SPOILER WARNING
I like video games. Hell, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that I love video games. I’m not a developer, or have ever worked within the field, but I can say without a shadow of a doubt that video games have been my life’s passion for most of the past two decades of my existence.
Every so often when playing a new game, I find myself immediately enthralled and enraptured by its world, its characters, the music, et cetera. I sink as many hours as humanly possible so I can fully absorb the experience into myself.
However, once the experience is over and the game is finished, I am left feeling unsatisfied.
This is Elden Ring.
The moment I booted up the game and saw the huge world I was meant to explore, was introduced to the Tree Sentinel who beat my ass, and witnessed the giant tree in the horizon that I knew would be my end goal, I felt like I was entering a wholly new age of the Dark Souls formula.
However, as I continued playing, and experiences were repeated en masse like it was another day going into work and clocking in and out, I felt my love for this game slowly begin to wither and crumble.
The Erdtree Avatars, reused over and over. Dragons, reused over and over. Major story bosses like the Red Wolf of Radagon being made reused minibosses, the amount of fucking times I encountered the Godskin Apostle and his chungus Noble friend, the amount of soldiers that were just flatout recolored and put into different places with no real difference to their attack patterns beside throw pot of (insert element here), it all started to wear on me.
At the best of times it reminded me of my favorite parts of Dark Souls. Entering Stormveil Castle, climbing on the rooftops and ledges gave me flashbacks to entering the treacherous Anor Londo for the first time. Entering the ominous Carian Manor reminded me of when I went through a creepy yet similar situation in Aldia’s Keep. Finding the underground rivers with stars in the underworld skies brought similar feelings to venturing into the Nightmare Frontier.
At the worst of times it reminded me of my least favorite parts of Dark Souls. Bosses being reused as regular enemies like in Dark Souls 1, some enemies being placed right next to a Grace Point just like in Dark Souls 2, and bosses that are either overly boring or overly ridiculous with no inbetween like Dark Souls 3 and Bloodborne.
Elden Ring winds up feeling like a mishmash of all of these games and open world games, which I know is not a new take. What it results in is a game where exploration becomes dull after about 20 hours, and the remainder of the game just leaves you asking “why?”
I knew something was wrong when I got to the Snowtops of the Giants area and just noticed that all of the bosses felt broken in some way. Commander Niall, a harder version of a fight from earlier in the game. It wasn’t enough that the area he resides in, Castle Sol, is one of the least enjoyable locations in the game due to enemies that can teleport behind you while you’re stealthed, making that mechanic practically worthless (and I know it's a meme, but I still think that it’s just brutally unfair for no reason). But he’s a fucking Flunky Boss, with two knight dudes who he summons that are basically their own boss fights.
This wouldn’t be so bad if the arena was at least large enough to compensate for this, but it’s a very small square shaped room and the knights can basically jump across the entire length of it with a single leap. The only way you can reasonably win the fight is either being overleveled, using summons (which weren’t there when I first attempted it), or rely on the Mimic Tear summon dust. Even then, the fucker has a phase 2 that is almost nothing but AOE attacks that stretch for three quarters of the arena, and he’s required to fight the game’s Superboss.
Then, there’s the Fire Giant which is a mandatory fight for the game’s progression. This fight is flat out nonfunctional because the terrain that makes up the arena is so uneven that the Giant can just be 10 feet in the air with you being unable to hit his only weakspot, and it turns the camera to shit. It’s bad when phase two of a fight feels like a more relaxing time than phase one.
It feels like the ending sections of the game just weren’t playtested at all. Like, why should Godfrey be able to stomp the ground that does an arena wide AOE like 5 times in a row. Did nobody think that was excessive? Why does Malenia have to have a healing power and an attack where she can just instantly end runs if you don’t run away the second the disorienting camera pops in? Did nobody think that was a bit much?
