Відео

I also find it strange that the human summons have unlimited poise and stamina sometimes! You make a good point that enemies getting staggered isn't just for the sake of difficulty, but also immersion. If the bosses react like you do, it makes them feel more real and less just like gamey obstacles that were put in your way. I think it'd make a big difference! Thank you for your thoughts :)

@@Eufuu no problem (-:

I'm with you that collecting stuff just isn't an engaging mechanic for me personally, but I do think scadutree fragments have a place in the game. I don't think the system is elegant, but I think it gets the job done. It just does it with a sledgehammer instead of a precision missile :D It would be cool if after you collect them once, you could hand-pick how many scadutree fragments you have before a particular boss. That'd be cool for challenge runs and customisation!

Thank you for reconsidering your thoughts and watching the video in full! I appreciate that :) The forced exploration comment was coming from someone who intrinsically LIKES exploring, I just like to do it at my own pace. The DLC felt like it had forced me to explore, but I'd rather have done it on my own terms, seeing what I wanted to see and engaging with what I wanted to engage instead of the game saying "yeah you gotta watch out bcus if you miss a scooby doo snack you're gonna suffer" (which might not have been true, but that's how it felt bcus of the message Fromsoft & others have put out). It's like.. I enjoy eating a muffin, but if someone tells me I have to do it, I'll enjoy it less, if that makes sense? I agree that the game clearly expresses that they are important, but I don't think it clearly expresses HOW important and impactful they are (especially after the change since it's non-linear now). I also agree that it's a good way to "reset" the player difficulty and basically give us all a fresh start regardless of skill level :) Personally, I didn't think it was too hard, my main point was that I think the game breaks immersion with some of its choices (mainly repetition) that makes it less fun, but not bad by any means! Thank you for your thoughts and for sharing your opinions!

I'm curious what encompasses "everything" or what you have in mind when you say that. Would you say the boss design is better overall? Exploration? Variety? Because these are the 3 points where I would say that the base game is better than the DLC. Of course it's mostly subjective, so I'm curious to hear your thoughts!

It's definitely not the "intended" way to play. It's an option to make them easier. You can tell the bosses are not designed around summoning because their AI goes absolutely retarded when more than one person is attacking them.

That's a good question! I do think that summoning is a default for many players, but there are still a few out there (like me) who enjoy playing the game without. Like the other commenter said, it's just a different game when you are playing without summons that demands a lot more from you and requires you to internalise the boss' moveset. That is fun to me, but I understand that other players enjoy a different kind of challenge, which is completely ok! Elden Ring tries to cater to both crowds and IMO bcus it walks the middle path, it kind of sacrifices a bit on both ends.

We had this conversation in another comment thread, but I agree with you on this one. It isn't guaranteed that a person will find the items necessary for infinite stones, my reaction was based on maxing out the weapon - which of course you don't need to do, but I tunnel visioned on it because in my mind it's either +25 or it's useless (bcus why would I play with something suboptimal). If I ever replay, I'll upgrade to +24 and save those precious ancient dragon stones for the really good weapons!

@Eufuu Juat make a weapon +24 and if you like it then make it +25 (or +10 if somber) I guess everyone can have their own opinion but the game is more like a 9 or 10. They found a way to challenge us again which is no small feat. My only complaint is how empty the finger ruins and the ceurulan coast are and how easy the mother of fingers was. The best bosses and dungeons in the whole series.

Yeah, see, that's the part that flew over my head due to my perfectionism (which is my own bias and not a fault of the game) because +24 is NOT optimal!! I liked the Cerulean coast a little empty, but I was severely disappointed with finger ruins - what a cool area for basically nothing :(

I still liked it! Elden Ring is one of my favourite games ever :) what do you think I didn't get?

