Elden Ring

[sportdan30]

Having an absolutely blast with this game. I was wavering as to whether to pick this game up as I wasn't a huge fan of Bloodborne. But, the open world of this game makes all the difference. Now mind you, I'm going at my own pace of exploring and slowly leveling up. I'm avoiding the boss battles for now and just taking in all the atmosphere and danger the game has to offer. There's just such an array of different enemies and secrets along the way.

I'm playing as the Confessor but I'm generally taking out my enemies like a ninja. I want to experience the magic staffs because as the enemies get more and more difficult, I think my best bet will be to use sorcery.

[dbdynsty25]

I've been tempted, but the difficulty seems like it would put me off. I like just playing games for the story mostly so I like playing on "easy" for the story based games. Is there an easy mode or just one level of difficulty?

[AcemanPR]

I decided to pick this up as well, despite not having played a souls game before. The open world did intrigue me!

I didn't have as much time this weekend to game as I wanted so, so I feel like I am still learning so much about this game. So far, it's been a pretty cool ride, albeit very difficult. I'm also trying to just explore as much as I can now and will focus on the boss battles lately. I created a Bandit character, so the strength is not really strength at all. Working on leveling up that attribute so I can equip this sword I found that does much more damage than the puny dagger I currently have.

No right or wrong way to play this game. I plan on playing this quite a lot over the next few evenings.

[sportdan30]

I've been tempted, but the difficulty seems like it would put me off. I like just playing games for the story mostly so I like playing on "easy" for the story based games. Is there an easy mode or just one level of difficulty?

Just one level of difficult unfortunately. It can definitely be unforgiving but you can generally avoid higher level enemies by sprinting or riding your horse Torrent past them. There's plenty of easier enemies to take down by simply being patient and sneaking around. That part of the game reminds me a little bit of Ghost of Tsushima, if you have played that.

What is definitely nice is that there is a significant number of "grace" locations. These are basically save locations and they become fixtures on the map. So, if you die, you can pick right back up at the last "grace" location. Also, you can fast travel very early in the game. The map is large, but as you discover these grace locations, you can simply fast travel. Without these, I would have been much less enthusiastic about the game.

I've been using some guides and videos to seek out better weaponry along with accruing runes (currency) for leveling up faster.

I don't know if I'll ever complete the game as there's so much to do and discover. And some of the enemies are quite intimidating. As someone who has shied away from the Dark Souls games, this is a really inviting game to dip your toes in.

[Rodster]

This game should've been called Death of the Wild, it's a Zelda/Souls game. One character that makes things easier is the Sorcerer. You get ranged attacks or you can get up close with a sword. It is tough, i'm just messing around in the beginning trying to beat the Tree Sentinel. I've loss every time.

[Diablo25]

I've been tempted, but the difficulty seems like it would put me off. I like just playing games for the story mostly so I like playing on "easy" for the story based games. Is there an easy mode or just one level of difficulty?

Co-Signed. I’ve been told by several friends the series is a difficult play. I usually play games on normal and bump down to easy if a boss battle, etc. gets to be too much. I HATE impossible boss battles. I made it through Horizon Zero Dawn without having to bump it down to EASY. I came close though. I have been really enjoying Horizon Forbidden West. We shall see if I need to bump it down to easy.

[MizzouRah]

I'm loving it but yeah.. for now I can't beat any bosses so I'm just trying to level up my Samurai.

[dbdynsty25]

Yeah with only one level of difficulty, it's gonna be a hard pass for me. Looks spectacular, and interesting and fun, but also controller breaking frustrating. I don't need that kind of stress in my life. LOL.

[TCrouch]

I typically get put off on Souls-likes after a while. They're fun at first, but grinding through the same enemies over and over just to get back to whatever killed me eventually wears on me and I gave up.

This one is different, because that open world means I can finally go AROUND the tedious stuff and just go try the boss again.

Pro Tip: For the Tree Sentinel, use your horse. On foot he was practically impossible, but only took me about 3 tries on the horse, and each time I whittled him further and further down until I finally got him (full on Tiger Woods-style fist pump in my office, embarrassingly).

There's really something to their whole "overcome adversity" thing, but this game actually removes a lot of the tedium that made it difficult for me to push through those fights before.

I'm using the "Prisoner", the sort of spell-sword that allows me to throw blobs of blue light but also melee combat. At the Roundtable Hold, I picked up a 100% block heater shield and a longsword, so I can use ranged magic or melee equally, which really opens up the game a lot.

