This game feels like baby's first Dark Souls

[Judeo-communism]

Does it ever get harder later on? DS1-3 were much more difficult so I'm pretty disappointed in Elden Ring so far. It has a world map but most of it is very empty, much like Breath of the Wild. Everyone praises this game like crazy but so far I'm not seeing the hype. Already killed Godrick, two dragons and got the key for the Academy. When does the game actually start?

I'm not trying to trash the game, i'm trying to love it like everyone else does. What do you see in this game that I'm missing?

[SunlessVale]

You're spot on. The open world here is giant and empty. Overall it is a garbage system that does not belong in soulslikes.

[Velesianus]

Godrick is referred to by the game as the "runt of the litter" for a reason. He's literally the tutorial for remembrance bosses.

Different areas have vastly different scaling.

You're in Liurnia. That plus Limgrave and the Weeping Peninsula are the noob areas of the game.

Mid-game areas include Altus, the Capitol and Caelid minus DB (which is late game scaled).

Late game areas include MotG, CFA, Snowfield, the Haligtree etc.

As for most of it being "very empty", it actually isn't. There's a huge amount of content hidden in plain site pretty much wherever you are (dungeons, hidden areas, optional bosses, puzzles).

Still, Elden Ring may just not be for you. A lot of us that put serious time into the game did so because we like experimenting with various builds, routes and challenge runs.

[SunlessVale]

"As for most of it being "very empty", it actually isn't". What a nerd lol. The game is fricking empty and wherever it does have content, it's gonna be some recycled bullshi-t like Ulcerated Tree Spirit #42069.

[grimius]

Like prev explained, Godrick is intentionally a joke. He is seen in both the lore and game-play as a joke, a pathetic excuse of both a boss and a demi-god: there only to really show you remembrances and serve as the starting point for main progression.

The open world is also full of caves, dungeons and structures to explore, while i will not deny the fact that a lot of them are very similar, i would not call the world empty per-say.

Getting past Godrick you will likely start seeing the difficulty increase mainly when you enter places like Caelid and Altus plateau.

Anyone who tells you this game is bad, trash or not worth getting is objectively wrong, this game won game of the year for a reason. If you still cant find yourself enjoying it however it might just not be the right game for you which I would totally get. Just keep progressing and with any hope the game begins to grow on you because the sheer amount of content here is insane, and there are so many different areas and weapons.

[Dollmaker]

Originally posted by grimius:

Like prev explained, Godrick is intentionally a joke. He is seen in both the lore and game-play as a joke, a pathetic excuse of both a boss and a demi-god: there only to really show you remembrances and serve as the starting point for main progression.

The open world is also full of caves, dungeons and structures to explore, while i will not deny the fact that a lot of them are very similar, i would not call the world empty per-say.

Getting past Godrick you will likely start seeing the difficulty increase mainly when you enter places like Caelid and Altus plateau.

Anyone who tells you this game is bad, trash or not worth getting is objectively wrong, this game won game of the year for a reason. If you still cant find yourself enjoying it however it might just not be the right game for you which I would totally get. Just keep progressing and with any hope the game begins to grow on you because the sheer amount of content here is insane, and there are so many different areas and weapons.

I wouldnt use the awards for justification, they are an absolute joke that lost any credibility long ago.

Game is good though, the game's difficulty does ramp up as you progress to certain areas, like the already mentioned, Caelid and Altus Plateau.

[Senki]

idk DS1-3 were very easy as well you were probably just too new to stomp them like you did with elden ring

I watched a friend that played ER as his first souls game go through DS3 like it was nothing and first trying 90% of the bosses lmao

Even I had a significantly easier time with DS3 than with ER in the first playthrough. Way too easy to dodge bosses in that game, only had issues with sister friede and the ringed city enemies

[Lynfinity]

Originally posted by Senki:

idk DS1-3 were very easy as well you were probably just too new to stomp them like you did with elden ring

I watched a friend that played ER as his first souls game go through DS3 like it was nothing and first trying 90% of the bosses lmao

Can attest to that. Pontiff, for example, was a huge PITA back when I first played DS3. Came back after a dozen of ER playthroughs and barely anything was a threat to me, including Pontiff who went down on a second try.

[Despiser]

If being led around from one corridor to the next is your cup of tea then by all means play DS. Nobody is forcing you to play ER. Open world's are vast and uncluttered. If you ever went hiking you would know this. There are churches and all manner of things in the open world that have pretty decent loot (spells, seeds, ash of war etc.), but you can safely go to the next boss like DS if you like. There is a progression map that shows you how to bypass most of the game's content. Personally, I think players choosing to play this way should not have to pay full price but can't see how that could work without some kind of intrusive tracking scheme.

[Greywander]

Part of it is the open world nature means there's more than one "entry level" area, and doing them all in sequence makes them appear very easy. The game doesn't actually expect you to do all the content, and if you do then you'll steamroll it and end up overleveled by the time you actually experience a difficulty increase. That's not really anything new to the Souls series, though.

There are a few surprisingly tough bosses, and the late game is typically quite challenge no matter how much you've leveled. At some point there's a pretty big difficulty spike, though I don't remember where exactly.

It's weird, though. Yeah, I'd say ER is easier than most Dark Souls games. At the same time, ER continues a trend that started with DS3 where the enemies and especially bosses become more and more BS. Not unbeatable BS, but unfair BS.