Hey, I gather you disagree with what I've said, but I don't think I suck. Maybe if you elaborate, I'll change my mind 🤔

@@hex_gekko29568 lol god forbid someone voice their opinion on a game that they feel mostly positive about

I agree with a lot of your points. I think some things are just impossible to tackle - how do you balance hundreds of weapons and spells. You realistically can't, which really sucks if you want to use a certain weapon and still experience a power fantasy. I wanted to feel like a mighty kung fu monk, but instead my DLC experience was a designated fly swatter for big mean dragons :') (I enjoyed it, don't get me wrong, but it would've been cool if I could have gone HAM) There's nothing else to say about the performance issues though. I know game dev isn't easy, with ever tighter deadlines and larger scopes of project, the line is drawn - and people are willing to put up with unstable games for the sake of the overall experience. I don't enjoy this trajectory at all, I know this game has the potential to be optimised. I also understand it might not be financially viable for the studio to do so. I would be the happiest gamer if studios poured even more effort into make their games stable because there is nothing that reminds you that you're playing the game more (and preventing you to do so) as random fps drops, stutter and crashes. I heard that some PS5 players also had a ton of issues so it just seems to be a global problem at this point :/ Thank you for your thoughts!

Oh really, you also thought the main world was empty? Do you know any other game that you think had a good, full open world? I think in general I feel very hesitant of open worlds. They are spectacular, yes, and atmospheric - and maybe that's reason enough. But when I'm riding through the empty plains with nothing to interact, it really gets to me. I didn't mind it as much in Elden Ring, I don't think it was THAT bad, but in something like Starfield. Oh boy, running on the empty planets for quests made me want to rip my hair out :') I would agree that I'm finding it harder to replay Elden Ring compared to the other games they made, but tbh I'm not the type of person to replay anything so I don't have much say in the matter. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!!

Can you name an open world game that has more density?

If it was more dense it would be like a theme park lmao

@@jimbobu Elden Ring theme park when though???

I agree with you when it comes to assessing HOW people are playing the game. I don't think there are actually that many players (proportionally) who are looking to punish bosses and take advantage of all the windows. I see people complaining that the bosses offer "no" windows and that's just simply not true. It is true they are tighter and more punishing, sometimes they are even spaced apart beyond reason (imo), but there are plenty of ways to take advantage of bosses, especially with the improved moveset of the player. I think a part of the blame here lies on the messaging too then, because the game again doesn't make it clear HOW (or if) scadutree fragments are important, yet outside the game the general consensus was to "get more scoobydoo fragments". But I think the game also doesn't try to signal what the "right" way to play is. I think it's completely reasonable that if a player had fun and went through the base game using azur comet 1 shotting bosses as you say, that they would expect or wanted to continue playing in the way they found fun. There's still other cheese strategies, but I do think the DLC reduced the options for those players - while simultaneously increasing the barrier for players like us who enjoy learning the boss movesets etc. There's just a lot of nuance to unpack, I think every player's experience is so vastly different that it's hard to draw broad conclusions. I do think you are right in saying that a lot of people didn't engage in a way that would be fun for them OR in the way that the game is trying to show them how to engage (this goes both for players who intentionally struggle but can't make any headway on bosses as well as those who cheese and find the game unfun). In the end, we are the arbitrers of our fun, it's just up to the game if it can set the groundwork for us to maximise it. Thank you for your thoughts!! :)

@@Eufuu you brought up a group that is hardly mentioned and i even forgot about being those players that try to make it hard and then fail but don’t adapt. Overall great points

While I had little trouble following the story and plot of Dark Souls 1, 2, 3 and even Sekiro, Elden Ring's overarching plot was DEFINITELY lost on me. I think the reason lies in the fact that there are so many plots and threads that I never really unraveled, partially also because I knew because of the size of the world, I am inevitably going to miss some things. By the DLC, I was completely checked out and was here mostly for the sights and the visuals and of course the gameplay experience. I felt like I busted ass to try and find the scadutree fragments and also amassed about 15 levels :') Your point rings true, I hadn't really engaged with the story that much and if I had, I wonder if I would've had a way different experience or if that would be enough to offset some of my mechanical gripes with the game. They did not make Elden Ring's story an easy one to get into though lol Thanks for your opinion and I'm glad it hit all those high notes for you!

