of a game, as it's all just subjective.
Not talking about this video specifically here but I think a big problem is that everyone automatically feels like games should be replayable N amount of times and if you get bored on second or third go then that must mean the game isnt fun. But who says you need to be able to play a game however many times in a row? Who says you need to be able to replay every single area and every little cave and dungeon in every playthrough, including even your first? The purpose of side content is to embellish your experience and to give those small gaps where you're inbetween major areas a bit more action. I experienced the entire game and every single area in my first playthrough and yeah, some of that would be boring to me if i replayed it again now but I'm fine with that because it was great the first time round and that's all I need. The whole point of the open world is that you can go wherever you WANT, if you're not interested in a small side-dungeon then you'll only make your experience worse by forcing yourself to do it. That's what makes this game great, the freedom.
ER was my first, and is my favourite, Fromsoft game and after I finished it i moved on to DS1, 2, 3 and bloodborne (not finished 2 yet though), and although i loved them, i dont think i could ever play through them again fully without getting exhausted, at least any time soon. I even installed a boss rush mod for DS3 so I could skip all the areas, but now that's lost its fun too. I hear a lot of people saying the world is just too huge and sparse to replay, and maybe I'm just not the right type of person to replay a game, but I honestly feel that way about all fromsoft games. Not that they are too big, but they aren't that fun to replay. It's like, by the end of the game I've had my victory and I really enjoyed my path to get there, but I couldn't go through that again, no matter the size of the world.
I also see people treat ER like it IS Dark Souls 4, complaining about differences in tone/story/general level design, or also the opposite saying it's too similar. Variety is the spice of life, if Fromsoft had actually made a DS4 instead of ER would it really have hit as hard as the old games? I dont get the point in comparing them in that sense, because they are totally different games and it was never intended to be the fourth entry in the DS franchise. I feel like Elden Ring is in an impossible situation because all of the souls veterans came to this game specifically because of their love of the gritty, interconnected worlds Fromsoft is so great at making, but didnt quite get it. So now ER will always be compared to the previous games and people dont always treat it as its own self-contained style of game.
I realise this has been a huge yap fest, and I also didn't really address any of ER's actual flaws (which it definitely has, just like any other Fromsoft game), also I'm kind of a hypocrite because a lot of what I said was subjective too. TLDR i like elden ring (if you couldn't tell) and I feel a decent chunk of people's complaints with it stem from unnecessarily comparing it to previous games, holding it up to a standard that it doesn't need to follow, rather than actual mechanics/other stuff that's less based on opinion. also no hate, nice video btw
I totally agree elden lords unite SOTE dlc gonna be the best lore telling ever. I'm level 315 and plan to go as long as elden ring delivers such a beautiful experience.❤
I don’t understand your issue with reused mini bosses. Part of the charm of my first play through was getting crushed by erdtree avatars, crucible knights, etc. but ultimately learning them very well within one NG cycle. And thematically, most of the reused bosses make perfect sense (Erdtree avatars, crucible knights being the classic ER mini bosses with excellent design and background)
Did you expect them to make 200 unique boss encounters? Just because a boss is used more than once doesn’t mean it loses the design behind it, or even its charm, especially given that you naturally run in to at most like 2 clones.
ER boss design is Sekiro boss design. You just don’t have an OP parry mechanic. They are organic, requiring a mix of rote knowledge, intuition, and reaction time, and they all require constant aggression to be fully appreciated. Having been a souls fan since DS2 and playing all of them, the boss design in Elden Ring is PHENOMENAL. It makes nearly their entire body of work look like a pitiful joke. Going back to earlier games exposes this for me big time. They are too easy; stand around until the big guy stops swinging, hit, repeat. Elden Ring appeals to the masses, because it can be trivialized with a bit of prep to be just as difficult as Skyrim. But when you put it under a microscope, the detail, the quality, the mechanics, the level of care in every aspect is almost incomprehensible. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. And it is far and away better than the rest of the souls series, Sekiro excluded (it took so many cues from Sekiro that I would call them equal in most regards). Yeah. It’s not even close. Not by a long shot. ER was such a massive leap forward in design that it made me retroactively dislike the boss design of their earlier games.
And as an invasion fiend, I have pretty dynamic and enjoyable invasions at 80 +17/7. Meta level is, to put it as accurately as possible, completely fucking intolerable. If you have a variety of tools in your inventory and some PvP knowhow, you can get a nearly 99% win rate, or at least that has been my experience.
So generally, I agree that much of the boss design in Elden Ring is really good. I love so much of what they did with expanded movesets and how they sort of mess with your expectations. In older games, a lot of the bosses are completely trivial once you understand the mechanics.
But that is the essence of my issue. Mechanically, Elden Ring is superb. It works really well (mostly). They've clearly learned a lot about how to mechanically build a game.
But that's not all a boss is. A boss is about design beyond the mechanical, beyond the function. It's about interpretation and presentation. The first time I found an Undulating Tree Spirit, I was amazed. I was also very irritated by his hitboxes and how the camera messes up the fight. Mechanically, it's a mixed bag. But the second one I found, I was mostly just irritated. Sure, I'd get a golden seed, but I can also pick those up from underneath little trees. And then the third time I fought one, I had had about enough of those guys.
The same is true of the Avatars, the Crucible Knights (to a lesser extent), the Gargoyles, etc.
The first encounter is usually pretty good, often great. I consider Radahn one of the best fights in the series. But if there was a second Radahn fight in a dungeon or evergaol, it would break my heart.
