Did you give up on Elden Ring?

[JoeK]

The comments about the ‘journey’ being the important point chimes for me totally. I think that’s what I want from the game, yet I’m finding being clobbered the umpteenth time by something exhausting. I don’t get the thrill from finally killing a boss that I know a lot of people clearly do, and realistically all I want to do is wander the land and look at stuff.

 

I suspect I may well mod the thing to allow me to do just that! 

[Captain Kelsten]

What I like in FromSoft games are:

 

- exploring

- seeing how the world interconnects

- lore

- combat

- seeing how few goes I can have on a boss before I kill it

- seeing how absurdly powerful I can make myself by the end

 

 

For me Elden Ring had all that in spades and really reignited my passion for From games in general, something I thought I’d lost a few years ago. 
 

BUT that’s not what this topic is about - this topic is for people to feel comfortable admitting they didn’t get on with it and why without the FromSoft gang piling on. 
 

 

[KRP]

I did give up, but I’m don’t think this is completely down to any failings in the game. I feel like From made the game they wanted (and many people enjoyed), but for me it was just too much of everything. 
 

That being said, I have spent about 45 hours in the game, and most of those were enjoyable hours. Playing a game for that much time is rare for me.  The idea of playing for another 50 hours or more really does not appeal to me. 

Ultimately the miserable atmosphere got me in the end. Wandering around the map with the least relaxing music imaginable just became a bit too much for me. I don’t really understand the draw of these bleak worlds.
 

I also didn’t find the exploration as rewarding as the big and medium sized dungeons. Finding another mine or cave was not reward enough for me. Especially the boss battles at the end, which I just don’t enjoy that much. 
 

I also found myself in quite a weird place difficulty wise. Either everything was piss easy or rock hard, I kind of couldn’t find that sweet spot after doing the first two dungeons. 

[Opinionated Ham Scarecrow]

28 minutes ago, KRP said:

Ultimately the miserable atmosphere got me in the end. Wandering around the map with the least relaxing music imaginable just became a bit too much for me. I don’t really understand the draw of these bleak worlds.

Totally get your point, but mate, ER was Disneyland for me compared to the UK at the moment.

[John0]

4 hours ago, thesnwmn said:

This thread is really interesting reading for someone who has no interest in this or any game like it.

 

I mean the number one issue seems straight up like the game is just far far too big for most people...

 

100% agree with your post, very much feel the same. I like a Hollow Knight style 20 hour ish length personally, but then with the option of trying to go back over it and figure out every minute detail if you feel like it. Or to then try and do more run-throughs again if you fancy it.

 

But like Jolly said, Elden Ring really grabbed me the whole way through and that's very unusual for me! I actually can't think of another open world game that I've actually ever finished. Skyrim, GTA V, RDR, BOTW, No Man's Sky.. I really enjoyed them all in their own ways, but with every one I got to the point where I just sort of felt like I'd seen enough, before the end.

 

Half-way through I got a bit worried it was going to be too big, but I finished it yesterday and I still want more!

[Valver]

I bounced off this hard, in the first hour or two.  For reference I haven't played any of From's previous games before.  But the general hype drew me in...

 

I did the initial cave-y tutorial bit and then got out into the world and was running about exploring.  I unlocked a few checkpoint things and had a chat to a trader chap who said I could use his workbench.  But every time I tried to explore I'd get run down by some huge git on a horse and insta-die, or absolutely get battered by 10 soldiers in a base that I stumbled across.  And I very quickly lost interest.

 

I just didn't find it fun and there was no hook in that first hour to make me want to stick with it.  I have limited free time for gaming - and this wasn't doing anything for me, so I dropped it.

 

I'm astonished some people are putting in 30-40 hours into it and *then* dropping it.    I tend to know if its "my thing" very quickly.

[Hewson]

I am really, really enjoying it but I'm increasingly certain that I won't see it through.  That's fine - I'll still get a lot of enjoyment from it compared to many other games. I think the thing that distinguishes it for me from the example of Elder Scrolls above is that in those games whenever I wander into an area that seems really tough I'm basically pretty sure that it's because I'm underpowered and I can usually go and find somewhere more friendly to persist with. But in ER there's always the strong chance that it's just me being terrible at the combat or - more worryingly for me - that I've levelled myself up in ways that make life really difficult. Because my gaming time is limited that lack of certainty tends to drive me to guides and then it all starts to feel a bit mechanical and you lose the thrill of discovering things for yourself. 

