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Elden Ring - Shadow of the Erdtree Expansion Announced

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Capwn

Capwn

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About 70 hours into this, pretty good considering I was initially telling myself that as long as I play 10 hours and get the general vibe of one of the biggest games of the year, that would justify the purchase (not a souls fan previously).

 

I think any other studio, to make their game to appeal to an wider audience they would have made it easier. It's fascinating to see the studio double down on the difficulty but just make the 'grinding' more appealing, to a point where it doesn't feel like grinding. That was the main problem I had with the only other souls game I had played (demon souls ps5 remake), grinding was just visiting one or two places again and again, killing the same enemies. Now I'm able to explore and revisit a vast array of places. The open world nature of it absolutely helps to push players like myself through these games.

 

That said I do struggle with the size of the map and how little info it gives, mainly in regards to logging your adventure.  keep remembering I did some kind of area ages ago and couldn't do it, would be great to go back to it but I've lost track of it. Other games would at least have a marker on that area and a progress status. I do like the concept of what they have done here (that took me about 20-30 hours to figure out) where you place your own markers but I find the markers so abstract and limited.  Like what is a skull versus a sword? I have made my own system of sword = area where I can't get to the boss, skull = area where I can't beat the boss and plant icon is areas I think I have completed. I wish I knew to be doing something like this from the start. Anyway, even so, there should be an option to highlight different markers instead of panning around the map.

 

Anyway, that said whatever it is doing with regards to not handholding the player and letting them come up with their own solutions, I really like that way of thinking but I do think it goes a bit too far at times. The biggest revelation for me is that it's OK to read guides and ask other players for pointers, watch videos etc, in any other game I would frown upon that but here you need it or you would waste so much time, something you really don't want to be doing in a 100+ hour game.

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dug

dug

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Whoa, how's this for a claim to fame?

 

Just discovered that the voice actor for late game boss 

Spoiler

Godfrey/Horah Loux

 

is Ed Rowe. He's been well known (ish) in Cornwall for years, due to his Kernow King comedy character, but in the last few years he's transitioned into acting, becoming noticed through his lead role in critically acclaimed indie film Bait, and culminating in this, the undoubted pinnacle of his career.

 

Well, get this, right? You ready? Prepare yourself to be astounded:

 

I know his brother!

 

 

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Benny

Benny

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I dabbled a bit last night and found a cave I hadn't before

 

Spoiler

Sprit Caller Cave.

 

Despite being level 160 I still got cocky and got wrecked at the boss :lol:

 

Also finally found again and went through the quest line for

 

Spoiler

Alexander. What a dude.

 

It's now my most played single played game on Steam ever.

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Alex W.

Alex W.

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I've discovered how to find Maps in this, so now I'm off questing around in the Weeping Peninsula. I'm starting to question my assumption that the trees were probably some benevolent force I would have to protect.

 

Other bad assumptions: "ha ha, somebody needs better pathfinding".

 

 

And also "the boss at the bottom of this cave is probably in a similar vein to the big rats I've been fighting so far".

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robdood

robdood

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2 hours ago, Alex W. said:

I've discovered how to find Maps in this, so now I'm off questing around in the Weeping Peninsula. I'm starting to question my assumption that the trees were probably some benevolent force I would have to protect.

 

Other bad assumptions: "ha ha, somebody needs better pathfinding".

 

 

And also "the boss at the bottom of this cave is probably in a similar vein to the big rats I've been fighting so far".

I love that I know exactly where on the map this is within about 5 seconds.  Not many open world games do that to my brain!

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robdood

robdood

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1 hour ago, Capwn said:

I keep avoiding buying maps because I wonder if I already know what they reveal 😕 or will find the map elsewhere for free.

Dude.  The things you can buy from merchants aren't really maps, they are clues/hints/puzzles.  The maps that actually reveal your own map are only ever found at the weird monoliths. 

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PeteJ

PeteJ

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After being stuck on three bosses for a long time (and refusing to move on until I'd dealt with them because of reasons), it feels good to be exploring again. 

 

Making may way around Altus, loving the area so far. Looks ace (even on xbone!) and so far has some good enemy variety. Cleared two caves last night in record time, cleared the second in about ten minutes, which was quite amusing. Level 94 so potentially overlevelled :)

 

Oh, the Summon Tishe is amazing! She absolutely destroys everything. I think she could have solo'd the bosses I did yesterday. 

