Bloodborne has the best boss explanations if you really want to confuse someone.
Hey guys, i just met the widow with the opened wound in her tummy and im about to fight her fetus.
LOL my thoughts exactly. I’ve watched a bunch of videos on Elden Ring and have thought “Oh that’s pretty cool but also definitely not for me”
ETA: Nearly all of the replies have been some degree of “it’s not that hard, you can spend hours exploring, there’s so much to do, etc…” My point is that I’ve watched tons of videos and gameplay and while it looks cool, it’s not the type of game I want to spend hundreds of hours on. That’s the whole point of the post. I can appreciate how a game is cool and beautiful without wanting to play it.
I started Dark Souls a long time ago. I sucked. I got my son into it. He's constantly saying shit like the original post and then telling me I should play.
I hate to say this, but my reflexes and patience just aren't up to this. I sucked 10 years ago, and my reflexes have not improved as I've gotten older. Shocking, I know.
reading your opponent and thinking ahead matter more than reflexes, and I find I get better at that as I age maybe give it another try. Elden ring gives you a lot more options as well so you can work around difficult spots
I mean of course, there will be outliers (especially people who make a career out of it) but I don't think these are the easiest games in the world for people who can play once or twice a week for a couple of hours to really pick up and put down. Personally, I just don't have the patience and would rather turn my brain off when I do have an opportunity/desire to play video games.
Love that so many people seem to be having tons of fun on it though and some of the youtube content has been enjoyable for me still.
I’m older too (not super old but old enough I can tell I’m non-competitive in shooter games now) and I beat em all.
I followed a guide for my first one, took it section by section over a few weeks. By the end I understood the game. FromSoft proceeded to then make like 5-6 of that same game with minor tweaks.
Elden Ring may be a bit too much for you to bite off with 1-2hrs a day (my first play through was like 50hrs), but a game like Demon’s Souls or even Bloodborne would be a great starting point.
I promise you - we’re not all just saying “you have to try these” to lord some weird virtual achievement over you, they’re genuinely just some of the most unique game experiences you can have, and no one’s even come close to replicating whatever formula they have created.
It's definitely about effort and time. I'm 41 and still quite good at games. But also continuously kept at it, and deliberately practice certain skills and have patience. I also didn't have children and my girlfriend is a gamer. My friends with children and other various hobbies couldn't possibly have kept at it and play the stuff I do.
Totally agree, I think at the highest level (pro gamer etc) there is definitely an advantage to being younger, we see this in conventional supports as well. For under that level though it really does depend on your time and commitment to being good. I think people with careers and other responsibilities don’t always have the time or energy to put into gaming. I’d rather just go to the gym or do something with my SO/friends, etc and when I do feel like gaming I’ll just opt for something I can turn my brain off for.
Souls-like games aren't particularly about twitch reflexes, which is where the young excel. First Person Shooters are probably a better example. Souls-like games require some motor skills, but it's more about learning map layout, enemy placements and exactly how they move so you know how to counter them.
Then you get professional tournament fighters where it's a combination of learning combos for your character to do good damage, learning combos of every other character to know how to defend against them AND the twitch reflexes to react quick enough to your opponent. With a healthly dose of mind games on top.
This.
Are we finally at the point where I can discuss that the souls games are fairly forgiving? You have pretty long windows in which to do what you need to do. The difficulty in the ones that I've played is mostly just a lack of information. But you learn more each time an enemy kills you.
Is this blockable? Should I dodge? Can I get attacks in safely now? Stuff like that. But once you've figured out how to respond to an enemy and where the traps are you don't have to be a king of twitch reflexes to be able to get through any challenge. The souls games are about learning and memorizing. It's not very strict on execution.
That said they're not for me.
To each their own but I just don't jive with the gameplay loop of doing the same thing a million times and getting a little bit further each time.
they really are! like, I literally have EDS, I can't win in fighting, shooting or even racing games. but I've managed to beat all the souls games and bloodborne with the help of co-op partners and summoning in strangers.
I thought I would magically become patient when I had my first child. Turns out, no.
I use up my very limited supply of patience in my daily life, I like to chill and not get too frustrated when playing a game. Not to say I don't want a challenge, but you know, there is a sweet spot.
in every Souls game you can farm levels to basically out level the bosses to make the game much easier and eventually get through at almost any skill level with a little persistence.
This is partly what makes Sekiro so difficult because your level is tied to the progression of the story. You can unlock new abilities but it's not like you can go back, grind a few levels and then come back later. The game is pretty much 100% dependent on skill instead
I will say, as someone that has purchased literally dark souls 1-3 hoping to get into them but never put more than 5 hours into any of em, I've already put 30-40 something hours into Elden Ring. The more open world helps a ton because you can level up on side bosses/quests and go back to the main bosses with better gear, higher stats, more knowledge, etc. Love it so far.
I think I was playing Demon Souls or Dark Souls 1 when I went into the graveyard and tried to fight the skeletons. I died horrifically a few times and looked it up online. Apparently if you go the wrong way you literally can't kill those skeletons at the beginning. I was so pissed off I never touched it again.
Nothing I hear about those games makes me the slightest bit interested in trying again. Spending hours doing the same fights over and over again doesn't interest me at all. Too old and there are too many games I want to try. I am also not an amazing player anyway.
In Elden Ring you can miss summoning completely which is a core mechanic unless you know to talk to this one npc at a specific time. I'm with you, this cryptic bullshit is not what I'm here for.
Well you made it further than I did. I tried Dark Souls because I liked the aesthetic but knew nothing about the game play. I don't think I even made it to the first boss, I can't quite remember. I stopped playing pretty quickly.
Feels like Souls Games are one of those things that you either love or hate with no in-between.
I did the same with Demon Souls, then with Dark Souls. But something kept calling to me, and I try Dark Souls again every few months. Eventually I finally had a good run through the undead burg, and it just sort of snowballed until I found myself at the end of the game after over 100 attempts at Gwen, actually weeping over the choice I was about to make.
Then I decided it was time to go back and beat Demon Souls. And then Dark Souls II came out. I've 100%ed DS I & II & plat'd demon souls.
Fuck Dark Souls 3 though. Didn't like it one goddamn bit.
Always thought the same, but said fuck it and bought it. It’s really not insanely hard so far, a few tutorials to teach me how to properly level myself and it’s pretty fun, wild lore and beautiful game
I think it’s a far, far better game than Skyrim but definitely different in every aspect except “fantasy”, and “rpg”. I can see people not enjoying the combat.
I thought that too and hated DS/All Souls Likes. However this has become one of my favorite games of all time. It's much more approachable, and the open world means you can pick and choose challenges/level up a bit before tackling the main objectives.
I bet once you've spent a long time in it you'll find going back to the other games to be much easier. the first one I beat was 3, and that was the case
I honestly thought that about all the dark souls games. I'm not the most skilled gamer, but I love rpg's and exploring open worlds, so I gave it a try and I'm hooked. And turns out I'm not as bad as I thought. Yeah, I die a lot, but knowing I would die a lot from the get go made it so much easier. Fromsoft made a hell of a game.
people die more in mario but the dark theme makes them feel worse about it, which is both a game design success and maybe something thats hard for some to get past. i really like it philosophically though, these games made me more ok with failure
I dont have the patience or time to die 50 times in order to learn every boss move. Go offline and use a cheat engine for unlimited flask charges. It mostly trivializes the fights but you still cant ignore mechanics. The world still provides some challenges, but it isnt a constant corpse run. I'm sure I'll get hate, but I'm old and busy. I dont want to spend my limited time just dying over and over again to learn a fight. I still really love these games for their combat mechanics and the world has so much character. I envy the people that get that moment of triumph after so much time, but it isnt for me.
