Coming back to this game, I kinda changed my opinion

[Swimfan]

Soulsborne games were my most favorite games. I've played and platinumed them all on Playstation and Elden Ring was my most anticipated game ever. Back when it came out, I played it for over 120 hours and loved the world/the design/the atmosphere a.s.o..

Then I wanted to go for 100% Steam achievements, started a third run to get the final, missing ending and did what I probably shouldn't have done: Leave in Farum Azula. Now I've returned with a brand new PC, ~ 1 year later and suddenly I see every glaring flaw the game has (or let's say my personal gripe with it). With my new PC the world looks better than ever but man oh man don't I like the second half of it. My most hated bossfight in all of Soulsborne is here (the Godskin Duo) and all I can think about with my Godslayer Greatsword is how insanely unfun the enemies in lategame are ... gigantic healthpools, almost no feedback (some don't stagger which doesn't make any sense) and the damage they do (fast combos) feel like the developers showed no restraint in the final stretch of the game. It just feels difficult for difficults sake (to be clear: I accept how punishing the additional area/Malenia are because this is the content for the truely hardcore Soulsborne fans).

I could have powered through, upgraded a spirit to +10 and get my Godslayer to 10 as well ... but I just don't feel like it :-/ I just closed the game after 5-6 attempts at Godsin and uninstalled. Maybe it just wasn't a good day but I also feel like my "honeymoonphase" for Elden Ring is over and all my appriciation for this (objectively well-made game) is gone.

Very sad ... I don't know what to say :-D Feels strange to write this, I would have called it my favorite game of all time but now I'm not sure anymore.

[Swimfan]

Originally posted by EF_Neo1st:

Originally posted by Swimfan:

Can't agree, sorry.
I must have fough O&S like 30 times (no summons!) at this point and they were designed to be fought together. S. is very slow and none of them have even have of the gap-bridging skills that the Duo has.

And even that I'd accept but if you beat the first one, the fight goes on because eventhough they're called Duo, they actually respawn.

As I said: I hate this fight with a passion and I did everything else in the Soulsborne series many times over (this fight I've beaten 2 times ... with fast/overpowered weapons). There is no way to convince me (and you really shouldn't, go and enjoy the game, it's a very good game :-)) that this fight has a good design philosophy behind it.

You separate them both, fight without separating them, having DS1 char speed and tools . . . I find it worst.

Guys, it's alright, really :-D
I HAVE BEATEN THEM TWICE! TWICE!
It's not that the fight isn't manageable, it just chocked the fun out of me (combined with the knowledge that bubble boi is ahead). I just posted this because I had a sad feeling in my tummy that my no.1 game wasn't as "golden" as I remember it to be.

[The Presence]

Originally posted by Honey Bee:

Game is bloated and rushed. That's why we have copy-pasted lvl1 enemies into late-game areas with absolutely retarded damage and health pools. Copy-pasted bosses, which bring this sense of dread during your first playthrough. Many fanboys straight out refuse to see this, preferring to stay in their own delusions, in which fromsoft can do no wrong or bad.

Why fromsoft didn't bother to fix this, I don't know. What I know is that plenty of insanely talented modders at Nexus created sh.tload of mods that insanely improved the game.
Take a look at the last version of seamless co-op, which allows you to have more than 100 people present in your game. I was sincerely expecting ER to be somewhat close to an MMO, but what I got is the same f.cking useless summon system as DS3. 
Fromsoft has their own vision and they straight out refuse to improve it. Even with tons of hints from the community. 
ER is a good game but could've been so, so much more... :bonfire2:

Pretty much this.

[EF_Neo1st]

Originally posted by Swimfan:

Originally posted by EF_Neo1st:

You separate them both, fight without separating them, having DS1 char speed and tools . . . I find it worst.

Guys, it's alright, really :-D
I HAVE BEATEN THEM TWICE! TWICE!
It's not that the fight isn't manageable, it just chocked the fun out of me (combined with the knowledge that bubble boi is ahead). I just posted this because I had a sad feeling in my tummy that my no.1 game wasn't as "golden" as I remember it to be.

Really, I dont like Godskin Duo either, but because after the beginning it becomes just "more of the same but for longer", the fight could end up there, you kill one, then the other and that was it, it would make it a bit better imho.

[Swimfan]

Originally posted by EF_Neo1st:

Originally posted by Swimfan:

Guys, it's alright, really :-D
I HAVE BEATEN THEM TWICE! TWICE!
It's not that the fight isn't manageable, it just chocked the fun out of me (combined with the knowledge that bubble boi is ahead). I just posted this because I had a sad feeling in my tummy that my no.1 game wasn't as "golden" as I remember it to be.

Really, I dont like Godskin Duo either, but because after the beginning it becomes just "more of the same but for longer", the fight could end up there, you kill one, then the other and that was it, it would make it a bit better imho.