The fact that you fight another Astel is so mindbogglingly frustrating I just can't let it go sometimes. The fact that Mohg both guards the flame of frenzy and is also the Lord of Blood who guards Miquella's cocoon, it makes me question their design outline. It feels like every time I run into another repeat boss, I'm running into a portion of the game that didn't need to be there. Not that repeating fights can't be fun, just that if you don't want to repeat them and did a good job killing them, needing to repeat them in lieu of other new bosses feels a little underwhelming.
But hey, I'm also one of those people who thinks songs generally shouldn't be over 2 minutes and shouldn't have choruses. There are exceptions, but just play the song over if you wanna hear it again.
@@emotionaljonxvx Completely valid point. I gave your video another watch; I think I react negatively on reflex when youtubers say they don’t like Elden Ring, because almost 100% of the time it’s because they are stuck in the past and can’t see their old tactics succeed with the innovations From made here. They just never tried to “get” Elden Ring, interacting with the core design of the bosses - they misunderstand WHY Elden Ring bosses are so damn relentless and how you are intended to deal with them.
It’s clear to me that you were not saying “Bosses attack too much!!!!! No openings!!!!” I feel veins popping every time I hear some variation of this. Appreciate the detailed response.
The placement of these bosses was so obviously haphazard, to the detriment of the game. For some, the more egregious ones may even be a deal breaker. For me, though, Morgott, Malenia, Radahn, Radagon, these are all substantially more complex (and to me, more fun) than most, if not all the bosses in the entire souls series. These are just the first four off the top of my head, but I could go on praising so much of what they accomplished in terms of mechanics. It’s enough that I don’t even like fighting BB or souls bosses anymore. And for that, I simply can’t call it a bad game.
@@zafhalasdfn3324 I appreciate you giving a rewatch and engaging critically. I don't think it's a bad game, I just named the video that to pose the question. I think it's just really bad at some key things that I'd like to see them fix in future iterations.
I definitely dont get the since of accomplishment i got from older souls pve all the difficulty is artificial and sometimes cheap imo and i have agreed with every pvp comment u have made and i feel the exact same about the fear of having to wait another 6 years for the next title and just hoping it will take a step towards the souls we knew and loved and not elden ring that we love but also hate in design choices for the reason we played them for years on end till the next one
Elden ring feels like a Baby's first souls game. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's definitely a little grating if you've played the rest of the series.
There really is no excuse for how they mangled the PvP system though.
Also, the increased accessibility of this game meant that after years of trying to get my family to play souls games, they finally clicked with this one.
It's really funny because I've gotten a bunch of comments on this video (and every video, really) from people who disagree with me about whatever and then also throw in that Elden Ring is their first Souls game.
Not that it's bad or anything, everyone starts somewhere. Just a funny throughline for where my opinions hold weight and with whom they resonate.
Koei Tecmo is the only other company doing it for me in the Souls like department. And this isnt by any easy means, this is through sheer dedication to the idea that the stockholme syndrome will eventually kick in lol. As we get older and the more we get spoiled by fromsoft, it gets harder and harder to enjoy other games. Once you spend some time though, other games do start to click. Been loving Rise of the ronin, Nioh and Wolong. Some of these Korean companies (Lies of P and Stellar Blade) are putting absolute bangers. Just a small thought.
I wish I had the tolerance for other games, I'm just so picky. Either the art style or the gameplay mechanics or the lore or the writing or the lack of a key feature (multiplayer, pvp, co-op, character creation, build making) just sets them apart in a way that keeps me from really enjoying them.
@@emotionaljonxvx Trust me, Im up against all those same variables as well. I find after about 6-8 hours of push, new games will start to click. Anyways, it is what it is. I have 5k hours so I know how you feel through and through.
@@emotionaljonxvx btw , would you like to see Fromsoft include soundtrack in the same way they did with ER next game, or return to only having music in key moments?
@@ArrhythmicPulse The atmospheric music is something that I think can add or detract but it's all contextual. I don't have very strong feelings one way or another, it's all about the presentation and tonal goal for me.
In Elden Ring, I think it mostly works and is at worst forgettable. But I do generally prefer the silent, brooding atmosphere of Dark Souls.
@@emotionaljonxvx Yea its a tough question to answer. I enjoy what it brought to the table but in conjunction with that desire to feel trapped again within the levels, I think if they are going to try and have that feel again, no music for the most part would work better in tandem.
Catacombs in elden ring really should have been like bloodbornes in some way. They were so much better and interesting to go though plus the fact you can up the difficulty of the dungeon.
I don’t know where I heard this but I heard from addresses the emptiness issue. Hopefully it’s true and we’ll have a more dense and bountiful world to explore.
something i cannot stand in eldenring is the random crashes when getting a match in pvp
i kinda agree with everything, but one thing i want to add onto is that the boss design in this game is just a step back. you touched on the constant copy pasting. but also the readability of boss movesets has gone down, along with the actual flow of openings you have. malenia is an obvious example but i genuinely have no idea how one is supposed to figure out a way to dodge waterfowl without cheesing it with bloodhound step or googling, meanwhile a boss like margit can pull out his lightning daggers after almost every finisher. you see him do some heavy attack with his sword and assume you can go in, that would be the case in old dark souls, but here he just pulls daggers out of his a## until you run away and bait out his jumping attack because that's the only attack you feel like you can safely punish. it's not a back and forth dance like it's supposed to be at all.
then you have bosses like the gargoyles which are so large your camera starts working against you and they attack super fast. the godskin nobles have both flaws, because it's a copy of O&S without the dependent ai that O&S had, they were designed to be fought together, one extremely slow boss and one faster one. here you have two bosses that are super fast with wide reaching attacks who attack completely independently of eachother. and let's not forget elden beast who was extremely clearly meant to be a horseback boss but fromsoft doesn't give enough of a F to fix it. the fact that it feels like everything does so much damage in this game no matter your vigor doesn't help either.
