I'm just not feeling Elden Ring. Everything just feels disconnected and weird. The NPC quests and content are so convoluted and confusing I have no clue how you're supposed to finish them without a wiki. It's like Fallout 2 quests, but even more confusing. The game points me in the directions of areas I'm obviously under leveled for. So I end up wandering around looking for places to do stuff and level up in. Adding on to this I always feel like I'm in the wrong area at the right time, I always feel under leveled or over leveled. A bunch of areas are really hard to find too, especially caves. Some are easy to find becasue they're marked on the map even before you discover them, but I have no clue how I was supposed to find Boc's cave. Exploration is only hurt by the fact that the world just feels dead, there's hardly anyone to talk to in the world. And the few people there are barely talk to you and then die. Then there's leveling. With how little leveling combat skills does for your damage and how much damage enemies do to you it feels like you're meant to only get your combat skills to the point you're able to wield your weapon and put the rest in vigor. And don't even get me started on smithing stones.

Dark Souls (the first one) just felt so much better. The game does a good job of pointing you in the right direction and the exploration there is felt so much more rewarding. Of course this kinda breaks down in the second half but even that felt better than Elden Ring to me. People say Dark Souls is janky but Elden Ring feels much more janky to me. Dark Souls felt so much more intentional and "tight" if that makes sense.

cont.

>>715324418 (OP)
cont.

I don't know maybe I just don't like open worlds and exploration. I did like New Vegas though. But that game does a good job of pointing you in a direction and making you feel like you have a mission. I think every location in that game had a quest tied to it, and I don't get the same vibe from Elden Ring. Not only that but despite being set in a nuclear wasteland the world just felt more alive, it felt like a place inhabited by real living people. Who are the traveling merchants in Elden Ring selling stuff to? The soldiers who attack everyone? The chimpanzees? The wandering zombies? I'm getting nitpicky now but this game is just frustrating.

And before anyone accuses me of being bad at the game, it's really not too hard. If somewhere is too difficult I can just go elsewhere to get stronger, but that just feels lame to me.

Thoughts?

>>715324418 (OP)
Fuck off and play fortnite.

>>715324985
Riveting response. You obviously read my post.

some people want more direction. its whatever, just dont be one of those retards who looks up every item you want on the wiki then complains "exploration is boring"

>>715324418 (OP)
>I have no clue how you're supposed to finish them without a wiki.
I have bad news for you: but the game's designer and directors literally made this game with the idea to force the player to look information on the Internet or metagame using online notes. So despite being sold as a single-player experience, there's a big asterisk at souls game being one. Especially Elden Ring. And if you think this gets better I have bad news, but the beginning of the game is supposed to be the best part and the DLC is even worse (it has mixed reviews on Steam). The exploration in Souls game is a fucking meme and they're barely RPGs because everything depends on you rolling 50 times a day.

>>715324418 (OP)
Yeah I got tired of having to refer to guides since I didn't qant to miss things. It really ruined my fun yet if I went without them then I would've spent who knows how long without doing quests for my wife Ranni so it's a dilemma
Then, by the time I was halfway through the game I was bored to death because of having to constantly use a guide so then I just finished the rest blind and never went back to the game lol
Sekiro and Bloodborne are far better than both the main souls series and Elden Ring, open world just sucks ass. Armored Core is a completely different genre and is also infinitely more fun than this shit

>>715324428
Most of the game is easy as fuck and even the bosses only give a VERY brief difficulty spike yeah. I had a wayyyyy harder time in DS2, DS3, BB and Sekiro....
Whenever I wanted to discuss the game on /vg/ it was immediately apparent to me that for whatever reason Souls games attract retarded teens shiflinging over their egos. The people mocked in mass in classic OnlyAfro shitposts are now the most vocal voices here. During the site hack though, infinity chan was pretty nice to talk to.

>>715324418 (OP)
You do know that nearly all the people who have played ED had to go on youtube for tutorials and maps? Hell, I ended up in a location where I had to fight overpowered enemies, and when I defeated the boss, it turns out I had skipped the early areas, and I simply 1 shot everything. It was incredibly unbalanced.
Open world games are a meme, I just wish I knew why so many of them are being churned out.

The real game is the wiki.

>>715326341
>I just wish I knew why so many of them are being churned out.
It's what shareholders are demanding. Every big company just bends over for them now.

