10 Comments
Mar 2, 2022Liked by Erik Kain

Hell yeah! I managed to play just over 30 hours last weekend, this is one of the best games I've ever played. From Software did it again!

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Mar 2, 2022Liked by Erik Kain

I had to skip almost the whole article because I'm only ten hours in and want to stay spoiler-free, but I agree with the premise. This is a terrific game, and probably the one I'll be playing exclusively for the next few months.

I had some thoughts though about my so far brief foray that I wanted to run by someone who has dug into the game a bit more:

1. Is this game actually EASIER than the Soulsborne games? I'm getting that feeling. Stealth in particular is letting me kind of slaughter enemies.

2. What do you think of the more-open world? I've always liked this sort of open world more in theory than in practice - I generally prefer the "open world" of Dark Souls, where areas aren't gated much, but the areas themselves don't allow 360 degree exploration. But I'm digging this so far.

3. What do you think about crafting? I haven't used it much, but I'm not thrilled its there. Scarcity is part of what made the Soulsborne games so good, and I hope this doesn't turn into "craft 50 fire bombs and Boss X is a cakewalk" kind of thing.

4. Can I do it blind? I've always seen From games as games that are really build for the internet age (good luck following the plot of Dark Souls without internet help), but I want to at least try to make it through once without guides. But some of the mechanics remain pretty inscrutable even after the 10 hours I've put in. Can I swing this, or do I really need to look up what to do with the one Elden Ring shard I found (for example)?

5. So far the guy I'm playing is vaguely Dex melee. I'm starting to feel like maybe pure melee builds aren't viable like they were in the Souls' game. Do I need to start pumping up my Focus?

I'll be back to read the article in full after I've dove in a bit further. :)

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Took time out of Forbidden West to watch my son play this. Looks amazing but I have concerns I would get overwhelmed by the open world aspect of it. I could get frustrated with trying to figure out what to do or where to go to get things accomplished. As he said I’m more familiar with Open World Adjacent

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Me too, but, FUCK those Crucible Knights, all of them! It's like playing against someone with a multihack in CSGO. How did these guys got to release in this state I'll never know.

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I'm having a great time with it. Thanks for the tip about that grinding spot! helped me get my strength up the soft-cap.

If anyone needs help finding it, here's a map screenshot with the location:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1I3XgM8wK-LEe2pK7QzWEyl3HhJl4xM9S/view?usp=sharing

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