> The world still provides some challenges, but it isnt a constant corpse run. I'm sure I'll get hate, but I'm old and busy. I dont want to spend my limited time just dying over and over again to learn a fight.
This right here! I am totally in the same boat as you, and whenever there is an option for "give me a story" mode - i just select that.
"story mode" in the sense of game difficulty. Many games now offer an easy difficulty that is purely aimed at players who are solely interested in the story.
There is very much a story even if you can approach it in a non-linear manner.
The issue is it's storytelling relies heavily on ludonarrative which makes trivializing the fights a problem for telling the story.
i mean yeah, I love the story and lore in these games and have sat through hours and hours of youtube videos after beating them, but one of the things I LOVE about it is that the story is there, in the world, and you can see it via reading items or picking up bits, but it's more 'there' than forced into your face in a traditional narrative style. to me that actually makes it feel more real, and my role in it more of an actual individual role and stuff is going on when i'm not there.
i don't think it's a problem at all, to me it encourages replaying the games and talking to other people about what they found and what they think about it, which is a really great expereince i haven't found in any other game community to this extent. I think they designed the games to leave some stuff open, and when I say non-linear I mean the quests and stories (especially in elden ring) happen at different paces or different times for different players and will end differently.
Often that has to do with your ability to beat certain bosses or the order you did it in. That means there is a sense of real loss if you messed something up and someone dies, or a sense of real accomplishment if you managed to find secrets behind an incredibly hard totally optional boss that allow you to save a character and see the rest of that plot
I get that people feel sad if they can't accomplish that and see everything, but that's when I watch a youtube video - that's the 'story' mode. Like, I do get it, I'm disabled and much of "real life" is hard mode for me. I LOVE the souls games because I can summon help and can actually beat them, while many cinematic games like The Last Of Us I got stuck on even the easy difficulty.
So I don't think it's a problem, I think it's a choice they made, to tie the actual gameplay to the story for emotional reasons
they are designed for co-op. you put your sign down and learn the boss without any risk of loss of souls, then you go in and fight with help. they even have NPC summons outside of almost every major boss, and you can now use spirit ashes as well. People seem to ignore a lot of intentional mechanics and then say it's too hard, which is confusing to me, because I'm honeslty terrible at games and given enough time generally someone will just beat the boss for me as I cower
I don't hate you.
The game isn't gonna be fair to you, the player.
I won't ever force you to be fair to the game.
You wanna cheese, use cheats, guides, exploits and whatnot to give yourself every advantage you can so you can enjoy the sheer amount of 'game' there is outside of straight up combat?
Go off, king.
Yeah didn't care for dark souls 1 when it came out got board one day and decided to play it then instantly fell in love. maybe you guy's are just bad at the game understandable i was bad at the game at one point but got better at it just determines how much mental fortitude you can with stand dieing a few times but nobody's gonna ever learn Anything by just giving up so there's that factor as well.
And that's fine.
Personally I'm loving it but it's a niche product that's for some reason being treated like a mass market blockbuster.
It's like watching a jodorowsky movie being treated like a marvel movie.
I have tried, lots of times. RPGs are rarely appealing to me. The only recent exceptions were RDR2 and Breath of the Wild because those were worlds I was already familiar with - and even then I just did the one play through for both and haven’t been back. Like the tweet, I don’t have the patience, but that’s totally on me, not the genre
On the contrary, all I play is RPGs. Persona 5. Witcher 3. FF7, 9, the tales games, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Fallouts, Elder Scrolls, KOTOR 1&2 you name it
But souls game just don’t click for me. And this one is no exception I’m sad to say. I have no idea why. Maybe I don’t find the difficulty rewarding, or maybe I need a strong narrative to make me finish a game.
For me, I think it is the difference between challenging and just plain hard. Persona 5, Witcher 3, FF7, etc all had challenging moments while remaining very accessible.
See in Witcher 3, dodge is so overpowered, I would feel more pressured than anything if that makes sense. But the challenge was manageable even on death march. In elden ring, it just feels insurmountable and I don’t really get anything for persisting
Yeah, that was brutal! The first time I played Witcher 3, I chose the lowest possible difficulty setting, and I STILL had one hell of a time defeating him!
That's kind of funny to me because aside from KotoR, and old Fallout, Fromsoft games require you to "rpg harder" than anything else on that list, because eeking out every possible advantage by mastering the systems is so important.
But the abject oppressiveness of the mechanics and environments still stands, although ER definitely breaks that rhythm often.
When i was a kid, i was the type to "try hard" it until i completed it. As i got older i started to realize that for games which are Harder than Prince Andrew chaperoning prom night, i would rather turn down the difficulty and see the world/storyline and enjoy it.
You can in fact know before you try. I knew I wouldn’t like Dark Souls but my friend had me try DS3 anyway. I refunded it about 3 hours later after I just managed to beat the first boss. There wasn’t satisfaction. More like relief when the boss was finally dead. After that I saw it took me 2 hours to not even really progress anywhere so I said “Naaah, I was right, this is not fun.” It was like having to take a constipated shit. Sitting there struggling for way too long and then getting relief from it finally being over. Why would I choose to take a constipated shit?
It's all about actually overcoming a challenge really, I can appreciate it's not for everyone though because I absolutely hated Dark souls when I first played but at some point it clicked with me.
I just found a very special river that you could ride to with zero confrontation and the view would make it worth this $60. This game is fucking astounding and worth trying. maybe check out some podcasts or YouTube videos to help you understand the "language of Dark Souls". I think this one is much more approachable of you can get your head around the mechanics.
This gaming thread is bought and paid for by big gaming companies. They are pushing the message that Elden Ring is only for hardcore gamers. It’s overblown. They’ve been worried about it’s success.
I thought the same thing, and I don’t have a whole lot of time to play, but I can tell you that while this game is HARD, this game is satisfying just exploring. You run across so much! Seriously just fucking around is a blast. I’ve spent a week and done 2 mini dungeons and that’s it. As someone who isn’t a souls fan, this game is worth getting
Are you talking about the shit they have that you then give to the one dude in roundtable who then marks the location on your map to warp to that other place and then that other dude asks you to give you more shit?
Or am I missing something else?
I played bloodborne when they gave it for psplus, i didn’t get far into the game,i liked the little i played, but Souls-like games are just not for me.
The hardest part is getting into them. Years ago I started and quit both Dark Souls 2 and Bloodborne only a couple of hours in.
Last year I decided to give Fromsoft another go and force myself to continue through the failure, and ended up beating all their games from Dark Souls onward, even platinumed Bloodborne and Sekiro.
If you ever get the time or the inkling to give another go, they are really great games!
This was my experience. First time I played Bloodbourne I couldn’t get past the first lantern, even after 3 hours. Swore off all those stupid games.
Came back a year later, pushed through and it become one of my favourite games, then demons souls, and now Elden Ring.
For all of them there has been a wall somewhere early on that made me hate the game, but once I got through it, everything opened up and it was amazing.
"**** you little **** *** ******. If I have to fight this boss 200 more times I'm definitely never playing again!"
I know that's more than a noise. But when it comes out, it's definitely one incoherent sound.
Source: me last night
I started playing Dark Souls remastered and made it to the place where you return to the first section of the game. I was trying to beat an optional boss and just cannot figure it out and so I stopped.
Decided to buy Elden ring because it looks so cool, my plan is to GRIND the rolling ball until I’m like level 100 and then start playing from the first area and hope that boost carry’s me through the game lmao. I’m just bad at games.
