Is this game worth it for the story?

[Homer Morisson]

For medical reasons, I’ve so far steered clear of these ultra hard games that are demanding good reflexes and reliable concentration from their players, neither of which I possess anymore.

Elden Ring however really intrigues me for the wonderful visuals, great art style… how is the narrative experience, would you say that it is good enough to keep you engaged on its own?

Reason I ask is that if so, I would probably play this game with cheats (offline only, of course), so that I could enjoy the world design and hopefully an engaging story to boot.

Hope to hear especially from ppl who, like me, place great importance on narrative, not just gameplay/mechanics.

[UNITED STATES OF SMASH]

its more a "atmospheric experience" i would bet there is why to play this game without great reflexes tho that would prob need some pre-work and research or cheat engine

[ezpz]

You don't need great reflexes, you just need to get in there and start practicing. It's far more important to anticipate the enemies next attack, rather than reacting to visual queues. While the story is incredible, it is an action rpg, the gameplay is where it's at and you get snippets of lore sprinkled across a vast world. There are also plenty of ways to cheese the enemies with magic and summoning, co-op, ashes, etc. Just get a friend to do it with you and you won't regret it.

[Homer Morisson]

Originally posted by bioanalytical:

You don't need great reflexes, you just need to get in there and start practicing. It's far more important to anticipate the enemies next attack, rather than reacting to visual queues. While the story is incredible, it is an action rpg, the gameplay is where it's at and you get snippets of lore sprinkled across a vast world. There are also plenty of ways to cheese the enemies with magic and summoning, co-op, ashes, etc. Just get a friend to do it with you and you won't regret it.

Thanks for the insight, but as hard as it may be for someone else to understand who has never been this impaired, even what you describe these days is nigh impossible for me to do… even just typing this message is genuinely an effort for me, taxing me…

And as for friends… welp, I don’t have any of those left… IRL, its been about a decade since my involuntary social isolation began…

[Homer Morisson]

Originally posted by THECAPTAINGHOST:

its more a "atmospheric experience" i would bet there is why to play this game without great reflexes tho that would prob need some pre-work and research or cheat engine

Yeah, as I said, I would use cheats, Invulnerability mainly, so I could take the fights at my own pace.

[Xengre]

There is no story, or at least not much of one.

Rather, the game (and franchise as a whole) typically emphasizes a gameplay first approach supported by lore. You get an opening cutscene, you get an ending based on the ending you unlock (there are a few), and you get some NPCs and bosses with dialogue along the way.

Some of the NPCs have quest chains, most of which are so bad the game gets a ton of hate for its atrocious quest system. Some are decent and also actually expand on the lore beyond more than 5 words, like Ranni's but it is still, as a whole, very meager.

Ultimately, what kind of game are you looking for? Are you perhaps looking more for a story experience? If so you might want something like JRPGs such as Final Fantasy games (notably 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 among the most recommended), Grandia (the first one specifically), Xenogears, Xenosaga (3 episodes to form one massive game and super story, note this one has mega story with cutscenes regularly lasting 15 - 50 minutes I kid you not), Legend of Dragoon, Chrono Trigger, etc.

Another avenue to consider is visual novels which are often similar to JRPGs minus the gameplay and more the story, hence "visual novel". You can find them on VNDB (I suggest filtering out sexual content) or Google for some suggestions.

[zab]

You can use spirit ashes or many spells to make the game easier, so if you want to play it just for the story and visuals you should be fine

[UNITED STATES OF SMASH]

Originally posted by Homer Morisson:

Originally posted by THECAPTAINGHOST:

its more a "atmospheric experience" i would bet there is why to play this game without great reflexes tho that would prob need some pre-work and research or cheat engine

Yeah, as I said, I would use cheats, Invulnerability mainly, so I could take the fights at my own pace.

story telling is very minimal you need to fill a gaps and make your own interpretations, read item descriptions and so on, creativity like monster designs spells world/landscapes music are all great or at least i enjoyed that part just running around in world searching for stuff areas and enemys

actually compared to some other FROM titles combat was only okish but dats subjective i guess

[Homer Morisson]

Originally posted by THECAPTAINGHOST:

Originally posted by Homer Morisson:

Yeah, as I said, I would use cheats, Invulnerability mainly, so I could take the fights at my own pace.

story telling is very minimal you need to fill a gaps and make your own interpretations, read item descriptions and so on, creativity like monster designs spells world/landscapes music are all great or at least i enjoyed that part just running around in world searching for stuff areas and enemys

actually compared to some other FROM titles combat was only okish but dats subjective i guess

Aight, thanks (all of you), guess it’s not for me then.