Case in point, there was one time I was fighting Mohg with the Sword of Night and Flame and I used the laser weapon art and missed because he was too far away. Immediately afterwards, he leaned way forward and poked me with his trident. To reiterate, Mohg's melee attack out-ranged my ranged attack, and I definitely felt like I'd been scammed.

I heard someone say that the problem is that you're a Dark Souls character fighting Bloodborne enemies. I haven't played Bloodborne (due to lack of PC port), so I can't verify this, but perhaps it will mean something to others.

[Wankershim]

Did you ever think that maybe you as a player have gotten better, and the games aren't any easier? smh

[Despiser]

Originally posted by Greywander:

Part of it is the open world nature means there's more than one "entry level" area, and doing them all in sequence makes them appear very easy. The game doesn't actually expect you to do all the content, and if you do then you'll steamroll it and end up overleveled by the time you actually experience a difficulty increase. That's not really anything new to the Souls series, though.

Tell that to completionists and achievement hoarders

[Dollmaker]

Originally posted by Wankershim:

Did you ever think that maybe you as a player have gotten better, and the games aren't any easier? smh

I can confirm, compared to when i started ER on launch day, and after several months break, i hardly struggle with ER now.

Specially after playing Lies of P.

[Cootswig]

Originally posted by Restless:

"As for most of it being "very empty", it actually isn't". What a nerd lol. The game is fricking empty and wherever it does have content, it's gonna be some recycled bullshi-t like Ulcerated Tree Spirit #42069.

Classy. Can't wait to see more

[Judeo-communism]

Originally posted by Velesianus:

As for most of it being "very empty", it actually isn't. There's a huge amount of content hidden in plain site pretty much wherever you are (dungeons, hidden areas, optional bosses, puzzles).

I check the Fextra interactive map to ensure I've fully completed every area before moving on, once I've done all my initial blind explorations. I've only missed a couple things here and there, usually I find the dungeons on my own, but some I do miss because the doors are extremely difficult to see in the sides of a mountain, particularly at night. Our definitions of "empty" must be different. The "stage" structure of DS1-3 were far more entertaining and filled than this open world map. Breath of the Wild suffers from the exact same problem. Random Rowa Fruit and Mushrooms around a corner is not "huge amount of content."

Originally posted by Senki:

idk DS1-3 were very easy as well you were probably just too new to stomp them like you did with elden ring

I watched a friend that played ER as his first souls game go through DS3 like it was nothing and first trying 90% of the bosses lmao

Even I had a significantly easier time with DS3 than with ER in the first playthrough. Way too easy to dodge bosses in that game, only had issues with sister friede and the ringed city enemies

I actually replayed DS1-3 in the past few weeks, for the first time since each of their releases, just so I could prepare my self for this first Elden Ring playthrough. My thoughts and opinions of the trilogy are quite fresh, and they are far better and more fun than this game. And much more difficult. The bosses of each of the games weren't all that challenging, except a few outliers like Nameless King, but the stages were quite good. And much more fun than this game's open world or dungeons. And it's not like I don't love open world content games like this: Kingdom Come: Deliverance is tied for my favorite game of all time. But KC:D actually has a good, filled out world full of relevant stuff to do while Elden Ring doesn't feel like it does. Liurnia feels even more empty than the two areas before. Just look around the dragon: there's so much space and water but only what, 6 total small items around it?

Originally posted by Despiser:

If being led around from one corridor to the next is your cup of tea then by all means play DS. Nobody is forcing you to play ER. Open world's are vast and uncluttered. If you ever went hiking you would know this. There are churches and all manner of things in the open world that have pretty decent loot (spells, seeds, ash of war etc.), but you can safely go to the next boss like DS if you like. There is a progression map that shows you how to bypass most of the game's content. Personally, I think players choosing to play this way should not have to pay full price but can't see how that could work without some kind of intrusive tracking scheme.

I'm double checking Fextra's interactive map before moving on to each new area after I've done my blind first sweeps to ensure I don't miss out on anything. It's very empty. I love hiking. I don't play video games to go hiking, I go hiking to go hiking. I play video games to have fun and kill stuff. Not place horse simulator running around checking every rock bush and tree for an actual dungeon or something to hit.

[Despiser]

Originally posted by Judeo-communism:

Originally posted by Despiser:

If being led around from one corridor to the next is your cup of tea then by all means play DS. Nobody is forcing you to play ER. Open world's are vast and uncluttered. If you ever went hiking you would know this. There are churches and all manner of things in the open world that have pretty decent loot (spells, seeds, ash of war etc.), but you can safely go to the next boss like DS if you like. There is a progression map that shows you how to bypass most of the game's content. Personally, I think players choosing to play this way should not have to pay full price but can't see how that could work without some kind of intrusive tracking scheme.

I'm double checking Fextra's interactive map before moving on to each new area after I've done my blind first sweeps to ensure I don't miss out on anything. It's very empty. I love hiking. I don't play video games to go hiking, I go hiking to go hiking. I play video games to have fun and kill stuff. Not place horse simulator running around checking every rock bush and tree for an actual dungeon or something to hit.

There are ruins, churches, towers, shacks, villages, evergaols and lots of places in the open world besides rocks and trees that have very important loot and quests. You don't even have to look very hard, it's far from empty. Just get on torrent and ride for 30 seconds. They are spaced minimally to avoid the appearance of looking ridiculously clustered.