>>715324418 (OP)
>I'm just not feeling Elden Ring. Everything just feels disconnected and weird.
everything is connected. it feels weird because you refuse to learn about the world
>The NPC quests and content are so convoluted and confusing I have no clue how you're supposed to finish them without a wiki.
quests in ER are designed for narrative purposes. in a normal MMORPG quest, you have a set of instructions, there's no surprise factor. in ER, you feel like you are an adventurer that finds his fellow adventurers by chance while he travels through the world, both with different purposes. it gives you a genuine feeling of an adventurer.
>The game points me in the directions of areas I'm obviously under leveled for. So I end up wandering around looking for places to do stuff and level up in. Adding on to this I always feel like I'm in the wrong area at the right time, I always feel under leveled or over leveled.
intended experience. you're not supposed to fit in every place, the game gives you an organic feeling of strength or hopelessness by not handholding you on your development as a warrior. it also makes the challenge varied, increasing the surprise factor when you encounter something hard.
>A bunch of areas are really hard to find too, especially caves. Some are easy to find becasue they're marked on the map even before you discover them, but I have no clue how I was supposed to find Boc's cave.
also intended, adding to the surprise factor and uniqueness of each playthrough, as explained above
>Exploration is only hurt by the fact that the world just feels dead, there's hardly anyone to talk to in the world. And the few people there are barely talk to you and then die.
you don't need people to feel like you're exploring, that's npc behavior
>Then there's leveling. With how little leveling combat skills does for your damage
leveling was made to gate you from handling all weapons on a single playthrough, it's an RPG tool to force you to make a unique character

Dark Souls is still the best out of all of them. Amazing atmosphere, world building makes you feel like you're just some nobody on an adventure, combat is weighty and satisfying- it really just is the total package.

Elden Ring is good, but it's so much different in scope and gameplay that it could hardly even be considering the same genre, honestly. Part of what made Demon's Souls and Dark Souls so unforgettable is that they were bleak stories unfolding in a completely oppressive world that's been decaying for years. Elden Ring, while great in it's own ways, just doesn't feel the same way for me. It doesn't hurt having a bunch of copy-pasted bosses, dungeons, and enemies.

>>715324418 (OP)
>Dark Souls (the first one) just felt so much better.

Ok, this got to be bait

>I had to use a wiki so EVERYONE used a wiki
Name a more common /v/ fallacy.

>>715324418 (OP)
You are just brown

>>715326591
>quests in ER are designed for narrative purposes. in a normal MMORPG quest, you have a set of instructions

What narrative? I barely understand what's going on. And the instructions are either
>go get this item (no info on where to get it)
or
>go to this location and get me an item (no information on what the item is)

>you don't need people to feel like you're exploring, that's npc behavior
Wanting to feel like you're exploring a lived in world is npc behavior?

>leveling was made to gate you from handling all weapons on a single playthrough, it's an RPG tool to force you to make a unique character

Yeah but it narrows it down to "builds that use this weapon type" or "builds that use this other weapon type". Forsaking health in favor of leveling a combat skill in DS1 felt worth it becasue it produced a noticeable difference in damage.

>>715327025
I feel like I'm being punished for not using it. There was a sorcerer guy in roundtable hold that just died and I have no clue why, I found no triggers for his quest.

>>715325802
>the beginning of the game is supposed to be the best part and the DLC is even worse
Yeah the game falls off a cliff after Stormveil

>>715327296
You are not the target audience for this game. A sorcerer dying should feed your curiosity, not make you anxious because you "failed a quest".

>>715324418 (OP)
I agree OP, this game is absolutely amazing. Right now I’m at Mohgwyn Palace and loving every minute. Idk if I should get the dlc though, as I don’t know if the difficulty is frustrating or outright punishing.

>>715327487
Curiosity about what? No one in the hold acknowledged it happened, a dude just died, no note no nothing.

Also at one point a dude in the hold attacked me, when I confronted his boss about it he just said "whoops sorry about that, he got ahead of himself" no clue why the fucker attacked me but he's dead now. Shit just happens for no particular reason and no one acknowledges it in any real way.

>>715327649
Do you want to play a collectathon in an unnecessarily large and confusing map just to maybe not get one shot by everything? Then you will love the DLC

>>715327649
the DLC is kino and probably the greatest single player expansion ever. The only negative to it is the ending is abrupt and disappointing.
don't listen to /v/ in regards to SotE as the DLC filtered so many of them and they refused to git gud.

>>715327747
>>715327834
Hmmm..

>>715327649
Wish I could play the DLC, but I am banned from PS store

>>715327487
Yes i was very curious and sadly i still have no idea what happen
I started a game check on wiki where is my fucking greastword, i run without horse i did not knew i can get it later XD

>>715327487
Smartest fromdrone.

