Elden ring!

[TedEH]

You can also re-mix your physick to negate damage in the beginning

Yeh, I've been doing that - but it does feel like I've wasted something upfront that could really be useful later.

 

[TedEH]

Sweet jebus, I did it. Blood Sword Lance, and then completely gave up on avoiding anything in favor of the heaviest armour I had and just tanking everything from behind a shield. Made it to phase two without the mimic at all, then seppuku + mimic cheesed phase 2 before he had a chance to do that giant jump into the air for phase 3. Oh, and a rune arc, and the mixed thingie right at the beginning.

 

[MFB]

Bruh, this shit is offensive to watch after all the time it took me to beat him; like, I knew parrying made things easier, but this is downright insulting to me, and I'd say even FromSoft.

 

[TedEH]

I feel like I did the opposite of a no-damage run. Was more like a "how much damage can I take and still survive" run.

 

[MFB]

I feel like I did the opposite of a no-damage run. Was more like a "how much damage can I take and still survive" run.

Ah yes, the Rocky 3 finale, I'm quite familiar with it unfortunately as an "unga-bunga" player with no signs of reforming

 

[narad]

Bruh, this shit is offensive to watch after all the time it took me to beat him; like, I knew parrying made things easier, but this is downright insulting to me, and I'd say even FromSoft.

This is sort of why I don't buy all the reddit guys complaining about this game being too hard in general. There's always going to be some guy who puts out a video like this. Just from the video I learned a couple things to try to save my ass at two points where I typically get my ass handed to me.

 

[gasolinedreams]

Yea, PS5 as well. When people are like getting 5 endings out of one playthrough it just seems unfair.

You can do this on PS5 as well, if you've got PS+, by uploading your saves to the cloud. I've got friends who did it for the base game to platinum it in one playthrough.

 

[TedEH]

Now that I've gotten through the DLC, I feel pretty disappointed at how so many folks are tearing it a new one. Yeah, it's difficult, but it's a From game. Maybe I've not played that many of them, but every one I've encountered had moments where you hit a wall and feel like the game is BS right up until you figure it out and move on. One guy on youtube complained that the fragments forced you to explore the game. ....isn't that the point?

 

[wankerness]

This is sort of why I don't buy all the reddit guys complaining about this game being too hard in general. There's always going to be some guy who puts out a video like this. Just from the video I learned a couple things to try to save my ass at two points where I typically get my ass handed to me.

I don't think this kind of thing is good evidence for the game not being hard. Like, yes, that video makes it LOOK easy, but the way parries are in this game, even if this guy was max level, if he'd whiffed a single one by a frame, he'd have gotten his stamina taken down to about 0 and also taken a ton of damage, and then he'd be screwed for parrying the follow-ups. If you do this PERFECTLY it looks easy, but I would wager this guy took hundreds of attempts before filming this.

Parrying in Dark Souls 3/Elden Ring is way, way more difficult than Sekiro! In that game, if you mistime it but hold down block, you still block and it's fine, you take regular block damage. Here, if the boss hits you in the wrong part of the parry animation you get huge consequences. And with the way parry, even buckler parry, has a tiny "wind-up" it is not that intuitive to figure out the perfect timing, it's more trial and error.

Now that I've gotten through the DLC, I feel pretty disappointed at how so many folks are tearing it a new one. Yeah, it's difficult, but it's a From game. Maybe I've not played that many of them, but every one I've encountered had moments where you hit a wall and feel like the game is BS right up until you figure it out and move on. One guy on youtube complained that the fragments forced you to explore the game. ....isn't that the point?

You should probably play Dark Souls 3. I think you'd appreciate it. It doesn't have the open world of Elden Ring, it's basically a string of "legacy dungeons," and it's definitely got a ton of the same DNA as elden ring but without some of the systems being fully developed (IMO weapon specials are mostly useless for most builds, while they were turned into the incredibly good Arts of War in Elden Ring. And dual wielding was removed in this one after being in DS2 - you can't truly dual wield except with some specific weapons that are designed to behave differently when 2-handed). But like, the boss fights are all designed around the player not having any summon or ashes, and thus they kind of feel better to fight instead of the DPS races/aggro juggles that Elden Ring bosses often turn into.