The plot also kind of disinterested me after you visit the capital for the first time. Reaching Lyndell feels like this massive achievement, but after that it all just feels like a massive downhill. You go and have Melina set herself on fire, but why do we go to Farum Azula after that. What purpose does this location serve? Why do we have to fight the Beast Clergymen dude, and why does he repeat similar dialogue to Ludwig? What does any of this have to do with the rest of the game? It’s never really explained so the whole area kind of just feels like filler and out of place.
Honestly though what I think the biggest low point in the entire game was when after I finished Ranni’s Plotline, which involves fighting this interdimensional being named Astel, who has this very intriguing design and lore, I went exploring the Consecrated Snowfield area, and in the mine there, Astel was reused as a boss.
Why is this interdimensional beast the boss of a random ass mining cave that had almost zero signs that it was going to go down that path? It’s like watching an episode of the Flintstones but it just ends with the dinosaurs becoming realistic and eating the cavemen who have been riding them this whole time, it just comes out of nowhere with no buildup, and in the worst of ways.
It takes what was a huge story beat for me and turns it into an extra challenge for the sake of having a challenge. What happened to making bosses that told a story? What happened to having those moments sink in? Did From Soft and Miyazaki forget what Boss Fights meant as a whole for this genre?
Content Warning:I’m going to be discussing some uncomfortable subjects in regards to rape and incest.
That isn’t going into the nature of stuff already discussed, like the fact that there is a sidequest that has you using what is basically a date rape drug on whomever you like. Sure, there are multiple endings where the person who gives you that drug can be killed, but the fact that there is still even a semblance of the concept of rape in this game and that you can inflict that fate onto other characters is horrific and more so ADDS NOTHING TO THE GAME in regards to good narrative beats or function. It’s just a nasty and unneeded moment that serves no purpose other than to satisfy creepy fucking people.
Then there’s the incestual subtext of Mohg. Sure, he is portrayed as the worst of the worst, but this man wanted to consummate marriage with his half-brother who didn’t want it in the first place, and when that didn’t work, he killed his half-brother and has been forcing his blood inside of his dead/unconscious body, which I can only interpet as necrophilia and rape given that the dude literally says that “Miquella is mine and mine alone”. Again, what does any of this genuinely add to the game? I don’t care that the setting is medieval fantasy, I don’t care that incest was a “normal thing” in medieval times among royals, we live in 2022. It’s creepy ass shit that doesn’t really push the plot along and only serves to be a backstory to a guy who was already evil as shit.
You could take both of these moments out of the game, and no harm would be done.
My ultimate take on this is that I hope From does not repeat this in future games, because Rape isn’t something to haphazardly use in your narrative like a toy. It is a serious subject matter that shouldn’t just be waved around as a way to add “stakes”.
Content Warning Over
Overall, I still can’t erase the first 20 hours I played of this game, and they will always be some of my most treasured memories with any game ever, but this game has left me mixed in a lot of ways.
For the record, even though I’m giving the game a three star rating I want to make it clear that that is only the rating as a Soulsborne game.
I think all of the Soulsborne games (barring 3 and Sekiro), are 4 star video games, but I want to rate them as I would in their own genre.
At the end of the day, the Elden Ring wasn’t merely another rune, it was the experiences positive and negative that changed my outlook. Here’s hoping that in a year when things have been properly patched, it’ll be a better experience.
‘Don’t quit.’
“Quitting is for those who are not serious about their goals. If you give up trying, you will never achieve your goal. Life is full of eager people who try to succeed at everything they do. What all these people have in common is that they never quit.”
“Much Success,” - Mike Tyson, World Heavyweight Champion.
Never give up my fellow gamers.
I like video games. Hell, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that I love video games. I’m not a developer, or have ever worked within the field, but I can say without a shadow of a doubt that video games have been my life’s passion for most of the past two decades of my existence.
Every so often when playing a new game, I find myself immediately enthralled and enraptured by its world, its characters, the music, et cetera. I sink as many hours as humanly possible so I can fully absorb the experience into myself.
However, once the experience is over and the game is finished, I am left feeling unsatisfied.
This is Elden Ring.