i can't tell if it's a lack of care or something else. it kind of feels like they were desperate to hold onto their "prepare to die" branding but they realized veterans are just going to have an easy time with the game, because it's the same formula. so they made these bs bosses and introduced the mob summon system to bridge the casual-veteran gap. in any case the result is that the bosses are just not that memorable. the only ones im excited for really are hoarah loux and godrick, maybe mohg. and it's not because of the difficulty, they are fkin easy. they're just fun to fight, which should be the point. meanwhile in ds3 im excited for atleast half of the boss cast, and certaintly each one of the great lords. speaking of great lords, yhorm was perfect. they copypasted his gimmick (which came from demons souls tbf) but made it so fighting rykard without the gimmick weapon is just completely unreasonable. yhorm was cool because you did not need the stormruler to kill him, you could slowly go at his feet, or you could use your openings and attack his head with your ultragreatsword and or throw sunlight spears at it to stagger him into a riposte, it was fking badass.
I always describe the bosses in Elden Ring as huge and fast and they all backflip to the other side of the arena while simultaneously punching you in the face.
It's more complicated than that, but I'll never get over how silly it feels to have bosses who are 30 feet tall with some hitboxes smaller than standard enemies. I'm exaggerating, but the gargoyles are something I cannot comprehend. I miss them constantly and can never get close enough to make contact. And yet, they can strike me from any distance. It's far from impossible, it's just annoying to deal with over and over and over.
Some bosses I like a lot, others not as much. Some bosses I'd love if they weren't repeated (Margit/Morgott & Mogh come to mind). Hopefully the DLC learns its lesson but we'll have to wait and see.
@@emotionaljonxvxIt's almost like waiting around for openings isn't the thing you are meant to do. If you play the game agressively there isn't a problem
I don't really want to be that guy, but there's a visual clue to when Margit can use his stupid dagger move. If he holds his left arm in the air while perfoming another attack, he can follow up that attack with the dagger.
But i generally agree, especially on Malenia's waterfowl dance. Having only a few viable options (for example Bloodhound Step and Barricade Shield) for an attack that seems undodgable is shit design and that was never such a big problem before. Ludwig's roof jump was unintuitive, but it's nothing comparatively.
Elden Ring was my 6th FS-title and i do love it. My first playthrough was amazing. Aside from World of Warcraft Elden Ring is the only open world game i really enjoyed and spent much time in, but i don't want to see another open world title as well. It was cool for one time.
I cannot agree with the lack of readability of the boss moves. There's a variety of different delays and directions that create complexity of timing, positioning and directional dodging. That's not reduced readability, it's readable complexity.
Margit's daggers are designed to prevent brainless R1 mashing after a successful initial dodge. You're tasked with stringing together a combination of inputs rather than just making a single input. That creates an additional challenge, and that's good.
If you don't want to deal with so much complexity, you can choose to build your character in a more tanky way. Elden Ring isn't meant to be played with no-hit in mind. You have to completely eliminate your no-hit mindset unless you're a challenge runner. You have to accept that you'll get hit (a lot) and deal with it. It means that Elden Ring boss battles are true fights where you expect to get hit, sometimes really hard and often, so you will get a bloody nose and you will have to overcome setbacks during combat. You're not doing dance choreographies like in Sekiro - again, as I said, unless you're a challenge runner.
I’m probably among your biggest fans and I always respect your opinions because even if I don’t agree, you support your ideas soundly. This ain’t it. To both say elden ring failed you as an open world and also say it’s the best open world ever made is wild. I understand this isn’t the game you wanted much like I didn’t want sekiro, but that doesn’t make the game bad. Sekiro won game of the year, and for good reason. Elden is the best open world game ever made, period. What an accomplishment from our favorite developer who’s never made a game like this. To be upset with that is like being mad at your favorite band for making an album in a genre that was different than their normal but won all the awards, toted as the greatest in its new genre, and brought new fans from all over that would have otherwise never experienced them. I understand being frustrated that you didn’t get “your” game, but that’s on you or on me. They are making 💎 after 💎.
I'm not mad at FromSoftware for making this game, to be clear. Just disappointed and I think there are objective faults. Most of this is going to be subjective, as is whether or not a game is good or bad. It's more a concept of appeal than a literal metric.
Really, all I'm trying to get at is that Elden Ring abandoned so much of what made Dark Souls great and did it in a way that might make the game more appealing but not in a way that retained what I took as fundamental. I think if you go by the metrics of financial or critical success, you'll just think every game is the best game that's ever been made up to that point. Those values are just marketing nonsense and just fuel a hype machine.
As I said in the video, I think Elden Ring is a great game. Honestly, it's 10/10. It's just pretty low on my list of 10/10 games, decidedly below Dark Souls 1, 2, 3, Demon's Souls and Bloodborne. That doesn't make it bad by real standards, just by (again, as stated in the video) my very specific standards.
I really don't want people to like my content because everyone likes it. And I want people to engage and disagree with me. But if the only reason I keep getting (and it is the only reason I keep getting) is that lots of people like Elden Ring, I'm gonna think people aren't really playing games for the same reasons as me.
Games are a personal experience and no one else can tell you how to like them. I enjoyed Elden Ring (for the most part) my first time through. Every time since has been worse and worse and worse. I feel like the game is discouraging to repeatedly engage with and so much of that comes down to design choices that favor one-and-done exploration.
I have no problem with people loving what the game is, but I have yet to meet someone who claims to love Elden Ring and actually plays it non-stop. I played Dark Souls 3 nearly every day of my life for years and I play Elden Ring maybe a few times a month. Not to say anyone's experience is invalid, just that mine has been decidedly disappointing.
But hey, sorry I didn't convince you.
