The gameplay is perfect. But how about just fixing the PC version with some basic things like…
- A setting to disable chromatic aberration.
- Fix the broken ultrawide support.
- Add remappable keybinds.
- Unlock the framerate.
- Add DLSS and FSR.
You know, basic, fundamental PC features.
Fromsoft PC ports have always been notoriously bad, but it blows my mind that after 15 years, they still don’t support something as important as custom keybinds.
The game is not “difficult” per se, it’s just that the underlying systems of how to make it easier aren’t made explicit. You’re meant to engage with it and learn how to create the advantages you need. It’s supposed to be a process of learning and growth that feels rewarding and earned. Or read a guide.
It’s honestly one of the easiest From games, once you engage with the particulars. Let me be clear: This isn’t an elaborate “git gud”. That began as an ironically bad opinion that inevitably became a genuine opinion held by fools.
Engage with the systems and dynamics presented to you, and you begin to see that the difficulty setting in ER (and other Souls games) exists on a conceptual level.
The exception that proves the rule here is Sekiro, which was an amazingly interesting experiment in putting you into a character’s shoes through game mechanics - the only way to beat the game is to adopt the bold and precise combat style of the main character. The difficulty of that game comes from hesitation, fear, and carelessness - and it is painfully unforgiving.
To follow on to this, the “best” build may not be the best for you and how you play. Try out various things to see what feels right to you. Sword and board, magic, gish, dual wield, big two hander, bigger two hander, etc. All of them are viable to beat the game, so find the one you like the most/is easiest for you.
It’s honestly one of the easiest From games, once you engage with the particulars.
I see this being said from time to time and I thought it was just me not “Gitting Gud”, so after being filtered by Captain Niall even with my mimic summon, I went through and cleared Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls 1 and 3, Bloodborne, and Sekiro all for the first time, and they were a fucking breeze compared to Elden Ring. I used a strength scaled zweihander in the Demon/Souls games to have the closest comparison possible (and also because I think it looks good). I guess it depends on which weapons you enjoy using, but the fact that there’s such a big skill discrepancy between entire weapon categories is in itself a pretty big stain on Elden Ring’s claim to be an RPG.
edit: I shouldn’t say they were all a breeze. Bloodborne and Sekiro were difficult for sure. Not even close to comparable to my experience with Elden Ring though.
I guess it depends on which weapons you enjoy using, but the fact that there’s such a big skill discrepancy between entire weapon categories is in itself a pretty big stain on Elden Ring’s claim to be an RPG.
They’re fundamentally different play styles. Difficult to you doesn’t mean that that’s what’s most difficult for someone else. You engage from different spacing, move differently, and pace your attacks differently. When most of the difficulty from combat is about learning what gaps you can exploit and how to protect yourself against different enemies with different attack patterns, that difficulty is going to vary heavily based on what your previous experiences are and how you intuitively understand the concepts. It’s what “git gud” actually means. FromSoft games force you to learn the mechanics of the combat, and calling strength based sword “harder” than a magic build is mostly about what style clicks better with you personally.
Gameplay wise, FromSoft games are as pure ARPG as it gets. Stats matter a lot and the combination of stats and gear fundamentally changes the optimal approach to encounters. Most RPGs have higher and lower barrier to entry classes, and most RPGs have variation in skill floor and skill ceiling of different types. The biggest difference is that most RPGs with comparable depth don’t have anywhere near the level of fidelity mechanically.
Yes, I understand. I am claiming that colossal weapon users simply have less gaps to exploit and aren’t provided with enough advantages to compensate for the lack of attack opportunities for most bosses. And after playing the other souls games, this lack of opportunity is made even more readily apparent in comparison.
My time with bloodborne (saw cleaver) and sekiro (there is only one playstyle) gave me a taste of From Software’s design when they decide to treat your playstyle as a first class citizen, and I had a wonderful time. I just didn’t get that same feeling at any point in Elden Ring is all.
That’s pretty interesting. I fully agree that builds differ a lot in terms of how much they depend on player skill in these games, and I can see how that’s not necessarily a good thing - but it is rather to my point that it’s part of the “difficulty settings” that I’m arguing are intrinsic to the game mechanics. You’re meant to choose your own difficulty setting in this way, and I think it was a deliberate choice to make it so, and not a failure to balance everything to equality.
I still haven’t beaten BB or Sekiro, but DS 1+3 were pretty doable. I admit I haven’t gotten through all of ER yet, though from my experiences so far I feel that’s mainly due to work and parenting being such a drag on my mental energy.
I used to power through these games in a very slow, mistake-prone fashion. I’ve never been what you’d call “gud” at these games, which is pretty much my point - but it’s only a matter of troubleshooting the difficulty on my own terms (if I ever have free time and no burnout at the same time again, wish me luck on that).
Yeah, after thinking it through, I can see where my confusion came from. Elden Ring might be significantly easier or significantly harder than the other Souls games depending on how you played the other Souls games.
I guess I wish that they had provided more scaling variety within the various build types instead of across them.
Never change, Miyazaki.
After 100%ing the game, seeing some of y’all complaining is something else. Reeks of not even trying to learn.
