Elden Ring

[Alefroth]

If it makes any difference, I'm also not a twitch gamer. I can't play the battlefield games for the life of me. But the Souls games I love because I can level up until I don't really need to be fast on the draw. Eventually you can even overpower yourself and take out bosses that were one shotting you previously within just a few minutes. But that does require grinding, which is also not everyone's cup of tea. I will say that grinding in Elden Ring isn't that though as you have SO much you can do otherwise while waiting to level up enough for a boss that it doesn't really feel like grinding that often.

Does any of that make sense?

Alright, you talked me into it. I bought Elden Ring and will fire it up for the first time tonight. And to be clear, if I get stuck and end up hating the game, it's all your fault.

You will, but that should come a lot later and after a lot more fun than any other Souls game.

[hepcat]

Also, don't be afraid to call in help from other players via their really easy to use player summoning mechanic. It's an essential part of the game.

[hepcat]

If it makes any difference, I'm also not a twitch gamer. I can't play the battlefield games for the life of me. But the Souls games I love because I can level up until I don't really need to be fast on the draw. Eventually you can even overpower yourself and take out bosses that were one shotting you previously within just a few minutes. But that does require grinding, which is also not everyone's cup of tea. I will say that grinding in Elden Ring isn't that though as you have SO much you can do otherwise while waiting to level up enough for a boss that it doesn't really feel like grinding that often.

Does any of that make sense?

Alright, you talked me into it. I bought Elden Ring and will fire it up for the first time tonight. And to be clear, if I get stuck and end up hating the game, it's all your fault.

Well, don't leave me hanging. Am I getting a butt whooping or not?

[Apollo]

...Well, don't leave me hanging. Am I getting a butt whooping or not?

Well, on the positive side I only died twice in the tutorial area.

I won't have a chance to really dig into the game for a few days but so far I'm enjoying it. My only real complaint is that it's third person but I knew that coming in obviously. Love the settings and visuals. Can't wait to really start exploring!

[Scraper]

...Well, don't leave me hanging. Am I getting a butt whooping or not?

Well, on the positive side I only died twice in the tutorial area.

I won't have a chance to really dig into the game for a few days but so far I'm enjoying it. My only real complaint is that it's third person but I knew that coming in obviously. Love the settings and visuals. Can't wait to really start exploring!

This style of game would be impossibly difficult if it wasn't 3rd person. You have to be able to see your entire character to properly time attacks, dodges and block.

[hepcat]

...Well, don't leave me hanging. Am I getting a butt whooping or not?

Well, on the positive side I only died twice in the tutorial area.

I won't have a chance to really dig into the game for a few days but so far I'm enjoying it. My only real complaint is that it's third person but I knew that coming in obviously. Love the settings and visuals. Can't wait to really start exploring!

That’s where the game really excelled for me, the exploration. Look behind every rock and every tree. There’s a ton of stuff to find that isn’t obvious at first.

[GreenGoo]

This style of game would be impossibly difficult if it wasn't 3rd person. You have to be able to see your entire character to properly time attacks, dodges and block.

related: While Elden Ring is one of the easier (or so I hear) FromSoft games, you still need to pay attention to the enemy tells and patterns so you can predict what they are going to do next, so you can act accordingly.

It might be possible (I'm skeptical) to rely on reflexes alone, but that way leads to much frustration and corpse/souls/blood/whatever runs.

[Apollo]

Well, I can't seem to jog forward anymore. Every now and then I can but then it goes away again and my character insists on walking very slowly unless I hold down spacebar. However, if I move to the left, right or backwards my character moves normally. Looking up the problem online all I see is that alt or control or caps lock, etc. are to blame but nothing works and I'm not over encumbered either. I have no hope of playing the game like this as almost every single thing I have encountered outside of the tutorial area has killed me in one blow. Any ideas?