[scottcr]

I've not given up - but I am losing my enthusiasm for it.  The best areas and most interesting areas are still those at the start of the game.  A stronger story would keep me focussed but I really don't care about anything or anyone in the game.  I've pretty much no idea what's going on.

[KRP]

On 19/04/2022 at 10:07, Opinionated Ham Scarecrow said:

Totally get your point, but mate, ER was Disneyland for me compared to the UK at the moment.

One’s a ruined, blasted landscape, populated by a hopeless bunch of weirdos and etc etc 

[df0]

Slightly off-topic, someone did an all bosses run as a level 1 in just over 3 hours. There's some good guidance on pathing and some tremendous shortcuts (no clipping, just good use of roofs). Ignoring the level 1 aspect, this might be the best way for me to get that Plat. Get good trinkets, get good gear, ignore most of the open world and main line the bosses.

 

That said, why bother for a stupid Trophy 🙄

[Luseth]

I gave this a brief go but didn't stick it out for very long, I quickly realised that these sort's of games are not for me.

 

I typically play video games for a story, an alternative form of media to a book or a film or a tv series, a story that I'm interacting with. Whilst I get there is a story within these sort's of games it appears to require some delving into the lore behind it all rather than the game navigating you through that story.

 

I could appreciate how great it looks and the idea of fighting some of video games baddest bosses. But the storyline doesn't quite "flow" so well because your having to spend time looking for it, it can then get interrupted by fighting the same boss multiple times because you died the first handful. I can appreciate the challenge but I don't have time (especially since becoming a parent) to spend time playing through the same boss fight multiple times, or exploring the same dungeon over and over again... I guess it helps these day's that loading times aren't as long after you have been killed but it doesn't really interest me getting killed a couple of times before working out a strategy to defeat the boss only to go onto the next one.

 

I also don't get the combat, it seems simple but dull, it's just dodge, dodge dodge until there is an opening, hit the bad guy a handful of times and repeat? I may have missed the mark on the combat but that's all Souls games appear to be to me (I guess less so with this one as you have magic and the such).

 

Then there is also a petty thing from me in that when I did try it, I tried to talk to a couple of people about it and why I was disliking it so that they could possibly point me to things I'm doing wrong and I didn't get the ah well have you tried this. The response was more of a smug reply and then looking at articles and on certain site's it struck me that there is a bit of toxicity from people who enjoy the Souls esque games and it just put me off even more

 

With these sort's of games I look at them as marmite, you either love them or really don't and I think i'm in the latter.

 

[Exit Chamber]

1 hour ago, Luseth said:

Then there is also a petty thing from me in that when I did try it, I tried to talk to a couple of people about it and why I was disliking it so that they could possibly point me to things I'm doing wrong and I didn't get the ah well have you tried this. The response was more of a smug reply and then looking at articles and on certain site's it struck me that there is a bit of toxicity from people who enjoy the Souls esque games and it just put me off even more

 

There's a 31 page help thread on here with literally none of that, but I totally get what you're saying particularly re: becoming a parent and not having time to repeat stuff over and over again.

[robdood]

1 hour ago, Luseth said:

I gave this a brief go but didn't stick it out for very long, I quickly realised that these sort's of games are not for me.

 

I typically play video games for a story, an alternative form of media to a book or a film or a tv series, a story that I'm interacting with. Whilst I get there is a story within these sort's of games it appears to require some delving into the lore behind it all rather than the game navigating you through that story.

 

I could appreciate how great it looks and the idea of fighting some of video games baddest bosses. But the storyline doesn't quite "flow" so well because your having to spend time looking for it, it can then get interrupted by fighting the same boss multiple times because you died the first handful. I can appreciate the challenge but I don't have time (especially since becoming a parent) to spend time playing through the same boss fight multiple times, or exploring the same dungeon over and over again... I guess it helps these day's that loading times aren't as long after you have been killed but it doesn't really interest me getting killed a couple of times before working out a strategy to defeat the boss only to go onto the next one.

 

I also don't get the combat, it seems simple but dull, it's just dodge, dodge dodge until there is an opening, hit the bad guy a handful of times and repeat? I may have missed the mark on the combat but that's all Souls games appear to be to me (I guess less so with this one as you have magic and the such).

