FromSoftware Video Game • Page 195

You gave it a hell of a run getting as far as you did, kudos. With a game the size of ER I think any challenge run like that is going to stop being fun when you get to that that endgame difficulty spike.

 

Yeah the difficulty gets wild, I'm at a point where I'm choosing between Maliketh or Malenia, and I think I can do Malenia and have fun with it, or at least the same experience I've had at an actual high level, but Maliketh is just 0 fun at RL1, it's as if the game is begging you to not play it 99% of the time with how much he's not in any sort of reasonable range. Placidusax felt pretty un-fun too but at least a BIT better.

Some fights like Fortissax and Mohg felt fantastic to play at RL1 but the burnout is very real and given how differently I have to play my builds to go between Maliketh and Malenia...I dunno, I just feel kinda done, and I'm itching to do a randomizer run but haven't been comfortable doing a mod until I'm done with this RL1 run so I feel like I've been pushing through just to get to that and it's exhausted me.

 

Doesn't feel like a sunk cost though, I feel like the experience of level 1 is gonna be GREAT for a randomizer cuz I can do some really cursed builds and not worry about vigor as much just out of principle of experimentation

 

I would love to be able to do randomizers, I think they are the best way to change a game up in a fun way and they always lead to humorous/ridiculous shit all the time. The grind of big challenges like RL1 runs and speed runs always ends up feeling like work and not entertainment.

 

What’s a RL1 run?

 

You start as a level 1 wretch and never level your character, anything else goes (but people sometimes/often add to the challenge in different ways) but your character has to stay at level 1

 

I can imagine how that would become tedious for ER which definitely has a clumsy difficulty incline compared to the others. I've had a lot of fun roleplaying characters and finding different ways to cheese the game but if I was spending most of my time trying to master the ridiculous delays and colorful bullshit it would pretty quickly sap my enjoyment.

 

Fucking Dustin is a fucking hero.

That's all I have to add.

 

This made me smile

 

https://www.ign.com/articles/official-elden-ring-manga-comedy

 

RIP

 

Just beat Radahn and am now in Nokron. Game has been clicking a lot more for me lately after a slow start. Caelid is hell, especially accidentally stumbling into Dragon Barrow

 

Caelid is less intimidating than it looks IMO so don't worry about it too much. Except for the scarlet rot dragon, you want to stay away from that thing, and probably stay away from the middle of the big red swamp too. Avoid the aforementioned Dragonbarrow of course, don't go to Radahn's castle, and definitely steer clear of the Bestial Sanctum in the North East. Oh, and you want to avoid the two Minor Erdtrees and the Divine Tower for sure, plus do not get stuck in the Gael Tunnel at too low a level, and basically do not go anywhere at Nighttime. Other than that you should be fine

 

Me: I should go in Sellia Tunnel since the randomizer won't have any pests in it
Randomizer: *puts invisible assassins and runebears in tunnel*

 

Made my way to Leyndell. Cruising through so far. Really enjoying it, but I do miss the more connected world/shortcut fun of the other games in the series.

 

I just learned about the "get Radahn to chase you" trick and my mind is blown, I wish I would've known that way earlier

Tldr if you are unaware (but you probably are aware cuz I live under a rock) if you run away from Radahn at the start of the fight instead of at him, he shoots to the side instead of towards you and then starts riding to you (at which time you can start running towards him again), which makes the run up SO much shorter

 

I wasn't aware, I just Leeroy Jenkinsed him, like a champion.

 

Same but damn it coulda saved a LOT of time on the RL1 tries

 

Finished my second playthrough power stancing with the bloodhound step and had so much more fun gameplay wise than the first go around. Perhaps I’m simply a casual but I vastly preferred feeling quick and agile over having to watch my character do somersaults all over the arena.

The only bits of the endgame that I didn’t enjoy were the branches of the Haligtree and bits of the snowfield. Otherwise what it lacked in novelty it made up for with my favorite boss fights of the game. Still perplexed somewhat by the negativity but I was likely carried by my build.

Gonna try to commit to Sekiro next as soon as I can figure out what the fuck enemies are doing in that game.

 

I got bored+motivated and picked up my level 1 run again. I beat Maliketh. I gotta say, Maliketh is a lot less fun on RL1, incredibly frustrating fight and one of the few times I've had deaths that have felt completely unavoidable. I don't hate him or anything, but before he was one of my favorites and now...I dunno. I'll have to think about it. I still love his design and lore and how cool his attacks look.

Up next...

 

I still think you're a champion, but this complaint is hilarious to me. "I can't believe they didn't design this boss around the insane limitations I've set for myself."

 

Hahahaha I mean I do think the complaint applies to other leveled builds as well, the hopping around nonstop impacts a TON of builds and the way windows are not telegraphed well. I think me being level 1 just shined a light on the flaws of the fight, because of the fact that when you're not level 1...it melts. Maliketh has never been too hard for me at any other level just because you get to ignore everything he's doing for the most part.

 

Malenia meanwhile feels the EXACT same between level 1 and my actual leveled character IMO and I'm gonna have to do a lot of work to get back up to snuff