[Scraper]

Well, I can't seem to jog forward anymore. Every now and then I can but then it goes away again and my character insists on walking very slowly unless I hold down spacebar. However, if I move to the left, right or backwards my character moves normally. Looking up the problem online all I see is that alt or control or caps lock, etc. are to blame but nothing works and I'm not over encumbered either. I have no hope of playing the game like this as almost every single thing I have encountered outside of the tutorial area has killed me in one blow. Any ideas?

Use a controller like everyone else.

[Octavious]

This series and Yakuza are must play on controller games. Anything else and you will be a sad annoyed panda.

[hepcat]

I would definitely use a controller. I assumed you were playing on a console or I would have mentioned that earlier. My mistake.

The alt key is apparently the run/walk toggle. If that isn't working, make sure you aren't trying to use a weapon or weapons that are too heavy for you.

And if that doesn't work, verify the files if you got it on steam.

Oh, and if you minimize your game to do other things while playing, that can apparently cause the issue you described. Try minimizing and maximizing again to see if that fixes it.

[Apollo]

It seems to come and go for no reason. At any rate, it doesn't seem to be happening as often as it was before, so I'll keep trying to level up enough that everything doesn't instantly kill me.

[hepcat]

I wonder if you're getting hit with some kind of weakness debuff temporarily and thus making your load too heavy.

Check your statuses to see if that's the case next time.

[Apollo]

It was almost certainly a bug or some sort of hardware problem since it would happen for a few steps, then go away then come back for awhile then go away without me engaging in combat or doing anything other than simply walking around. It also only happened when I tried to move forward. However, I haven't had the problem now for a couple of hours so I have my fingers crossed...

I read somewhere (PC gamer? Rock, Paper, Shotgun?) that playing as a Mage was basically Easy Mode for Elden Ring so I've been playing as an Astrologer(?). If this is easy I can't imagine what playing as a melee character would be like.

Right now I'm just hanging around the soldier's camp in the first area, picking off soldiers, giant bats, and an occasional horseman as I try to get enough levels to safely explore the area without getting immediately one-shotted by anything that jumps out of a bush.

[hepcat]

It's about the grinding, as I mentioned before. Eventually (sooner than you expect) you'll be one shotting THOSE guys.

Spells can become super powerful. I went with a combination of faith spells and combat. Summons rounded out my arsenal. Once I got the

Spoiler:

black knife tiche

summons, I was killing things rather quickly.

[Apollo]

I had the bug show up again where I could only walk if I was trying to move straight ahead, unless I pressed the spacebar. I tried several different things, but when I with to a smithing table and upgraded my staff it suddenly went away again. At any rate, I'm strong enough now to really start exploring so hopefully this little issue won't pop up again as I am otherwise enjoying the game.

[Scraper]

I picked this up for the PlayStation for $20 recently. Having already beaten it on the XBOX I justified the re-buy for the trophies and the fact that I wanted to play it again. This time I went with a sorcery build. One thing that strikes me is just how easy the game is with a combination of glint stone and meteor sorceries. I'm about 25 hours in now and I've finished off 2 of the demi-god bosses aiming for the third and I have finished most bosses in one try. I'm not even close to having my intelligence maxed out yet either, so the spells should just get more powerful. I would say that anyone who is potentially struggling with this game should definitely try a sorcery build and make sure to level up your ash summons and let them tank for you.

[Apollo]

Wish I could've gotten farther into this game, but after 8 hours it just didn't grab me like I thought it would. It's a fantastic world but the gameplay is just too simplistic to hold my attention. Still, it's a great game for those who like combat and want a beautiful world to explore.

[hepcat]

"Simplistic" is not a word I think I've ever heard used for a Dark Souls game.

[Moliere]

Seriously, this is a game that gives no clues about who holds quests. When trying to figure out where to go next the game shrugs at you and says maybe somewhere in that direction? Every major boss is a unique fight with different tactics and even weapons. Simplistic it is not.