>>715327296
>I feel like I'm being punished for not using it
No you're just a spoilt zoomer. You need a min maxed build. You need to have everything spelt out for you. You need to be told where to go and what to do. You need the yellow paint.

>>715327834
Okay, you’ve convinced me. I just got the dlc and will be trying it out soon.

>>715328052
If you rely on rolling as your only defensive tool you will be punished extremely hard in the DLC.

>>715324418 (OP)
>Everything just feels disconnected and weird
That's just every single Fromsoft game. Most overrated PoS trash company ever. FuKKK "souls" games, and FUKKK everyone who glazes them.

>>715327834
>refused to get good
Yeah, spamming jumping attacks against enemies whose only real difference from the base game are twice as long attack strings, twice as much damage, and twice as long health bars is SUPER BASED and EPIC

>>715328051
It's a massive world with no clear lines between quest triggers. How much free time do you have where you can just walk around the game world looking through caves with nothing interesting in them?

It's fucking Skyrim all over again, an uninteresting game world that just feels unconnected full of copy paste dungeons, but this time it has "hard" bosses that you can cheese with tolls the game shoves in your face. And don't tell me I'm not supposed to use these tools. If the game shoves a tool in your face that you're not supposed to use that's just bad fucking game design.

>>715328158
The first half of DS1 felt very connected. It's one of the coolest game maps I've ever seen.

>>715324418 (OP)
ER is for screenshots only.

>>715325802
no they didn't faggot

>>715328408
Nobody gives a shit about your garbage games fromslopper.

>>715328487
Miyazaki literally told in an interview he makes all these maps expecting for people to go on Internet and discover everything there. That's why map design is atrocious.

>>715328354
>How much free time do you have
Why you're going to speedrun the game and throw it in the bin to consume next game right?

>>715324418 (OP)
It's just open world Dark Souls 4. Beyond madness, the waifus and porn there's very little content in ER that's engaging or interesting. The fact that From just farted out a spinoff to this and Bloodborne is proof they're just gonna make wholly non-unique clones of the IPs they work on.

>>715328604
I'm not going to look at the same fucking grassy hills for 10 hours.

I've just finished the capital and I have about 40 hours in the game DS1 took me the same time to beat. The difference is that this game hasn't gotten good yet. The fist bit was fun, but it's starting to feel like the same shit over and over.

>>715325802
>everything depends on you rolling 50 times a day.
git gud

>>715328728
Go play DS1

>>715328602
>literally told in an interview
Learn English. And no, he didn't.

>>715328841
Fucking butthurt fromdrone.

>>715328672
How is madness interesting? DS1 did not have it and it was great

>>715328938
you're brown

>>715327834
Japanese are better at games than Americans btw.

>>715324418 (OP)
You lost, nigger

Why is elden ring hate so... forced?

>>715328465
You are the guy that got filtered by Morgott, right?

>>715329632
nope

>>715329606
Who forced half of Japanese players to rate SotE as a bad game?

>>715329582
Nigger it's the first image that pops up when you search elden ring. I literally just downloaded it, by the looks of it a bunch of other people did too.

>>715329693
Yes you are. I remember your screenshots now. You specifically admitted dropping the game at Leyndell out of frustration and refused to post your gameplay webms

I just don't like that it's impossible to learn the whole map. I memorized everything in Souls 1, 3, Seikiro, and Bloodborne. Elden is simply too large for me to memorize the whole map. And because it's impossible to memorize the whole thing, you have to just waste time running around like a retard

>>715329720
>he's so retarded nobody has bothered to repost your his or use his argument
By your logic we should all be playing idolmaster and love live since the japs love that shit.

>>715329742
>Nigger it's the first image that pops up when you search elden ring. I literally just downloaded it
Nope

>>715329781
lmao obsessed

>>715328841
>"We made a game where rather than [giving players] a simple Game Over, we make them come back to an ephemeral existence as a phantom with less health, and this encourages people to co-operate in multiplayer. A darker existence as a Black Phantom has an even stronger incentive. Because you can both co-operate and aggravate through the unique multiplayer system, even if 100 players are role-playing, they will all have different experiences. Whether you behave as friend or foe is down to a person's character."
https://www.eurogamer.net/souls-survivor?page=3

The game is made around the multiplayer system.

>>715329959
nta but

>having a functional memory
>obsessed

>>715329959
>Obsessed
>After seething for 2 years over a game

>>715330148
>remembering specific posts from a year ago
thats autistic obsession, my friend.

