Fromsoftware Games

[Thatguy2068]

This is a thread about any Fromsoftware games whether it could be King Field or the recent Elden Ring.

[Wweyland]

Is Elden Ring as good as they say?

[Kimarhi]

I was not a from software guy until Demon Souls remastered and Elden Ring on PS5.  I had played almost all the way through Dark Souls 2 when it was released, but dropped in in favor of other games.

But Elden Ring especially became an addiction for me.  I played it for about six months.  Shorter games would come in during that time, and I'd play them, but my overall game throughout its release was Elden Ring. 

Something so addicting about the boss fights.  I died from Malenia like forty frickin times and when I finally beat her it was like setting a new 1rm on your benchpress or squat or something.  I got like a dopamine rush.

They are kind of old school games in a way because you can just play them without paying attention to the story (because most of it is told through item descriptions and you have to piece it together) if you just want to run in and knock out a few bosses or quest and then do something else.  Not knowing the story didn't effect my experience with the game, but if you DID want to know the story there is actually plenty of it there. 

A different kind of RPG in that regard (granted most of my RPGs are JRPGs).   

[Thatguy2068]

Man I  agree Elden ring is phenomenal. Even if it's a bit more difficult than previous entries.

[jacobo1122]

I'm a huge fan of Fromsoft's "soulsborne" games, I love almost (sorry DS2) every game they made since Demons Souls. And I must say I don't love Elden Ring so much like many others. Don't get me wrong, it is a great game, my almost 200 hours long first playthrough was an adventure I never forget, but I have many problems with it. Mainly I think it is just bloated. The further you get into the game, the more repetitive it gets. And I think that repetitivness is the worst things you can get i soulslike. Also in the late stages there are many balancing issues. It also made me realize how important for souls games are things like proper runtime, pacing and  direction od events. Sure, it is impressive that You can go anywhere in such a huge world, but it can take away from some important story points and it can jus drag on. Because of that It is the least replayble of Fromsoft's games, while it should be the most. But when I tried to play it again, after 20 hours, time that would get me at least to second half of their other games I felt like I didn't achieve much, progress was too slow and I get just overwhelmed and didn't wany to play longer and repeat all the stuff I did first time. Still, great game, I just don't think it's 10/10 or game of the decade or anythig like that, and frankly, in my opinion almost all (sorry DS2) of their previous "soulsbornes" are better, more cohesive games.

[Kimarhi]

I felt it was the most replayable, simply because it was so big.  There were whole sections I didn't even know existed in ER before I replayed it.

You can essentially fly through the game on replays though, and can beat replays in hours should you choose to.  I never had an issue with any boss not named Malenia though simply because I two stat level up for much of the game.  First playthrough is always strength and health.  So I could literally go toe to toe with most bosses.  I first time go'd Mohg and the fire giant just because I had such huge health wells and was doing massive damage to him.  Most others late game were also one or two tries.  Only trouble I had first playthrough was Malenia, and the combination of Radagon and Elden God. 

I actually thought that Elden Ring was pretty easy for the most part, simply because you could use summons to aggro the bosses. 

Too each their own, I just didn't find the above necessarily true for me personally.  I prefer Elden Ring to any of the other games. 

[jacobo1122]

I felt it was the most replayable, simply because it was so big.  There were whole sections I didn't even know existed in ER before I replayed it.

You can essentially fly through the game on replays though, and can beat replays in hours should you choose to.  I never had an issue with any boss not named Malenia though simply because I two stat level up for much of the game.  First playthrough is always strength and health.  So I could literally go toe to toe with most bosses.  I first time go'd Mohg and the fire giant just because I had such huge health wells and was doing massive damage to him.  Most others late game were also one or two tries.  Only trouble I had first playthrough was Malenia, and the combination of Radagon and Elden God. 

I actually thought that Elden Ring was pretty easy for the most part, simply because you could use summons to aggro the bosses. 

Too each their own, I just didn't find the above necessarily true for me personally.  I prefer Elden Ring to any of the other games. 

I Heard that You can actually beat game quickly and choose not to do many things. I just don't like breeze through any game, and frankly I just don't see how I could skip most of ER, if I want to, lets say, fight Malenia without much leveling. She just needs a lots od preparation And only getting to her requiers many things to do. And as for bosses, I don't like fighting with them overleveled. For my first playthrough I had build that could do almost everything, but wasn't particulary good at anything. And I had a blast fighting with most of the bosses, scratching their massive healthbars. But late in the game their become very unbalanced in my opinion, hitting too hard and using overpovered moved (that damn water dance!) I feel like they were designed for using summons, but I'd be damned if I ever used one. But the biggest problem with bosses in ER for me was, again, repetition. I get giving us a few dragon reskins, but repeating main bosses just takes away from their uniqness. And amount of three sentinels that I defeated just made me barf towards the end. Oh, and those awful gank fights. Okay, for those I used summons, because they were randomly put together bosses that weren't balanced to work as a gank fight in any way.

[Kimarhi]

I played it both ways.  With and without summons.  Malenia remains the strongest opponent imo just because she can catch you with waterfowl, even if you've beaten her multiple times before.  I usually don't try to dodge, and just block her with the shield buff. 

I forgot that I first time go'd Radahn as well.  But I fought the after patch Radahn, so I never did play the OG super tough one.  I'd also seen when he flies away on a youtube short so that didn't catch me. 

I understand not everybody has the same thought process.  I just preferred Elden Ring hands down to the others I've played.  I think because there is a walk up in difficulty vs the others (imo).  Margott is the first "tough" boss, but I'd already fought like a dozen other field bosses before I made it to him, so again, I didn't have the trouble that everybody else did who were just blazing through the game.  He still caught me some, but it wasn't the struggle others had. 

I just never found it consistently hard, and didn't think the end game bosses were that much different in difficulty than the others. 

They DO bounce around in difficulty in my experience on replays though.  Malenia is always tough because of the health drain, but occassionally, Mohg, Placidux (or however it's spelled), Astral, or Radagon/Elden Beast give me as much trouble as she does, even though she doesn't really get me like she used to.  Five or so tries i'd say on average. 

I just appreciate that there is more to do in Elden Ring, instead of forcing you down corridors or linear paths to fight a variety of beasties.  A little more immersive imo. 

[jacobo1122]

I just appreciate that there is more to do in Elden Ring, instead of forcing you down corridors or linear paths to fight a variety of beasties.  A little more immersive imo. 

I can see why You think that way. But  because how big the world is and how many repeated content there is in it, it's less immersive for me, it feeled more gamey. Besides, the best moments in ER were its legacy dungeons, wchich were basicly levels build like in older souls games. And older souls never were very linear, you had many alternate ways and secrets, but yes, they surely were more linear than ER, but because of that, they were also more directed and consistent. Certain points had more impact for me, while in ER you could undermine some locations by going to them in wrong order. But I must say, it is impressive how Fromsoft tried, (and succided, for the most part) to adapt world connectivness and design of DS1, wchich still is golden standard in that regard, to the open world.

[Kimarhi]

Too each their own.  I know many people who prefer Bloodborne over any of the others and I couldn't get into that one at all.  Also a few Sekiro is the best gamers.  It's all just little quirks between the games that people have don't have that makes one better than the other. 

[jacobo1122]

My personal ranking of Fromsof souls games would look like that:

1. Dark souls 3
2. Bloodborne
3. Dark souls 1
4. Sekiro
5. Elden Ring
6. Demon's Souls
7. Dark souls 2

But I love them all really (expect DS2)
And DS3 is my favourite only because it was a game that brought me into these titles and made me a fan.