Really, really love this one--more than any souls-like in the past.

[XXXIV]

I have played through the previous 4 Soul games varying amounts of times and after about 20 hours I am going to say I love this game. At least for now. I can also say that is easily the most player friendly of the lot.

Off top of my head there are bonfires every f***in where along with bonus marika stakes check points, little friendly spirit summonkabobs to equip that help with fights, A f***in map, and a massive world to explore with unlimited stamina to run through it with while out of combat.

I said friendliest not easiest and I have gotten soft playing thru the last three assassins Creed games for example. If you dont pay attention pretty much anything can kill you. I die all the freaking time.

The size of the game while welcome in most all respects also makes it more daunting. I had the thought that because of its size it may be the first Souls game I dont finish. Maybe..

Also I find it best to play the game cold without watching any spoilery videos. Finding out what may be lurking around that creepy corner or down the road or in that swamp the hard way is a big part of the game.

[Lancer]

This game looks really cool but from what I've read it's very hard.

[TCrouch]

I have played through the previous 4 Soul games varying amounts of times and after about 20 hours I am going to say I love this game. At least for now. I can also say that is easily the most player friendly of the lot.

I was thinking of you quite a bit while playing it so far. You're the only guy I know who finished all of the Souls games. And I think what you mention about being "player friendly" is why I love it so much. When I died in a Souls game and I knew exactly how many enemies I had to fight through just to get back to the same thing that killed me...it felt like it was wasting my time, not teaching me. If you could push through enemies and have them respawn at lower numbers or something, that's one thing. But basically undoing everything you just did just to go back and die again felt unnecessary.

In this one, having flasks replenish after killing a group of enemies, and so much to explore...it's much more up my alley. it's an open world RPG with absolutely brutal combat.

The times I've been thinking "I've got this....we're in control", immediately followed by "what the hell?!?!?" like 2 seconds later when I die in a flurry....too numerous to count.

But unlike previous Souls games, I can (usually) easily get back to that point and try again, and actually spend time learning things and not re-grinding the same damn enemies that whittled down my health in the first place.

[greggsand]

This ain't my cup of tea at all (generally), but the glowing reviews had me curious. After the first 45mins, I thought I made a terrible mistake buying this game. Rather than just give-up, I started avoiding nearly everyone I stumbled upon, and only fighting dudes (who looked like) I could beat. That said, now I'm completely hooked. I've never played a game that has so little hand-holding AND so few cutscenes. I'm sure I won't finish it, but this is the perfect game to mess around with until The Show comes along.

[Sudz]

I've been tempted, but the difficulty seems like it would put me off. I like just playing games for the story mostly so I like playing on "easy" for the story based games. Is there an easy mode or just one level of difficulty?

Co-Signed. I’ve been told by several friends the series is a difficult play. I usually play games on normal and bump down to easy if a boss battle, etc. gets to be too much. I HATE impossible boss battles. I made it through Horizon Zero Dawn without having to bump it down to EASY. I came close though. I have been really enjoying Horizon Forbidden West. We shall see if I need to bump it down to easy.

Same. i want a bit of a challenge, but not getting pummelled repeatedly.

[MizzouRah]

It's figuring things out is what makes the game so fun for me and I love I can grind a bit to get my stats up and purchase better gear as well as get help along the way from various NPC's. I'll start playing around 7pm and it's quickly 1am...

[sportdan30]

The level design is unmatched except maybe BOTW. This game will go down as a classic.

[Sudz]

The level design is unmatched except maybe BOTW. This game will go down as a classic.

Got me tempted on this one, though I'm chugging along with H:FW right now.

[sportdan30]

The level design is unmatched except maybe BOTW. This game will go down as a classic.

Got me tempted on this one, though I'm chugging along with H:FW right now.

I will just say I'm someone who very much tried to get in to Bloodborne, but to me it was just too unforgiving. The checkpoints were too far and I was tired of playing the same level over and over. Because this is an open world and there are numerous "grace" points, it truly makes all the difference. Case in point, last night I followed a tutorial video to try and locate this powerful weapon, the grafted blade greatsword. The path to get there was daunting and dangerous, but I was able to maneuver around enemies along the way with pretty much ease. At one point, I stopped tried to take out a few easy kills, only to be surprised by a guy wielding a huge sword on a horse I had passed several yards back. I was killed by my own greed and had to start again. I get to where this particular weapon is, thankfully touching "grace" a few times along the way. I find that I have to kill this mini boss and after a few attempts, I give up. I don't have the right strategy or equipment. It'll be much easier to defeat him if I have a meteorite staff and can keep a safe distance. So, I then set out to find a area that is great for farming runes. That is where I currently am and am leveling up my intelligence to 18 so that I can use the meteorite staff. When I'm ready, I can simply fast travel back to the area where the mini boss is because there's a grace point just yards away from him.