It's hilarious how Elden Ring is such a shitter filter that attracted constantly the most disingenuous posters for years causing eternal mindbreak.

>>715330060
That isn't even close to what you said, Ranjesh. Nice try though.

>>715329935
Different filename retard. You fuckers will do anything but interact with the actual content of a post.

>>715330253
Post your gameplay, spineless faggot
Posting video evidence of yourself playing should be mandatory for anyone criticizing any game

>>715330354
>Different filename
Nope

Elden mid...worst game Fromsoft has ever made...

>>715330376
someone criticizing your favorite game isn't a personal attack, bro.
take a chill pill.

>>715329582
>>715329935
there's nothing more reddit than scouring the archive lmao

>>715324418 (OP)
it's hard to come back to this game after having played lies of p and nioh 2

>>715330447
Why do you keep deflecting? Post your gameplay

Why is elden ring hate so... forced?

>>715330549
why is elden ring love so... manufactured?

>>715330253
Hey I'm not gonna defend the guy I personally dont remember your posts, but just saying there's nothing obsessed with just remembering some shit from like only 2 years ago kek

>>715330549
Being contrarian is the only way they can get attention

>>715324428
>>715324418 (OP)
The real reason is simply that none of the "side quests" are actually side quests. They're just happenings in the world.
You find a goblin guy that was bullied and turned into a tree. He goes on to die in a cave by himself. That has nothing to do with you, just keep following the grace. But if you happen to stumble into that cave, you can rescue him, I guess. He would have died otherwise.
You meet a wizard and stormveil castle that says he's there to investigate something. And after you beat the boss he tells you that he found what he was looking. And then he turns to stone for no reason. Damn, sucks to be him. Keep following the grace, you have your own things to worry about. Oh but if you went to the bottom of the castle, you can find the deathroot that cursed him, I guess.
Some weird skull face guy attacks you in the hold after you find half a key in a ransacked town? That's weird, what's his deal? His boss apologizes and says don't mind. Oh well, you killed him already back to your own quest.

They are just supposed to feel like things happening in the world around you to make it feel alive. But to make multiple playthroughs more interesting, since you know what's going to happen, you are able to influence them if you are there when they happen.

>>715330549
It's a game based on animation tells and committment and automatically filters the shitter, sometimes even with crutches like spirit ashes (that shitters also hate using because it's humiliating ritual)

>>715326526
back to re7ddit retard

>>715330826
>nothing has a deeper meaning, it's just stuff happening

That's shit storytelling.

>>715325265
He obviously didn't and it was apparent within the first sentence that this was the correct move. /v/ is not your blog, fuck off.

They were phoning it in with the story/lore and characters, the Zanzibart factor is insane, the amount of copy pasting is atrocious, the catacombs and mines and 70% of the open world are all worthless filler, the NPC quests are the worst they have ever been.
The bosses all have super fast 50 hit combos with AOE attacks and delayed bullshit sprinkled in there, they can turn on a dime in a split second and all behave like your character isn't tied to rigid Souls mechanics.
If you're a completionist the shitty platforming is what's going to cause 80% of your deaths. No idea why they shoehorn that garbage in the game. No one finds it fun.
The camera is still fucking worthless against giant enemies, which, surprise surprise, make up a lot of the more difficult ones.

It's just nowhere near as good as Dark Souls or Bloodborne. I even liked Demon's Souls and Dark Souls 3 more than this. Aesthetics are peak though, not gonna lie.

>>715331152
Who said anything about stories? Go read a book

>>715331154
Oh I get it, I'm not supposed to discuss video games on the video game discussion image board, I'm supposed to post coomerbait and bitch about black people and trannies.

Shut up retard. Me not liking a video game you like is not a personal attack on you.

>>715331449
You have to be trolling.

>>715331363
Git gud

>>715330826
You being retarded and not understanding the quests doesn't make them devoid of meaning

>>715330913
>It's a game based on animation tells and committment

>>715331152
Yeah. That's why I said that they're not really side quests. They're just background decoration so that it feels like you're not the only one doing things in the world. They're not part of the story.
You can investigate what happened and learn how it all went down. But in the end, that's all.
Your main quest is doing what Melina tells you to do, follow the grace, and figure out Marika's will.

>>715330913
>slip up for 0.1 seconds
>boss stunlocks you and takes 85% of your HP
HOLY EPIC BASED GITGUD MOMENT
BASED MIYAZAKI IS A BASED GOD
PREPARE TO DIE
HARDEST GAME EVER
GIT. LE. GUD.