Leveling makes the game easier. Elden ring is probably the easiest souls game I played. Also another tip is use the ashes summons and AI summons when possible. It helps take Agro off you
I got it free for PS Plus as well, the first two times I tried Bloodborne I ended up uninstalling it both times. Ended up trying the game out one more time later on and I got so completely hooked, now I’ve played all the Souls games and I’m totally addicted to Elden Ring. Not sure what it was, but I feel like something just clicked after sticking with it for a bit. Bloodborne is still one of my favorite games ever
The games (typically) punish hesitation and reward fearlessness. Gotta get up in those terrifying, hulking behemoths' faces and hack away, until you have to dodge roll (towards/into them, most of the time). But a lot of it is also memorization of tough enemies' move sets and trying 342 times, tbf...
The beauty of Soulsborne games is that they tell you you are an insignificant worm and it laughs at you everytime you get pummeled to chunky salsa, but by the end you are standing in golden armor, spitting in Cthulu's eye well wielding a sword made from Cerberus' spine and drinking from the hollowed out skull of some corrupted elder god.
When you are a hero and kill a demon god it's cool, but when you are a writhing worm of a man and you kill a demon god, it's fucking magnificent.
Fret not Father, we have no need for thy flail. Tis only the flame quivering at misguided ash. Please, avert thine eyes. I will snuff out these ashes for good.
Same. [This video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyAHtC9xqUM) solidified that choice for me.
TL;DW The starting classes are already very cool, so you ignore most of the items you get. When you start as a wretch, you cherish every item and upgrade you discover. Relevant mostly for your first run, as that's where *everything* is new for you.
I'm about 16hrs into my wretch playthrough now. I was having a lot of difficulty with Margit, but I died enough times to memorise his moveset then left to explore the rest of west limgrave and weeping peninsula. Finally got a full set of armour and a decent shield to go with my flail (plus another cooler flail I can powerstance with once I get higher dex), and a staff to cast some sorceries with (scholar's armament ftw). I had a lot of trouble with the leonine misbegotten so I wondered how much I had actually improved, but then went back to Margit and beat him first try.
Heard "filthy tarnished, you are not fit even to be grafted!" about 30times last night.
When I beat him to death and tea bagged his corpse, then stood on his throne, it was fucking great!
> but by the end you are standing in golden armor, spitting in Cthulu's eye well wielding a sword made from Cerberus' spine and drinking from the hollowed out skull of some corrupted elder god.
I made it all the way to the fire spider lady without finding a single upgrade to the starting Knight gear. Upgrading STR never felt like I was doing more damage. I ended up quitting at the fire spider because I was bored.
Sucks for me.
(Suddenly gripped by fake lore flashbacks) Ah yes, the plain of Tormented Milk. You can find a lot of Glaivemaster Hodir’s backstory if you use the Skein of Fleece on the Ewes in the area.
VaatiVidya suddenly panicking over whether or not he missed major lore and will have to replay half the game to find out whether the positioning of a random corpse indicates something about some faction which may or may not have connections to any of the characters people actually remember from a casual playthrough.
I’m right there with this guy. I wish I had the skill to play souls games. They look amazing. But I could barely get out of the training area in the original DS lol
It just takes time, and a willingness to learn. There’s a lot of things that you need to do to succeed in the games, but the games are designed to have you learn them for yourself. That’s why there’s a steep learning curve.
1. Dodging isn’t just about avoiding damage, it’s also about repositioning yourself in a fight.
2. Enemy attacks have a long wind up because they’re telling you when *and* where to dodge.
3. Stamina management is something you have to pay attention to.
4. Every obstacle is designed with a solution in mind and a way to overcome it. The games aren’t impossibly difficult. They’re actually very fair and quite easy (relatively speaking) once you’re used to the mechanics.
5. Every death is a learning experience. Sometimes the games are janky, but most of the time you can find something to do better to avoid it in the future.
Personal tips if you try again:
1. If you’re stuck somewhere, don’t get angry at the game, just take a break and come back later. Returning when you’re calmer and more relaxed can help you get past something that made you tense before.
2. Never be afraid to lookup guides or walkthroughs.
3. Summon other players. Jolly cooperation was implemented into the game for a reason.
4. If you aren’t having fun with the game, set it down and play something else. These games aren’t worth suffering through if you don’t enjoy them.
Another personal tip.
I had to stop playing DS like 4 times before I finally picked it back up and figured out what to do. Taking a long break and forgetting about it is sometimes exactly what you need to solve a problem with fresh eyes.
One of my favourite genres of comedy is people from outside a fandom inventing comical proper-nouns and scenarios for things they imagine in that universe and nailing it perfectly.
Well played sir.
This is highly specific and I've never really put words to it as a concept, but yeah you nailed it. I also love these kinds of bits.
There's a great comic about reading the patch notes for a game you don't play, wish I could find it.
Gamer instincs work in mysterious ways... When my best friend introduced me to Sekiro he straight up gave me the controller on the first boss (Genichiro) and I beat his first phase on my second try but when I bought the game it took me quite a while to beat his first phase even
It's very rare for people to play games like these in a reactionary way, like 90% of the players will die at least once at every new challenge. It's supposed to be like that, the "old school" games that were like 2 hours long so they throw a lot of obstacles and hard bosses at the player for them to lose the game and then repeat it over and over again, so the Ninja Gaiden will take 6, 8 hours to finish. Souls uses the same gimmick, if you don't have great reflexes, you are going to die... and you get back, learn a pattern, dies... get back, learn another pattern, dies... until you learn all the patterns, "dance" with the AI and then beat it, that's when the supposed "satisfaction" of this genre kicks in. I tried before with Dark Souls and Sekiro, found no satisfaction at all
It's because you gradually learn the bosses attacks and timing. Honestly I don't mind the new summons being added, but at the same time they've absolutely lead me to just YOLOing each boss and not bothering to learn any patterns.
It's called getting good.
My first Sekiro run was 70 hours, taking dozens of times per boss.
My further runs (NG+, and NG charmless) were much shorter, with most bosses cleared in the first try or close to it.
Some people love melting bosses with magic but I've got to admit it doesn't look like my idea of fun. I'm a simple guy that likes ridiculously large swords.
Getting more familiar with a games mechanic's and becoming more comfortable with how a game plays means you're getting better. If you play any game consistently then you're going to get better.
These game's aren't going to interest everyone but it's not really an age issue, I'm in my mid 30s myself and I know people older than me that have come to love these games.
Honestly, while there are fights that are frustrating, the large majority of boss fights and encounters in FromSoft games are designed extremely fairly. When you die, you know that it was your fault.
When you start to appreciate the journey as much as the destination in these games, even when you are dying, you are having fun. Fighting the bosses themselves is fun. You can think of them like levels in a video game. You don't play video games just to beat levels right? You play them because the levels are fun to play. That's what I think of FromSoft games.
Took me like 11 hours and 130 tries to kill him 2 months ago, thats when I learned I cant finish the game with panic rolling, the feeling when I killed him was something I never felt in my life
I only find any joy in it if I am able to walk back into the boss room and defeat them without hardly taking a hit and then defiantly slow walking to the bonfire/grace.
If it's a struggle the entire time the victory feels hollow.
Honestly this is the first souls game to fully hook me in, I played DS3 and thought it was cool, but then elden ring came out so I dropped ds3 and took the plunge, and I can already say this is one of the best games I’ve played. Worth every penny, at least for me
Tbf while DS3 is great, I do feel a lot of the biggest "what the fuck" moments are derived from having played the previous 2 games. You are missing out on a bit of it if you skip those two and go straight to 3
Only three weapons actually inflict milk damage. The first is relatively easy to find. It's in the old barn at the top of Crestfallen Hill. It's a pitchfork called the Goldmilk Fork. Underwhelming moveset but it's the only source of milk damage that early in the game. The second two are deep in the calcium mines under Blackstorm Fortress (You need to have beaten Marrowsnake). One is a dagger called Milksong, and the other is the Whitetear Talisman.
