How long to 'get into' the game?

[Shaabhekh]

Evening all,

Just wanted to get an idea of how long it would take for a new player to play for them to get an understanding of whether or not they would like/enjoy the game?

Cant recall having played a 'Souls like' game beyond the odd boss fight on some other genre of games (Ryze: Son of Rome is the one that springs to mind for some reason)

Interested in trying out ER but with it not being my usual 'cup of tea' - would i get a decent understanding of the game within the 2 hour refund period or is it something that will require a good chuck of time to get to grips with?

I'm not talking about the difficulty; i'm aware ER is a game i'll die in a lot and will need to learn boss mechs' and such like, thats not really an issue, i just want to know if i'll understand the games 'system' before refund window times out; not keen on buying a game that i wont enjoy and be unable to refund really.


Anyone else that bought ER to try something new, have any comments on the matter?

[Fawks]

I'd say you get a decent grip of the base mechanics within 2 hours, obviously getting really comfortable with everything will take longer but I am pretty sure you will be able to tell if you enjoy the general gameplay enough to keep going.

Also if you want to try it, do yourself a favor and start with a combat focused class and not a mage. Magic plays very differently and especially early on trivializes a lot of combat so it doesn't really set you up with a good understanding of the fight mechanics

[Kyutaru]

The game doesn't explain much though it does have a missable tutorial with how to play. Within 2 hours, if you knew what to do and where to go to face Margit, you'd get an idea of how Elden Ring plays. If you're going in blind, then no it'll take longer than 2 hours.

[LT2483]

As someone who had their first proper souls-like game be ER, it takes longer than 2 hours. Probably a solid 5 or so before I started to "get" it. Not the skills to play and beat stuff, but just understand what the game wanted from me, what I could and couldn't do, that sort of thing.

Admittedly, this was before they added the message informing players that the game has a tutorial that you miss if you just take the path set out for you (seriously, having the method to start the proper tutorial require you to jump into a hole that looks like it'll kill/hurt you as a new player is still an inexplicable design choice.) And so this lead to my first hour not knowing the 70% of the game's controls or combat mechanics until I discovered the tutorial existed. Even then, more than 2 hours.

[MF]

Originally posted by Shaabhekh:

Evening all,

Just wanted to get an idea of how long it would take for a new player to play for them to get an understanding of whether or not they would like/enjoy the game?

Cant recall having played a 'Souls like' game beyond the odd boss fight on some other genre of games (Ryze: Son of Rome is the one that springs to mind for some reason)

Interested in trying out ER but with it not being my usual 'cup of tea' - would i get a decent understanding of the game within the 2 hour refund period or is it something that will require a good chuck of time to get to grips with?

I'm not talking about the difficulty; i'm aware ER is a game i'll die in a lot and will need to learn boss mechs' and such like, thats not really an issue, i just want to know if i'll understand the games 'system' before refund window times out; not keen on buying a game that i wont enjoy and be unable to refund really.


Anyone else that bought ER to try something new, have any comments on the matter?

First time I tried the game I was unaware that you could get your runes back lol. Got frustrated and refunded. Waited a while and tried it again. Also - keybinds are horrible so one has to adjust. I adjusted.

For me it took about 5-6 hours on my 2nd attempt for it to really 'sink in'. Play it with headphones and just explore while that ethereal music playing........... yeah it did it for me. Very trippy. Was hooked.

[Courier Six]

Originally posted by Shaabhekh:

Evening all,

Just wanted to get an idea of how long it would take for a new player to play for them to get an understanding of whether or not they would like/enjoy the game?

Cant recall having played a 'Souls like' game beyond the odd boss fight on some other genre of games (Ryze: Son of Rome is the one that springs to mind for some reason)

Interested in trying out ER but with it not being my usual 'cup of tea' - would i get a decent understanding of the game within the 2 hour refund period or is it something that will require a good chuck of time to get to grips with?

I'm not talking about the difficulty; i'm aware ER is a game i'll die in a lot and will need to learn boss mechs' and such like, thats not really an issue, i just want to know if i'll understand the games 'system' before refund window times out; not keen on buying a game that i wont enjoy and be unable to refund really.


Anyone else that bought ER to try something new, have any comments on the matter?

You will definitely not understand the mechanics of the game in time for the two hour refund window. If you are new to the series, it might take you until several playthroughs to actually grasp the game. And this isn't a dig on you, this is just an honest reflection. It took me several attempts to actually understand DS1's mechanics before I actually got it. A few 100 hours later.

of course, you can always use a guide to quicken the learning-- but that isn't for everyone and guides rob the mystery of these games away from you.

[Shaabhekh]

Thanks for the replies folks; i'll mull it over in the next cple of days and go from there :)

[Kennedy]

I don't think, you will understand everything about the game during the refund window. For some things to unlock, you also have to play at least a couple of hours, especially for a new player, who can get lost.

Play the game, fight things with a fighter class character and see, if you like the combat system, which is the focus of the game and the cryptic and mysterious design. No one holds your hand, there's a barebones tutorial and you won't understand much that's going on and probably also miss a lot in the first playthrough without guides.

And regarding difficulty, there is balance and the game is fair, so if you encounter seemingly impossible to fight enemies, you might be somewhere, you shouldn't be yet, so go somewhere else.

[WhateverWorks]

I had never really played one of these games before, but Elden Ring is easily one of my favorite games of all time now. It took a bit initially for me to "get" it, maybe 6-10 hours or so of really just struggling and not having the slightest clue what to do or how. But once the gameplay "clicked" for me, man...this is an easy contender for greatest open world RPG ever imo.

I'm of the thinking that Oblivion is vastly superior to Skyrim though so my opinion is probably as useful as anyone else's.

[vamirez]

Originally posted by Shaabhekh:

Thanks for the replies folks; i'll mull it over in the next cple of days and go from there :)

I would suggest to watch the first 1-2 (or a few more) hours of a let's play. You won't spoil yourself too much because this is a loooong game, and you will see exactly what it entails and if you want to try it yourself. Just note that if the buy fights a golden rider for a long time in the beginning - that is optional and actually there to teach that some challenges should be taken on later ;)

[roguechesthairs]

You can get a pretty good idea by just fighting the tree sentinel as soon as you walk out into Limgrave. That is pretty much Elden ring boss fights. Learn moveset of boss and dodge hit and heal when necessary.

[Izuzul]

Took me 10 min of watching my buddy play Demon's Souls. I remember asking "What is this?" I will never forget his answer. "The best ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ game I've ever played!" Went out and bought a PS3 and my own copy as soon as I left.