Waited all year until it was on sale as I thought it might not be my cup of tea, tried not to let my prejudice get the better of me but felt it was such a drag I had to put it down.
It was recommended to me as I like Zelda but it couldn’t be further from the things I like about it: innovation, fluid gameplay, freedom, puzzles, multiple ways to tackle enemies.
I don’t think it’s the difficulty as I play lots of roguelike and bullet hell games. My main gripe is the clunkiness of the combat to the point it’s unfair. Like you don’t really stand a chance through reactions alone, you have to learn the patterns and hitboxes of enemies so that you know in advance when to react.
Also I kept hearing how good the graphics are but I think they’re kinda average although the actual art style is quite nice.
Any suggestions on how I might enjoy it would be much appreciated as I haven’t got very far.
I expected it to be difficult with a possibility of not enjoying it but seemed pretty popular so thought I’d give it a go.
Will give your suggestions a shot but I find everything about it obtuse to be honest. To me good game design lowers you gently into mastering the controls and ramping up difficulty, not just chucking you in at the deep end with confusing menus so it’s on the player to look everything up.
clunkiness of the combat to the point it’s unfair. Like you don’t really stand a chance through reactions alone, you have to learn the patterns and hitboxes of enemies so that you know in advance when to react.
Nice to see it hasn’t changed since Dark Souls. Thought I might have been missing out.
Main point in enjoying soulslikes is the approach. Modern action RPGs are very fast paced, very direct in their approach “hit A - enemy dies - get dopamine”.
To make it work, slow down. Treat every enemy as a real threat, not filler between bosses. Pretending they are all real players and not bots might help. Keep your distance, bait out several attacks, see how they behave, carefully close in and make your move. Don’t get greedy on the offence and only attack when the enemy opens and then break the distance again.
Also as others mentioned, game makes you commit to any actions you take. When you attack the enemy, take responsibility of every button press. If you start mashing, the game punishes you fast and hard.
I don’t have the best reaction speeds, but I was able to steamroll most of the bosses under 10 tries, so the game is definitely not the “die until you memorize the moveset” type. If you play patiently and carefully build up your character it is definitely possible to tackle most threats on first sight.
Edit: Also, if you’re on PC I don’t mind giving you a hand sometime and playing together a little
Yeah think you’re right, I like fast-paced games where I can enter flow state quicker and I never was one for grinding up a skill tree in order to progress unless the grinding itself is fun/fluid.
I prefer actively attacking enemies with a bit of running away and dodging where required as opposed to patiently dodging waiting for an opening to attack.
Thanks for the offer, I would have taken you up on that, unfortunately I have it on Xbox, not PC.
I’m a diehard FromSotware fan but even I was a little let down by it. I got a lot more enjoyment from co-op and PvP so I ended up finishing the actual game after 300+ hours lmao
I’ve beat all the other Souls games so dying hundreds of times didn’t bother me… But for some reason I didn’t feel compelled at all to actually progress in the game
Like you don’t really stand a chance through reactions alone, you have to learn the patterns and hitboxes of enemies so that you know in advance when to react.
Yep, Elden Ring (and all soulslike games) are basically just guitar hero with a shitty interface. And way more grinding.
It’s not actually challenging just memorization. Elden Ring is basically like speedrunners being able to play Mario with their eyes closed.
Weirdly I like Guitar Hero, but think that’s mainly down to enjoying the songs and playing with friends. Scraping through Cliffs of Dover on expert was enough Eden Ring for me lol.
Elden Ring.
Waited all year until it was on sale as I thought it might not be my cup of tea, tried not to let my prejudice get the better of me but felt it was such a drag I had to put it down.
It was recommended to me as I like Zelda but it couldn’t be further from the things I like about it: innovation, fluid gameplay, freedom, puzzles, multiple ways to tackle enemies.
I don’t think it’s the difficulty as I play lots of roguelike and bullet hell games. My main gripe is the clunkiness of the combat to the point it’s unfair. Like you don’t really stand a chance through reactions alone, you have to learn the patterns and hitboxes of enemies so that you know in advance when to react.
Also I kept hearing how good the graphics are but I think they’re kinda average although the actual art style is quite nice.
Any suggestions on how I might enjoy it would be much appreciated as I haven’t got very far.
deleted by creator
Cheers, probably just not for me then.
deleted by creator
I expected it to be difficult with a possibility of not enjoying it but seemed pretty popular so thought I’d give it a go.
Will give your suggestions a shot but I find everything about it obtuse to be honest. To me good game design lowers you gently into mastering the controls and ramping up difficulty, not just chucking you in at the deep end with confusing menus so it’s on the player to look everything up.
deleted by creator
Nice to see it hasn’t changed since Dark Souls. Thought I might have been missing out.
Souls games are honestly just pretty rhythm games. The queues are obscured and the timing can be quite silly, but it’s the same core gameplay.
Main point in enjoying soulslikes is the approach. Modern action RPGs are very fast paced, very direct in their approach “hit A - enemy dies - get dopamine”.
To make it work, slow down. Treat every enemy as a real threat, not filler between bosses. Pretending they are all real players and not bots might help. Keep your distance, bait out several attacks, see how they behave, carefully close in and make your move. Don’t get greedy on the offence and only attack when the enemy opens and then break the distance again.
Also as others mentioned, game makes you commit to any actions you take. When you attack the enemy, take responsibility of every button press. If you start mashing, the game punishes you fast and hard.
I don’t have the best reaction speeds, but I was able to steamroll most of the bosses under 10 tries, so the game is definitely not the “die until you memorize the moveset” type. If you play patiently and carefully build up your character it is definitely possible to tackle most threats on first sight.
Edit: Also, if you’re on PC I don’t mind giving you a hand sometime and playing together a little
Yeah think you’re right, I like fast-paced games where I can enter flow state quicker and I never was one for grinding up a skill tree in order to progress unless the grinding itself is fun/fluid.
I prefer actively attacking enemies with a bit of running away and dodging where required as opposed to patiently dodging waiting for an opening to attack.
Thanks for the offer, I would have taken you up on that, unfortunately I have it on Xbox, not PC.
I’m a diehard FromSotware fan but even I was a little let down by it. I got a lot more enjoyment from co-op and PvP so I ended up finishing the actual game after 300+ hours lmao
I’ve beat all the other Souls games so dying hundreds of times didn’t bother me… But for some reason I didn’t feel compelled at all to actually progress in the game
Yep, Elden Ring (and all soulslike games) are basically just guitar hero with a shitty interface. And way more grinding.
It’s not actually challenging just memorization. Elden Ring is basically like speedrunners being able to play Mario with their eyes closed.
Weirdly I like Guitar Hero, but think that’s mainly down to enjoying the songs and playing with friends. Scraping through Cliffs of Dover on expert was enough Eden Ring for me lol.