the natural transformation of any online gamer: 😀🙂😐☹😢😠😡🤬🍅

i mean i do think this take went in with the expectation of an all new experience rather than an expansion to an existing game, which the game is nothing more nothing less. Some points are valid, like a lot of the armors being underwhelming in stats (or even looks), a lot of weapons suck but theres a small handful that are stupidly op that everyone and their grandma will use. Repeat bosses is nothing new for the series this is such a tired complain I hate seeing, and of course you're going to have more in a game where the map is very large, dlc included.

After thinking about it for a bit, I think you're right! My expectation was that this is going to be an incredible expansion, but in my defense that's how the early game critics and journalists presented it. It was touted as "the world's best DLC", but it is very much more of the same (if not slightly worse) with all the Elden Ring's faults and successes. The pacing of the DLC is definitely different which is I think an objective critique on my part, but I'm not willing to concede my point about repetition. It's something that has bothered me in previous games and will continue to bother me. Is it reasonable that a game as large as Elden Ring will have repeats? of course, I'd probably include repeats too if I was making the game as large as this! But as a player, for me at least, it's one the most immersion breaking elements. I think my issue is not so much that the repeats are there, but that they don't feel very thought-out, which again feels like is because the studio was stretched thin due to the size of the game they were trying to make. Understandable of course, but still a bummer. If I could wave a magic wand I'd make the studio 10x bigger and make the game cost 10x less to make :))) We'd all win then!

@@ORLY911 I agree tbh. i personally loved the dlc, its always intersting to hear the perspective of others

Thank you!! I went pretty off-script and decided to keep it more "natural" so I'm glad it didn't come off too goofy :D

That being said 7/10 is a fair score

@@TheRealFlapSlapper Thanks for your comment and your follow-up. Just in general for even watching and considering my points :) I didn't really have any issue with the difficulty of the DLC, my hangup is more with the fact that I think the exploration isn't as engaging because of scadutree fragments. Now that you said it, maybe me thinking that finding scadutree fragments are tedious is me actually finding the overall exploration tedious. To some extent I would say that this is true because outside of a few areas, there was a lot of "dead ends" or things that I expected to be behind waterfalls for example, or the finger ruins etc. that felt very unrewarding. I still think I mind scadutree fragments because they felt very "distracting" to me, or rather, I hyperfocused on them because I knew there was a limited amount and because of how important they were to the overall progression - I was constantly worried that I was going to miss some, especially because my general approach with these games is that I don't tend to really collect EVERYTHING (one of my biggest pet peeves in gaming is random collectables). I agree with your point about larval tears, mostly because changing a build doesn't necessarily even constitute using a larval tear, but just using smithing stones and since there are an unlimited amount of those, you basically just need to find a different weapon and spend some time upgrading a few of them. A low barrier of entry, even if a little out of the way - I was just inherently stubborn in the way I was playing which means I experienced less of the fun stuff (mostly new weapons) than I could have. Thank you for your insights! Also about your note of difficulty, I think it would be cool if the difficulty ramped up a bit differently. The way I experienced it is that the lion and Renalla were by far the hardest bosses until Radahn, the bosses in between (outside of Bayle) were comparatively easier and more approachable. And since they are the first 2 bosses that most people encounter, I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that people are perceiving it to be more difficult than it is or if this is just a Fromsoft attempt to coax people into exploring the area for more fragments 🤔

Hey that's fair, if we were all right all the time, what fun would that be. What did you enjoy about the DLC the most? :D

@@Eufuu that it was more of the game I love The scale The quality But then I’ve played all their other dlc

@@herbg4866 Solid, I agree that the scale and quality was dope!