I think I was overleveled when I fought Radhn. I beat him on my second try. I was expecting an absolutely grueling fight considering all the hype

>>715331723
>>715331723
I didn't say they were devoid of meaning, I said the reason the game doesn't explicitly tell you what to do is because the intent of them were to make the world feel alive. Everyone is doing something at the same time as you are. If you think that their missions align with yours, you can help them along the way and learn more about what's going on. But they aren't missions that are given to you as tasks to complete, they're people doing things that you can be involved with. Or you can just want to document and learn all the lore and history of the world, that's fine too.

>>715329959
man that is genuinely rizzful as hell too bad about those gay ass looking trees in the corner

>>715330324
From the interview you didn't bother to read
>It is, indeed, adversity that inspires co-operation in Demon's Souls, a game that doesn't think twice about killing you at a nanosecond's notice in horrible and creative ways. "Because Demon's Souls is a game with a lot of dying in it, surely that kind of fleeting cooperation should come out of all the death - 'We're all dead, so let's help each other out'," suggests Miyazaki.
And in other interview, when asked about the difficulty he said:
>1) Dont give up. Obstacles can be overcome through strategy and learning. The online elements will also be of great assistance.
But even leaving these interviews aside. The game comes with a message system and a summon system, which only purposes is for players to leave messages spoonfeeding the supposed "secrets" and "dangers" of the game. Unless, of course, you want to play completely offline like OP did. There's the summon system, which became a meme in Elden Ring with one e-celeb retard killing the most "difficult" boss of the game. I don't understand why this makes you rage and cry.

>>715329720
You have the ability to look at the negative reviews of the DLC in Japanese, and then use a translator to make them half-readable. Why don't you do your research if you care so much about what they think? I, personally, enjoyed the DLC and that's the only opinion that matters to me.

>>715327025
>I teleported between 50 graces and hunted for random npcs teleporting randomly to other locations to not miss on their quests after every boss because random bosses trigger quests
splendid, just because you love cocksucking bad game design doesn't mean everyone do.

>>715334074
>>I teleported between 50 graces and hunted for random npcs teleporting randomly to other locations to not miss on their quests after every boss because random bosses trigger quests

>>715327025
there's no way you did every sidequest on purpose. there's little to no direction at all

>>715332538
>I said the reason the game doesn't explicitly tell you what to do
It does though

>>715334074
>https://eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com/Game+Progress+Route
>ctrl+f "reload"
>33 hits

>>715334597
Imagine if Skyrim had this. You pick up some trinket from a cave, go back to Whiterun, talk to the trinket's owner, use fast travel to reload Whiterun, talk to the owner again to receive 500 gold. People would shit their pants.
But when the Japanese do it...

>>715332021
Git gud
>>715332259
>12 second telegraph
>Slip up

>>715334679
Imagine if you played any western game and the enemies re-appeared every time you died...

>>715334826
I don't have to imagine.

>>715334876
>NotAnRPG.jpg

>>715327169
>Forsaking health in favor of leveling a combat skill in DS1 felt worth it becasue it produced a noticeable difference in damage.
This is absolute bullshit, it's been a constant in every Souls game that weapon upgrade level gives you magnitudes more damage than a few points in the relevant damage skill will do. The only difference is that the other souls games are quite a bit easier so you can get away with being a vigorlet without suffering through build choice for much longer in those.

>>715335076
>any western game

>>715335078
>it's okay bro, you will notice the difference after putting 20 levels in STR

Skill issue

>>715333508
So where's the part about the map?

>>715334762
>Git gud
I accept your concession.

>>715330913
>is underleveled
>is using a weapon the boss is resistant to with an element it is immune to
>dies and rages for almost a minute
So this is the power of a pro streamer...

>>715324418 (OP)
>she's still seething 3 years later

>>715328341
>i have to spam jump attacks to win
>i didnt level skibidi fragments and complain about balance
skill issue

>>715324418 (OP)
It's a poorly designed game. There's not much more to it

I want to sex Mohg, lads. It was his turn, damnit! He could see it, clear as day, the coming of his dynasty... Moghwyn...

>>715324418 (OP)
I'm at Elphael now and reading some rants from 3 years ago. Do people really think that you have to beat every enemy in the game to truly beat it? The erdtree avatar in Elphael has a shit ton of hp, rot and is surrounded by soldiers in a small area. Conveniently, you have a backdoor leading to an arch that lets you safely go behind his back, right to the site of grace. Ever since DS1 I've treated these kinds of encounters like living obstacles, not really meant to be fought but now I see people malding about le shitty game design. Although to be fair to them it does look like the DS2 team took the reigns in that area with the ulcerated tree spirit in a tiny arena filled with rot or the royal revenant street on the ground level. Has the same "lololol you died xD. Fun? These games aren't about being fun bro, it's about your favourite streamer getting frustrated" energy.