Yes, I 1000% agree there.
If it was this, the fight would be annoying (because the fight really doesn't feel like a well-designed duo boss that synergises for good combat) but it'd be inoffensive.
The problem - and my true "What were they thinking?" moment - comes when one gets revived and after that there's even more (as I recall) because the last bit of boss health bar spawns yet another Godskin. This proves to me that they designed this fight soley to be a roadblock and a difficulty spike for the sake of it. The boss after that is cool (too fast yet again in my opinion). Still wished they'd just have cut the duo and the very final boss from the game.

[königplatzen]

Godskin Duo is pretty bad to fight 1 against 2 melee only.
With Sleep Pots, it's a breeze.
Or you can try to parry the blackflame balls with carian retaliation.

[zero]

Originally posted by Sparhawk 57:

use sleep pots on them and then you can melt them

sums it up, works for every build

there are tools are your disposal to trivalize bosses.

as someone who always uses Ultra weapons, even before their patched recovery times, i would say that the biggest issue most people have is they refuse to try anything new and in turn just hit their head aganist the wall until it works.

[CazadorDeLobo]

Originally posted by Swimfan:

Soulsborne games were my most favorite games. I've played and platinumed them all on Playstation and Elden Ring was my most anticipated game ever. Back when it came out, I played it for over 120 hours and loved the world/the design/the atmosphere a.s.o..

I made it 200 hours in to a single playthrough and quit. Picked it up for PS5 to PvP, and that extended my playtime to 300h - rather than the 2000-2500 I've spent in PvP for each prior title.

Then I wanted to go for 100% Steam achievements, started a third run to get the final, missing ending and did what I probably shouldn't have done: Leave in Farum Azula. Now I've returned with a brand new PC, ~ 1 year later and suddenly I see every glaring flaw the game has (or let's say my personal gripe with it). With my new PC the world looks better than ever but man oh man don't I like the second half of it. My most hated bossfight in all of Soulsborne is here (the Godskin Duo)

I think I did it my second try, but only because I have done Enemy Onslaught x3 for DS3 a few years ago and that is leagues above this boss in difficulty. It's not the difficulty, however, that ruins this fight - it's the hyper-jank associated with fighting both at the same time.

and all I can think about with my Godslayer Greatsword is how insanely unfun the enemies in lategame are ... gigantic healthpools

Utterly gigantic damage sponges, forcing prolonged fights without rewards to compensate.

, almost no feedback (some don't stagger which doesn't make any sense) and the damage they do (fast combos) feel like the developers showed no restraint in the final stretch of the game.

It feels like this section is balanced in the same manner later Chalice Dungeons are, where differences between enemy stats aren't significant enough to feel like your "build" is a build, rather it's designed to leave you wanting more upgrades and to level up more and more. That is the opposite of the approach these games condition you towards, and goes too far in the direction of out-leveling as a viable approach to this game's PvE balance.

It just feels difficult for difficults sake (to be clear: I accept how punishing the additional area/Malenia are because this is the content for the truely hardcore Soulsborne fans).

Dead-on. The praise of the difficulty is really praise in going against the industry norm of hand-holding players. Here, it is mistakenly assumed that just artificially making a section of the game difficult, when it is obvious this is the case(no new enemies, just beefed up returning ones) will result in higher praise and a more rewarding experience. What actually happens is the game becomes bloated after a point of progression, very clearly copy-pasting elements and stretching zones out too thin.

I could have powered through, upgraded a spirit to +10 and get my Godslayer to 10 as well ... but I just don't feel like it :-/ I just closed the game after 5-6 attempts at Godsin and uninstalled.

I'll be maybe the first to congratulate you on walking away from the thing you wanted to love but couldn't. That takes self-awareness and courage.

Maybe it just wasn't a good day but I also feel like my "honeymoonphase" for Elden Ring is over and all my appriciation for this (objectively well-made game) is gone.

Very sad ... I don't know what to say :-D Feels strange to write this, I would have called it my favorite game of all time but now I'm not sure anymore.

It's as simple as this: Elden Ring is a fantastic game that many people are discovering love for, in ways they never have felt before. The same people who sing such high praise of this game almost always either dislike the Souls franchise, or haven't experienced it yet.

It ought to be clear just by the name, but, this is certainly a different game, and does not replace the good memories we gathered from its predecessors. It hardly adds new memories, as the multiplayer dynamics are 1:1, hence my quitting PvP. I really tried, but the PvP is just DS3's with more stuff to memorize. I'm fine letting it go, as I'm feeling the urge to quit gaming entirely lately.

Games have stagnated in originality to a point of nearly no innovation being sought out by developers. Discussion thereabouts typically regresses into school lunch fights. I recommend unsubbing from this thread at some point and moving on more completely.

