Now we’ve come to the part of my awards giving where I’m the most conflicted I’ve ever been. Here is yesterday’s post on Hades II (Supergiant Games), a game that reall yhad me conflicted. I felt really weird that I wasn’t more enthusiastic about the game, but I can only be honest–I prefer the oreginal. The sequel is an excellent game, but there is nothing new in it that blew me away. And, I preferred much of the original to the sequel.
That was hard, but today is even harder. I have had an ongoing schtick in which I bestow an award to FromSoft game every year, regardless of if they release a game that year or not. In a year in which they launch a game, it’s unheard of that I would not give that game the FromSoft award. Even if I could not play the game or it did not gel with me, it would automatically get the award.
Until this year.
Elden Ring Nightreign dropped this year. It used the assets from Elden Ring, but it was a standalone game. I knew from the trailer that it was not going to be my thing, but I hoped.
Why did I know it was not going to be my thing? Because it included everything I hate in a game. Multi-player, fast-paced, no time to stop and think, very little story and lore, and RNG for each run (sort of).
What do I love about FromSoft games? The exploration; the slow, deliberate pace; the gorgeous level design; the NPCs; and the feeling of overcoming difficulties. I have no qualms over-leveling if I can and making the boss fights as easy as possible.
I’m split on the boss fights themselves. Yes, the bosses are incredible and memorable, but From has been making them harder and harder over the years. I have known for several games that I will one day be not able to play one of their trademark hard-as-nails action adventure games, and we’re almost there.
I tried to like Nightreign; I really did. I put dozens of hours into it, playing the Recluse (the witch). I lucked out in that the first run I had was with two incredible randos, and we beat the first Night Lord (the big boss at the end of three days that is incredible hard. I mean, this one is the first one, so not as hard, but still).
That gave me a false sense of hope, and I did not come close to victory again for dozens of hours. I was mostly playing with randos because the people in the Discord are all PlayStation people and because I suck so badly, I felt bad playing with–well, anyone beacuse I was the one dragging everyone down. It did not help that the Recluse is the hardest character to play, well, one of them, anyway. The other character I liked (the Revenant) was considered difficult, too. Plus, unlocking her was a pain in the ass as well.
I kept playing beacuse I felt I *should* like it. Also, the bosses were supposed to be sick AF and some of the best bosses From has ever designed. The problem was that each run took about forty-five minutes before you even got to the Night Lord. Then, you died in two minutes, only to do it over again. One thing that the base game of Elden Ring did well was to eliminate boss runs for the most part–which is something most everyone agreed was a good thing.
There were some agonizing boss runs in the old games, and From got rid of them for Elden Ring. My guess is that they did this to make it more streamline for the masses, and I was glad they did it.
I hated the game. I’ll just say it. I hated that I could not play it, and I hated that they did not do a damn thing to make it at all accessible. I think that’s my biggest gripe with the game. All the things I could do in the other games to make them playable to some extent (some more than others) were stripped out of this game. I had always thought that From didn’t give a shit about accessibility, and it was made perfectly clear with this game just how little they cared.
I had optimistically bought the season pass or whatever it’s called for the game when it came out, which meant that when the DLC dropped. I got it automatically. I reinstalled the game to test out the new player characters (two of them) in the training area, marveled at how much I loved the skin I had bought for my Recluse, then uninstalled it immediately.
Given all that, I can’t in good conscience give the game an award. Instead, I’m going to wax poetic about the base Elden Ring, which I’m playing for the umpteenth time. I always have a From playthrough on the run. Ever since Elden Ring released in 2022, I’ve had a playthough of it on the run. Just to make it official
My FromSoft game of the year that is my ultimate comfort game and still manages to surprise me once in a while, no matter how well I think I know it
Elden Ring
This is my favorite FromSoft game, albeit only narrowly before Dark Souls III. I am currently doing a dex(ish) run because it’s the one build I never do–and the game is fresh to me once again. I have 45 Dex, 55 Vigor, and 35 End. I also have 25 Faith because apparently, I just can’t leave Faith alone. It goes like this.
“I might as well get Flame Cleanse me, which is 12 Faith”. I always get this incant because it’s so useful (it cures poisen and scarlet rot). “Great Heal is 15 and is, indeed, a great heal. Might as well!” That is quickly followed by, “That’s not far from 17, which is what I need for Lightning Spear.” Lightning Spear is an excellent journeyperson incantation, and I never leave home without it. “Flame Protect Me” is really good fire protection, and it’s only 24 Faith. Golden Vow is only one more from there.
I’m using Morgott’s Cursed Sword, fully upgraded, and it’s great! It really slices through enemies with ease, and I have found that using it plus a few incants has really dealt with most of the enemies easily. I’m much more aggressive with it, and with enough stamina to continually swing away, well, there’s not much that can stop me. Oh, and I have poise for days.
I’m in the DLC, and I was having a bit of trouble with Rellana. I got a human summon, but they weren’t very good. I called in Leda and Mini-Me. The first few times, I made Mimic use the seal, and we got her down to about a tenth left of Rellana’s health bar. After three or four runs like that, I switched Mini-Me to Morgott’s Cursed Sword along with me. Then, the three of us just got Rellana into a corner and sliced her to death in about two minutes.
It was the same with the Divine Beast. I was trying to be cute with incants while my two human summons did their thing. We got the lion down to about a fifth when they both died. I lasted about thirty seconds longer before dying. I switched to my Morgott’s Cursed Sword (thanks for the great weapon, BAE), called in Freja and Mini-Me. Again, I gave Mimic the blade, and we made very short work of the lion (after I got off one scarlet rot breath).
I have more to say, but this is the end for today.