The moment I booted up the game and saw the huge world I was meant to explore, was introduced to the Tree Sentinel who beat my ass, and witnessed the giant tree in the horizon that I knew would be my end goal, I felt like I was entering a wholly new age of the Dark Souls formula.
However, as I continued playing, and experiences were repeated en masse like it was another day going into work and clocking in and out, I felt my love for this game slowly begin to wither and crumble.
The Erdtree Avatars, reused over and over. Dragons, reused over and over. Major story bosses like the Red Wolf of Radagon being made reused minibosses, the amount of fucking times I encountered the Godskin Apostle and his chungus Noble friend, the amount of soldiers that were just flatout recolored and put into different places with no real difference to their attack patterns beside throw pot of (insert element here), it all started to wear on me.
At the best of times it reminded me of my favorite parts of Dark Souls. Entering Stormveil Castle, climbing on the rooftops and ledges gave me flashbacks to entering the treacherous Anor Londo for the first time. Entering the ominous Carian Manor reminded me of when I went through a creepy yet similar situation in Aldia’s Keep. Finding the underground rivers with stars in the underworld skies brought similar feelings to venturing into the Nightmare Frontier.
At the worst of times it reminded me of my least favorite parts of Dark Souls. Bosses being reused as regular enemies like in Dark Souls 1, some enemies being placed right next to a Grace Point just like in Dark Souls 2, and bosses that are either overly boring or overly ridiculous with no inbetween like Dark Souls 3 and Bloodborne.
Elden Ring winds up feeling like a mishmash of all of these games and open world games, which I know is not a new take. What it results in is a game where exploration becomes dull after about 20 hours, and the remainder of the game just leaves you asking “why?”
I knew something was wrong when I got to the Snowtops of the Giants area and just noticed that all of the bosses felt broken in some way. Commander Niall, a harder version of a fight from earlier in the game. It wasn’t enough that the area he resides in, Castle Sol, is one of the least enjoyable locations in the game due to enemies that can teleport behind you while you’re stealthed, making that mechanic practically worthless (and I know it's a meme, but I still think that it’s just brutally unfair for no reason). But he’s a fucking Flunky Boss, with two knight dudes who he summons that are basically their own boss fights.
This wouldn’t be so bad if the arena was at least large enough to compensate for this, but it’s a very small square shaped room and the knights can basically jump across the entire length of it with a single leap. The only way you can reasonably win the fight is either being overleveled, using summons (which weren’t there when I first attempted it), or rely on the Mimic Tear summon dust. Even then, the fucker has a phase 2 that is almost nothing but AOE attacks that stretch for three quarters of the arena, and he’s required to fight the game’s Superboss.
Then, there’s the Fire Giant which is a mandatory fight for the game’s progression. This fight is flat out nonfunctional because the terrain that makes up the arena is so uneven that the Giant can just be 10 feet in the air with you being unable to hit his only weakspot, and it turns the camera to shit. It’s bad when phase two of a fight feels like a more relaxing time than phase one.
It feels like the ending sections of the game just weren’t playtested at all. Like, why should Godfrey be able to stomp the ground that does an arena wide AOE like 5 times in a row. Did nobody think that was excessive? Why does Malenia have to have a healing power and an attack where she can just instantly end runs if you don’t run away the second the disorienting camera pops in? Did nobody think that was a bit much?
The plot also kind of disinterested me after you visit the capital for the first time. Reaching Lyndell feels like this massive achievement, but after that it all just feels like a massive downhill. You go and have Melina set herself on fire, but why do we go to Farum Azula after that. What purpose does this location serve? Why do we have to fight the Beast Clergymen dude, and why does he repeat similar dialogue to Ludwig? What does any of this have to do with the rest of the game? It’s never really explained so the whole area kind of just feels like filler and out of place.
Honestly though what I think the biggest low point in the entire game was when after I finished Ranni’s Plotline, which involves fighting this interdimensional being named Astel, who has this very intriguing design and lore, I went exploring the Consecrated Snowfield area, and in the mine there, Astel was reused as a boss.