At least not for the current price, my financial sitch isn’t much better than my medical one…

[vamirez]

Originally posted by Homer Morisson:

Originally posted by THECAPTAINGHOST:

story telling is very minimal you need to fill a gaps and make your own interpretations, read item descriptions and so on, creativity like monster designs spells world/landscapes music are all great or at least i enjoyed that part just running around in world searching for stuff areas and enemys

actually compared to some other FROM titles combat was only okish but dats subjective i guess

Aight, thanks (all of you), guess it’s not for me then.

At least not for the current price, my financial sitch isn’t much better than my medical one…

Perhaps look into the first few hours of a blind let's play of someone who also reads the ingame texts, item descriptions, etc. You can see if you like the way FromSoft tells the story - it's different - and if you want to try it yourself at some point.

[Zoid13]

like most From games the story and world lore is as good as the effort you put into discovering it.
the no effort i just wanna hit stuff run = "this game has no story" which you can see on full display in the comment under mine lol
lots of effort exploring / reading items / putting together visual queues in the environments = this games lore / story is amazing!

for me bloodborne and elden ring are the standouts story / wise.
as for combat / gameplay sekiro > all imo.

[Dr.Acula]

Do NOT buy or play it for the story. A narrative is almost non-existent and most of it can be missed on first playthrough if you're not using guides. Fromsoft has some of the worst quest and story design in the gaming industry.

Personally I enjoy the game for the combat and partially the exploration of different builds to beat the game. But man there is literally no investment from my end in any of the characters encountered in the game.

Originally posted by Zoid13:

like most From games the story and world lore is as good as the effort you put into discovering it.
the no effort i just wanna hit stuff run = "this game has no story"
lots of effort exploring / reading items / putting together visual queues in the environments = this games lore / story is amazing!

This is the typical excuse for the lazy and atrocious quest/story design.

Fromsoft writes some cryptic nonsense with little dialogue, hides parts of some background story in items you may or may not find and if you walk into an area and look left instead of right suddenly a quest randomly fails without ever letting you know that you failed or how and why. And then at the end you're stuck with a simplistic outro video that doesn't end the story but just ends the game.

Btw. comments related to this awful approach of quest and story design can be found all over fromsoft game wikis...

[Basarab Laiota]

In my opinion it's not very well-told. I bet some people love it but I'm not willing to "dig deep" or whatever the developers intended for me to do to discover it.

[Zoid13]

Originally posted by Dr.Acula:

. Fromsoft has some of the BEST quest and story design in the gaming industry.

fixed :)

[Dr.Acula]

Originally posted by Zoid13:

Originally posted by Dr.Acula:

. Fromsoft has some of the BEST quest and story design in the gaming industry.

fixed :)

You didn't fix anything. It's among the worst of the industry. Their freaking quest design needs fixing and people need to stop making cheap excuses.

No one can sell me a quest and story design as "good" when there are parts in the game where I need to leave and rejoin the game or teleport somewhere else and walk back to the same location as before to trigger the next phase of a quest or some new dialogue.

And you also can't sell me on that design being good when all NPC interaction comes down to "trigger conversation again and again until NPC repeats the same phrases"

[vamirez]

Different way of storytelling results in some ppl just hating on it. Doesn't mean it's bad or "not there".

Ofc statements like "worst of the industry" or "game has no story" are nonsense, and immediate attacks like "excuse for lazy design" are really unnecessary. Maybe this thread should not devolve into this eternal argument.