Yesterday, I used many words to build up my GOTY award. I left off the last post by talking about the map. It is a thing of beauty. I want a real-life version of it because it is magnificent. It was so elegantly done, I could not stop marveling over it. I loved how you only got to see the areas in which you had discovered. So at the very beginning, it was of a small area. Then, it just kept opening up as you discovered new territories.
And more. And even more. The map is huge. I have to laugh because before the game was released, I was pretty cautious about what I watched. I didn’t want spoilers. Yes, I know that it was just early areas, but still. And there was a minor brouhaha about Game Informer showing off bits of Liurnia with some people considering it too spoilery (including one dude who did not even watch GI’s video before lambasting it. Really. I’m being completely serious here).
In retrospect, that’s so laughable. Liurnia of the Lakes is the second major area of the game. You can go there first (you can go to half a dozen places right off the bat if you wish), but most people will take it on second.
The idea that it’s spoiling the game to see five minutes of this area is laughable. Still, however, I was glad that I did not watch that video until after I had played the game. Because, see, for me, if I’m going to play a game, I don’t watch the content until afterwards.
Side note: I was just reminded that I had been looking forward to Tunic (Andrew Shouldice) for ages. I tried the demo and idd not click with it, but put it down to it being a demo. I tried the actual game when it released and…yeah. I just did not click with the combat. There is a god mode, but why would I play it if I don’t like the combat? In addition, traversing the world was nearly impossible for me. I could not tell where I could go and where I couldn’t, and it was really frustrating to me. I’m sad about it because it’s supposed to be fantastic, but I just could not. I needed a map, which is not something I thought I would ever say. Every time I try to make myself play it, something inside me rebels. I really feel like I missed out on somethnig special, but I can’t make myself like something I don’t like.
Back to Elden Ring.
Unlike many reviewers, I did not give it a 10. I would not call it perfect, even without the jankiness that occurred on release. The issues I have with other From games (platforming, weird hitboxes, copy/paste bosses, dungeons, etc.) are definitely present here, and they could have cut out some of the filler.
The one thing I appreciate about From games is the level design. I know Miyazaki gets praised for it, but I don’t think it gets mentioned enough. His vision is fucking amazing and jaw-dropping. And before Elden Ring was released, I was worried that the open world aspect would dilute that.
Well, it has and it hasn’t. The legacy dungeons are still as amazing as ever. Once you got into Stormveil Castle or Raya Lucaria Academy, you think to yourself, “Oh, yeah. I’m in a FromSoft game. There’s that Miyazaki level design.” Even if he didn’t design them personally, his fingerprint is all over these areas. They are intricate and elaborate, and you can always find something new.
Let’s talk about Stormveil Castle–the first legacy dungeon. I feel fine talking about it because it’s so early on. If you just go the main route, you meet Margit, then after him, move through the castle and fight God….er….Godrick the Grafted. Those are the two main bosses in the area. You can also meet Nepheli Loux before summoning her to fight Godrick. Then, you can find her later in the Roundtable Hold. You can also find Sorcerer Rogier in the Roundaable Hold after you defeat Margit (I think) and find out more about him. And about the castle. In fact, there what I think is called a Root Monster in the basement. It’s pretty elaborate to find it, and I will admit that my first time through, I completely missed it. I looked something up later and found out that it existed, then went back to take care of it. At tahtt point, it was easy as pie. It was much more difficult in my second playthrough.
That’s not the only secret in the castle. There is a Crucible Knight tucked away in the very back of the castle. Outside the castle, I mean. You have to do a series of platforming (my FAVORITE part of any From game. That is sarcasm, by the way). I also found him way late in the game so he was easy by the time I reached him. If you meet him at the appropriate time, though, he would have been difficult.
That’s the gist of the whole game, really. If you find the thing on time, you’re toast. If you stumble upon it much later, then you’ll be fine. Of course, that means that you’re screwed in the last third no matter what.
Let’s talk Raya Lucaria for a hot sec. I’m not going to spoil much of it except–and this is a huge spoiler–there’s a whole second level I didn’t realize until much later. I needed to find a key to give to a guy (Thops, who has a great name), and I knew it was in Raya Luracia somewhere. I haden’t found it by the time I beat the big boss of the area. So, I did what I always did. I looked it up! It was…in a chandelier? On the second floor? That you reached by jumping a certain way???? What??
I went back and…holy shit. There was a whole different way I had never knew you could travel. That path wasn’t that long and it didn’t add a ton, but it was at least another hour–and I got the key for Thops! And I would never had known if I hadn’t looked it up.
That’s the thing with these games, by the way. It’s highly unlikely that you will find everything by yourself. If you’re not looking things up, you WILL miss shit. That’s just a given. It’s up to the individual to decide how much she wants to spoil the game for herself. I wil say that in Dark Souls III, there was a moment when I didn’t look something up. I made a choice to do the thing thta was new in the game–and I locked out an NPC’s questline. Permanently. The NPC I was most interested in. I was about a fourth into the game, and it was so irritating/devastating. I considered starting over, but I didn’t want to do that. I would just have to go on without my beloved, but that swung me into the ‘look shit up’ camp pretty hard.
In Elden Ring, I took my sweet time. I explored every inch I could find, and I still missed a few things. I can say with confidence that I probably saw more of the game than most people did in my 225+ hours, but there is at least one field boss I missed. Plus, as I said, I didn’t see a lot of the stuff at the time. And the NPC questlines were hit-and-miss for me. I saw the end results of them all, but that didn’t mean I saw every step along the way. And there is otill one thing I refused to do at all. In any of my playthroughs. I don’t even want to talk about it because it’s so abhorrent to me.
I have more to say, but that’s all for now. See you back tomorrow!