Yesterday, I wrote a post about four things I did not like about Elden Ring. I have more so I’m going to continue until I’m done or until I feel the need to end the post. Remember, I love the game and it’s probably going to my Game of the Year. It’s not perfect, however, and there are things about it that really bug me–as with every From game. There are things that are considered From quirks (esoteric item descriptions and tutorials, byzantine levels, lore you really have to dig into to understand, for example), and I embrace many of them. Some of them, however, are just frustrating as hell, which is why I’m writing these posts.
In other words, I’m doing it from a place of love. I adore these games and want them to be better. I know I’m just one voice and I’m someone who sucks at the games, but there is such a thin line between “hard, but fair” and “this is so fucking over the line”. I would say Sekiro was mostly the latter, which is why it’s my least-favorite FromSoft game. So, here we go. Let’s get to it!
5. Too many bosses. There have been a lot of bosses in all the From games. It’s one of their trademarks, especially since they like to have grotesque and difficult bosses. And, yes, this is open world so there’s going to be a ton of bosses. But I have boss fatigue. There’s an area in which I am farming that has three big bosses within a ten foot radius. Ok, that’s a bit of exaggeration, but not much.
Here’s the thing. In a typical From game, running into a boss is a big thing. Hearing their music start up to prep you for how epic it’s going to be. Then you step into their arena and fight them until one of you wins (usually the boss). The arena is often an integral part of the fight. Who can forget the church you fight Biggie & Smalls in? Or the ruins that Gael chases you around in? Or the large field in which Black Dragon Kalameet scorches your ass?
In Elden Ring, there are still majestic backdrops for some boss fights, especially in the legacy dungeon. But there are much more ‘drop into a boss fight right quick’ events that just happen. In one case, I used the hot spring to jump up in the air–right into a boss fight. I think it might be a dragon? Honestly, I just rode on by and didn’t even bother checking what kind of boss it was. Which leads to the next point.
6. The boss fights are diminished. Because there are so many of them, each boss fight is not as special as it would be in another From game. In other games, I’d want to fight all the bosses–even the optional ones. In this game, I started out the same way. I’m roughly halfway into the game, however, and my mindset is much more, “Let me run by this boss and never speak of them again.”
I currently have ten or a dozen field bosses I haven’t fought yet. Plus, a main boss I didn’t know was a main boss because he wasn’t a boss when I first met him. And he technically is not a boss right now. Not really. But I have to fight him at least a little bit. And he can one-shot me in a tiny arena.
7. Item/material gathering. I hate the system of getting flasks in this game. Or rather, more sips of each flask. I still like Dark Souls the best for the way it upgraded your Estus Flask. You started with five per bonfire. You could use two humanities, one to reverse hollowing and then another to kindle the bonfire. That gave you five extra flasks. If you sat at a bonfire with a Fire Keeper, you started with ten. Then, later, once you get the Rite of Kindling, you can kindle up to twenty estus per bonfire. In future games, you had to find estus shards to increase the Estus Flask.
In Elden Ring, it appears as if it’s going to be the last. You have the Flask of Crimson Tears (health/Estus Flask) and the Flask of Cerulean Tears (FP/mana/Ashen Estus Flask. You need a Golden Seed to upgrade your flasks. Well, for the first few. Then two. Then three. I’m currently on three. I have 12 flasks at the moment. I don’t know how many total are in the game. But I don’t like that you have to gallop around everywhere, looking for Erd Tree Saplings in order to get the seeds.
8. Unusable weapons/sorceries/incantations. One of the things touted about the game is how there are so many items to find. Which, true. But the problem is that of all the weapons/sorceries/incantations that I’ve found, I can’t use hardly any of the weapons and maybe a half of the sorceries/incantations.
This has been an issue in all the games. I pick up a really neat weapon, glance at it, see the red X, then put it away with a sigh. There are maybe three weapons I can use, which is dispiriting. “Oh, nice greatsword. Too bad I will never be able to use it.” Then I put it in my sack and never look at it again. I barely even glance at the weapons, to be honest.
I’m level 63 or so. I’m working on the Faith and I need to get my Intelligence up so I can use a specific sword, even though it’s been nerfed. I JUST got my Vigor up to 20 and my Endurance is 17 or 18. Halfway into the game, and I still feel so fragile. I may need to respec so I can actually feel like a god.
9. Not knowing where to go or what to do next. I don’t mind that there are several ways to go in the game–much. I do feel overwhelmed by choice from time to time, but for the most part, I’m OK with it (as long as I don’t think about it too hard). But there are times when I have absolutely no idea where to go or how to get through an seemingly impenetrable barrier. Right now, I’m trying to get to Leyndell, the Capital City, and I cannot for the life of me find the way to get there. When I read guides as to how to get there, I discover there are other things I need to do, even though technically, I should be able to get there now.
Yesterday, I discovered two whole new areas by basically stumbling over them. I knew they existed, but I hadn’t known how to get there before. I really am trying not to look up anything, but it’s impossible. I just saw a video of someone striking a wall repeatedly until it finally disappeared. Great. So hidden walls now need to be hit more than once?
Here’s the thing. I always get frustrated with From games as I play them. That’s part of the cycle for me. As I said, the games are not perfect, which means that I will feel like dumping the game once in a while. But even when I’m beefing with the game, I can’t stop thinking about it. Right now, I’m pondering the main boss I need to fight and one of the field bosses who got me several times yesterday. I jumped into the game to check something out, meaning to be in the game for only a few minutes. Two hours later, I shook myself out of a trance and exited the game.
This is still my game of the year thus far, and I adore it. I just wish it would love me back in return.