@@emotionaljonxvx don’t apologize! I think your stuff is great I just thought I had a coherent rebuttal to your points and wanted to engage. I think about my first playthrough of this game and it was magical. I’m hard pressed to believe you didn’t totally love your first playthrough. I’ve beaten the game 7-8 times, and by playthrough 3 I was completely bored. Is that the games fault? Is it mine? What’s the expectation.
Do you remember the first time godrick cut off his arm and started blowing fire across the whole map? I had pure dread and panicked trying to switch to range. I was THERE in that courtyard. Now he’s a big dope I can no-hit. Did this game sacrifice replayability for a 1st experience more than others in the past? I think so, and I’ve been wondering if that’s good. I think these type of gaming experiences are what make the core of souls games amazing and I disagree that they strayed from what made souls games great. If I told you DS3 was my favorite game but only played offline did I miss the core of souls? I don’t think so, not by a long shot.
@@rndhelpme9748 It's a complex thing to break down and I think you're right in a lot of ways.
I did love my first playthrough right up until I got past the capital. I really liked the major bosses (loved and still love Radahn) but I didn't find anything exceptionally engaging. I was mostly looking for the next thing, trying to get into the real essence of the game.
By the time I reached the mountaintop, I realized my mistake. There was no real game, this WAS the ride. I had spent so long searching every crack and crevice for some interesting treat but time and again I was disappointed.
I couldn't find armor I liked, couldn't find a weapon I wanted to use, couldn't find an area I fell in love with. My joy was just the expectation of something great around the corner and it turns out it wasn't real.
I'm being a little harsh, mostly because I want to be against the overwhelming sea of bland positivity thrown at the game, but I really do think it leaves a lot to be desired.
I'm a very specific type of person and I like very specific things. Elden Ring just happens to not have a lot of what I like or what I was expecting, and that's okay but it just doesn't work for me.
On the whole, I'm okay with the game but not in the sense that I wish I wanted to play it more. I wish it had some endgame content and some really good multiplayer so I can keep going until the next one. But instead it's just meant for single playthroughs and more if you really like PVE.
It's just not my thing.
@@emotionaljonxvx I agree with most of this. But I have faith the next entry will be more for us. I get the impression Miyazaki was over Elden the minute it was done based on some interviews. I truly believe this was a necessary game, they gained a lot, and the next game will refine rather than continue to diverge. Hold strong and keep spreading the good word, your vids are awesome.
The footage of you riding on and on just started making me laugh like 3min in, and then it just kept going lol This is why I barely use Torrent, unless I want to get back to runes or am farming for crafting crap in a loop while having passive-aggressive conversations with people inside my head. There's something so inherently deflating about getting on the mount and zooming past everything that I just always instinctually avoided it since I ever touched the game. It really brings out this sense of heading nowhere meaningful no matter what; the greatest sin for this genre of game - and yet the most common. That's curious, isn't it? That if someone wants to enjoy ER in a prolonged fashion, they need to learn what to avoid while playing the game - in every sense of the word, from a path to a boss battle to when to get on the horse. It's counterintuitive to the core.
This game is odd in a way previous titles just weren't. It really does instill a crushing ambivalence that pervades every element within it. And yes, there's no way the DLC will be some magical departure from it. I'll be there day 1 to find out though, that's just the way these things work.
I really wish people gave thought to the sorts of little ways the game pushes you up against certain things and leaves you hanging in others. Basically every other comment I get is "You just don't like it cause it's not Dark Souls" and like, sure, that's probably true. Then again, I actually don't like it because it IS Dark Souls, except all the places where it tries to "branch out" and just does something any other game would do.
I hate mounted travel.
@@emotionaljonxvx That common reaction is besides the evidence though, for sure. Just take Chalice Dungeons, an element of BB sometimes taken as irrelevant, sometimes even associated with bringing the overall quality down. But when an incredibly mediocre version of that system is stretched thin over and into a gigantically small static world with a reward you've picked up 5x and still can't remember? Game of the decade bro, a generational hit, of course.
The ER fanbase is full of these little things. And like in the game itself, they add up to the wrong idea of any given thing. Like an upside-down beautiful portrait. You'll enjoy it over time, just adjust your neck to it!
The most overblown, overflowing, praise-showering, emotional opinions on ER are likely from people who've played this one title and none of the others. The way they describe the game often (if not flat out always, besides open world commentary) applies to any of the previous titles, particularly when referring to immersion and a certain sense of aesthetic vertigo - something From mastered a decade ago with BB, and which they had done in some instances in DeS already. But that game managed to cause the player to feel dread while controlling a character holding a dismembering melee weapon in one hand and a firearm in the other. I don't mean to gush about BB, I'm just sayin. ER is taken as this aesthetic achievement, and while I am greatly impressed, I still feel that this is the overall sentiment: it looks pretty and sad, like sunset for a semi-depressed person - almost all the time, almost everywhere. From Limgrave to Elphael. Was that the point? Well, fantastic - I guess Miyazaki is a genius.
But I digress and need to stop now lol
@@kimlee6643 Bloodborne supremacy. That is all.
Fromsoftware's apocalyptic nomad design tendencies severely lack ways, both between players and the environment to merge into a living world regardless of theme.
Speaking to the genre, the competition doesn't typically build players past moral dialogue and damage decisions for skills, approaching bosses to see grand depictions of esotericism, leading to evolve upon gameplay with tougher challenges outside of raising stats, especially since this can be fun as is in more compact, interconnected spaces.
Main problem still is, this negligence in general to fine-tuning existing multiplayer features that could be fixed with a few tournament sponsorships to real organizers with genuine love for the game’s future health, via frequent professional interviews.
I wonder with doubt whether presentations with ways to achieve this in the future will be popularized from the sheer social engineering required for this approach, disbanding popular use of the seemingly old fashioned, out of touch and closed off, Fromsoftware "approach" lmao.