[EF_Neo1st]

Originally posted by CazadorDeLobo:

It ought to be clear just by the name, but, this is certainly a different game, and does not replace the good memories we gathered from its predecessors. It hardly adds new memories, as the multiplayer dynamics are 1:1, hence my quitting PvP. I really tried, but the PvP is just DS3's with more stuff to memorize. I'm fine letting it go, as I'm feeling the urge to quit gaming entirely lately.

Games have stagnated in originality to a point of nearly no innovation being sought out by developers. Discussion thereabouts typically regresses into school lunch fights. I recommend unsubbing from this thread at some point and moving on more completely.

Try different genres of games.

If your Steam library reflects what is gaming for you so far, the types of games you played so far, then there is a whole pletora of new universes in gaming for you to discover.

Maybe you got tired of the same types of games you have been playing over and over through the years.

[Swimfan]

Originally posted by CazadorDeLobo:

...

Great post, was a joy to read - 10/10, really summed it up well.

[Argonaut]

Originally posted by Swimfan:

Originally posted by Argonaut:

How is this different from other entries? All the bosses in the second half of the games have massive healthpools and huge combos and no chill.

Hm no, not true.
In defense of this game: They needed to up the anti because ER is much longer than their previous games.

So you didn't play any of the other games got it.

You don't need to understand it, I wrote it simply to get it off my chest because I feel ... dissapointed with ER.

Cool this is a public forum not a journal.

[Alby]

Originally posted by Argonaut:

You don't need to understand it, I wrote it simply to get it off my chest because I feel ... dissapointed with ER.

Cool this is a public forum not a journal.

It's as if this person didn't understand the meaning of a "discussion" board

[CazadorDeLobo]

Originally posted by Swimfan:

Originally posted by CazadorDeLobo:

...

Great post, was a joy to read - 10/10, really summed it up well.

Thanks, it's probably the last one I make before the angry masses show up to censor me, again. I've earned plenty of enemies writing stuff like this(fanboys/sick people), so your appreciation goes a long way.

Originally posted by EF_Neo1st:

Maybe you got tired of the same types of games you have been playing over and over through the years.

Thanks but have been playing games since I was 4. About 23 years later I think it's fair to say I've seen what there is to see, and am more attracted to the real world than what's being put on the market lately. I get by watching others play different genres that I wouldn't enjoy playing, as well, so I couldn't be any more of a "gamer" than I have been. Would rather un-gamer, as that term gives me physical pain now.

[EF_Neo1st]

Originally posted by CazadorDeLobo:

Originally posted by Swimfan:

Great post, was a joy to read - 10/10, really summed it up well.

Thanks, it's probably the last one I make before the angry masses show up to censor me, again. I've earned plenty of enemies writing stuff like this(fanboys/sick people), so your appreciation goes a long way.

Originally posted by EF_Neo1st:

Maybe you got tired of the same types of games you have been playing over and over through the years.

Thanks but have been playing games since I was 4. About 23 years later I think it's fair to say I've seen what there is to see, and am more attracted to the real world than what's being put on the market lately. I get by watching others play different genres that I wouldn't enjoy playing, as well, so I couldn't be any more of a "gamer" than I have been. Would rather un-gamer, as that term gives me physical pain now.

I am 39 and play since I was 6 ... fair to say I saw way more than you

[CazadorDeLobo]

Originally posted by EF_Neo1st:

Originally posted by CazadorDeLobo:

Thanks, it's probably the last one I make before the angry masses show up to censor me, again. I've earned plenty of enemies writing stuff like this(fanboys/sick people), so your appreciation goes a long way.


Thanks but have been playing games since I was 4. About 23 years later I think it's fair to say I've seen what there is to see, and am more attracted to the real world than what's being put on the market lately. I get by watching others play different genres that I wouldn't enjoy playing, as well, so I couldn't be any more of a "gamer" than I have been. Would rather un-gamer, as that term gives me physical pain now.

I am 39 and play since I was 6 ... fair to say I saw way more than you

Sure, but the point is I've seen enough, not more than you. This kind of comment really seals the deal for me, since basic communication is too strained to be considered healthy or normal.

[EF_Neo1st]

Originally posted by CazadorDeLobo:

Originally posted by EF_Neo1st:

I am 39 and play since I was 6 ... fair to say I saw way more than you

Sure, but the point is I've seen enough, not more than you. This kind of comment really seals the deal for me, since basic communication is too strained to be considered healthy or normal.

What I meant is . . .
You are considering yourself too old to keep gaming, I am nearing 2x your age and still feel fine gaming and ready to see more of different kinds of games too.

You took it as strained as just "I am older than you so shut up" (or so I got you meant you got it this way by saying "strained"), to what if I was to say it I would just say "I am 39 and play since I was small child, now shut up" . . . what I hardly would say too.

Now, sure, if you dont want to continue gaming and have better stuff to do with your free time that you like more, sure, you do you.