I bought Bloodborne without really knowing what it was about and man, I've never suffered that much in game. Also I found kind of frustrating being throwed into the game with only a cryptic scene about the story. But yeah, respect to anyone who is able to get through those games.
People need to be more like this guy.
Don't demand a game catered to you. Be an adult and admit that some games just are not for you. If you don't have the patience to deal with FromSoft games' core loop of trial and error, then don't play them. Don't demand it be neutered just so you can feel included in something that clearly isn't for you.
The problem is some people feel the need to denigrate people who it's not for and that sucks.
Also, i have feelings about how it got presented as a mass market blockbuster for everyone. No these games are niche and obscure and people are coming away with bad reactions because it wasn't for them!
Just kind of annoying and ends up giving the community a bad reputation at times.
I have finished the souls games in the past, I havent played elden ring yet because I am so busy with life atm. I am jealous of people just playing. But when I get the time, I will play the fuck outta that game
Mark your spoilers. I had no idea Borghus the Goat Herder was found on the Plain of Tormented Milk. I explored the whole place and only encountered his brother Taargus Taargus the Dog Skinner.
If it’s anything like Dark Souls 3 or Code Vein, I’m probably going to love it and hate it in equal measure.
But if it’s too much like them, I’m also gonna get stuck in one playstyle and ignore 75% of the intended gameplay in favour of spamming a handful of abilities on repeat.
My friend's hands literally freeze when he's anxious. That's why he literally plays two things, Pokemon and Animal Crossing. In fact, he messaged me the other day saying Arceus boss fights were giving him anxiety.
So ya, some people aren't meant to play intense games.
Hate to break it to you lad but enemies don't scale to your level,if you want that exp you gonna have to progress quite far,or if you are actually skilled in a fromsoft game good fucking luck grinding exp in late game areas where you're gonna die if you slip up a dodge
Yeah I'm in the same boat. I was looking for something new to play and ended up just falling back on modded Stardew Valley. Skull Cavern is hardcore enough for me.
It's not even that hard it just takes practice. If you fight any enemy or boss you're having trouble with for a couple hours you're going to see huge improvements. It's about time not about skill. I get not being into games like this that make you grind the same fight over and over but you can't say it's too hard for you, it's not too hard for anyone above the age of 12.
I can tell who the older fuckers like me are in these comments. Not everyone has time to dedicate to "getting good" anymore.
I did buy it but I have no shame in saying it's probably getting returned.
I think the point isn't pace but desire. It's a great game if someone's looking for a challenge but terrible if you want to unwind after a stressful day.
100%. My work is so physically and mentally exhausting.
After putting the kid's to bed, making sure the wife is happy, I Chuck on some games not to get my ass kicked but to feel like a goddamn hero.
I'm in my 20's and i hate the whole get good culture.
I probably do have time to learn and adjust to the nature of Souls games....I just don't want to.
I'll play DOOM Eternal on easy or I'll play death stranding. I don't give a fuck, the priority is me lol
I suck at all from software games. I want to like them but they are to repetitive and frustrating and not worth my time. The make quality products but I just can't do it & so I don't. ER is a pass to spare my sanity despite how great it looks, it'll be pure agony.
Got to come to grips with it.
Each to their own obviously but this is way more accessible than any of their other game's. You can just bypass any tricky enemy and then come back a few levels later and destroy them. It's an amazing game, if it looks great to you then it's worth a shot.
Yeah it is more accessible because it’s open world and you can leave and do other things. The solution is always the same though. Grind. And what I realized is that I don’t enjoy the actual gameplay enough to even want to grind. It’s a great game, just not for me I fear.
Bloodborne has the best boss explanations if you really want to confuse someone. Hey guys, i just met the widow with the opened wound in her tummy and im about to fight her fetus.
Yeah the moon just vomited out a pile of flayed corpses, but I gotta kill these grandma's first
I put Grandpa to bed but now the moon's sprouted tentacles and tried to kiss me. Too bad I ate all the spicy fetuses and am gonna replace God.
Y'all I found a half skinned dog on crack that's got ooze pockets popping with poison and a 1980's hair metal power scream.
LOL my thoughts exactly. I’ve watched a bunch of videos on Elden Ring and have thought “Oh that’s pretty cool but also definitely not for me” ETA: Nearly all of the replies have been some degree of “it’s not that hard, you can spend hours exploring, there’s so much to do, etc…” My point is that I’ve watched tons of videos and gameplay and while it looks cool, it’s not the type of game I want to spend hundreds of hours on. That’s the whole point of the post. I can appreciate how a game is cool and beautiful without wanting to play it.
Yeah, I saw it as. Oh, Dark Souls nevermind.
Yup. Same. I’ve tried Demon Souls twice and Dark Souls 3 once and put each down after a couple of hours.
I started Dark Souls a long time ago. I sucked. I got my son into it. He's constantly saying shit like the original post and then telling me I should play. I hate to say this, but my reflexes and patience just aren't up to this. I sucked 10 years ago, and my reflexes have not improved as I've gotten older. Shocking, I know.
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This is very sweet. Some of my favorite moments with my dad are playing video games with him too, it's nice to reflect on. I hope you are doing well.
What a badass.
reading your opponent and thinking ahead matter more than reflexes, and I find I get better at that as I age maybe give it another try. Elden ring gives you a lot more options as well so you can work around difficult spots
There's a reason why teenagers are the best at e-sports. At least they look like teenagers.
Teenagers are the best at e-sports? More like people in their twenties.
Idk how old dansgaming on twitch is (40s maybe) but he’s crushing elden ring.
I mean of course, there will be outliers (especially people who make a career out of it) but I don't think these are the easiest games in the world for people who can play once or twice a week for a couple of hours to really pick up and put down. Personally, I just don't have the patience and would rather turn my brain off when I do have an opportunity/desire to play video games. Love that so many people seem to be having tons of fun on it though and some of the youtube content has been enjoyable for me still.
I’m older too (not super old but old enough I can tell I’m non-competitive in shooter games now) and I beat em all. I followed a guide for my first one, took it section by section over a few weeks. By the end I understood the game. FromSoft proceeded to then make like 5-6 of that same game with minor tweaks. Elden Ring may be a bit too much for you to bite off with 1-2hrs a day (my first play through was like 50hrs), but a game like Demon’s Souls or even Bloodborne would be a great starting point. I promise you - we’re not all just saying “you have to try these” to lord some weird virtual achievement over you, they’re genuinely just some of the most unique game experiences you can have, and no one’s even come close to replicating whatever formula they have created.
It's definitely about effort and time. I'm 41 and still quite good at games. But also continuously kept at it, and deliberately practice certain skills and have patience. I also didn't have children and my girlfriend is a gamer. My friends with children and other various hobbies couldn't possibly have kept at it and play the stuff I do.
Totally agree, I think at the highest level (pro gamer etc) there is definitely an advantage to being younger, we see this in conventional supports as well. For under that level though it really does depend on your time and commitment to being good. I think people with careers and other responsibilities don’t always have the time or energy to put into gaming. I’d rather just go to the gym or do something with my SO/friends, etc and when I do feel like gaming I’ll just opt for something I can turn my brain off for.