The fashion in elden ring is god awful. I hope dlc brings some new dresses for my dolly. .
It's really funny to have a single title end the term "Fashion Souls" and not because of the name.
Than I quess DS3 also has shit fashion
As a DS1 fan boy I can sympathize. My first play though I ran past most of the open world because it felt pointless to kill difficult enemies for no reward. In past games you had to fight to progress.
20:32 This is my least thoughtful comment of all, but did you know that in Dark Souls 3 you can have 7 people in the world without hacks, it's crazy and I KNOW how to provoke it CONSISTENTLY (sometimes 8 but I've only seen it 3 times and I don't know how to provoke it without hacks (game on play)
I really enjoy Elden Ring. It's an amazing world to explore, the gameplay is fun, the colors are bright and vibrant, but I wouldn't say I completely prefer it to the previous from soft titles. The bosses are a little mixed for me and the endgame difficulty balancing is poor! I'm glad that fans can safely critique this game now.
I agree with your criticisms of Elden Ring. Most people can't give such a nuanced take on the game. That being said, I'm looking forward to the DLC. I would really love to see another PVP Boss alongside more dense areas.
I'm also very excited for the DLC. I'm just trying to cope with knowing it's not gonna change what I want changed.
I don't disagree with everything, far from it, there's plenty about Elden Ring that feels only half-considered when they made the jump to an open world and I do think it spreads itself too thin for its length.
That said, if it's a matter of a suggestion of scale surrounding a relatively brief but dense journey vs a long journey forcing you through the scale of the world which is far less dense as a result, I think I have a preference towards the latter only if I actually like the amosphere of the world. and it turns out I quite like Elden Ring's world so I don't mind the game having lengthy stretch of not-much-happening. Some of my favorite moments in games are when I simply appreciate the serenity of a scene which is something I got to appreciate in Elden Ring more than in other Souls games. Liurna is the flattest, easiest and maybe-emptiest area in the game and it is my favorite.
I think I see the game the other way around than this video says, where it's a Souls game diluted by an open world whereas I see it more as an open-world that often impress me with its Souls-like aspects. Reaching Elphael towards the end of the game amazed me that a level so good is to be found in an open-world when such games usually sacrifice density completely. I love the recent Zelda games as well but they're a great example of what I mean : there are no lengthy unique dungeons like there were in the prior games anymore. But there are in Elden Ring. The contrast between the rather laid-back open world and the dense levels makes me appreciate both more.
Yeah. I’ll bet the dlc wil be more of what we want and less of what we have🙏😂 the open world just needs more soldier type enemies or traveling mini bosses. Here’s hoping at least🤞
most of your dark souls and bloodborne playthrough is fighting. most of elden ring FEELS like just running. is it actually? I don't know I haven't timed it but it sure feels like alot of running and running and running
when I explore in elden ring I always get some shit ass item, every fucking time. another flame butterfly or mushroom
I totally agree with you on sekiro and the mountaintops. it really is just boring
if you're on PC I have a suggestion. try modding
Dark Souls 2: Seeker of Fire 2.0
Dark Souls 3: Convergence
Elden Ring: Convergence
there are more but these are the ones I've personally played and really think are worth giving a chance
bro sound like he wanted something from the game, but it didn't give it to him properly and let down his expectations, this is so sad to see how beautiful the game is in some area's and not in the other's.
There are lore reasons for duplicated bosses. the duplicity of demigods is a great part of the lore of the game. It's not bloated, it's as big as they wanted to make it to tell the story they wanted to tell. We're still putting it together, but it's not meaningless.
P.s. Also I've never rid around aimlessly for material farming. if you want specific material you find a grace near the enemies that drop the item you need and farm it. IF you use the map to approach points of interest, then traveling there just takes a few minutes. I've never ridden my horse for longer than that at any given time. stake of marika's are a genius addition to the fromsoft formula so I don't see why you are complaining about them. It would be silly if you could TP anywhere on the map you've been. That's like some kinda of god power that would be difficult to explain lore wise and would make exploration a lot less fun IMO.
Yeah, I know there are reasons but I also know that if you play the unpatched version of the game tons of enemies are in different places and there's a lot of cut content to suggest the game was (very close to release) going in a lot of different directions with a lot of characters.
As it stands, I think Mohg in the sewer makes sense and having the Lord of Blood also be Mohg makes a lot less sense. Then again, I don't know what I don't know.
Nah elden ring is their best game by far mechanically, but pvp is in the gutter sure.
Having watched it now, you basically summed up all my thoughts at the end: "everything about it I found interesting, I found more interesting in an earlier title". Yes, indeed.
Here's to another 6 years...
A lot of people's first mistake is labelling Elden Ring as DS4, or at the very least subconsciously wanting it to be. And that's not a bad thing. Dark Souls is what got us this far, after all. But you're doing yourself a severe diservice not only to yourself, but to Elden Ring as well by treading down that line of thought.
I would also like to say that if Elden Ring is the best Open-World game you've played and it still doesn't really do it for you, it's possible you might just have an issue with the genre at large, more or less making Elden Ring destined to fail on arrival for you.
After 2.700 hours it’s pretty clear to me, that it’s the best game for me. Period.
Out of curiosity, what do you do for 2,700 hours?
Bout to hit 2k myself, pvp is a big part. But when I run out of larval tears, I end up having to do some pve. Going through certain areas for me, it is impossible to just walk by without pondering what is going on in the games lore. Which has an infinite search for information, the lore for these games go so deep, with so many cool references, that you could spend 20,000 hours across these titles, and still find something new to think about!
and yeah I kinda see that ELDEN RING Is more High Fantasy than it is Dark Fantasy. i just want them to just go back and made something dark fantasy again! like anything! hell i am not mad if they want to create like roman empire era world with a dark fantasy twists on it because why not. or go back to medieval dark fantasy once again something like Demon's Souls.