I think a ton of people are trying to play Elden Ring like Dark Souls 3, when the game is tuned to make it so even if you use the Mimic Tear it's going to be tough. If you intentionally gimp yourself and play on "hard mode" by not using any summons, then it does seem insane compared to Dark Souls 3. I keep hammering on about this comparison cause DS3 feels almost identical to Elden Ring gameplaywise, like many of the player animations and timings were exactly reused in Elden Ring, as are some of the enemies.

So basically yes, the game really may be too hard, if you play it with self-imposed restrictions like an idiot.

The guy's complaint about fragments shows how a lot of people play the earlier Fromsoft games, which is trying to figure out optimal routes to get to bosses as fast as possible while skipping enemies as much as possible and only picking up like, weapon upgrade materials. They really DO think having to explore the game is a chore. I've never had this mindset at all and was one of those dorks that could never go through any new door in a Dark Souls game without first going around the back to make sure there's no item there.

 

[MFB]

For real, I didn't think I'd like DS3 as much as I did, but it's my #3 favorite FS game, right above Elden Ring

 

[TedEH]

I started DS1 at one point, but got distracted by other things I wanted to play. The plan had been to do all DS1 through 3 just to say I did. I can certainly say that ER and DS1 feel vastly different. DS1 feels like the arcade-y eat-your-quarters kind of BS difficulty that Demons Souls had, but Elden Ring by comparison feels like it has a much more modern / forgiving kind of difficulty, and I really enjoy it for that. I also never finished Bloodborne, which I'd like to.

 

[wankerness]

I started DS1 at one point, but got distracted by other things I wanted to play. The plan had been to do all DS1 through 3 just to say I did. I can certainly say that ER and DS1 feel vastly different. DS1 feels like the arcade-y eat-your-quarters kind of BS difficulty that Demons Souls had, but Elden Ring by comparison feels like it has a much more modern / forgiving kind of difficulty, and I really enjoy it for that. I also never finished Bloodborne, which I'd like to.

DS1 has some sections that I absolutely hate like Sen's Fortress and the first half of Anor Londo and the Crystal Caves where it just has insanely punishing balancing on (in one zone, INVISIBLE) walkways while enemies attack you and if you so much as get breathed on you go flying off to your death. And then my least favorite zone is Tomb of the Giants, which is pitch black (unless you know how to farm one of TWO lighting objects in the game, and one of those takes up your left hand slot so it severely gimps your defense and/or attack), filled with pitfalls, and loaded with enemies that can annihilate you in seconds or just push you right off the cliff. And then there's one level with zero checkpoints in it whatsoever, you have to run back from the start of the game every time you die. I like the game overall but it's definitely a lot harsher than later entries. Maybe a little less harsh than Demon's Souls in terms of the runbacks on death, and definitely a lot milder as far as consequences of dying, but really nasty compared to Elden Ring thanks to how sparse checkpoints are.

DS3 is probably the most noob-friendly of these games before Sekiro and Elden Ring added a ton of quality of life features. It still has sparse checkpoints compared to Elden Ring, and almost all the boss fights will spit you back in the level a ways every time you die, but the difficulty ramps up gradually and nothing in the game (at least before the considerably harder DLC) is remotely as bullshit as some of the stuff in DS1.

Bloodborne is like, midway between DS1 and DS3 in terms of user-friendliness. It's often as confusing as Dark Souls 1 in terms of level layouts and figuring out where to go, but once you adjust to the combat system, and if you build your character with some certain overpowered weapons that are easily accessible, it's not too bad. It has the best world design and "atmosphere" of any of these games. DS3 is definitely more user-friendly though.

 

[arasys]

Important: If anyone is having stuttering, in-game lag after a Windows update read this! I just managed to fix it a minute ago:

My computer "upgraded" itself to Windows 11, it messed up several apps and games for me so far. When I started playing the game I ended up with random lag and stuttering as if FPS was going down to 30, game was unplayable..

