I’m obsessed with Elden Ring. When I’m not playing, I’m watching videos of it. Of the earlier stuff, I mean. I’m not trying to be spoiled, but it’s hard to do. I really wish streamers/YouTubers wouldn’t put spoilers in the title of their videos, but I know that’s a lost cause. I’m pretty pleased at how little I’ve been spoiled, actually. I know that I have to avoid all videos if I want no spoilers, but I don’t feel the need to go that far.
I mentioned in the last post that I was feeling stuck everywhere I went. It’s still true. The main boss, ironically, feels the easiest of the bunch. Or rather, that he’s not as difficult as I thought he’d be. That’s not to say he’s easy, mind you, but he’s not Nameless King hard. Then again, it’s early doors in the game, even though I’ve put in over forty hours.
The problem I was worried about before the game came out, however, has come to fruition. With so much to do, I’m not doing any of the main storyline. Which is fine to a certain extent because part of the joy of the game is exploring in the game. However, I do want to make progress in the main storyline as well, which should be the meat and potatoes of any From game.
But I’m going soft. What I mean is that when I play a FromSoft game, I have a certain mindset that I need to adapt when I fight a boss. It’s called, “Fight the damn boss, Hong” and it’s me, indeed, fighting the damn boss over and over again. I’ve learned to keep it to about an hour at a time in order not to go nuts, but when I’m fighting a boss, I’m fighting a boss. I may do some light (or heavy) grinding, but for the most part, I fight the damn boss. When I had a boss and three mini-bosses to simultaneously fight in Sekiro, I didn’t like that at all.
I need to be able to focus on one thing without being distracted by other things. Here, it’s too easy to fight a boss three or four times and then shrug my shoulders and do something else. With the first boss of the first legacy dungeon, I was able to buckle down and fight him until I beat him. With the second boss of the first legacy, I am having a harder time doing that. I did one solo try with my wolves and got him down by a third. I called in the NPC to see his moves (again, I think it costs me nothing to summon NPCS, which is weird) and we’ve gotten him down to a third of his health (I summoned my wolves after the NPC died). But I didn’t fight him at all yesterday so I’m going to buckle down and beat him today–after my Taiji class.
One problem I’m having is with looking up hints and tips about things without spoiling everything about that particular quest. There’s an NPC who does a certain thing every time you talk to her. I knew that she would do something else eventually because that’s how these things work in FromSoft games. Then, I heard a spoiler about what the next thing she did should be, but could not prock it. I did a quick Google and found what I needed, but also a massive spoiler about her questline and another. I was mad, but mostly at myself. I knew that was a risk when I first looked up what to do with her.
Here’s the thing. NPC questlines are really esoteric and obtuse. I’m fine with that for the most part, but in a game as big as this one, it can be so easy to miss a step or go too far and not be able to advance a questline (I’m assuming that can happen at some point). So I want to make sure I don’t miss anything, but I don’t want to spoil myself, either. It’s a fine line to dance over and I messed it up already. I know, however, that it’s just going to be that way in this game. I have to accept that I have to make a choice–ensure I do the questlines and maybe spoil myself or don’t spoil myself and maybe mess up the questlines. In the end, I’m going to do the former. I want to do the questlines properly.
Here’s another thing. Am I going to play the game more than once? Probably. But I’m not as sure about it as I would be for a Souls game. Specifically Souls in this case. I’ve played each of them at least a dozen times and I currently have two games going in DS III–one on my laptop and one on my desktop.
It’s been a long time since I’ve played a new From game; Sekiro was in 2019. Then the pandemic hit and all things went to hell. So it’s been three years since I’ve had to play a new From game and this one is way more Souls than Sekiro. Granted, I play Dark Souls III all the time, but while this game is rooted in Souls, it’s not the same.
I will say that I’m making the mistake I always make with these games–I’m spreading my points out. It is better to focus on one or two stats in addition to health and endurance whereas I tend to think, “Oh, I need levels in Faith to use my Pyros. And a few in Intelligence because I want to be able to use sorceries. That means levels in Mind because I need more Focus Points. But Strength!!! I want to be able to smack things in the face as well.
Which leads me to another issue with the way I level up–I can’t use any of the weapons I’ve found or now can create because–oh hell. I’ll just say it. I killed the boss I thought was going to take me all afternoon. I killed him in three or four real tries because I decided to call in the NPC and my jellyfish (the boss is apparently weak to poison). I also leveled up my sword two or three times as well as my finger seal (talisman) and staff. I also leveled up my spirit summons. In other words, I got beefy for the fight after fighting the boss a few times.
I didn’t feel great about it, but look. This boss is the second main story boss, but more like the sixth or seventh boss in Dark Souls III. I feel like the bosses have been souped up in part because of the spirit summons and the NPC summons in front of each boss in the first legacy dungeon. This boss could summon the wind and lightning, and in his second phase, used a fucking dragon’s head to breathe fire all over the arena. So, yeah. I’m going to use whatever is at my disposal.
I know it’s ok because it’s in the game, but it’s really not how I prefer to play. I like soloing the bosses, but that doesn’t really seem to be encouraged in this game. In addition, I was done with the first legacy dungeon and wanted to get on with it. A whole bunch of shit unlocked once I beat the boss, which made me wish I had finished the legacy dungeon earlier. It’s like the prologue to a story and now I can properly dig into the meat of the novel. There is so much I can do now, but the next area is one I’ve already been in.
There’s something about the new area that is escaping me because it shouldn’t be as hard as it is. There are enemies in it that one-shot me. That asshole NPC I’ve been fighting several times to no avail is in that area. She can one-shot me as well. Maybe I’m not meant to fight them? But that doesn’t make much sense, given that they’re the second area. I keep feeling like I’m missing something, but I’m not sure what. I haven’t found any good armors, either–not that I could wear any of them (see previous paragraphs about how I level up). I need four more levels in Mind to use the spirit summons I just got. I need 10 or 15 levels in Faith to use a Pyromancy I received from one of those gaol duels. The very cool grafted greatsword I got from a field boss takes something like 30 Strength and 18 Dex. I am nowhere near any of those numbers. Let’s not mention that I need more Vigor, Endurance, and…Endurance. I need tons of Endurance. In other words, I need to level up everything. So I’m spread out thin, which means I’m not great at any one thing.
Every time I get a weapon, I glance at it, say, “Oh, cool. Another weapon I’ll never be able to use) and never think about it again. All the choices in the world and I still have red Xs for 90% of the equipment I find. What fun.
I’m actually contemplating starting over, as outlandish as that may be. I know that there’s an ability to respec in the game, but I haven’t found the item yet. I’m still enjoying the game, but I’m feeling my usual “I suck at this” feeling that always happens when I play a new From game.I’m heading into the new area (after roaming around for a bit, probably). We’ll see if it clicks at any given point.