TL;DW: Journalists played Elden Ring on Switch 2 on gamescom. They weren’t allowed to record gameplay but performance is really bad. Tons of stuttering and reportedly dips to <20FPS in cases.
TL;DW: Journalists played Elden Ring on Switch 2 on gamescom. They weren’t allowed to record gameplay but performance is really bad. Tons of stuttering and reportedly dips to <20FPS in cases.
I still think Dark Souls 1 is more accessible than Elden Ring. Yes, ER offers more and better tools - like the aforementioned spirit ashes - but the complexity and demands of the boss fights are still much harder I would say.
I think DS1’s very structured first half is pure genius. Asylum and Taurus demons teach you about situational awareness and the value of using movement to manipulate your enemy and make openings. Capra teaches you to carry a god damned shield and that sometimes you have to trade health for progress. Gargoyles are DPS gates that also encourage actually summoning. Iron Giant exists… And O&S are your final exam that makes sure you were paying attention (and also you have Brolaire… if you play offline. Otherwise you just get endlessly invaded). I think it does fall apart in the back half but most of that game does.
ER definitely suffers from the open world nature of the game. Theoretically, Stormveil (?) castle is your first legacy dungeon and it is really good for that… Some of us found the back path and did Raya Lucaria (?) first and dealt with the hell of a bunch of kids with M-16s hosing you down the moment you stick your head out from behind cover. But the various bosses still do a good job of teaching mechanics.
But I really think the secret is the Spirit Ashes. No matter what your build, you can find an ash to complement that. Yeah, they fall off as you near endgame but… you have mimic tear then. And then, if you are smart, you grab Tiche and realize knife mommy is best girl.
All that said? I think the Niohs actually have the better system where you can summon NPCs based on player builds fairly freely. But Nioh also has some of the worst boss progression in the sense that TN seems to think Hino Enma (bird lady who is hard to hit, inflicts status effects, and has a grab that heals her…) is the third boss you should fight…
But yeah. As much fun as “git gud” is, it just really annoys me because people’s need to say they are super hardcore sexy super gamers just ignores all the work that the devs of these games put into teaching mechanics and providing alternatives. And Elden Ring REALLY suffered from that with all the sweaties who insisted you should play with no summons and low vigor… and then got pissy that it was hard.
As soon as you understand that traversing the level is the real boss… christ on a cracker, the amount of times I’ve fallen to my death. (I’m on crystal cave, I should know better by now)
(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
Deep breath
┬──┬◡ﾉ(° -°ﾉ)
But it’s such a good game. <3
Oh yes, for sure! That’s what I tend to tell people whose first Soulslike is Elden Ring: Dark Souls 1’s bosses will feel very underwhelming in comparison but the areas themselves will be equally or more challenging.
Though the DLC does have a couple of fun bosses. Make sure you look up how to enter it, it’s not something you’d stumble on naturally. Also you have to do it before the final boss, unlike later games NG+ starts automatically upon defeating the final boss.