I managed to pinpoint the issue: Xbox Controller (apparently people with PS controllers also have this issue). Every time I connect it I see my Device Manager keeps randomly refreshing the same time game goes through stuttering. I tried all of the USB ports, nothing helped; but some suggest switching to USB 2.0 can fix the issue. Of course that wasn't the case for me :-/ My issue is that the controller keeps appearing as an Audio Device because of its earphone jack and then disappears after a second. Disabling SSDP Discovery Service didn't help either. Going over the Device Manager while it's constantly refreshing was absolutely easy now that I am gittin' gud at Elden Ring though

After spending hours, I managed to fix the issue by downloading FromStutterFix from GitHub: https://github.com/kh0nsu/FromStutterFix <--- this patch also fixes issues for DS3 and Sekiro. Download DINPUT8.DLL and then place it in your Game folder.

Ever since Windows 11 downgrade happened, I can't ALT + TAB in game anymore.. I really hate windows 11.

I hope this helps!! Now I can get pwned in peace <3

 

[MFB]

This new info has been popping up, I think I shared something similar before, but just shows how egregious the Radahn hitboxes are in the endgame and it's absolutely wild

 

[p0ke]

DS1 has some sections that I absolutely hate like Sen's Fortress and the first half of Anor Londo and the Crystal Caves where it just has insanely punishing balancing on (in one zone, INVISIBLE) walkways while enemies attack you and if you so much as get breathed on you go flying off to your death. And then my least favorite zone is Tomb of the Giants, which is pitch black (unless you know how to farm one of TWO lighting objects in the game, and one of those takes up your left hand slot so it severely gimps your defense and/or attack), filled with pitfalls, and loaded with enemies that can annihilate you in seconds or just push you right off the cliff. And then there's one level with zero checkpoints in it whatsoever, you have to run back from the start of the game every time you die. I like the game overall but it's definitely a lot harsher than later entries. Maybe a little less harsh than Demon's Souls in terms of the runbacks on death, and definitely a lot milder as far as consequences of dying, but really nasty compared to Elden Ring thanks to how sparse checkpoints are.

To me the most annoying thing in DS1 was the lack of fast travel until you unlock it relatively late in the game. Even in DS2 it's available immediately once you've found more than one bonfire. And yeah, I'm really happy that DS3 started to get rid of the runbacks and in Elden Ring they're basically completely gone.

What area didn't have any checkpoints? I don't remember anymore. I just recall them being spaced very unevenly, like sometimes there's two right next to each other and then next you cross half the map to get to the next one.

But yeah, I had the same thoughts as @TedEH, I just wanted to beat all the DS games after getting hooked on one (in my case it happened to be DS1). So my order so far has been DS1 -> DS3 -> Elden Ring -> DS2 -> Sekiro (which I'm currently playing), and then I'm gonna do the Elden Ring DLC once the price comes down. Then there's Bloodborne and Demon's Soul which I probably won't be playing anytime soon since they're PS exclusives. I wanted to play them in order too, but because DS3 was on a huge sale right when I beat DS1, I decided to play that and then ER went on sale before I got to start DS2. Not that it mattered, really.

 

[wankerness]

What area didn't have any checkpoints? I don't remember anymore. I just recall them being spaced very unevenly, like sometimes there's two right next to each other and then next you cross half the map to get to the next one.

New Londo (the swampy ghost area that you drain the water out of and then fight a ton of darkwraiths and then the four kings are the boss)

 

[TedEH]

But yeah, I had the same thoughts as @TedEH, I just wanted to beat all the DS games after getting hooked on one (in my case it happened to be DS1). So my order so far has been DS1 -> DS3 -> Elden Ring -> DS2 -> Sekiro (which I'm currently playing), and then I'm gonna do the Elden Ring DLC once the price comes down.

I actually restarted my DS1 run this week. Made it as far as Blighttown. I think I would have bounced off of this game almost immediately if it had been the first one I tried. Before this I've only done Demons Souls and Elden Ring + DLC. I dunno if I'm imagining it, but I'm finding the bosses to be a little more.... simple? Which makes sense, it's an earlier game, but I find the bosses in this easier to read than in ER. In ER, it sometimes would take me a dozen attempts to still think "how in the hell am I supposed to beat this?" and the solution ends up being to change your build to match a weakness like a pokemon game and tank hits or whatever else. In DS1 so far it feels like the solution is usually to stop panicking and learn the patterns, because they aren't that complicated. I killed the Gaping Dragon yesterday, for example - after a few attempts I figured out you can just keep a distance to stay out of danger until it charges, which gives you a chance to run around it and attack the tail from relative safety. When it jumps in the air run away. When it swings the tail, dodge roll. Repeat until dead. This seems like good boss design to me - intimidating at first, but manageable once you learn to read it.

