ELDEN RING: the worst game I ever played

[ryzen.phoenix]

I will probably get a lot of flack, but here goes anyway.

Some six months after having purchased Elden Ring, I gave up on this game. This game has some SERIOUS issues.

-this is a very "lonely" game: you are all alone in the Lands Between (in good ole "Skyrim", which I'm sure everyone knows, at least, you can have Lydia to carry your burdens).

-this is the most dangerous game: everyone and everything (except those kangaroo rabbits and birds) will attack you; there is no place where you are safe (unless while sitting at a Site of Grace). What is even more idiotic is that everything only attacks you, but not each other.

-this game has no storyline (except for the quests that don't really do much, and except for the player "having" to become the new Elden Lord).
What has happened (some war about the Elden Ring, but what about details)?
Who built all those gigantic and impressive buildings (and how?)
Where do “I”, Tarnished, come from and how did “I” end up in the Lands Between?
You just don’t know...

-this game becomes very repetitive - read: boring - after a while. It is, basically, just a hack-and-slash game: you kill everything and everyone to get runes, so that you can upgrade and kill stronger bosses, and at the end you are the new Elden Lord.
And... then what?
(Does the game end, or can one continue the game and will everyone bow in front of you because you are the new Elden Lord or will they KEEP ON attacking you? I will never end this game – never expected that when I purchased it through Steam - so I will never know).
Not only is this boring, but it also makes this game “empty”. Kill everything and everyone to become the new Elden Lord, and that’s it. The fighting and killing should be the MEANS to the end, not the mean(ing) itself.
There is NO (not really) fun in “hack-and-slash” games like Elden Ring.

-why can one not take whatever one wants from a corpse - weapons, shield, armor? What am I to do with yet another batch of arrows, if I don't even have a crossbow (not my favourite weapon anyway), or yet more raisins or yet the 85th set of the same armor? (Yes, I know one can sell items to get runes, but that’s beside the point).
In the end I didn't even bother checking dead corpses anymore.

-the Lands Between is filled with fascinating ruined buildings - like at Liurnia of the Lakes - but why can one not enter those building (if only to lessen one's curiosity)?

-this game is - yes - dishonest.
I have noticed patterns: When I have many runes (relatively), this game will make me die faster. That is "dishonest" - it shouldn't matter how little or how many runes I have...

Another thing I noticed: those Vulgar Militia men, for example, get to kill me in one or two hits, while I have to hit them 4 / 5 / 6 times - WHILE I WEAR THEIR ARMOR AND USE ONE OF THEIR WEAPONS. (And no, I am not talking about being only level 5 or so).
Why is this?
This not only makes no sense, but it is dishonest - as if those little f*cks are stronger than me and that’s why they need only one or two hits?

-the "in-game" menu is not only the most awful menu I have ever seen in a game (forget right-clicking on items to DO something with said items), but it also explains nothing at ALL about how to do things: I had to search online how to do things in the in-game menu (like how to call Torrent when I began playing, or how to put items in the Pouch), and there are STILL things I don't know how to do in the “in-game” menu.

And as if that isn’t bad enough – one can get killed, while INSIDE in the “in-game” menu. Hellooooo?

-Elden Ring is the VERY FIRST game that gives me the feeling that I am wasting time.
One way I “enjoyed” (I try not to be sarcastic, now) the game was by roaming around the Lands Between and “farm” runes by killing everything and everyone. More than once I lost all runes, only forcing me to start ALL OVER. Which made me waste “in-game” time.
Two or three hours of Elden Ring, all “for nothing”.
This is not “fun”.
So, Elden Ring is FIRST game ever that gives me the feeling that I waste time (“inside” the game). This is bad.

-By FAR THE largest "issue" about Elden Ring is how SLOW my in-game characters (plural) respond to my mouse and keyboard input. I am hitting my mouse and my keyboard like a LUNATIC, and my characters just react TOO slow... making me get hit one too many times... and then I die...

Yes, I too have died countless of times - but not because I am so slow or so bad while fighting, but because my characters respond TOO SLOW.

For instance: after hitting the F key (and this is on PC), it takes about half a second before my character(s) will start "rolling" to dodge an attack. Or lashing out with a weapon also takes 0.5 seconds.

As everyone knows, one can "see" attacks coming: for instance, take the Godrick Soldiers with their large rectangular shield at the Gatefront Ruins at the beginning of the game: when hitting their shield, your weapon will "bounce off" their shield--after which they WILL strike out and hit me. Because of the "slowness" of my character/of the "dodging", it is nearly impossible not to get hit by their spear...

In comparison: when running or riding Torrent, my character (or Torrent) will stop running immediately when I release the F key of the keyboard. So, this "slowness" is meant to be to make the game harder? Well f*ck...

Imagine a FPS (first person shooter), in which your assault rifle starts firing ONLY half a second after you have pressed the appropriate mouse button. THAT is what Elden Ring is like.

9 times out 10 I die because I am unable to avoid getting hit (because my character reacts too slow to my mouse and keyboard (or controller) input).

Yes, someone advised me to play with a Controller; I purchased one (cheap, but good, the few hours that I used it). However, not only was playing with a controller too "chaotic" for my taste, but it made NO difference whatsoever in the "slowness" of my character's responding to my mouse and keyboard input.