Getting oneshot by most enemies is not “difficult” it’s lazy. Just upping damage on enemies is lazy. Take out the healing system if you want difficult. Dont just maximize damage.
Not trying to learn is such a weak excuse because you completed the game. I did so too and I think the game is less enjoyable because there is literally no room for mistakes. As unforgiving From software games are, this is just lazy design in my opinion.
Plenty games have you die with one hit https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OneHitPointWonder
Many of those games don’t have difficulty sliders either. At least with Elden Ring there are ways to make your character sturdier if you wanted to. Fingerprint shield or greatshields in general are a great start. Stat dump in health. Wear heavy armor. Grind out as many levels as you need to. It works the same as any other game. It’s not like there’s a permanent game over where you have to start over. Dying and growing have been the point of these games and most games since like the beginning of gaming.
The dying is not the problem, that is part of the game. The problem here is that damage output of enemies is so exaggerated that even simple non-bosses can one shot all builds unless you go for ultra tanky. So basically what you’re saying is, don’t get hit or build specific tanks and not what you enjoy or you will die.
Also my quarrel is mainly with Elden Ring DLC, not every game. Base game is not bad with balancing honestly. The DLC is just ridiculous. And for the love of god, just because some people get kicks out of difficulty doesn’t mean it has to be more extreme every new instance. That fanbase sheep mentality will kill good games like this.
Dark souls 3 was more forgiving in the DLCs than this game.
Not being able to grab a wooden club and beat god to death with it isn’t the game being difficult, but you listen to some folks and you might get the idea its what they expect.
Use summons, get your magic going (or hell, full sorcerer) and you won’t see any major filters. Might need to do fights a couple times but thats hardly a big deal.
The problem is that the controls for anything other than the fighting are rather clunky. It’s not something specific to ER, but rather gamepad based games, for some reason. I’ve the same issue with Horizon Zero Dawn. In both games I play pretty much with the weapons, the healing and that’s about it because fuck all that shit about cycling through options in the middle of a fight.
You can long-press d-pad down to reset the inventory belt to the first item, same thing with the spells on d-pad up
I wish long press would just show us a choice wheel, right thumbstick to pick my choice, done. Free the left and right foe other stuff.
You sound like everyone who has ever seen me menu spells in a KH speedrun. You sound like someone who turns weapons off in ULTRAKILL. Neither of these are explicitly bad things, but the system in place (a scrollable selection menu in real-time) can be utilized at the same level of efficiency as a spell wheel; you just need to exercise your memory when you set up and when you use your belt items.
There’s a lot of titles that allow you to pause and utilize your menu. Dragon’s Dogma 2, for instance, allows you to pause at 0 HP and still use healing items, so long as you haven’t finished your dying animation or been knocked flat.
Dark Souls and similar games make a deliberate choice in keeping the game in real time when you menu, and there’s a lot of truly functional items you can keep on your belt to help those weapons: status items can help you finish applying a status when an enemy leaps back, the physick, stamina regeneration, many extremely powerful effects that they want a small execution and collection barrier on. Alone in the Dark (5) had a real-time menu like this too far before it was popular, and people complained bitterly about it, so I get where the complaint comes from.
Without dramatically reducing your available options or developing a completely different system of menus, the controls can’t really be less “clunky”. If horizon’s wheel and DaS’s menu aren’t for you, you may just not like how action RPGs control. If it’s about needing time for the menu, these specific titles may not really be up your alley. There’s a TON of games that operate the way you’re expecting, and at this point the community and developer alike are committed to sustaining this experience that provides friction. Friction is basically how you talk, from a design standpoint, about the difficulty of the game and why it’s present and what it does functionally.
If you don’t understand how friction and fun are related, the game was unironically not made for you, and misunderstanding that or not being eloquent enough to explain that has led to the “git gud” divide. The menus are meant to provide friction. The combat animations and the period you must wait before acting again provide friction. Being a relatively heavy RPG, you can overcome friction multiple ways, either through developed personal skill or overleveling or picking tools that the boss isn’t equipped to handle or statuses it’s weak to.
TL;DR of course the menus are clunky dude they’re based on a decades-long tradition of interfaces that provide gameplay fun. The fun is there for a grand majority of people, if you’re not having fun with the ball-crusher, nobody is making you use it.
I do appreciate your point of view. I just disagree about the “it’s been like this for ages and we’re used to it and it’s part of the difficulty”. Good UI should cause no friction.
I do agree a paused menu with quaffing health potions mid-strike is bullshit. But if things are gonna be real time (not even slow down while in menu wheel like many others) then there is no reason to stick with ancient traditions. It would be simple enough to have an item wheel instead.
As it is yeah, I do play with a handicap. It’s fine, I’ve beaten other games with similar issues (from my POV). I’m just super annoyed about subpar UX in software. I’ve seen too many in my career and too many people enduring bullshit UI… so it really rustles my jimmies when I see the same problems in games. You know, software that’s supposed to provide fun.
It’s really not an ER specific pet peeve of mine; I’ve endured shitty UI/UX for the last 37 years and so I’m a bit grumpy about it, is all.