Byzantine dark fantasy? Yes please. I would like greek fire and armored calvary.
I wanna see them make a Lovecraftian dark fantasy kinda like bloodborne but way more.
@@_Ethereal420 MORE!
well Shadow of the Erdtree seems to be leading more into a "Dark Fantasy" scenario
I understand where you're coming from the reason it's open it's because of RR Martin he went to fromsoft and you know that they can do it
7:46 If I one day said THAT I would go STUDY some SCIENCE or something like that (although I don't think I would NEVER get bored of dark souls, if I stopped it it would be out of NECESSITY more than anything else)
6:31 And I'm at the point where thinking about dedicating MY VALUABLE TIME to another video game other than dark souls 1 2 3 is ABERRANT, look, I don't play another video game other than dark souls because in my childhood I dedicated many hours to it. other games of other genres but NOW I realize how total GARBAGE they are and I left them all except dark souls, instead dark souls... I don't know how to explain it but FOR ME IT IS PERFECT dark souls 1 2 3 are for me the only videos games that deserve MY PRECIOUS AND VALUABLE TIME
To be honest the last time I felt like a fromsoft game legitimately improved on its predecessor in every way was Dark Souls 1 coming from Demons Souls. Maybe i’ve changed, or am expecting too much, but I haven’t felt the same way about any fromsoft game after DS1. The world design of DS1 clears every other fromsoft game, Elden Ring especially. Hell, it probably still reigns supreme as the best designed world in games, period. Even when taking into account rushed areas like Lost Izalith.
Good video though. It’s encouraging to see other people who share the sentiment that the open world was a step down in a lot of ways.
For me, Bloodborne was the best example of completely changing a formula while retaining the essence of a game. I was hoping Elden Ring would do that again but so far it just hasn't hit the mark.
I say "so far" but who am I kidding...
@@emotionaljonxvx Bloodborne was fantastic. It came really close to feeling like DS1’s world for me, but just barely missed the mark. It’s my favorite game in the series to actually play, and also has my favorite lore/story, but I still miss DS1’s interconnectivity so much.
Hopefully a return to that kind of level design, with more robust and interesting online mechanics, is in the future.
Not pvp related, but man how did they miss the opportunity for vagrants/drift items in ER. Online mechanics like that, and ideally some new ideas too, could have added so much to the empty open world. Instead there’s just so much mindless travel.
You've perfectly put into words the feelings I had about Elden Ring, even though I love the game.
7:48 That to me sounds like a common thing for people these days, it sounds undisciplined and demanding, not being able to commit to something just because the baby needs something new or else he's already bored -_- I've played dark souls 1 since it came out And I have NEVER been bored, in fact I ALWAYS HAVE FUN AS IF IT WAS THE FIRST DAY, look I had an addiction to video games and I wanted to quit them COMPLETELY and I did it with all video games except dark souls, dark souls for me is the only one video game that DESERVES my valuable TIME, if I couldn't play dark souls I would prefer to do SOMETHING MORE USEFUL WITH MY TIME before playing other video games
Although I want to be clear, I only play Dark Souls when I WANT, I don't play many hours in fact because I PREFER to do more USEFUL things with MY invaluable TIME
Man I feel like you missed the point of those areas and copy pasted enemy's. The areas like the one you found roger in are lore secrets that help to explain the overall game in a subtle way of storytelling. As for the copy paste enemy's they are actually there to show relations with different places and factions. so if you find dogs in calide and in the mountain of the giants then more then likely they were taken from the mountains during the war on the fire giants. Since there was a complete lack of ds2 in your video ima guess you aren't a fan, that said I've heard and I completely agree with a saying that Elden ring is just ds2. If you didn't like ds2 it makes sense you wouldn't like this game. That said I don't think its a bad game, just not your cup of tea.
Okay, so just to be clear, I love this game. I love every souls game. I really, honestly do and I say as much in the video.
All I'm saying here is that I am frustrated with it. It is not the game I wanted it to be. As I said in the video, it's only bad by my very specific standards, and even then, it's still great.
I understand lore and I understand subtlety. I appreciate show don't tell storytelling more than most. I just think the story Elden Ring is telling isn't necessarily their best work, though I do find much of it quite enjoyable.
But I promise I didn't miss the point of why they did anything in the game. They copy and pasted enemies, not because they're from somewhere else, but because they couldn't decide where they go and ran out of time. It's a thing that happens in game development.
Sure, they could actually have meant to place them deliberately but Elden Ring hasn't convinced me of that so far. It might be true, it might not be, but as it stands I just wasn't as charmed by the illusion as I have been in previous titles.
And I do like Dark Souls 2. I didn't bring it up much in the video because it tends to rub people the wrong way when comparing things to Dark Souls 1, but I do genuinely enjoy that game. I like it more than Elden Ring mostly because I just think the game has a more interesting aesthetic and vibe, even if Elden Ring is more mechanically sound.
And again, just as I'll keep reposting, I love Elden Ring. I think it's a great game. It just let me down hard in some key areas and I think it's because they focused on making the game huge in scope instead of focusing their development time on perfecting the formula they based the whole game on otherwise.
@@emotionaljonxvx that’s a fair take and I understand you not being convinced. That said try checking out quelaag or the tarnished archeological. They go into incredible breakdowns of the environmental storytelling that will blow you away. Wile the pvp and game itself might be a let down, the story and details in the game’s design is genuinely awe inspiring. It’s a almost perfect representation of all major cultures/religions and practices of our real world into a high fantasy type structure. It’s a pinnacle example of video game storytelling without hand holding. So if pvp or the game’s mechanics has to suffer for it well then so be it. Art first, game second imo.