[Reemul]

Wish I could've gotten farther into this game, but after 8 hours it just didn't grab me like I thought it would. It's a fantastic world but the gameplay is just too simplistic to hold my attention. Still, it's a great game for those who like combat and want a beautiful world to explore.

I agree but personally would swap simplistic for difficult, even used a mod to make it easier I can't do very well. I suck like a massive looipop needs sucking

[Scraper]

Wish I could've gotten farther into this game, but after 8 hours it just didn't grab me like I thought it would. It's a fantastic world but the gameplay is just too simplistic to hold my attention. Still, it's a great game for those who like combat and want a beautiful world to explore.

I agree but personally would swap simplistic for difficult, even used a mod to make it easier I can't do very well. I suck like a massive looipop needs sucking

Try a sorcery build and stay as far away from enemies as possible. It's literally so much easier that way over a close combat build.

[hepcat]

I did a combo of both faith based spells and a faster swordplay build that used a few different weapons that would build up various effects with each hit. Combined with a good summons, you can get far in this game without being fast with the controller.

[Apollo]

I guess simplistic is the wrong term. Maybe what I should say is that just wandering around and killing things without any party members, storyline or tactics to consider (other than FPS maneuvering) kept me feeling like I was just wandering aimlessly around looking at things and trying to survive. I'll definitely give it a shot again one day but right now it's just not grabbing me and that might be because it is unlike games I normally play (RPG's/Survival/Tactical Turn-Based/Grand Strategy). I knew that was a risk when I got it but I don't regret it. Always good to try something new, especially when you're gradually burning out on most established genres.

[Scraper]

I guess simplistic is the wrong term. Maybe what I should say is that just wandering around and killing things without any party members, storyline or tactics to consider (other than FPS maneuvering) kept me feeling like I was just wandering aimlessly around looking at things and trying to survive. I'll definitely give it a shot again one day but right now it's just not grabbing me and that might be because it is unlike games I normally play (RPG's/Survival/Tactical Turn-Based/Grand Strategy). I knew that was a risk when I got it but I don't regret it. Always good to try something new, especially when you're gradually burning out on most established genres.

The Souls style games definitely don't hold your hand when it comes to the storyline. But there is a storyline to be discovered, especially if you find every NPC and follow their questlines. For the most part what they want you to do is extremely vague, but there's always online guides if you need a little bit of help. But souls has never been about the characters and their motivations, it's a series that is about the challenge and exploration more than anything. Prepare to die and then come back and try again, that's the hook.

[hepcat]

I can understand how the open world without a clearly defined campaign that ushers you from one area/quest to another would be off putting for rpg fans. There is a story, but it’s not integral to the game like most rpgs. It’s more about the experience and the exploration than the story.

[Scraper]

I'm 50+ hours in now, methodically working my way through each region. I stuck with my sorcery build, with a +18 Katana with poison as my backup weapon. I stick by my assessment that the game is much easier as a sorcerer. I primarily use three spells, the strongest glintstone I have, the comet shard one that fires three boulders at the enemy, and a mist that slowly saps their HP. With that combo and a solid summon I can take down most bosses on the first try. There have been a couple that have given me trouble and I had to come back to after leveling some more, but those are in the minority. At this point in the game I'm about to enter the big city, so I'm well over halfway.

[Moliere]

VLDL is the best. Now go git gud for the new year and prepare for the February DLC.

[Moliere]

Elden Ring Shadow Of Erdtree Still In Development, No Release Date

We still don't have a release date for Elden Ring's DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, and it's possible we won't get one anytime soon. That's at least according to a financial report from FromSoftware's parent company, Kadokawa, which says that Shadow of the Erdtree is still in the works, but it doesn't have a release date it can share with us "at this time".

[hepcat]

Ah damn it.

[Scraper]

That sucks. Either the expansion is way bigger than previous Souls expansions or for some reason they are having significant delays in development. My guess is that is it way bigger than past From Software DLC expansions and more like a Blood and Wine for Witcher 3 in size.

[Moliere]