How could Zanzibart allow this?

>>715340249
>Do people really think that you have to beat every enemy in the game to truly beat it?
Yes.
>Has the same "lololol you died xD. Fun? These games aren't about being fun bro, it's about your favourite streamer getting frustrated" energy.
Yes this is the mindset a lot of people come into elden ring with. They treat it like it's some personal deep challenge to overcome, that they would be lesser as a person if they faltered or "cheated" it.

I don't know why or when this started being a thing, but yeah it's totally antethetical to the entire point of this genre of game. Elden ring kicks your ass but also gives you plenty of ways to kick it back if you're inclinded to look for them, which it expects you to.

>>715340249
Only retards bitch about others gaming strats. These games are made for a casual audience. you can go through at lvl 1 and restart every time you die or you can play in ez-pz mode. it doesn't matter, its up to you. If something annoys you then feel free to skip it. I personally like cheesing enemys.
You arent fighting the enemys but fighting the developers, if they want to do annoying bullshit then its your god given right to break their AI, get guys stuck in walls, bait bosses off cliffs, whatever. Its win at all costs muahah

When the DLC came out I went in to fight PCR and got 1 shot with my mage build so I went and respec'd, put the fingerprint shield on and poked him to death with Mohg's spear. Im not going to beat my head off the wall for 50+ hours trying to learn delayed attacks and input reads.

Ichi Ni San, PCR. Enjoy your bleed, you fuck.

>>715324418 (OP)
An easy way to visualize NPC quests is to recognize that the NPCs can't teleport with Sites of Grace like the protagonist can. Every NPC has to travel on foot, and thus you have an idea of where they would have to go to progress their quest lines based on their goals.

>>715324418 (OP)
Ur too dumb for this game bro. Name games you enjoy.

>>715340889
mario kart world

>>715340532
>don't know why or when this started being a thing, but yeah it's totally antethetical to the entire point of this genre of game.
Probably as a hard attempt at course correction after DS2 had the exact opposite approach to the games and got such a poor reception. Same thing that spawned the absolutely retarded idea that these games are designed around 1v1 bosses.

>>715340835
Unfriendly reminder that the only reason that you're compelled to make posts like this is that deep down you know that you're a loser, and this is your attempt to rationalize those thoughts away.

>>715324418 (OP)
>I'm just not feeling Elden Ring. Everything just feels disconnected and weird.
Im going through the convergence mod and its alright. I beat the base game 15something times so far. Idk, I dont care for the story in the slightest except for a few select things and the story was always the draw to souls games for me. I still have no idea wtf is going on or whos doing what or why.

Why are all the invading outergods preestablished in the shadow realm with temples and shit? Like, adding them lessens their impact in the base game. they arent showing up due to Merika being all fucked up in the tree, they just were always here and hanging out. Why does Messmer have a snake eye? Is that snake a sentient being, is it him, is the snake wearing Messys skin like wtf? Is it related to Rykards snek? Did they touch tips??
If Radahns soul is piloting Mohg's corpse, did they shave his fur off and it turned out Mohg was really handsome and looked exactly like a young Redahn or did they do some plastic surgery on him?
Why is Godwyn's deathroot shit showing up in the lands of shadow even though that areas cut off from the main world?

>>715341198
Dont talk to me until you beat the game naked, barehanded and lvl 1. Until you do, anything you say is cope.

Elden ring, more than any other fromsoft game, would've greatly benefitted from a more direct storytelling because at this point Fromsoft's method of relaying the story has completely degenerated into a vague ass vomit of nothingburger hints that completely crashes the entire story and makes anything happening around you impossible to take seriously. DS1 and to a lesser extent DS3 didn't have this problem, Sekiro, AC6 and Bloodborne had fully fleshed out stories, but in ER they took legit fantastic foundation handed to them by Martin and just removed 90% of it. Terrible.