From a PVE perspective (three main points): Elden Ring was designed in such a way that it allows anyone to more easily beat the game with less effort/setup and less risk. You have items such as Spirit Ashes that can completely beat bosses for you, and overpowered weapons/Ashes/spells that are easily spammable and can melt enemies and bosses. They wanted to have their cake and eat it too though, so to compensate for this they gave many enemies and insane amount of health and damage values, in order to allow certain enemies (especially in the late-game) to one or two shot you to allow them to cheese you as easily.
Just as a personal anecdote, but I know people who Elden Ring was their first Souls game, and after beating it went back to a previous Souls game and found it far more difficult. I believe scenarios like this are indicative that Elden Ring's design philosophy for PVE largely centered around providing the player with tools to make you overpowered, but in order to "have their cake and eat it too" have that Souls-like difficulty had to crank up the enemies' damage/health/combos to compensate and give the illusion of difficulty (even though this difficulty isn't foundationally solid since most bosses can be cheesed with OP builds + Spirit Ashes).
Additionally, I believe that they filled their giant map with re-skinned bosses in order to give worse players an easier sense of accomplishment and power by allowing them to defeat "bosses" with their overpowered build.
Also, in terms of NPC quests, Fromsoft really didn't take into account the fact that players could easily miss their questlines in their massive open world. In their previous games that were more linear, they could allow for questlines to be cryptic, because it was realistic to believe that players would engage in some sort of backtracking and run into NPCs again. They were able to place NPCs at specific spots because they could predict where players could realistically at certain points in their journey.
But in Elden Ring, NPCs will show up at random Sites of Grace within vast areas, and there is no indication of where they will be standing at. I can't say this for everyone, but on my first playthrough I could not organically complete any NPC questlines, because I had no idea where they would be stationed at. Hell, some NPCs I didn't find at all even at their first location, because by the time they spawned there I had completed the main dungeon. The map is just too big to have no indication given to the player of where NPCs will be stationed at, unless they expect the player to go and run around for hours in areas where they've already completed the legacy dungeon to find an NPC standing by a random grace or post.
Lastly, the consumable system is terrible. Having to farm or run around for items just to craft another item to use is just a way to artifically inflate playtime without offering anything engaging. The previous games' systems of purchasing consumables after finding a merchant/merchant item was far better and much less tedious.
I think everything you've said is valid, but it comes off as less like "Elden Ring is objectively worse than its predecessors" and more like "I don't like the type of game Elden Ring is". I think your frustration isn't necessarily with Elden Ring as a successor to Dark Souls, but rather with Elden Ring as another FromSoftware release that wasn't made for you. Just like Sekiro and Armored Core, it's just not really for you in most aspects. And that's fine. A lot of people treat Elden Ring like the closest we'll get to Dark Souls 4, and there is an extent to which that is true. But we also often make the mistake of treating Elden Ring like it was supposed to be Dark Souls at all, forcing upon it the mantle of the previous trilogy, disappointed when the crown doesn't fit the head of a different king.
Basically every other person in my comments is getting at some version of this so lemme just say as clearly as I can that all of my problems with Elden Ring is that it's too similar to Dark Souls and doesn't do a good job carrying that mantle. My go-to reference is bloodborne; a game that was very different in its approach than Dark Souls but still maintained so much of what made the previous games great, while adding its own twists.
Elden Ring also does its own thing but not nearly enough. I am annoyed with the game because it has so much in common with its dungeon crawling forbearers and has been clearly built on top of their design but rather than translating those designs into something new and exciting, they split the design into new and old.
The open world is new.
The legacy dungeons are old.
The mounted travel is new.
The weapon system is old.
On and on, back and forth, Elden Ring is an open world game grafted onto Dark Souls. In some ways, that's a really cool idea. For me, it just doesn't hold up the second or third or fourth time around. Its magic works once and not even for everyone.
If you're in the camp that you like the open world (especially if you like open world games in general) I completely understand. This game is, in no way, in danger of not getting enough praise or accolades. It sold tens of millions and everyone loves it. Hell, I love it. I just don't like it as much as I wish I did or the way I liked the other games. Overall, it's just a little boring. And that makes a little bad, not objectively, but subjectively. For me.
There's no mistake that this game is treated like Dark Souls 4 and that it upsets people. It was built like Dark Souls 4. It was just also built to have an open world and that's one of the only things that sets it apart. My assertion is that it takes away more than it adds. Again, that's subjective.
Sorry if that's too much of a response. I'm just getting the same comments over and over.
No, it's not. And even posing that question is ignorant and/or delusional and fits perfectly in the ballpark of any pvp fanbase which is the aspect I hate the most about them. They all seem to hate the game they're "addicted" to. And I say that as RL125 meta slave myself.
So no, again, Elden is not a bad game. It's an amazing game that rightly sold a shit, received amazing review and won game of the year.
Even if you look at it as a pseudo-sequel to Dark Souls 3 it didn't do anything the other games iterations didn't. DS1 compared to DS2 changed a lot of things, some for better, some for worse. DS2 to DS3 changed things and DS3 to ER also changed things.
I had respect for you, because you actually made videos about interesting topics concerning Elden Ring. But now you also come up with this shit "well uhm, achktually Elden Ring is bad".
Cool.
I wouldn't use the berserk vs lord of the rings to prove a point. You have to compare books, not a manga vs a book.
So, while I get what you're saying, I think it's a little more complex than that. Both are franchises, existing as beacons of their respective fantasy genres and both exist far beyond the scope of their initial medium (as anime, movies, etc.). I said literature because that's a medium in which they both exist in their purest form. If you don't consider manga literature, that's a separate argument, but I don't think there's any inherently different value to what manga adds to fantasy versus what books add.