Why is this interdimensional beast the boss of a random ass mining cave that had almost zero signs that it was going to go down that path? It’s like watching an episode of the Flintstones but it just ends with the dinosaurs becoming realistic and eating the cavemen who have been riding them this whole time, it just comes out of nowhere with no buildup, and in the worst of ways.
It takes what was a huge story beat for me and turns it into an extra challenge for the sake of having a challenge. What happened to making bosses that told a story? What happened to having those moments sink in? Did From Soft and Miyazaki forget what Boss Fights meant as a whole for this genre?
Content Warning:I’m going to be discussing some uncomfortable subjects in regards to rape and incest.
That isn’t going into the nature of stuff already discussed, like the fact that there is a sidequest that has you using what is basically a date rape drug on whomever you like. Sure, there are multiple endings where the person who gives you that drug can be killed, but the fact that there is still even a semblance of the concept of rape in this game and that you can inflict that fate onto other characters is horrific and more so ADDS NOTHING TO THE GAME in regards to good narrative beats or function. It’s just a nasty and unneeded moment that serves no purpose other than to satisfy creepy fucking people.
Then there’s the incestual subtext of Mohg. Sure, he is portrayed as the worst of the worst, but this man wanted to consummate marriage with his half-brother who didn’t want it in the first place, and when that didn’t work, he killed his half-brother and has been forcing his blood inside of his dead/unconscious body, which I can only interpet as necrophilia and rape given that the dude literally says that “Miquella is mine and mine alone”. Again, what does any of this genuinely add to the game? I don’t care that the setting is medieval fantasy, I don’t care that incest was a “normal thing” in medieval times among royals, we live in 2022. It’s creepy ass shit that doesn’t really push the plot along and only serves to be a backstory to a guy who was already evil as shit.
You could take both of these moments out of the game, and no harm would be done.
My ultimate take on this is that I hope From does not repeat this in future games, because Rape isn’t something to haphazardly use in your narrative like a toy. It is a serious subject matter that shouldn’t just be waved around as a way to add “stakes”.
Content Warning Over
Overall, I still can’t erase the first 20 hours I played of this game, and they will always be some of my most treasured memories with any game ever, but this game has left me mixed in a lot of ways.
For the record, even though I’m giving the game a three star rating I want to make it clear that that is only the rating as a Soulsborne game.
I think all of the Soulsborne games (barring 3 and Sekiro), are 4 star video games, but I want to rate them as I would in their own genre.
At the end of the day, the Elden Ring wasn’t merely another rune, it was the experiences positive and negative that changed my outlook. Here’s hoping that in a year when things have been properly patched, it’ll be a better experience.
‘Don’t quit.’
“Quitting is for those who are not serious about their goals. If you give up trying, you will never achieve your goal. Life is full of eager people who try to succeed at everything they do. What all these people have in common is that they never quit.”
“Much Success,” - Mike Tyson, World Heavyweight Champion.
Never give up my fellow gamers.
5 Comments
Removed by a moderator
Based review
I still think the overall feel was amazing, but having to constantly fight the same bosses was really underwhelming.
I still think the overall feel was amazing, but having to constantly fight the same bosses was really underwhelming.
+1 to the bit about astel being reused, that was also the point where i almost completely checked out
The Astel thing made me roll my eyes so hard. What am I playing, DS2?
and Stars of Darkness has like different moves n shit too, why did the weird copy paste get that instead of the one with actual weight and tension in the story
So glad to read someone else bring up some of the really uncomfortable plot elements in this game that didn't at all feel like something that would be in a From Soft game. I feel like all that stuff had to be from George R.R. Martin given what he usually writes about. I felt very similarly towards this game as you did to pretty much every degree - but I feel as if the game would have been a lot more engaging and memorable to me if it weren't for Martin's involvement in shaping the story. The open world and reuse of bosses and content still would have been irritating and disappointing but the fact that this is a Miyazaki directed From Software game where I don't care about or feel connected to the story at all has to be the biggest detriment and disappointment in my eyes.
fishwith
2 years ago