You can absolutely have a great time even if you don't initially face off against some of the high powered enemies. The exploration is truthfully the most fun part of the game. But, you definitely need to keep your head on a swivel as you just don't know what's around the next corner.

[XXXIV]

I was thinking of you quite a bit while playing it so far. You're the only guy I know who finished all of the Souls games. And I think what you mention about being "player friendly" is why I love it so much. When I died in a Souls game and I knew exactly how many enemies I had to fight through just to get back to the same thing that killed me...it felt like it was wasting my time, not teaching me. If you could push through enemies and have them respawn at lower numbers or something, that's one thing. But basically undoing everything you just did just to go back and die again felt unnecessary.

With some very notable exceptions like blight town in Dark Souls 1 I have been okay with doing levels/ areas again and again and again. That same ocd that had me grinding WoW for the better part of a decade had me to the point where I could do many of those in my sleep. I think I accepted it as part of the cost of doing business early on when I fell in love with Demon's Souls.

The punch line is that I am not very good at these games. I love them anyway. From that great feeling of taking down a once unbeatable boss, The never ending white knuckle moments, the suspense/ horror movie atmosphere, how beautiful I think the games art designs are, how well done the rpg elements are, and yes the combat. I love the combat. Like an RPG simulator.

it's an open world RPG with absolutely brutal combat.

You nail it. Open world RPG with brutal combat. Mostly fair combat but not always. I usually know why I got my ass kicked and I try to correct my mistakes then try again and again etc....

Now over 25 hours in this game and it appears to be Fromsofts masterpiece. Over 25 hours in and hardly having scratched the surface I cant even imagine how many hours I will get out of it. I checked the Xbox compare with friends stat thing and it has me playing over 600 hours of Dark Souls 3.

Side note: Its not all roses. I am not loving the horse combat. Im getting to be a very slow learner.

Side note 2. I doubled back last night to do some exploration I had missed and ran into an old "friend. He hasnt chaged much but I like that From put in some fan service.

[sportdan30]

Just somehow made my way to Lirunia in search of map fragments and eventually a weapon upgrade. Wow, this land is vast, swampy, and murky. So much to discover. I likely won't stay here long as I have barely scratched the surface in Limgrave.

[Rodster]

I bought the game for the Series X. The graphics are not mind blowing neither is it on the PC. I'm lost, where the heck am I supposed to go? I'm at the beginning of the game. I went to the entrance of the Storm Gate castle, if that's where I was supposed to go? My sorcerer character is a level 6 and there's a HUGE ass monster way at the top and enemies are shooting arrows at me. I knew I would be dead in no time flat so I didn't bother going in.

I did wipeout the enemy area in front of the castle, that was pretty cool then dropped down and got a sword which I can't use because i'm a lvl 6. So where to next? The game is pretty cool and yup if you're not careful it's lights out pretty quick. Another question where do you go to spend runes to lvl up?

[Teal]

Wasn't all that interested, but y'all have talked me out of it for sure...lol.

The older I get, the simpler I want things. This sound like the opposite of that.

[greggsand]

This game is owning my soul, but half of time I'm playing, I'm wondering "Am I supposed to be here????" (until some boss destroys me in 5 seconds to confirm 'I am NOT supposed to be here, yet!"). Love it.

[TCrouch]

Yeah, never pushed this much in any Souls game. I'm level 61 I think at the moment and just absolutely wrecking every room/area I set eyes on...

...until I run into something that one-hits me, and then I have to go and change up everything I'm doing.

I love that this game never lets you really get comfortable. But unlike any Souls game, I feel the desire to go explore an area I've never seen, with a bit of confidence for once. I'm basically confident-until-proven-otherwise, unlike every Souls game, which was cautiously-tiptoeing-into-a-room-pissing-down-my-leg.

My dude sports a sword & shield, but strong enough spells to wipe out entire groups of enemies with a single spell. I collected a few dragon hearts and used some of their powers for more spells, and keep a crossbow at the ready to pull singles from afar.

Basically just allows me to dictate however I want the fights to go, which is a refreshing change in a Souls game.

[MizzouRah]

Agreed.. and finding some dungeon and daring to go exploring, wondering what's going to come at me.