>>715330913
>raging this hard against an optional nothing fight
>on a mage which can just delete large enemies with shard spiral

>>715341497
>Bloodborne had fully fleshed out stories
Individual ones yes. When it came to the main story and lore the Old Hunters DLC was absolutely kino while the main game was full of crap like
>why is rom lying dead in the altar of despair with ebrietas (how did they transport her there anyway?)
>lmao Shinji just go home and don't think about it, our turbo-autistic fans will make something up and jerk off over it on youtube anyway
Easily the biggest offender in all of their games

>>715341497
100%
Idk, you used to be able to go through a few times and figure the story out but with ER im just confused :'c I have 0 sense of time also, did the shattering wars JUST happen before you woke up or was it thousands of years ago? What about all the DLC stuff. Have they been trying to wage a genocide on people that cant be killed because Marika removed the rune of death from the ring or did she just do that and everything went to shit? If the Rune of death is removed then why can people die? I know Godwyn got roasted in the night of black knives because they stole part of it but what happens to guys that arent killed with the rune, why do they die?

>>715342028
>trying to discern actual timelines in a fairytale realm

>>715342083
It works great in every other IP, even those that have time travel.

>>715325802
>metagame using online notes.
>Could this be DOG?
I stay in offline mode because I know the 100000 people who posted that by the turtle pope giggleshart every time they think about someone reading it.

>>715327169
>and put the rest in vigor
Heh, I think I've only put a single level in it so far and I'm roughly level 35. It is quite noticeable how quickly a lot of guys will fuck me up if I let them get hits, but I haven't yet felt the need to dump levels into it since I've got like 5 health flasks, the other buff potion, and enough armor and endurance to mitigate most of the damage.
I probably should actually start boosting it soon, though. Those fuckers in that area in the North East corner can one-shot me off my horse with their stupid sawblades on a stick.

>>715342719
time for dung

>>715341497
>have what could count as an exposition-bitch that travels with you in your game
>automatically appears at some of the first "major" bonfires
>only appears at like twelve more - out of about 200
>but only if you chose the option that now randomly appears in your menu - don't ask why she doesn't simply appear again on her own
>shit was so poorly done that they had to add a "NOTICE ME, SEMPAI" marker next to it

>>715342796
Try finger, but hole

>>715342782
those little dudes are great for farming early game. They also have cool looking hats

>>715341879
The petrified Rom is Rom's real body, she is projecting herself into the Lake of the Moon to keep the illusion going. This is the same as Micolash's body being petrified at the end of Yahar'ghul and him being alive in the Nightmare of Mensis. Rom also projects in the Chalice Dungeons to find things for the Choir.

>>715342028
>The Shattering
Is still ongoing, every faction is just in a stalemate.
>Shadow Realm
The soldiers are coping that Marika will free them if they continue fighting, but it won't happen. They're sealed inside along with all the things Marika doesn't want you to find (her cursed son, the origins of the Fingers, the Divine Gate, her own village...)
>Death
People fall to the ground but don't die.

>>715324418 (OP)
>>715324428
I finished ER but I used a map for guidance on where I should go.
Fuck open world slop that doesn't tell you shit.

>>715327169
Yea, a lot of the progress I made, or didn't make, was simply by roaming around. Pretty rare was I told where a thing could be. And entire quest lines were ended because I progressed something too far or didn't talk to X when they were in location Y before killing Z.

There was just a huge detachment from characters in the world, they were full blown NPCs who only served to sell me stuff and occasionally just disappear or die, for reasons.

You can trigger a cascade of events just from using a fucking lift (like I just had the medallions from exploring randomly), or killing demigods in a 'weird' order.

>>715343024
Yes, that's what i surmised too. Also that her body was hidden there by the choir to throw the wrench into Mensis' plans. My problem is that by thinking that out I'm one of the autists doing their fucking job. It's one thing to be oblique, another to throw scraps at you and expect you to glue some shitty headcanon out of them. That's why TOH was so good. Finally felt like the writers are actually engaged in the story
>chalice dungeons
All of the lore from that place is extremely hamfisted and I prefer to ignore it whenever I can

>>715343273
I've been having fun just bumbling around the map. It's a rather comfy game.

>>715330913
how does anyone die to these dragons this deep into the game?
you've fought dozens of them by this point, you still havent figured it out?

>>715337754
How do you know this on first contact?

>>715326341
Is this a open-world+level game? Imo that's a weird combo, I don't think openness and levels fit well together.

>>715343203
>People fall to the ground but don't die.
The bosses turn into sparkly dust and dont come back. Is it implied that after enough time they would reassemble or whats the deal with them?
>They're sealed inside along with all the things Marika doesn't want you to find
I mean, if the guys they are fighting can never die, along with them, wouldn't it of been a fruitless task from the beginning? Like, why would any of them go if they knew no one can actually die? If all that shits sealed off anyway and no one can escape why send anyone in the first place? I know her kid was cursed but why not send the guy alone.