I am going in a completely different direction, but I think it would be even cool to have one central location where the big main boss is and then you are forced to go to each corner of the map where the other big bosses are. They would each increase your overall strength so you can fight the boss in the middle. That could've been so climactic if done well :D

Messmer, Rellana, Radahn, Shadowtree Avatar, Gaius, Liondancer, Midra, Bayle. More memorable bosses than both of thosd dlcs combined actually.

Ohh, your point about leveling the blessings down sounds like a very interesting one. Just in general I think Fromsoft could do more with giving players more ability to customise, not just their loadout, but also how we approach the game. Stuff like difficulty level scaling or umm those seeds from DS2 that "reset" the area into NG+, that was so dope. I think your point about not knowing what scadutree level you're EXPECTED to be is so valid and another reason why the game could benefit from a more concrete guide system maybe? I also agree that runes feel basically pointless which is a shame. It would be cool if we had a separate "shadowtree rune" currency and use that only in the shadow world. It could stack levels on top of our current ones and increase the difficulty more linearly without having to "guess" how many scadutree fragments you need. Just a few ideas! Thanks for sharing your view :)

Thank you for the kind and considered comment! I think it's important to remember that for every good experience there will be a bad one and vice versa. There's just so many things to account for!! TBH, I never liked collecting smithing stones, but at the very least you can buy them at some point and with that, the game makes sure you're never "too weak" to handle whatever difficulty level you are currently facing. Plus because there are way more to collect, they were a more common drop so I never felt like I had to really hunt them down. I think every boss fight has two distinct phases - the learning phase and the execution phase. I feel like if I had gotten through that learning phase better, I would've really enjoyed the execution phase because he does seem like a dynamic/fun boss fight. I think it's surprising (but also cool!) you view it as highly as Sekiro, but like yourself, I am glad you shared your opinion and I'm really glad that you enjoyed it so much :) here's to the next game being just as awesome!

Second phase of Consort Radahn is the farthest removed thing from intuitive. "tied with Sekiro for the best Soulslike" is crazy to be honest, but to each their own of course.

@@_ghostman what I meant about second phase Radahn is that the pillars of light specifically force you to dodge in the right direction for each type of sword swing. Since the light spawns at the edge of his blade, you can tell which way you must dodge by what type of swing you’re trying to avoid. This also forces you to be in the correct place to punish him. I think that Malenia and him are on similar tiers of difficulty but I much prefer his fight. He’s hyper aggressive like Godfrey, but still has frequent opportunities to punish due to some of his slower swings. It legitimately pains me that so many people beat him using great shield face-tanking because the boss is so clearly trying so hard to force you to fight him in the right and most fun way.

I think this positioning and position-based dodging is something relatively unique to Radahn. I don't think there's any boss where that's mandatory, so it makes sense to me that people, who aren't used to that, are resorting to using an easier method to beat him. 🤔

That's completely fair! What did you like about it the most?

Are you talking about the deathbirds or the ones that I have on my thumbnail? I assume you mean the deathbirds 🤔

Well, I didn't hate my experience or anything like that. In fact I still mostly enjoyed it (7/10 is still good, I think), but I definitely didn't enjoy it AS much as the base game, for example. Nor as much as the other games. I'm trying to see if maybe with a different mindset I could've enjoyed it more or if this is just a lost cause and maybe the DLC is fundamentally different to the base game. I feel like I SHOULD HAVE enjoyed it, but I didn't, and that's why I'm perplexed

