Are you hydrated and well-rested? Because we’re delving even deeper into Elden Ring–if that’s possible. Here was the last post, and let’s talk some more about that open world. In the game, there are Guidances of Grace emanating from the Sites of Grace. They tell you wher e to go in the main story, but I don’t think I ever followed them. I knew where the first main legacy dungeon was fairly early in (like maybe thirty minutes), and I stridently ignored it for ten hours. This, by the way, is highly unrecommended. It’s common knowledge (now) that you should at least go into the castle so you can get to the Roundtable Hold. Which, by the way, I’m still not sure I know exactly what will get you Melina to take you there for the first time. I did it in the weirdest way possible.
Here’s the thing. I am never, ever, EVER going to go down the main path right away. I just am not. When the PR person for Elden Ring said, prior to release, that the main story would take you thirty hours, I snorted. That wasn’t the case in any of theother games, so it certainly wouldn’t be true in this one.
By the way, I did do NG+ in 12 hours or so to get the third and last ending I needed for the hundo cheevo, but that was after I had finished the game twice prior in 225+ hours and 110+ hours respectively in NG with two different characters. So 30 hours for the main story is not undoable, but probably not on your first playthrough unless you have a guide at hand and are innately good at the games.
I seriously think that they were just throwing a number out there for laughs and because it’s expected to give a ballpark figure for how long your game is going to take. “Miyazaki-san. What should I say to the dreaded hours question?” “Twenty. Thirty. Forty! Tell them anything. I don’t care!”
And, yes, technically, you can do it in that time, but why would you want to? It’s a stupid question, anyway. I mean, I get it. People want to know approximately how much of their life they need to play the game. Especially people who may play one or two games a year. And most games fall within a certain parameter. Like God of War Ragnorok is pretty much slated as a 40 – 50 hour game. Elden Ring, however, really does range from 75 hours to hundreds of hours for one playthrough.
The open world is breathtaking. There is something new in every nook and cranny. I think one aspect of the game that does not get talked about much is verticality. I’ve mentioned that I hate the platforming in most From games. They added a jump button in Sekiro, which was great, but it was pretty limited. In Elden Ring, though, they expanded it to be more useful. You can jump in combat, which is so helpful. You can jump to reach things you could never reach before.
And, the biggest one is the addition of the spirit springs. They are gusts of air that if you double-jump in them while you’re on Torrent, your steed, you shoot straight up in the air and are transported to another area. I know FromSoft has been in love with platforming since day one, but this is the first time that I think they’ve actually done verticality well. Notice I did not say platforming because that’s still hot trash in parts, but verticality? Yeah, they made great use of it here.
Torrent is a positive addition over all as well. He’s not great in combat, but he’s not a huge detriment, either. It is annoying that you can’t double-hand your weapon while on Torrent (you have to do it beforehand) and that you can’t aim your magicks behind you (you have to be facing your target), but it’s at least tolerable. And, I’m sorry, I will except nothing less than my demon steed to traverse in future FromSoft games. I know some people didn’t like when in Dark Souls II, they made it possible to fast-travel right from the start. They liked that it was earned in the original game and they insisted that you learned the areas of the game so well (in the first half) because you could not fast-travel. They are not wrong. It’s also why I don’t play that game as much as the others. I get what they were trying to do with it, and I’m not mad at it, but I also don’t want to have to travel back and forth through the first half of the game on foot.
There was no question of fast-travel in Elden Ring, I don’t think. FromSoft had fast-travel in every game from the start from DS II onwards. The only weird concession is that you cannot fast-travel from the Sites of Grace in the caves/catacombs. I don’t know the in-game justification for this, but I just accept it as a weird quirk of the game.
I have to talk about the underground world. I need to talk about it so buckle up because we’re going all in.
Ranni is queen. I will not brook any argument on this. I met her early on in the Church of Elleh where she gives me the bell to summon spirits. Apparently, you can get it somewhere else, but why would you skip meeting Ranni? You can only meet her at night, though, so keep that in mind. Oh, right. I haven’t mentioned that you can pass time and there are certain enemies/bosses/NPCs who only come out at night (woah here she comes), so make sure not to miss them. You can only do this at the Sites of Grace.
Ranni is ethereal, otherwordly, and has two faces and four arms. She calls herself Renna and is dressed in all white. And, yes, you can get her ‘armor’ later on, too. And, no, you do not need to kill her to get it.
I have said many times that I would have easily paid $30 for this sidequest alone. Meeting Blaidd, the half-wolfman early on is also part of her quest. And then you run into her rise in Liurnia of the Lakes after beating a boss in the Caria Manor and you can’t even imagine what you’re about to get into.
You meet Ranni who says she told you she was called Renna with no further explanation. Her mother is Rennala, so maybe that’s it. Anyway, she says she needs you to do something for her and, oh, by the way, you should meet with her three advisors first. It seems simple and easy, and, pardon, but she’s hot AF. I would do anything forher. Anything!
I think it’s going to be like other prior NPC questlines. I’ll go kill a boss or two, maybe summon her in to help me beat a boss. Talk a bit more to her, and we’re all good. You have to understand that other NPC questlines weren’t THAT involeved. Yes, you sometimes had to do certain things at certain times, but it wasn’t that big a deal beacuse it was in areas you were already entering. In this case, it was…a whole new (underground) woooooorld!
Early on, there’s a lift that takes you down. And down. And down. At first, you think, “Oh, it’s just an underground cave.” Nope. You keep on going, with the sky (sky???? In an underground world???) is purple and starry. It’s gorgeous and imparts a sense of wonder. And when you finally (finally!) hit the bottom, it’s not just a cave. Or one room. Or even two rooms. It’s a whole new area. And, yes, in the beginning, you can only go so far. But, later on….
Needless to say, this is all spoilery. I’m just telling you the scope of the quest. You have to wait until you kill a major boss and then even more of the underground world is opened up. Then, you have to go through it to get a thing to give Ranni. You would think that would be it, but it’s not. Thaat’s roughly half her quest. It took me ten hours or so the first time to do her questline. If you’re strictly counting only the things I did for her. If you’re including everything it takes to get her questline done, it’s probably closer to 15 hours.
This game is just so crammed with things to do, see, and experience. When this particular sidequest was unfolding, I kept thinking, “This has to be the end. Surely?” But it wasn’t. It went on and on, and I don’t mean that in a disparaging way. Eevry time I thought it was winding down, a new bit was added. You have to defeat an invader who looks a lot like Blaidd in the Lake of Rot (not fun). This is a whole new area with a whole new boss who gave me fits because it could kill me in one blow. I had very little Vigor for most of the game beacuse I was leveling up other stats. It’s suggested you have 60 Vigor by the endgame. I had 18 for the first 100 hours kept it around 25 for most of the game. I think I have my character at 35 or 40 now. Who needs Vigor if you’re blasting enemies from afar. Am I right?
I need to go back and play more. It’s been some time. See if it holds up.