 

[wankerness]

I actually restarted my DS1 run this week. Made it as far as Blighttown. I think I would have bounced off of this game almost immediately if it had been the first one I tried. Before this I've only done Demons Souls and Elden Ring + DLC. I dunno if I'm imagining it, but I'm finding the bosses to be a little more.... simple? Which makes sense, it's an earlier game, but I find the bosses in this easier to read than in ER. In ER, it sometimes would take me a dozen attempts to still think "how in the hell am I supposed to beat this?" and the solution ends up being to change your build to match a weakness like a pokemon game and tank hits or whatever else. In DS1 so far it feels like the solution is usually to stop panicking and learn the patterns, because they aren't that complicated. I killed the Gaping Dragon yesterday, for example - after a few attempts I figured out you can just keep a distance to stay out of danger until it charges, which gives you a chance to run around it and attack the tail from relative safety. When it jumps in the air run away. When it swings the tail, dodge roll. Repeat until dead. This seems like good boss design to me - intimidating at first, but manageable once you learn to read it.

The bosses in these games are a very linear progression of difficulty from game to game. Elden Ring is full of stupid stuff that is very specifically designed to fake out players that had grown comfortable with older bosses. Most famously with Margit/Godrick right at the beginning and their insane swing delays that are trying to trick veterans of these games into rolling early and then getting hit. Demon's Souls and to a slightly lesser degree Dark Souls I and II are loaded with bosses where you can pretty much circle around them with a shield and poke them to death and maybe look out for one or two attacks that you have to avoid no matter what, and their attacks are almost always easy to read the timings on if you want to play 2h/rolling instead of shield, too. The DLC for Dark Souls I is the first place you start to see anything that resembles their more modern fight difficulty, but even Artorias and Manus (the most complex DLC bosses) seem extremely slow and simple compared to the later stuff in Elden Ring. Fromsoft unfortunately is sort of stuck in the trap that they have to make every game harder or every person that has played all their games will whine about it being too easy. I think Sekiro's the only good example of them trying to do something entirely different with the third person action format, but even that is generally considered much harder than the previous game (Dark Souls 3) and easier than the later game (Elden Ring - only if you play without ashes/summons though, otherwise Elden Ring is possibly a lot easier).

Sekiro is the most essential of their other games IMO, Dark Souls is the most historically important, Bloodborne is the fan favorite, and Dark Souls 3 probably "feels" the best (it's basically Elden Ring without the open world, without ash summons, and with bosses that give you way more room to breath and react).

 

[TedEH]

Most famously with Margit/Godrick right at the beginning and their insane swing delays that are trying to trick veterans of these games into rolling early and then getting hit.

That actually kinda explains a lot.

 

[MFB]

Sekiro is the most essential of their other games IMO, Dark Souls is the most historically important, Bloodborne is the fan favorite, and Dark Souls 3 probably "feels" the best (it's basically Elden Ring without the open world, without ash summons, and with bosses that give you way more room to breath and react).

I'd definitely agree with this, Bloodborne seems to have become the de facto introduction into FS games even in spite of having a different combat mechanic than their flagship series (parry vs block, consumable health vs. recharge) and the setting is entirely different from the grimdark fantasy with gothic Victorian-era London instead; and it ALSO has one of the worst first bosses in all their entries, but if people can move past that ONE, the rest of it opens up entirely and it's largely smooth sailing from there. At worst, past Amelia and then everything opens up.

But Sekiro? Man, it took the BB parry to a whole new level, brought back rechargable health items, gave us the polar opposite of what we just experienced setting wise (I mean, soft sunlight, snow mountains, etc in a FS game?!) If I weren't playing Nioh right now, I'd probably be starting up a new run of it.