Is this game as depressing as Dark Souls series? (no spoiler)

[Etherlight]

Hi, I love Dark Souls and have beaten all 3 games multiple times, but one thing that really bugs me is how depressing the stories are and how unfulfilling are the endings. I never felt that I truly accomplished anything significant for beating the game. This makes me hesitant to buy Elden Ring at least at full price. Can someone tell me if it is still in the same vein this time around?

[NightUndead]

The endings are (IMO) not anything to write home about.
Generally speaking the few storylines you follow through the game seem to mostly lean to the depressing side, there's story, but often they end "poorly" for lack of a better word.

[Montjoie Saint Denis ⚜]

Very less depressing. It's one of its true qualities in regards of DS3.

[Texas_Jake]

The only thing significant you will get from beating the game is the sense of accomplishment from beating the game. The ending I got left me feeling like "that's it?". Mind you I am playing it again but if you want some grand spectacle at the end it does not have that.

It has a short story and either keep playing or go NG+.

[Average Juice Enjoyer]

You realise that the entire ending of a souls game is designed to be that way? By relinking the fire, you are effectively allowing the cycle to restart. The entire point of the entire series is that it's a never ending cycle.. it's important to me that you know this because it fully answers your question and you can stop making stupid posts like this in the future.

[Razorlight Entertainment]

You might like one or two of the endings of Elden Ring, as they are 'positive' compared to the Dark Souls' endings. The other endings are like Dark Souls, so to speak.

[Climhazzard]

Here's a quote from Melina...

"However ruined this world has become, however mired in torment and despair, life endures. Births continue. There is beauty in that, is there not? If you would become Lord, do not deny this notion."

The setting is certainly a bit depressing. But there's hope. At least in some endings.

[Razorlight Entertainment]

At least, as far as we have seen, the tarnished doesn't plant his boot on someone's head and stomp her into the ground.

[Dr.Abscondus]

Yes. Don't get sucked into caring about any of the NPC's, especially the female ones.

[Emily Mewens]

Everyones suffering. Everyone suffers more. When you 'fix' things and do the 'right' things, its like holding together a shattered vase after trying to glue it together with elmers glue.
This world, over all, is ♥♥♥♥♥♥.

Does that answer the question?

[Emily Mewens]

Originally posted by Carlton Hanks:

You realise that the entire ending of a souls game is designed to be that way? By relinking the fire, you are effectively allowing the cycle to restart. The entire point of the entire series is that it's a never ending cycle.. it's important to me that you know this because it fully answers your question and you can stop making stupid posts like this in the future.

Pretty much this.
The endings are a major deep think kind of thing.
Taking DS1 as the example, there were two ending (that i remember anyway)
One that relinks the fire
The other that snuffs it out forever.

If you relink it, its as said above.
You become the new lord of the land and the world prospers for a time, until you go mad, and then the world decays, and the cycle continues

If you snuff it out however, you doom the world to an era of darkness where there is no flame. The world as it is now will suffer until it too is snuffed out, which may take decades, or even centuries. However once that is done, then, and only then does the world have CHANCE to find a new balance and become.. 'better'

or itll find a new cycle.

This is what ive loved about the souls series so much. The 'good ending' (linking the flame) is probably the worst thing you could ever do. Its like offering a friend with a recovering drinking problem a beer. They get what they want, theyre fine for a little bit.. but then theyll start to decline more and more.

But at the same time the 'evil' ending (snuffing the flame) can be the best ending, but it could also become the worst ending depending on the path the world itself takes Like taking the beer away from your recovering friend.. maybe he'll stay true, maybe he'll drown himself in booze the next day. The point is that you did your best. Now its up to them.

Also the fact that the 'right choice' is usually painted as an 'evil path' where every step of the way youre questioning if this path is the right path or if its just for an evil end, while the 'wrong choice' is painted as the 'bright future' and 'the way things should be'
It really shows that the world is set in its ways, regardless of how screwed those ways are. It cant wait for its next fix, and everyone knows its the choice they want you to make.

[Emily Mewens]

Originally posted by Obi:

Originally posted by Emily Mewens:

Pretty much this.
The endings are a major deep think kind of thing.
Taking DS1 as the example, there were two ending (that i remember anyway)
One that relinks the fire
The other that snuffs it out forever.

If you relink it, its as said above.
You become the new lord of the land and the world prospers for a time, until you go mad, and then the world decays, and the cycle continues

If you snuff it out however, you doom the world to an era of darkness where there is no flame. The world as it is now will suffer until it too is snuffed out, which may take decades, or even centuries. However once that is done, then, and only then does the world have CHANCE to find a new balance and become.. 'better'

or itll find a new cycle.

This is what ive loved about the souls series so much. The 'good ending' (linking the flame) is probably the worst thing you could ever do. Its like offering a friend with a recovering drinking problem a beer. They get what they want, theyre fine for a little bit.. but then theyll start to decline more and more.

But at the same time the 'evil' ending (snuffing the flame) can be the best ending, but it could also become the worst ending depending on the path the world itself takes Like taking the beer away from your recovering friend.. maybe he'll stay true, maybe he'll drown himself in booze the next day. The point is that you did your best. Now its up to them.

So this is what you call a great story ? Fire linking and not linking ? This is your glory story ?

Have you played Skyrim ? Among the thousands of quests it hs, one for example I will mention. When you are asked to kill poor Narfi who lost his sister and whole family being poor crazy lunatic to himself. And you have to make a choice. This is the epitome of storytelling to the highest level. You make decision, hard decisions.

Who the yell cares about the fire, what is that in the first place ?

The fire is more of a symbol in this story. Its never truly explained *what* ti is, just that its the spark that all hollow have lost.
It could be the very spark of life, or it could be some ominous force that all life has become dependent on.

And thats kind of the point. You have to go through the world and listen to the people, observe the surroundings, read the lore, etc, before you can actually make a somewhat informed decision.
That said, Darksouls and the other games in its series, tell as much of a story as youre willing to to be told. Many people just skip it and go on to the next fight. And really... this lends itself to the lore of the games themselves, and shows how and why the cycle continues. People do the thing because they only see the surface of the problem, and believe theyre doing the right thing. The big dragon head thing told you to relink the flame, and so you did, and the ending said you did a good job. but theres always going to be that undertone throughout the game that will kind of hint that.. you really didnt.
Edit:
And it wont be until you start digging beneath the surface that youll start to see the true problems this world has.

And even then.. there will always be that undertone in the story that hints that.. you really really didnt do the right thing.

[Symnoptik]

The game is still in the same vein as the other Souls games. Most npc characters have gruesome or depressing endings to their quest lines and the game endings, while there being more than any other game, are mostly luckluster compared to any of the other games From Soft have made. With the exception of 2 maybe being the same equivalent to the normal endings in Dark Souls 1 - 3.

So if this is a issue, just wait for the game to go on sale, honestly.

[Skeleton]

I haven't gotten to any of the endings yet, but I'd say that this game isn't depressing at all.

Not because the NPC questlines don't have bad ends.
But because the bad ends happen so abruptly, before you've had time to even connect to a character.

I gave an NPC an item they needed to get back home - simple fetch quest. Upon giving them the item, they die within 5 minutes. No indication of why. It's a lot like DS1 in that regard, where Crestfallen Warrior goes down an elevator from Firelink and immediately Hollows, or when Laurentius does the same.

[Solemen Wolf]

Yes, prepare to sadness.