They're both part of the collective contribution and I'd be hard-pressed to not consider Berserk a top-tier example of dark fantasy and Lord of the Rings a top-tier example of high fantasy.
To your point though, I think it wouldn't be all that fair to compare the visual art of the Berserk manga to the Lord of the Rings books, much in the same way a book is going to have a way different approach to depiction than any visual medium. All the same, both contribute to fantasy and I think both are titans of the genre.
@@emotionaljonxvx a better example would be Malazan or ASOIAF if you wanted to mention dark fantasy literature
@emotionaljonxvx and manga is just comics books, not literature. Doesn't make it worse, just different
I completely agree!
Great video! Finally someone said it all in one video. Fully agree with everything. Unfortunately I spent too much time in ds3 pvp so I cant make myself play ER multiplayer. 300 hours in ER vs 2,5 thousands hours in ds3. Actually I felt so frustrated when I ended ER pve, spent 100 hours in pvp and concluded pretty much the same things, but found out that reviews were "very positive" on steam. It means that we'll get ER 2 with higher probability one day. But as an old man I saw rise and fall of many great titles: Diablo, Doom, Thief, Heroes Of Might and Magic, Need for speed and a dozen of others started after millenium xd. Everything has it end, thats why it is so valuable. Be strong brothers, someday we'll get something. Or may be some guy watching these video started inventing his own dark souls series of the next generation?
Dark Souls 1 and 2 are the best Souls games. Dark Souls 3 is my least favorite Souls game (it’s a great game, just not as good as DS1, DS2, DeS, Bloodborne. Sekiro, and Elden Ring)
Lowkey glad Miyazaki doesn’t listen to all feedback, it is the very opposite of a bad game.
The addition of an Open World in ER is very much a trend-chasing effort, as all of the big high profile games (MGSV, TLoZ, Nier and many others) were all going Open World as well in recent years. Personally It's something I'm genuinely tired of seeing, it adds nothing of value and just destroys replayability.
I get the conceptual appeal, but outside of a game that is centered around zones for social player hubs and trading (MMOs, basically) I just never found it all that fun. It's all the same ideas as any other game but with a lot of extra space in between.
Woof. Unfortunately, I disagree with most of the sentiment here. I don’t want the game to be smaller. I don’t want less color. I prefer this game’s difficulty curve (as in, its extreme variability), the bosses, and the player ability in Elden Ring above the entire Dark Souls series. The only thing is I haven’t played Bloodborne, since I’ve never had a PS. I’d honestly dislike ER more if it strayed from what it currently is.
One of my favorite things to do is make a new character and just wander around Limgrave swinging at things and looking at everything. The four southern parts of the map are fun to run around in, excepting the lake part of Liurnia. I love that I can boot up ER and just enjoy running around like someone would in Minecraft. I can’t do that in any of the Dark Souls games. They’re too small. Besides-the more you run around Elden Ring, the more you realize just how small the world actually is. I can each Morgott in just a few hours. Reaching him isn’t busy work or tedious for me. Not at all.
The multiplayer is, sure, the worst part-but I mean, it *ought* to be, this game above the rest feels like an actual RPG first and foremost.
I know I’m the odd one out. That’s normal. Just my view.
All good, we're bound to disagree on things. I don't think what I'm putting out with this one is meant to be all that inclusive or universal, just me venting my personal gripes about a game that I wish was different in so many little ways.
If the DLC had just come out a few months sooner, maybe I'd feel a lot better now. Then again, maybe I'd just be madder than ever. It's a long road to walk and I'm looking forward to the end.
So you're basically admitting you like games where you can play in a brain dead manner. Got it.
Wait so your biggest issue with Elden Ring is the multiplayer? But its not a multiplayer game... Its a single player with multiplayer functions. Every other criticism i get it.
The open areas feeling empty, i get it. The way that it plays isnt for everyone. The flow of the open world is non existent, so you have to really look for a path. But these are not issues i agree with. I do however understand that people want different things. On the subject of multiplayer, Elden Ring was not meant to be the multiplayer juggernaut you want it to be. It was never meant to be that. Developer's have said the invasion is meant to slow you down or give you a unique boss. The fact they made it optional tells you all you need to know!
Your original statement is objective, but your argument is completely subjective.
Elden Ring is my biggest gaming disappointment, not because it is bad but because it is not the best and is still a long way from this title
and the dlc will only make things worse instead of fixing it
I played this game once and man was it enough for me. Just way to fn big and repetitive with all the repeat bosses and caves. I do plan on coming back to it for the DLC though. But as a souls veteran this is near the very bottom of my souls tier list. Im pretty close to saying its bad but people will think im crazy but for me its a 5/10. Very overhyped and overrated.
Perfect? No. Bad? Absolutely not. I wouldn't spend 600+ hours in a bad game. Elden Ring has many issues but the devs don't focus on them
yes!
Elden ring is a good game that you play 12 times through a single playthrough.
Elden ring worst sin is being boring. The pve is boring the pvp is boring.
Does Elden Ring actually exist?
No, of course not, all souls games are actually fake, YOU SHEEPLE NEED TO WAKE UP FROM MIYAZAKIS CURSE
Fromsoft can’t please everyone, esp while they gain more fans.
Just came here to downvote this video just cuz u said it was sort of a bad game. Best game of this generation hands down idc, PVP or not
Well, at least you're being constructive with your criticism.
@@emotionaljonxvx ☝🤓
You should absolutely play Kingdom Come: Deliverance, lol
No multiplayer or PVP, correct? Without those I'm just not interested unfortunately.