It is not a hardware issue, with a (non-overclocked) Ryzen 7 5700X, 16 Gb DDR4-RAM of 3200 MHz and a 3070Ti (playing at 1080p with Raytracing off – don’t care about RT).

The game itself runs perfectly fine and smooth, with NO stuttering or anything whatsoever – it is just this (TOO) slow responding of my in-game characters that is a serious “issue” - a problem.
(The only bug I once saw was a Vulgar Militia fella being half stuck inside a rock, making it impossible for me to hit him, while he could hit (and kill...) me.
Oh, and that Tree Sentinel (at the beginning of the game) once got stuck behind Kalé after following me inside the Church, letting me kill him at ease.

This "slowness" makes Elden Ring the most frustrating game I have ever played.
In fact, because of this, I have given up on this game.
I am sick and tired of it. Done with it.
It is hopeless.
I have stopped playing Elden Ring because of this.

I have another, new(ly built) (gaming) PC with a 12600K, a 6870XT and Windows 11, on which I could install Steam and buy Elden Ring (won't be doing THAT, horrible game...), but I DARE to bet that this "slowness" would occur with that machine too.

The graphics look great and the open world is HUGE (fantastic).
But in the end this game is the worst game I have ever played (and my first games were back in MS-DOS, so I know my way around in gaming).

I have seen reviews that give Elden Ring a 10/10. Well, either the authors of those “reviews” were paid by FromSoftware or BandaiNamco, or they never played Elden Ring, because a score of 10/10 is completely ridiculous.
I give this game at best a 6/10 – a 7/10 if I am in a very very VERY good mood.

Before purchasing Elden Ring I did my “homework” and read about this game, so I knew what it was going to be like. I knew I would never finish the game (or beat many bosses).
I do not regret having bought Elden Ring, but I will never buy a FromSoftware game ever again.

“Shadow of the Erdtree”? I wouldn’t even install it, if I got it for free.

It is an enormous pity. “Elden Ring” could have been one of the greatest games I would ever have played, but FromSoftware f*cked it up by making this game the way they made it. A big pity.

Just my two cents.

[Akemua]

You wrote a wall that can basically be summed up with "this type of game isn't for you".

Hope you find something you genuinely enjoy though, friend. Games are just that, things meant to have fun. If you aren't enjoying it, no need to force yourself.

[Nyah]

if you come from Skyrim, i'm sure its been a shock ahahah

[Phantom Limb]

This game is clearly not for you. Guess it's time for you to go back to Skyrim or any other Bethesda game.

[Babbles]

That 'alone' thing is paramount in this sort of game - TES has it too.

I suggest Dragon Age : Inquisition, for an open world skills approach to combat it has very companionable characters :)

[Tao314zdin]

The game is mainly about fighting, rpg element in it is for making builds (again for fighting).

You seem to be looking for some story driven adventure RPG, not a fighting-driven game with lore for the story-telling part.

[Astronaut]

You have an opinion and you're allowed to express your opinion.

Well done! Parents must be proud of you for speaking up, little man. I hope you find some easy peasy game to play that you'll enjoy that won't make you feel scared and lonely.

[Clockwork]

Originally posted by Tao314zdin:

The game is mainly about fighting, rpg element in it is for making builds (again for fighting).

You seem to be looking for some story driven adventure RPG, not a fighting-driven game with lore for the story-telling part.

This.

Edit: I personally feel like Elden Ring isn't much of an RPG (imagine if this was a tabletop RPG; the GM would spend the entire day just saying "You died"). The only reason I'm enjoying it is because I knew what I was purchasing (a game where I can fight difficult bosses). But people who read the good reviews about how this is a "masterpiece RPG" probably don't know what to expect.

[Veditor]

It's your problem that you expected this to be like Skyrim, it is not Elden Rings fault lol.

But all in all, this just isn't your game, and that's fine.

[Necromanu Shi Atat]

Yeah same bro ... i think this game is not for you ... souls games revolution gaming long time ago .. so alot features you see in your games is because Fromsoftware and if you dont like Elden Ring its ok 30 milions people prove it you are wrong ... its a hard game and is masterpiece

[Linø]

Just play skyrim man, I love skyrim but its a different type of game, cant compare both

[BingusDingus]

Just because you don't like a game, that doesn't make it bad. I don't particularly like breaking bad, but i can acknowledge that it's an amazing show.
Sounds like Souls born games are not for you, which tbf you have to be quite the masochist to like these games.

[jae]

aint reading allat

[Sham!]

half of this stuff is all in your head, straight up wrong or common for 99.9% or rpg

"cant loot everything, cant enter every building" like, what games beside actual tabletop d&d lets you do that?
"game tries to kill you when you have more runes" no it doesnt
"there is nowhere safe" nah hardly

honestly it feels like you were expecting to play something like fallout more than anything

some complaints are valid dont get me wrong, but you are probably just looking for a different game

[Parre Stoned]

is this a troll or am i trippin ?

[ﾏｿｿｿ ₒ❤]

quite a wall of text to describe skill issues