Elden Ring. When I’m not playing, I’m thinking about it. I’m dreaming about it. I’m planning what to do next. For example, I need to find the sorcerer right now. I want the basic magic spells to complement my pyro. I know there is one from the trailers and the Closed Network Test, but I’m not exactly sure where she is. I may look it up because I should have found her by now. I was watching the Eurogamer co-op VOD and they ended up meeting her after defeating Pumpkinhead (a boss. Yes, they have a pumpkin for a head). The pumpkinheads are sprinkled throughout the lands and I don’t know what is their deal.
I like to find things on my own as much as possible, but there is no shame in looking things up. I hesitate because it’s hard to find the answer to one specific question and nothing more. It’s either all or nothing; sometimes, all is the answer, but it rarely feels good.
I just played 3 1/2 more hours of Elden Ring I used the Eurogamer video to find the sorcerer because while I had the checkpoint they had, the actual boss fight is really hard to find. You have to turn the camera a certain way and it’ll reveal a golden fog gate (signifying a boss). I took care of Pumpkinhead fairly easily with my wolves and talked to Sorceress Sellen, buying the Ginstone Pebble sorcery. She has a big royalty fake head/crown on her head, which is a signifier of her sorcery lineage–although she’s an apostate. It had taken me so long to find her, I already had a scroll to give her–which allowed her to sell even more sorceries.
I went around a bit and then realized that I didn’t have a staff. I went back to Sellen–and she didn’t sell them. Wait, what? Why no staves, Sellen? What the fuck is up with that? All the teachers sold the wares needed to ply their crafts! That’s a given in these games. I was so irritated, I looked up where I could buy a staff. I could not. I had to find one in the wild. Which, come the fuck on! You want people to experiment with magicks and you don’t have a staff easily available for purchase? Not even a shitty basic one? Fine. FINE, FROM.
That became my goal for the rest of the session–to find a staff. To that end, I looked up the easiest way to get one. Look. I needed a staff and I had not found one in the nineteen hours I had been playing the game. I was not going to just stumble over one any time soon. I found out that there was one to the south in an area that was already unlocked.
Side Note: I have several spatial issues, including not being able to figure out how to get to a level above or below me at times. So it’s a bit frustrating when I put a marker on the map, but can’t figure out how to get there if there’s an obstacle in my way. Topography is a killer for me and it’s no different in this game.
Anyway, I struck out to the south and after several fits and starts, I made it to the area I needed to be to find the field boss so I could get my staff. I was a bit nervous about fighting her and her minions, but me, my wolves, and my fire made short work of her. I got my staff and felt so much better. Now I can get serious about my strengthcaster build, which pleases me. I found someone selling the Zwei; I am very tempted. It was baller in the first game, but not as good in the third. Don’t remember if it’s in the second (probably is). But! I need so many levels to beef me up to where I want to be.
I met an NPC last night with whom I really vibed. They are a faith user as well (a paladin) and had a few incantations to sell me. I can’t use them yet because I need more intelligence and maybe more faith for one. At any rate, they have my attention and I will do whatever they want. Then, at some point, they will kill me or I’ll kill them because it’s FromSoft. No one is allowed to be happy in these games. But until we have to battle to the death, I will enjoy my time with them.
I also ran into another NPC today who is from Dark Souls III–or is a nod to that person. The situation in which I find them (and some of the things they say) indicates that they are the same person. If that’s the case, then the game is set earlier than Dark Souls III–which is interesting to think about. They wants me to bring a memento to their father in Castle Morne–which is another nod to the old character. I’m really curious to know if it’s the same person or if it’s parallel universes or something like that.
I’m currently in a dungeon I had to open with a stonesword key–that you have to find around the world. It’s really frustrating because I am killed in one jab of the robot chariot–yes, that’s what I said–with spikes poking out of the wheels. I’ve died several times because one hit means death. You’re supposed to run from nook to cranny and puzzle out when it’s OK to run. That’s never been my kind of thing especially with my spatial issues so I may look up the answer if I can’t figure it out in a few more tries.
I am a bit overwhelmed by the sheer amount of things I can do–but that’s on me. I knew that it would be an issue so I’m not surprised. It’s one thing I don’t like about open world games in general–being overwhelmed by the content is par the course for me in them. However, I would say that in this game, at least all the content is meaningful. It isn’t ‘go to this area, liberate the camp, then rinse, lather, repeat’. One time, I went into a cave and there was a sleeping bear as the boss. A sleeping bear! I had not fought a bear in the wild (I tend to leave the wildlife alone) and this guy packed a real wallop. But me and my wolves took care of business and got it done on the second try–and I had maybe 3 HP left. It really was him or me; it nearly was me.
There is something in every corner of the map–and it’s not filler. There isn’t a demand to collect a hundred feathers or do a million fetch quests. You don’t have to scale radio towers or beat up tons of copy-and-paste mobs. Instead, you find a bear here, a troll there, and a group of wolfpeople there. You might go into one cave and take on a stone cat and then in another, you’ll find a million wolves. Or an old friend, *wink wink*. There is never a moment when it feels like they phoned it in and said, ‘Fuck it. Just put a bonfire there and then a mob of army soldiers. We’ll call it a day and go grab a pint.’
At the beginning of this post, I mentioned that I was obsessed with this game. I get this way about any game I play, but especially the FromSoft games. They become my life and it’s all I ever want to do. Even when I’m mad at them. Even when I hate them with every fiber of my being–I cannot stop thinking about them. I have put in nearly 23 hours in four days into this game–and I’ll play more tonight. And I still haven’t finished the first legacy dungeon yet! In fact, I’m not much past the first boss. This is absolutely wild to me.
FromSoft said that you could finish the main storyline in 30 hours and people faithfully repeated it like it was a fact. It was clearly a number they just tossed out because they needed to give a number, any number. I mean, if you’re really good at the games, you might be able to rush through the main story in 30 hours, but why would you want to? The world is so rich and lush, and there is so much to see. Why would you want to rush through it as fast as possible, especially on a first run?
I keep telling myself to take it slow and not to gorge myself on it. Three hours later, it’s time to go to bed and I’m bleary-eyed and exhausted. I don’t expect that to change any time soon, and I’m fine with it. More than fine; I’m hooked.