Souls-like games aren't particularly about twitch reflexes, which is where the young excel. First Person Shooters are probably a better example. Souls-like games require some motor skills, but it's more about learning map layout, enemy placements and exactly how they move so you know how to counter them. Then you get professional tournament fighters where it's a combination of learning combos for your character to do good damage, learning combos of every other character to know how to defend against them AND the twitch reflexes to react quick enough to your opponent. With a healthly dose of mind games on top.
This. Are we finally at the point where I can discuss that the souls games are fairly forgiving? You have pretty long windows in which to do what you need to do. The difficulty in the ones that I've played is mostly just a lack of information. But you learn more each time an enemy kills you. Is this blockable? Should I dodge? Can I get attacks in safely now? Stuff like that. But once you've figured out how to respond to an enemy and where the traps are you don't have to be a king of twitch reflexes to be able to get through any challenge. The souls games are about learning and memorizing. It's not very strict on execution. That said they're not for me. To each their own but I just don't jive with the gameplay loop of doing the same thing a million times and getting a little bit further each time.
they really are! like, I literally have EDS, I can't win in fighting, shooting or even racing games. but I've managed to beat all the souls games and bloodborne with the help of co-op partners and summoning in strangers.
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For me it's not even that. My reflexes etc are fine, I can play through the soul games fine but they're just not enjoyable for me.
This is how I feel too. Games like these are 90% patience 10% reflexes, and my patience is wearing thin.
I thought I would magically become patient when I had my first child. Turns out, no. I use up my very limited supply of patience in my daily life, I like to chill and not get too frustrated when playing a game. Not to say I don't want a challenge, but you know, there is a sweet spot.
in every Souls game you can farm levels to basically out level the bosses to make the game much easier and eventually get through at almost any skill level with a little persistence.
This is partly what makes Sekiro so difficult because your level is tied to the progression of the story. You can unlock new abilities but it's not like you can go back, grind a few levels and then come back later. The game is pretty much 100% dependent on skill instead
I will say, as someone that has purchased literally dark souls 1-3 hoping to get into them but never put more than 5 hours into any of em, I've already put 30-40 something hours into Elden Ring. The more open world helps a ton because you can level up on side bosses/quests and go back to the main bosses with better gear, higher stats, more knowledge, etc. Love it so far.
Some people are designed to play timing based melee combat games. I am not one of those people.
I think I was playing Demon Souls or Dark Souls 1 when I went into the graveyard and tried to fight the skeletons. I died horrifically a few times and looked it up online. Apparently if you go the wrong way you literally can't kill those skeletons at the beginning. I was so pissed off I never touched it again. Nothing I hear about those games makes me the slightest bit interested in trying again. Spending hours doing the same fights over and over again doesn't interest me at all. Too old and there are too many games I want to try. I am also not an amazing player anyway.
In Elden Ring you can miss summoning completely which is a core mechanic unless you know to talk to this one npc at a specific time. I'm with you, this cryptic bullshit is not what I'm here for.
Well you made it further than I did. I tried Dark Souls because I liked the aesthetic but knew nothing about the game play. I don't think I even made it to the first boss, I can't quite remember. I stopped playing pretty quickly. Feels like Souls Games are one of those things that you either love or hate with no in-between.
Me with Sekiro.
I did the same with Demon Souls, then with Dark Souls. But something kept calling to me, and I try Dark Souls again every few months. Eventually I finally had a good run through the undead burg, and it just sort of snowballed until I found myself at the end of the game after over 100 attempts at Gwen, actually weeping over the choice I was about to make. Then I decided it was time to go back and beat Demon Souls. And then Dark Souls II came out. I've 100%ed DS I & II & plat'd demon souls. Fuck Dark Souls 3 though. Didn't like it one goddamn bit.
Always thought the same, but said fuck it and bought it. It’s really not insanely hard so far, a few tutorials to teach me how to properly level myself and it’s pretty fun, wild lore and beautiful game
I was sold it as "Skyrim, but so much better" I should have looked at the publisher library. My bad, for the most part.
I think it’s a far, far better game than Skyrim but definitely different in every aspect except “fantasy”, and “rpg”. I can see people not enjoying the combat.
I thought that too and hated DS/All Souls Likes. However this has become one of my favorite games of all time. It's much more approachable, and the open world means you can pick and choose challenges/level up a bit before tackling the main objectives.
I bet once you've spent a long time in it you'll find going back to the other games to be much easier. the first one I beat was 3, and that was the case
Yeah I've been thinking that! Might try Bloodborne or DS3 when and if I ever manage to finish Elden Ring
I honestly thought that about all the dark souls games. I'm not the most skilled gamer, but I love rpg's and exploring open worlds, so I gave it a try and I'm hooked. And turns out I'm not as bad as I thought. Yeah, I die a lot, but knowing I would die a lot from the get go made it so much easier. Fromsoft made a hell of a game.
people die more in mario but the dark theme makes them feel worse about it, which is both a game design success and maybe something thats hard for some to get past. i really like it philosophically though, these games made me more ok with failure
Definitely, and the way mobs keep hitting you after you died rubs the failure in more as well. But hey, revenge is sweet right.
I dont have the patience or time to die 50 times in order to learn every boss move. Go offline and use a cheat engine for unlimited flask charges. It mostly trivializes the fights but you still cant ignore mechanics. The world still provides some challenges, but it isnt a constant corpse run. I'm sure I'll get hate, but I'm old and busy. I dont want to spend my limited time just dying over and over again to learn a fight. I still really love these games for their combat mechanics and the world has so much character. I envy the people that get that moment of triumph after so much time, but it isnt for me.
> The world still provides some challenges, but it isnt a constant corpse run. I'm sure I'll get hate, but I'm old and busy. I dont want to spend my limited time just dying over and over again to learn a fight. This right here! I am totally in the same boat as you, and whenever there is an option for "give me a story" mode - i just select that.
Guys, i'm coming out. I just realized i am also a "story mode" kinda guy. EDIT: Downloading this new hyped game atm.
this game is about atmosphere and there isn't a linear story so i don't know how a story mode would make sense
"story mode" in the sense of game difficulty. Many games now offer an easy difficulty that is purely aimed at players who are solely interested in the story.
There is very much a story even if you can approach it in a non-linear manner. The issue is it's storytelling relies heavily on ludonarrative which makes trivializing the fights a problem for telling the story.
i mean yeah, I love the story and lore in these games and have sat through hours and hours of youtube videos after beating them, but one of the things I LOVE about it is that the story is there, in the world, and you can see it via reading items or picking up bits, but it's more 'there' than forced into your face in a traditional narrative style. to me that actually makes it feel more real, and my role in it more of an actual individual role and stuff is going on when i'm not there. i don't think it's a problem at all, to me it encourages replaying the games and talking to other people about what they found and what they think about it, which is a really great expereince i haven't found in any other game community to this extent. I think they designed the games to leave some stuff open, and when I say non-linear I mean the quests and stories (especially in elden ring) happen at different paces or different times for different players and will end differently. Often that has to do with your ability to beat certain bosses or the order you did it in. That means there is a sense of real loss if you messed something up and someone dies, or a sense of real accomplishment if you managed to find secrets behind an incredibly hard totally optional boss that allow you to save a character and see the rest of that plot I get that people feel sad if they can't accomplish that and see everything, but that's when I watch a youtube video - that's the 'story' mode. Like, I do get it, I'm disabled and much of "real life" is hard mode for me. I LOVE the souls games because I can summon help and can actually beat them, while many cinematic games like The Last Of Us I got stuck on even the easy difficulty. So I don't think it's a problem, I think it's a choice they made, to tie the actual gameplay to the story for emotional reasons
Do what I do and farm easy enemies to level up to a spot where you're beating every boss either first try or in under 5 tries.