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StephenM

StephenM

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I was so sure a week or two ago that I'd had my fill and wouldn't finish this (the perfect counterpart to the unfinished Demon's Souls which is the only other From game I've played).

 

But after a run of areas that seemed to strike a nice difficulty balance (NOT YOU NIALL), I think I just might go and finish it. The Farum is tough, but the end seems in reach!

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Goemon

Goemon

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Surprised no one has really talked about the Catacombs/Heroes Graves in the game.

 

People talk about their favourite areas and I think these are mine. I know they’re repeating art assets but the level design is amazing. Proper old school, sneaky/hidden path, setup/trap heavy, single grace areas that have you on the edge of your seat.

 

Really feel like a thief sneaking around those areas and some of the setups had my mind fried.

 

Really under appreciated I think

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Tequlia

Tequlia

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29 minutes ago, Minion said:

I just completely trivialised Alecto, spoilered for those who haven't fought them yet:

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice.  What was that message that pops up from 00:52?  (I've not done any multiplayer assume related?) 

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Qazimod

Qazimod

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22 minutes ago, Goemon said:

Surprised no one has really talked about the Catacombs/Heroes Graves in the game.

 

People talk about their favourite areas and I think these are mine. I know they’re repeating art assets but the level design is amazing. Proper old school, sneaky/hidden path, setup/trap heavy, single grace areas that have you on the edge of your seat.

 

Really feel like a thief sneaking around those areas and some of the setups had my mind fried.

 

Really under appreciated I think

 

I always found that I liked the BB chalice dungeons more than most people, so I enjoyed ER's equivalent a lot - they're a welcome break from story progress (that is, throwing yourself at a mandatory boss repeatedly) and it's nice to deal with a smaller isolated situation where there are lots of easily-understood "rules" because of the mechanical traps and things. And they're not free wins either - the Auriza Hero's Grave was a sticking point for days during my playthrough. :blush: 

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Minion

Minion

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17 minutes ago, Tequlia said:

 

Nice.  What was that message that pops up from 00:52?  (I've not done any multiplayer assume related?) 

 

You have group passwords you can set and if someone in the group defeats a shardbearer or becomes elden lord you get a boost to your discovery until you die or for 5 minutes or something. My passwords are:

 

rllmuk

reddit

potboy

straydmn

 

Which are all from subreddits except for rllmuk of course. it means I am nearly always getting a buff to discovery, good for getting drops off of enemies.

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Tomdominer

Tomdominer

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3 hours ago, Gigawatt said:

Anyone had a go of the PS5 version with VRR yet? Could be the perfect excuse to go do an NG+ run if it runs more smoothly. 

 

So, ok, quick test. It does seem smoother, although you can still feel some definite frame rates hits. What were the worst areas, in terms of performance? (I've completed the game, and can't remember a thing).

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PikaStu

PikaStu

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It took me 20+ (maybe even 30+?!) attempts to kill the Fire Giant. Found him a nightmare! I then went straight to Castle Sol to tackle Niall and managed him on my 5th attempt, so that wasn’t so bad. Castle Sol itself has some tricky enemies which didn’t help!

 

I see Sekiro is £25 on Steam until 9th May. Reckon I’ll give that a try, once I’ve completed my first run of ER. 

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Minion

Minion

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4 minutes ago, PikaStu said:

It took me 20+ (maybe even 30+?!) attempts to kill the Fire Giant. Found him a nightmare! I then went straight to Castle Sol to tackle Niall and managed him on my 5th attempt, so that wasn’t so bad. Castle Sol itself has some tricky enemies which didn’t help!

 

I see Sekiro is £25 on Steam until 9th May. Reckon I’ll give that a try, once I’ve completed my first run of ER. 

 

Sekiro is excellent well worth £25, have you played the other soul games? Dark Souls 3 is amazing.

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Benny

Benny

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Sekiro might be a bit of a shock right after Elden Ring. If Elden Ring was someone's first From game and they enjoyed it I would probably point them towards the original Dark Souls next, as it's obviously a classic, and the difficulty should be similar overall compared to any of ER's legacy dungeons. Then again Dark Souls 3 will probably "feel" the easiest to dip into after.

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  • Broker changed the title to Elden Ring - Shadow of the Erdtree Expansion Announced

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