 

Then there is also a petty thing from me in that when I did try it, I tried to talk to a couple of people about it and why I was disliking it so that they could possibly point me to things I'm doing wrong and I didn't get the ah well have you tried this. The response was more of a smug reply and then looking at articles and on certain site's it struck me that there is a bit of toxicity from people who enjoy the Souls esque games and it just put me off even more

 

With these sort's of games I look at them as marmite, you either love them or really don't and I think i'm in the latter.

 

Hey this is all fair enough man.  But to try and put it into words - I love games like Souls because they give me a different kind of story, not one that someone else has written, but the story I write in my memory about the order & methods I use to tackle the games' many obstacles.   That's where the magic is, it's more of an adventure you go on, rather than a nice little story that someone tells you.  If that makes sense. 

 

[scottcr]

8 minutes ago, robdood said:

Hey this is all fair enough man.  But to try and put it into words - I love games like Souls because they give me a different kind of story, not one that someone else has written, but the story I write in my memory about the order & methods I use to tackle the games' many obstacles.   That's where the magic is, it's more of an adventure you go on, rather than a nice little story that someone tells you.  If that makes sense. 

 

 

yeah - it does.  Which is why I'm still playing it...

 

but I've no idea who Godfrum or Geofrit or Miriam or Mariuam or Marian or Meriono or Mohg or Mohg are... and I don't care.... and I do think that's the designers fault.  

[scottcr]

Just now, scottcr said:

 

yeah - it does.  Which is why I'm still playing it...

 

but I've no idea who Godfrum or Geofrit or Miriam or Mariuam or Marian or Meriono or Mohg or Mohg are... and I don't care.... and I do think that's the designers fault.  

 

btw - I had a similar problem with Dark Souls... but that was a much more focused pathway through a game and shorter, so I didn't mind so much.  It felt more of a 'twat all these things to escape'.  ER presents itself more as a living and breathing world, but the NPCs are mannequins at best

[robdood]

1 hour ago, scottcr said:

 

yeah - it does.  Which is why I'm still playing it...

 

but I've no idea who Godfrum or Geofrit or Miriam or Mariuam or Marian or Meriono or Mohg or Mohg are... and I don't care.... and I do think that's the designers fault.  

I think it's intentional though.  You literally are just a tarnished undead dude who's risen from the grave for a reason you don't understand.  It's (still somehow, after however many years of these games) pretty refreshing to be so genuinely put in a character's boots. 

[Luseth]

2 hours ago, robdood said:

Hey this is all fair enough man.  But to try and put it into words - I love games like Souls because they give me a different kind of story, not one that someone else has written, but the story I write in my memory about the order & methods I use to tackle the games' many obstacles.   That's where the magic is, it's more of an adventure you go on, rather than a nice little story that someone tells you.  If that makes sense. 

 

It does yes  Maybe its some of the handholding i enjoy with other games. I just found that with Elden ring I wasnt invested in what was going on or the characters or bosses.

 

Im playing trails of cold steel presently and if we ignore the weirdness of some of it i grew some fondness for the characters, could find some sympathy for the villain.

 

Like you say, it is a different kind of story telling. Elden rings more like a choose your own adventure book while i prefer lord of the rings or Eragon  

[Luseth]

2 hours ago, Blunted said:

 

There's a 31 page help thread on here with literally none of that, but I totally get what you're saying particularly re: becoming a parent and not having time to repeat stuff over and over again.

I will have a read through, maybe it will entice me back to giving it another go at some point

[LeighCb]

I think I'm over 20 hours in but I haven't played it for a couple of weeks, I just don't have the time. I'm at a bit of a sticking point with the Hogwarts boss which has halted my progress a fair bit. I'm thinking much more long term with this one though. I have settled into the controls so it's a game I can keep coming back to. I don't mind the idea of dropping back into it over a number of years even. It doesn't feel like it is something I need to rush through. I like the open world because I quite like knocking about on the horse if I can't be bothered to focus on a difficult area.

[Hello Goaty ♥]

I've got loads of Swords in this that i'm not powerful enough to wield 

 

thats because i have just been pissing about on it really.  

 

I need to do a mega session where i accumulate 10000's of  runes  -  Level up, then i suspect i can continue.

 

If i step foot anywhere near Caelid -  I run off squealing     doing what i said above will help...

[Simmy]

I didn't give up, I just got kinda bored. 

 

Just wasn't anything to keep me going back. I'll give it a go again sometime down the line.

[sandman]

On 20/04/2022 at 15:05, Luseth said:

I gave this a brief go but didn't stick it out for very long, I quickly realised that these sort's of games are not for me.