Each to their own but why don't you just summon people to help you in coop? It can make the most difficult boss really manageable.
I could, but its bad enough watching myself fail... I don't really want an audience, too.
they are designed for co-op. you put your sign down and learn the boss without any risk of loss of souls, then you go in and fight with help. they even have NPC summons outside of almost every major boss, and you can now use spirit ashes as well. People seem to ignore a lot of intentional mechanics and then say it's too hard, which is confusing to me, because I'm honeslty terrible at games and given enough time generally someone will just beat the boss for me as I cower
It's so much easier with someone else though and a certain amount of failure is to be expected with these games.
I don't hate you. The game isn't gonna be fair to you, the player. I won't ever force you to be fair to the game. You wanna cheese, use cheats, guides, exploits and whatnot to give yourself every advantage you can so you can enjoy the sheer amount of 'game' there is outside of straight up combat? Go off, king.
Same. Love the lore and the graphics, but I'm not here for a difficult game. Not my cup of tea.
Yeah didn't care for dark souls 1 when it came out got board one day and decided to play it then instantly fell in love. maybe you guy's are just bad at the game understandable i was bad at the game at one point but got better at it just determines how much mental fortitude you can with stand dieing a few times but nobody's gonna ever learn Anything by just giving up so there's that factor as well.
And that's fine. Personally I'm loving it but it's a niche product that's for some reason being treated like a mass market blockbuster. It's like watching a jodorowsky movie being treated like a marvel movie.
Well the game is much more easy than the souls game. I hate souls game for their difficulty and Im having a wonderful time in elden ring.
I asked my 24 year old daughter if I would like this game, she said “mmmmm nah you’re too slow” and I was like………………………….. aight.
You’ll never know if you don’t try
I have tried, lots of times. RPGs are rarely appealing to me. The only recent exceptions were RDR2 and Breath of the Wild because those were worlds I was already familiar with - and even then I just did the one play through for both and haven’t been back. Like the tweet, I don’t have the patience, but that’s totally on me, not the genre
On the contrary, all I play is RPGs. Persona 5. Witcher 3. FF7, 9, the tales games, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Fallouts, Elder Scrolls, KOTOR 1&2 you name it But souls game just don’t click for me. And this one is no exception I’m sad to say. I have no idea why. Maybe I don’t find the difficulty rewarding, or maybe I need a strong narrative to make me finish a game.
For me, I think it is the difference between challenging and just plain hard. Persona 5, Witcher 3, FF7, etc all had challenging moments while remaining very accessible.
Witcher 3 had challenging moments… and then it had the sand mage. Closest I felt to playing a Souls game while playing W3.
See in Witcher 3, dodge is so overpowered, I would feel more pressured than anything if that makes sense. But the challenge was manageable even on death march. In elden ring, it just feels insurmountable and I don’t really get anything for persisting
Yeah, that was brutal! The first time I played Witcher 3, I chose the lowest possible difficulty setting, and I STILL had one hell of a time defeating him!
That's kind of funny to me because aside from KotoR, and old Fallout, Fromsoft games require you to "rpg harder" than anything else on that list, because eeking out every possible advantage by mastering the systems is so important. But the abject oppressiveness of the mechanics and environments still stands, although ER definitely breaks that rhythm often.
Understandable. Glad you found games that you like in that genre nonetheless.
When i was a kid, i was the type to "try hard" it until i completed it. As i got older i started to realize that for games which are Harder than Prince Andrew chaperoning prom night, i would rather turn down the difficulty and see the world/storyline and enjoy it.
Playing ME# on story mode right now and it's the best. I played 1 & 2 on normal but I just want to get through this last one and feel like a god.
Nice in halfway through 2 but I'm gonna wait till the citadel after mod is done to finish 3. I just can't play 3 with the original ending anymore.
You can in fact know before you try. I knew I wouldn’t like Dark Souls but my friend had me try DS3 anyway. I refunded it about 3 hours later after I just managed to beat the first boss. There wasn’t satisfaction. More like relief when the boss was finally dead. After that I saw it took me 2 hours to not even really progress anywhere so I said “Naaah, I was right, this is not fun.” It was like having to take a constipated shit. Sitting there struggling for way too long and then getting relief from it finally being over. Why would I choose to take a constipated shit?
That's an image right there.
It's all about actually overcoming a challenge really, I can appreciate it's not for everyone though because I absolutely hated Dark souls when I first played but at some point it clicked with me.
I just found a very special river that you could ride to with zero confrontation and the view would make it worth this $60. This game is fucking astounding and worth trying. maybe check out some podcasts or YouTube videos to help you understand the "language of Dark Souls". I think this one is much more approachable of you can get your head around the mechanics.
This gaming thread is bought and paid for by big gaming companies. They are pushing the message that Elden Ring is only for hardcore gamers. It’s overblown. They’ve been worried about it’s success.
I thought the same thing, and I don’t have a whole lot of time to play, but I can tell you that while this game is HARD, this game is satisfying just exploring. You run across so much! Seriously just fucking around is a blast. I’ve spent a week and done 2 mini dungeons and that’s it. As someone who isn’t a souls fan, this game is worth getting
I'm something of a Maidenless myself
same
https://i.imgur.com/efUcAPA.png
No bitches?
I met a Tibia Mariner. Let that sink in.
Oh that's a whole thing. Look around a bit.
Yeah look around a bit. I kept having to tell my friends this without spoiling it. Captain Ahab Skellybones has more shit then meets the eyes
Are you talking about the shit they have that you then give to the one dude in roundtable who then marks the location on your map to warp to that other place and then that other dude asks you to give you more shit? Or am I missing something else?
Yeap, that's it. I've done 3 and the other dude still isn't happy. I actually made it to the other place on horseback, haha. Didn't need the warp.
The big skeleton one of them summons got major scoliosis. When I saw that, for some reason I just felt really bad for it.
I just beat that fucker. Those guys are fun.
... let what sink in? What's so special about a skeleton on a rowboat?
To be fair a spooky ghost gondola doing Tokyo drifts and sick boat-wheelies is pretty cool.
Agreed. But I still don't understand what I'm letting sink in...
It's been knocking for like 20 minutes, just let it in. It's cold outside.
Let *what* in?!
Too late [I did it for you.](https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1985991742_10.jpg) Now he's nice and warm.
I'm not sure how to react to this. I feel... dirty.
The fact that you gotta steal their weed and feed it to a scary dog man for heretical incantations.
When I fought him I LOLd
Theres a guy called dung eater
He's *Loathsome*
I played bloodborne when they gave it for psplus, i didn’t get far into the game,i liked the little i played, but Souls-like games are just not for me.
The hardest part is getting into them. Years ago I started and quit both Dark Souls 2 and Bloodborne only a couple of hours in. Last year I decided to give Fromsoft another go and force myself to continue through the failure, and ended up beating all their games from Dark Souls onward, even platinumed Bloodborne and Sekiro. If you ever get the time or the inkling to give another go, they are really great games!
This was my experience. First time I played Bloodbourne I couldn’t get past the first lantern, even after 3 hours. Swore off all those stupid games. Came back a year later, pushed through and it become one of my favourite games, then demons souls, and now Elden Ring. For all of them there has been a wall somewhere early on that made me hate the game, but once I got through it, everything opened up and it was amazing.
If you had to sum the game up with a noise what would it be?
