Elden Ring [2022-21-01] [PS, XB, PC]

The worst is when they are magic resistant. Then it’s a complete slog lol

 

My current build is Moonveil with magic.

Moonveil has a very good ranged skill for trash and bosses (and good scaling with INT), and I'm finding Adula's Moonblade to be the go to magic for bosses and strong enemies (can also be buffed by rani's hat and Ash of War: Royal Knight's Resolve).

Hits really hard and doesn't have a long wind up like Azure's Comet.

I'm staying away from frost stomp because it was way too easy.

 

I've been so busy just enjoying the gameplay and lore of Elden Rings that it only just came to me that one of the reasons I've been enjoying the game so much is the silent protagonist. Ah, such bliss to not have the protagonist constantly prattling on about how "I" should be doing this or that. And I'm not getting annoyed if the protagonist that I'm playing is saying something idiotic, childish, curlish, brutish, juvenile, at odds with what I'm playing, etc.

It just reminds me that, IMO, silent protagonists = best protagonists. This is especially true after watching over 100 hours of Horizon Forbidden West. I love Aloy the character and I love her design (mentally and physically). But oh my god I can't even count how many times I wished she'd just shut the hell up while exploring or fighting. I love you Aloy but stop treating the player like they are a complete idiot. I really don't need you to tell me that I need to find a key to unlock a locked door every time I come across a locked door.

BTW - don't take this as specific to HFW, LOTS of other games make the same mistake of treating the player like a drooling idiot that couldn't tie their own shoes unless the game constantly told them how to tie their shoe ... while they are tying their shoe.

Regards,
SB

 

Slowly working through the game - still amazed...wondering around a canyon looking for a bonfire...ups, there is a huge castle in a poison area...the hell, let's go there directly...awesome

Still using my wild setup with sword of night and flame, plus my katana with hoarfrost stomp...so far, highly effective. got a very good summon...mimic tear, it seems that it can use exactly the same crazy stuff that I do my self...lol

Game is really one of its kind. From Software is quite ahead of all the other open world devs imo...I have to smile all the time, how they changed up mechanics and did their own interpretation of typical open world things from Ubi etc..

 

Oh, another amazing thing: all these underground regions...that are just huge, and awesome...and you wonder: how did they add so much unique content into this game, wow.

 

Gotta get me some moonveil. I sadly? haven't found a lot of things. Without these guides etc, I'm pretty sure I would have missed a lot of stuff. Like at this point in time, I think I would have given up on mage without a guide showing me a meteor staff and rock sling. To have to go that far to find something to be effective at Raya Lasa Academy, because glintstone magic is all resisted here.

 

With the technical state of the game, now I wonder even more what the RT patch will bring to the table.

 

You have to beat a (stupid ass boss) in one of the early mines...the boss took me forever to beat, because I suck...but it is fairly early to reach - but I agree with you, without guides, I would miss 70%...while still feeling that I found a ton of stuff (because there is just so much stuff to find).

 

Stutters...

 

Perhaps ray tracing. Is it to all current gen platforms?

 

Elden Ring Ray Tracing Will Give Graphics a Shine in Future Updates - Push Square

"Bandai Namco has confirmed that the game is set to receive ray tracing at some point in the future. "Timing for the implementation of ray tracing, which is planned to be supported after the launch, will be revealed in future announcements," read the patch notes.

Presumably this will only be coming to current-gen hardware like PS5. There's no hint of exactly when ray tracing will come to Elden Ring, or how liberally the technique will be applied."

 

15fps but those rays, man!

 

Yes. For me this is by far the most impressive aspect of the game. There are some utterly humongous areas which you discover almost by mistake, and there are so many of them! You start going down a totally unremarkable little path and all of a sudden you’re in front of a huge new area with more secrets, totally different enemies, and completely missable as they’re not required to finish the game. A few times I literally went WTF! Incredible how much there is in this game. And as much as I loved Horizon, this game makes that one look like a very pretty one page essay compared to a whole encyclopedia.

 

At the same time, I’d love From to somehow partner with a studio who can build their insane ideas and designs with more tech knowhow, and of course a totally new engine!

 

looking at how "well" is game running atm on current gen consoles i would be surprised if RT patch comes any times soon on consoles. Seems like they have some fundamental performance issues to resolve first but maybe they are targeting to resolve all in one big bang... what do i know

 

Becoming one with Bluepoint!

 

Whoa. SteamSpy estimates for Elden Ring ownership on Steam is now between 20-50 million. Say what? Uh, wow.

That's in less than 3 weeks. Mind Blown.

Regards,
SB

 

I'm very excited to see this.
Perhaps we will actually go back to games that focus on design and proper difficulty instead of focusing on movie set pieces. I suppose there is a time and place for both, but I'm really tired that every single 'block buster title' needs to look like a movie. This game does it perfectly, it almost never takes away control of the player, and it never stops you from exploiting something you can exploit. The protagonist is silent which means you're free to do whatever you want or not want to. There is no order of things you must follow, you can say no to everything, etc. It always makes you feel as though there is something to lose even if there is technically not. It makes you explore and rewards you properly for it.
The list of things it does right goes on and on. I feel like this is a gem from the golden age of gaming just brought back to life here.

 

I hope it's doing as well on consoles.

To add to this, I hope more games go back to just focusing on a vision of what the developer wants to make in their game versus what seems almost like a checklist of things that they feel the most consumers will like.

While From Software did give a nod towards making a Souls game ever so slightly more accessible to a wider audience, they still had a vision for their game that they executed on and ... pardon the expression ... no shits were given as to whether some consumer focus group would like it or not.

In that sense, Elden Ring has that feeling of an indie game. A game that was created almost like a passion product of the developers. A game they wanted to make because it's a game they'd like to play and not a game that incorporated things just because they felt it would increase sales of the game.

In the end it feel so epic, unlike games where the developer feels like the player needs to have their hand held every step of the way. It's like Frodo setting off on his journey to destroy the One Ring. How is he supposed to destroy it? Where is he supposed to go? How is he supposed to get there? What's he going to run into along the way. He hasn't got a clue. Much like how I started this journey in Elden Ring. I have some vague notion that perhaps I'm supposed to become the Elden Lord. But how am I supposed to do that? Where am I supposed to go? What am I going to run into along the way? I haven't got a clue.

Ah, I love every moment of not knowing where I'm going or who I'm going to meet or what's going to try to kill me or who might try to help (or hinder) my journey. I love someone tasking me or asking me to do something but there's only a vague description of where I need to go or who I need to find. I loved seeing a wolfman up on a wall I can't reach and wondering what they are doing there or even if it's someone I can talk to or if it's someone I can kill. Then sometime later in the game accidentally finding a way to contact them and then finding out they're just a bit player in a larger quest that's tangentially related to what I should or maybe shouldn't be doing.

People in the world who ask me to do things aren't necessarily doing it for me. In fact, most of the times, they aren't doing it for me, but for their own purposes.

I haven't felt like this while playing a game in a very very long time.

Regards,
SB

 

Thats a enormous amount of sold copies, in such a short time aswell. Huge market cap if the game is good/wanted.