 

I typically play video games for a story, an alternative form of media to a book or a film or a tv series, a story that I'm interacting with. Whilst I get there is a story within these sort's of games it appears to require some delving into the lore behind it all rather than the game navigating you through that story.

 

I could appreciate how great it looks and the idea of fighting some of video games baddest bosses. But the storyline doesn't quite "flow" so well because your having to spend time looking for it, it can then get interrupted by fighting the same boss multiple times because you died the first handful. I can appreciate the challenge but I don't have time (especially since becoming a parent) to spend time playing through the same boss fight multiple times, or exploring the same dungeon over and over again... I guess it helps these day's that loading times aren't as long after you have been killed but it doesn't really interest me getting killed a couple of times before working out a strategy to defeat the boss only to go onto the next one.

 

I also don't get the combat, it seems simple but dull, it's just dodge, dodge dodge until there is an opening, hit the bad guy a handful of times and repeat? I may have missed the mark on the combat but that's all Souls games appear to be to me (I guess less so with this one as you have magic and the such).

 

Then there is also a petty thing from me in that when I did try it, I tried to talk to a couple of people about it and why I was disliking it so that they could possibly point me to things I'm doing wrong and I didn't get the ah well have you tried this. The response was more of a smug reply and then looking at articles and on certain site's it struck me that there is a bit of toxicity from people who enjoy the Souls esque games and it just put me off even more

 

With these sort's of games I look at them as marmite, you either love them or really don't and I think i'm in the latter.

 

I think you've pretty much hit the nail on the head there, particularly with regards to the smug attitude that Souls players have against non-Souls players. There is an elitism that I find rather nasty amongst a good percentage of their fan base.

 

I also like how this thread is full of people saying how brilliant the game is despite this not being the thread for that. It like these games are almost a religion with fervent fanatics who wont hear a bad word said about the games. Not liking soulsborne games is considered on a level with being a tory peer by many gamers and I find it rather odd.

[Captain Kelsten]

No

[smac]

19 minutes ago, sandman said:

Not liking soulsborne games is considered on a level with being a tory peer by many gamers and I find it rather odd.

 

Nah, I think almost everyone I read in the ER threads are "I know it's not for everyone, but..."; they're pretty cool with people not getting it, but naturally want to explain why they thought it was so good.

[Ry]

Nearly! Stuck on last boss for ages and changed my tactics and destroyed it.

 

I only maybe completed about 50% of what the game has to offer though. 

[Wiper]

1 hour ago, sandman said:

I also like how this thread is full of people saying how brilliant the game is despite this not being the thread for that.

 

I'm guessing I've missed something significant between the lines of this thread, as I interpreted a thread titled (and, originally, polling) the question "Did you give up on Elden Ring" as expecting, well, answers on both sides of its question? If this was the "Elden Ring dislikers club" thread or something then I'd understand it to be a thread for non-fans only, but it rather presents itself as a thread for people to talk about whether they did or did not bounce off the game, and as a way to gauge the broader opinions on it; not to house only those who bounced off the game.

 

(also, in my experience any popular, critically acclaimed game will have a lot of backlash from fans if people deign to take against it; I don't know that I've found the Souls community particularly bad for it. The 'git gud' patter wore thin a long time ago, of course, but I've not found the Souls crowd any more smug/dismissive of me for disliking most Souls games than I have any other sacred cows of the medium. And I've a lot of experience of being on the wrong side of gaming history to draw on, here)

[Captain Kelsten]

Perhaps I missed it, but I don’t think I saw anyone on this forum being all souls Uber fan or having a smug attitude, but rather lots of enthusiastic fans keen to share the experience with newcomers to the games, excited that people were enjoying it despite bouncing off previous games and then offering lots of help and advice (and even setting up a thread for that very purpose). 
 

Which thread were you reading? 

[Captain Kelsten]

Oh, I even set up this thread for people who didn’t get on with Elden ring to have a space to express that without people trying to convince them they were wrong. 🤷

[FalconGR]

I will never understand why some people play games primarily for the story. There’s nothing wrong with that but it’s just the complete opposite of what I think is interesting about games (the interactivity and mechanics etc). I mean Mario and Tetris are probably the two most perfect examples of what the appeal of video games is to me, so I find it amazing (and no bad thing) other people can have such different things they enjoy about the medium. I can honestly say I have never cared about the story in any game I’ve played.

[El Spatula]

Try disliking the majority of Nintendo games if you wanna feel like a victim. The number of times I've been told I have no joy in my life....