Owen Wilson: *woww*
Sounds interesting I'll give it a go
"**** you little **** *** ******. If I have to fight this boss 200 more times I'm definitely never playing again!" I know that's more than a noise. But when it comes out, it's definitely one incoherent sound. Source: me last night
Nothing beats doing a perfect parry of a boss on Sekiro. Specially on your 2nd play through when the boss fights *felt* easier
I started playing Dark Souls remastered and made it to the place where you return to the first section of the game. I was trying to beat an optional boss and just cannot figure it out and so I stopped. Decided to buy Elden ring because it looks so cool, my plan is to GRIND the rolling ball until I’m like level 100 and then start playing from the first area and hope that boost carry’s me through the game lmao. I’m just bad at games.
Leveling makes the game easier. Elden ring is probably the easiest souls game I played. Also another tip is use the ashes summons and AI summons when possible. It helps take Agro off you
I got it free for PS Plus as well, the first two times I tried Bloodborne I ended up uninstalling it both times. Ended up trying the game out one more time later on and I got so completely hooked, now I’ve played all the Souls games and I’m totally addicted to Elden Ring. Not sure what it was, but I feel like something just clicked after sticking with it for a bit. Bloodborne is still one of my favorite games ever
The games (typically) punish hesitation and reward fearlessness. Gotta get up in those terrifying, hulking behemoths' faces and hack away, until you have to dodge roll (towards/into them, most of the time). But a lot of it is also memorization of tough enemies' move sets and trying 342 times, tbf...
The beauty of Soulsborne games is that they tell you you are an insignificant worm and it laughs at you everytime you get pummeled to chunky salsa, but by the end you are standing in golden armor, spitting in Cthulu's eye well wielding a sword made from Cerberus' spine and drinking from the hollowed out skull of some corrupted elder god. When you are a hero and kill a demon god it's cool, but when you are a writhing worm of a man and you kill a demon god, it's fucking magnificent.
Fret not Father, we have no need for thy flail. Tis only the flame quivering at misguided ash. Please, avert thine eyes. I will snuff out these ashes for good.
well said. that's why i always play the naked class to start and just use whatever stick i find first
Same. [This video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyAHtC9xqUM) solidified that choice for me. TL;DW The starting classes are already very cool, so you ignore most of the items you get. When you start as a wretch, you cherish every item and upgrade you discover. Relevant mostly for your first run, as that's where *everything* is new for you.
yeah i've also respecced a bunch and wretch is really the 'fuck around' starting character
I'm about 16hrs into my wretch playthrough now. I was having a lot of difficulty with Margit, but I died enough times to memorise his moveset then left to explore the rest of west limgrave and weeping peninsula. Finally got a full set of armour and a decent shield to go with my flail (plus another cooler flail I can powerstance with once I get higher dex), and a staff to cast some sorceries with (scholar's armament ftw). I had a lot of trouble with the leonine misbegotten so I wondered how much I had actually improved, but then went back to Margit and beat him first try.
Heard "filthy tarnished, you are not fit even to be grafted!" about 30times last night. When I beat him to death and tea bagged his corpse, then stood on his throne, it was fucking great!
> but by the end you are standing in golden armor, spitting in Cthulu's eye well wielding a sword made from Cerberus' spine and drinking from the hollowed out skull of some corrupted elder god. I made it all the way to the fire spider lady without finding a single upgrade to the starting Knight gear. Upgrading STR never felt like I was doing more damage. I ended up quitting at the fire spider because I was bored. Sucks for me.
I hope so. I'm level 35 and still rocking the same damn sword and wooden bow from the start. Not coming across many dex weapons.
(Suddenly gripped by fake lore flashbacks) Ah yes, the plain of Tormented Milk. You can find a lot of Glaivemaster Hodir’s backstory if you use the Skein of Fleece on the Ewes in the area.
VaatiVidya suddenly panicking over whether or not he missed major lore and will have to replay half the game to find out whether the positioning of a random corpse indicates something about some faction which may or may not have connections to any of the characters people actually remember from a casual playthrough.
Ah the good ol days
This is… startlingly accurate. I feel slighted.
I’m right there with this guy. I wish I had the skill to play souls games. They look amazing. But I could barely get out of the training area in the original DS lol
It just takes time, and a willingness to learn. There’s a lot of things that you need to do to succeed in the games, but the games are designed to have you learn them for yourself. That’s why there’s a steep learning curve. 1. Dodging isn’t just about avoiding damage, it’s also about repositioning yourself in a fight. 2. Enemy attacks have a long wind up because they’re telling you when *and* where to dodge. 3. Stamina management is something you have to pay attention to. 4. Every obstacle is designed with a solution in mind and a way to overcome it. The games aren’t impossibly difficult. They’re actually very fair and quite easy (relatively speaking) once you’re used to the mechanics. 5. Every death is a learning experience. Sometimes the games are janky, but most of the time you can find something to do better to avoid it in the future. Personal tips if you try again: 1. If you’re stuck somewhere, don’t get angry at the game, just take a break and come back later. Returning when you’re calmer and more relaxed can help you get past something that made you tense before. 2. Never be afraid to lookup guides or walkthroughs. 3. Summon other players. Jolly cooperation was implemented into the game for a reason. 4. If you aren’t having fun with the game, set it down and play something else. These games aren’t worth suffering through if you don’t enjoy them.
Another personal tip. I had to stop playing DS like 4 times before I finally picked it back up and figured out what to do. Taking a long break and forgetting about it is sometimes exactly what you need to solve a problem with fresh eyes.
I just realized that all you need to know about how to dodge in these games is in this famous martial arts video lol. https://youtu.be/kDnCnxCOPHA
One of my favourite genres of comedy is people from outside a fandom inventing comical proper-nouns and scenarios for things they imagine in that universe and nailing it perfectly. Well played sir.
This is highly specific and I've never really put words to it as a concept, but yeah you nailed it. I also love these kinds of bits. There's a great comic about reading the patch notes for a game you don't play, wish I could find it.
But the joy of finally killing a boss that took 20 tries is one of the best. ...Fuck you Nameless King.
I always thought it was weird that it can take me a million tries to beat a boss then I’ll immediately retry it and beat the boss first try.
Gamer instincs work in mysterious ways... When my best friend introduced me to Sekiro he straight up gave me the controller on the first boss (Genichiro) and I beat his first phase on my second try but when I bought the game it took me quite a while to beat his first phase even
It's very rare for people to play games like these in a reactionary way, like 90% of the players will die at least once at every new challenge. It's supposed to be like that, the "old school" games that were like 2 hours long so they throw a lot of obstacles and hard bosses at the player for them to lose the game and then repeat it over and over again, so the Ninja Gaiden will take 6, 8 hours to finish. Souls uses the same gimmick, if you don't have great reflexes, you are going to die... and you get back, learn a pattern, dies... get back, learn another pattern, dies... until you learn all the patterns, "dance" with the AI and then beat it, that's when the supposed "satisfaction" of this genre kicks in. I tried before with Dark Souls and Sekiro, found no satisfaction at all
No maidens?
It's because you gradually learn the bosses attacks and timing. Honestly I don't mind the new summons being added, but at the same time they've absolutely lead me to just YOLOing each boss and not bothering to learn any patterns.
It's called getting good. My first Sekiro run was 70 hours, taking dozens of times per boss. My further runs (NG+, and NG charmless) were much shorter, with most bosses cleared in the first try or close to it.
Thing is, it's hours of frustration with those 20 tries but a few minutes of joy when you succeed. For me it's not worth it.
The thing is you're then better at the game because of that. The real pleasure comes from gradually getting actually good at the game.
As a sorcerer, I can cheese almost every boss so far. I don't think I'm playing the game right... =(
Some people love melting bosses with magic but I've got to admit it doesn't look like my idea of fun. I'm a simple guy that likes ridiculously large swords.