Whats with his snake eye anyway? Is it an outer god trying to exert influence or does he just have a bad case of worms or wtf?

So much of the story doesnt make sense to me where as all the convoluted bullshit from DS/BB made total sense when you put it together. Its like im missing a huge chunk of the game or half the items or something when it comes to ER. No matter how many times I play through or how much I explore its like things just get more fucked up and confusing.

>>715343634
Tbf these ones have flames that come out of their feet and spread around which means their safe zones are no longer completely 100% safe.

>>715330310
Elden Ring is the greatest game ever conceived, thus making it an easy target to shitpost about so lonely brown /v nigger faggots can receive those (you)s and feel like they are heard and making their miserable favela life a bit more bearable.

>>715344374
>Elden Ring is the greatest game ever conceived,
It's just souls streamlined even more to bait normiefags in. At least from now has the money for actually decent passion projects

>>715344734
okay favela nigger, we heard you.

>>715344834
>favela nigger
But enough about elden ring's core fanbase

>>715343678
The dragon is clearly undead, so immune to freeze, and spits magic so it resists magic. He is underleveled because a teeny combo is enough to kill him despite being in full armor.

>>715343895
>The bosses turn into sparkly dust and dont come back.
That's just game mechanic, for example Godrick's severed head appears after his fight so that Gostoc can stomp in it. Or that you extract hearts from dragons even if their bodies disappear.
>the crusade
Because she wanted to seal those guys as well. They were her son's sympathizers, as well as other undesirables like Gaius, who was the proof that Albinaurics were once accepted in her armies instead of being outside the Order. And the Horsent may be unable to die, but they can be beaten into submission.
>Whats with his snake eye anyway?
Due to becoming God through the Gate of Divinity, Marika is a medium for the influence of outer gods and spirits, who keep cursing her children. Of course, the notion that Gods other than Marika exist is anthitetical to the GO, which is why she had him seal his power with a soreseal.
To make longer story short, Marika used all the things she could to become God and conquer the Lands Between, then censored and erased all traces of the things she wasn't okay with.

>>715324418 (OP)
You don't have to do the side quests. If you don't enjoy them, skip them. Not doing them is no different from them not existing.

>>715345704
What if you are interested in them, but since the game literally tells you nothing you just dont even know how to do them

>>715345510
Those were really good explanation's. Thank you

>>715324418 (OP)
>years last, plebs are still being filtered by Elden Ring

lmao, the GOAT

>>715345813
The essential steps for quests are usually placed in obvious spots. All quests have super forgiving point of no returns, some can even be completed after you beat the final boss (Ranni's entire questline).

Really? Im the only person here whos built for the B(ig)M(ohg)C(ock)? His horns are handsome, he lives in his moms basement, hes all mysterious and is in love with a little boy. That's like 99% of the posters here. Mohg pride, world wide! say it with me brothers.

>>715328052
Your level doesn't matter in the dlc. You level up by collecting "scadutree fragments". Good luck

>>715346383
I self insert as Mohg, i don't want to fuck him.

>>715331152
It's good actually

>>715346697
You HoMohg. Very based.

>>715346697
Im trying to RP as him in this convergence mod. I wish they had a hat that looked like his head.

Nightreign just feels like an extra fuck you in hindsight to real ER's online play because apparently it is possible to play it lag free but they just couldn't be assed to learn to netcode

>>715329862
Idolmaster is fucking amazing. Stay away from it faggot.

>>715341198
Sounds like deeply bitter projection to me

>>715324418 (OP)
Just tried this fight for like 5 times and now I see why people pee their panties over this boss. Hilariously spiteful design but for me it's not about her spastic blade dance move but the healing, even when you use a shield mixed with a big hp pool. Now that I need the needle, how do I cheese this whore, bros? I'm not going to waste my time on nailing her entire moveset. Didn't ever use the mimic shit as I consider this a boss skip, would it be good or would it just heal and pump her hp up?

>>715349782
She's genuinely one of if not the most fair boss in the game. The fact you can actually stagger her out of attacks is by itself a quality marking her leagues above the rest of the boss roster.

>>715349782
Shes susceptible to bleed and frost so variate between freezing and bleeding her. My suggestion would be get swarm of flys and whatever quick cast ice spell you can get and dont stop spamming it from range. If youre melee then ice, bleed, dodge and weave. she staggers easy phase 1 so jump attack spamming with bigger weapons usually does the trick for that.

I normally annihilate her with all types of magics but I fought that bitch like 200 times and know her like the back of my hand.

The mimic is bad for this fight because she will heal to full HP fighting it.