Time for more Elden Ring. Really in a groove with this game now. I DEFINITELY would not call it a masterpiece. Hell no!
But it is very, very fun. I can't say I've played a major open-world title this 'hardcore' in a while. It's definitely a casual-killer. The world is super-massive, there are tons of RPG mechanics that matter in ways you can't know until you build it, it's boss-centric with difficult-to-master combat, and many of the usual assists provided by almost every other game are absent. Geez, the quest givers speak in prose. Figuring out where to go is like solving riddles. No waypoints guiding you, and exploration is randomly dangerous as all hell - and you can just lose your runes in a really tough spot to fight to. And of course, you can't meaningfully pause whenever you want to.
This game is basically giving you an ultimatum. You can have a family, a career, practical/artistic skills, what have you... or you can play Elden Ring. It's just very big and involved. You have to get all the way in or there is kinda no point. You've gotta play it fairly consistently just to keep the skill up, let alone not get too lost in a huge playthrough. I might dedicate a little notepad on this desk.
I thought bosses were a bit slow at first, but some of them do get much faster and more aggressive. Like... Bloodborne speed, except YOU do not move or attack at Bloodborne speed.
One thing I'm noticing that I SWEAR is different from any soulsbourne... like, just never was a thing outside of a handful of special bosses in those games... is the cadence, the pacing of the moves and the reactions bosses have to you. It's like they ALL learn from each fight and try to break their own sequences so you just never get a feel for them. Most souls bosses kind of have you learning this whole big dance, but if you master it, you master that boss as long as you hold the same skill level, and the challenge is significantly diminished on repeat fights. Not the case with any boss I've encountered in Elden Ring. Even the lesser ones are always doing everything possible to keep you out of a rhythm with them. It's not like they have crazier movesets or anything. Just far less predictable from fight to fight.
It definitely keeps it interesting. Good incentive to keep leveled and equipped. If you can't get caught out of sequence a couple of times, or score the right amount of damage on a certain hit, or land some strategic move at the right time - just on the fly, you will probably have a bad time over and over. I'm sure these bosses are still beatable at level 1, if you're really good. But I think it's probably A LOT harder in this game than in others like it, because of how they had to balance it to the amount of exploration you can do, and all of the rewards out there. Even then, it's like anything could kinda get the drop on you unless you cap your vigor. A lot of these bosses are kinda tough to parry, too. Some give a fair amount of windows, but it's not easy to be in place to stick the parry enough times to riposte - you wind up missing attack windows and risking more hits that can't be parried. If you can do it ONCE, it can turn the tables. High stakes parrying. This game seems more geared for dodging. Much easier time just two-handing the Twinblade and rollin and jumpin. Lots of AOE stuff is now easily avoided by jumping in this game - it's such a big deal when you learn to jump more in fights. Just such a game-changer. Especially when you're specced into melee/DPS and need to be in the fray. Jumping keeps you there longer, scoring more damage without trading. Spotting an AOE attack and reacting correctly nets you a free hit in the same movement that dodged it... and maybe one big enough to knock them on their ass, or the one that opens you to executing that sequence.
That's another thing, jump attacks are life for me right now. That, and Impaling Thrust. I grabbed that just for Keen, because this is a dex build, but it's actually extremely handy for covering quick distance for serious damage. Stick a couple in succession, rolling out between attacks, and you can down/stun plenty of big foes. I wonder how this thing would do with some bleed though
) 4 legendary gems, 2 legendary items, soloing most of it (might go co-op later for higher difficulties..)