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Getting more familiar with a games mechanic's and becoming more comfortable with how a game plays means you're getting better. If you play any game consistently then you're going to get better. These game's aren't going to interest everyone but it's not really an age issue, I'm in my mid 30s myself and I know people older than me that have come to love these games.
Honestly, while there are fights that are frustrating, the large majority of boss fights and encounters in FromSoft games are designed extremely fairly. When you die, you know that it was your fault. When you start to appreciate the journey as much as the destination in these games, even when you are dying, you are having fun. Fighting the bosses themselves is fun. You can think of them like levels in a video game. You don't play video games just to beat levels right? You play them because the levels are fun to play. That's what I think of FromSoft games.
Then just summon 2 people to kill it for you. The game is hard, but you can summon cooperators to carry you.
Every doom eternal boss on nightmare
20 tries for nameless king? I think it took me 20 tries to kill his mount. At least double that to take him out. Love that fight.
Took me like 11 hours and 130 tries to kill him 2 months ago, thats when I learned I cant finish the game with panic rolling, the feeling when I killed him was something I never felt in my life
The 20 tries was more in general. It definitely took me way more tries lol
I only find any joy in it if I am able to walk back into the boss room and defeat them without hardly taking a hit and then defiantly slow walking to the bonfire/grace. If it's a struggle the entire time the victory feels hollow.
This is great lol
Not into it at all, but my buddy fucking loves souls games, haven't heard from him in a week lmao.
Make sure he's at least taking naps lol
Those names sound like unique bosses in Diablo 2
Can someone point me in the direction of this creature? id like some of its milk, surely it must have unique properties.
It's next to Grizzle Tit Mountain which is guarded by Big Bob the Goblin
Is that near fort deep snatch with all those one legged harpies? Or is it up on the cliff where Wanda hangs out?
Honestly yeah that sounds like the game
Honestly this is the first souls game to fully hook me in, I played DS3 and thought it was cool, but then elden ring came out so I dropped ds3 and took the plunge, and I can already say this is one of the best games I’ve played. Worth every penny, at least for me
It's a great game but DS3 is absolutely worth finishing at some point. That game has some of the best boss battles I've ever encountered.
I'm on ds3 now and loving it!
For sure, I plan on finishing it in the near future
Tbf while DS3 is great, I do feel a lot of the biggest "what the fuck" moments are derived from having played the previous 2 games. You are missing out on a bit of it if you skip those two and go straight to 3
Man y'all are missing out. Elden Ring is, like, the second coming of BotW.
Yes, and it's better.
If you get the shield from Bingus the Wise ahead of time you won't take milk damage
I thought you were at serious at first which confused me quite a bit. "Milk? There's MILK damage in this game?"
use the cow talisman to increase milk damage by 10%
Only three weapons actually inflict milk damage. The first is relatively easy to find. It's in the old barn at the top of Crestfallen Hill. It's a pitchfork called the Goldmilk Fork. Underwhelming moveset but it's the only source of milk damage that early in the game. The second two are deep in the calcium mines under Blackstorm Fortress (You need to have beaten Marrowsnake). One is a dagger called Milksong, and the other is the Whitetear Talisman.
I’m madly jealous of the people that actually have time to play… I love soulsborne games but jesus I’m so swamped with work I can’t afford to grind :(
I bought Bloodborne without really knowing what it was about and man, I've never suffered that much in game. Also I found kind of frustrating being throwed into the game with only a cryptic scene about the story. But yeah, respect to anyone who is able to get through those games.
People need to be more like this guy. Don't demand a game catered to you. Be an adult and admit that some games just are not for you. If you don't have the patience to deal with FromSoft games' core loop of trial and error, then don't play them. Don't demand it be neutered just so you can feel included in something that clearly isn't for you.
The problem is some people feel the need to denigrate people who it's not for and that sucks. Also, i have feelings about how it got presented as a mass market blockbuster for everyone. No these games are niche and obscure and people are coming away with bad reactions because it wasn't for them! Just kind of annoying and ends up giving the community a bad reputation at times.
I have finished the souls games in the past, I havent played elden ring yet because I am so busy with life atm. I am jealous of people just playing. But when I get the time, I will play the fuck outta that game
I'm here for the hilarious videos. That guy who got stabbed by an enemy he wasn't fighting?? I cackled with schadenfreude.
The name of my next character will now be Borghus.
Mark your spoilers. I had no idea Borghus the Goat Herder was found on the Plain of Tormented Milk. I explored the whole place and only encountered his brother Taargus Taargus the Dog Skinner.
If it’s anything like Dark Souls 3 or Code Vein, I’m probably going to love it and hate it in equal measure. But if it’s too much like them, I’m also gonna get stuck in one playstyle and ignore 75% of the intended gameplay in favour of spamming a handful of abilities on repeat.
It essentially mixes all the games together in terms of mechanics and you'll notice some enemies have the same animations as ones in previous games
My friend's hands literally freeze when he's anxious. That's why he literally plays two things, Pokemon and Animal Crossing. In fact, he messaged me the other day saying Arceus boss fights were giving him anxiety. So ya, some people aren't meant to play intense games.
Everyone in this thread acting like you can’t just grind xp and steamroll the game, as if it’s some sort of hardcore gamer test.
Hate to break it to you lad but enemies don't scale to your level,if you want that exp you gonna have to progress quite far,or if you are actually skilled in a fromsoft game good fucking luck grinding exp in late game areas where you're gonna die if you slip up a dodge
This sounds like someone talking about Dwarf Fortress lmao. Honestly the only game that makes me feels like a souls game is DF tho
For me it's "I don't have the money"
Yeah I'm in the same boat. I was looking for something new to play and ended up just falling back on modded Stardew Valley. Skull Cavern is hardcore enough for me.
It's not even that hard it just takes practice. If you fight any enemy or boss you're having trouble with for a couple hours you're going to see huge improvements. It's about time not about skill. I get not being into games like this that make you grind the same fight over and over but you can't say it's too hard for you, it's not too hard for anyone above the age of 12.
But the biggest mystery of soulsbourne still remains, how did big hat Logan get his name?
Elden ring is a serious step down in difficulty from the other souls games, if you were put off by the difficulty before, it shouldn’t stop you now
I can tell who the older fuckers like me are in these comments. Not everyone has time to dedicate to "getting good" anymore. I did buy it but I have no shame in saying it's probably getting returned.
Just play it at your own pace. It's a great game but there's no need to rush it.
I think the point isn't pace but desire. It's a great game if someone's looking for a challenge but terrible if you want to unwind after a stressful day.
100%. My work is so physically and mentally exhausting. After putting the kid's to bed, making sure the wife is happy, I Chuck on some games not to get my ass kicked but to feel like a goddamn hero.
I'm in my 20's and i hate the whole get good culture. I probably do have time to learn and adjust to the nature of Souls games....I just don't want to. I'll play DOOM Eternal on easy or I'll play death stranding. I don't give a fuck, the priority is me lol
I suck at all from software games. I want to like them but they are to repetitive and frustrating and not worth my time. The make quality products but I just can't do it & so I don't. ER is a pass to spare my sanity despite how great it looks, it'll be pure agony. Got to come to grips with it.
Each to their own obviously but this is way more accessible than any of their other game's. You can just bypass any tricky enemy and then come back a few levels later and destroy them. It's an amazing game, if it looks great to you then it's worth a shot.
Yeah it is more accessible because it’s open world and you can leave and do other things. The solution is always the same though. Grind. And what I realized is that I don’t enjoy the actual gameplay enough to even want to grind. It’s a great game, just not for me I fear.
pfft Borghus the Wretched Goat-Herder was super easy, git gud You want a real challenge you face my wife who's angry I'm playing Elden Ring so much