I think your main counter is why I am so perplexed I didn't enjoy it. I expected it to be like the base game and I engaged with it in the same way I did with the base game - but my experience felt fundamentally different and less enjoyable. I think you also illustrate my point about scadutree fragments - in the DLC you have just the scadutree fragments, in the main game there were so many more things to "stumble" upon. I never felt like I was explicitly searching for golden seeds for example, I expected the game would provide me with a smattering of those if I was dilligent enough. I agree though that rewards are conditioned to my playstyle and just because I didn't find them rewarding doesn't mean they weren't. I was basing this off my completely subjective experience (whereas my point about exploration and how scadutree fragments make you feel on "edge" is a more objective one, at least in my mind). To expand on the boss fights, I think the major difficulty for me here is that a lot of bosses fall into the pattern of dodge, dodge, dodge, dodge, dodge, exploit an opening. Dodge, dodge, dodge, dodge... as in, the rhythm of the fight feels similar. Compared to something like scadutree avatar which has a fundamentally different rhythm with way more openings, but still feels like a challenging fight, I enjoyed it way more (also because of its twist on having 3 phases and also a story with how its using up more energy and getting worn down over time, that was super cool! :D) Thank you for your thoughts, I'll try to engage with the game a bit more on my next go around (or when the next one comes along) and try to at least internalise the rewards more. Use them, experiment etc. I think that would have helped a lot!

I think for me there are some very beautiful parts of the map, but other parts are like you said, the damn BIRDS (or other repeat enemies) that become an eyesore. It's that unpredictability that made me feel a little unsure. Am I going to find something really cool or just more of the same enemy after I beat this boss I've been struggling for 10 hours on. I think the DLC map is even more open. Apparently you can reach any boss (outside the gated bosses) from the start, but because of how convoluted it is, it also seems like those maps are a bit more hidden. I'm sure once people figure them out, pathing will become easier. I would agree with you about the map being more convoluted though. Pathing and finding ways was MUCH harder. Even when I knew where I wanted to go and even if I tried to take into account the geography, sometimes it's just not possible because the actual entrance is on completely other side of the map. It does add a bit of charm that way because the world feels more real, but navigating it was a pain. Especially because so much of it is just open "Nothingness" so you're supposed to be looking for every little corridor and that gets exhausting (at least it did for me). Thank you for your thoughts!! :)

I have a hard time commenting on the first point because I didn't use that many different weapons, but I think I saw that some of the new weapons are REALLY different. As in, they're not just reused skins with the same animations, but actually have different animations. Is maybe that why there's less new weapon types? I agree with kung fu weapons though, I wish there were more:( I wish Rellana had some sort of introduction too! She just kind of appeared and I was like oh I guess I gotta fight her "wait wtf why is she so fucking hard" lol I generally agree with you though. I think the design is obviously there, but it's missing that emotional punch of the base game. Something about it feels a little half-baked and I have a hard time putting my finger on it.

I agree alot with this. I think 8.5/10 as a lore nerd but your complaints I share

@@yjoltetepique8555 I would have given it 8-8.5/10 if they made more new weapons of the new weapon types and also the fact that 5 of the 8 weapon types are below average in terms of effectiveness. If they were planning on making so few of them, then they shouldn’t have advertised them so much, made us think that they were a big focal point in the dlc and they should have kept them as surprise.

@@bruh7170 I can fully agree. When i found out they added new weapons types and over 100 weapons i figured atleast 30 would be of the new weapons. 8 is crazy

@@yjoltetepique8555 there seems to be misunderstanding. There are 8 new weapon types, each of them having 2-3 option (expect for perfume bottle (5) and throwing daggers (1) ) I think there are a total of 19 weapons of the new weapon types. Tbh I expected like half or 40 the 100 new weapons to be the new weapon types because of how much they were advertised. And even then only 9 of them are good/great. Most of them imo need buffs.

Every Fromsoft game has been very cryptic, I think this is just something that we have to accept and I don't see how a person is reasonably supposed to figure some stuff out. I assume the statue thing is why there's so few scadutree fragments on that part of the map - they knew most people won't find it, and I suppose most people weren't "meant" to find it. I'd agree with you that Gaius was not a very engaging fight. For me the charge wasn't so bad (I think I had an easier time dodging because I had a light roll), but the fight itself was kind of mundane. It seems overall you had a better time than I did and I'm really glad that's the case! The DLC was some of the best Fromsoft has ever done, but I also think some of the worst - at least when it comes to understanding what people enjoy. I suppose you just can't cater to 5 or so million people though. Good analysis, thank you!!

I found the hidden way because of messages. Messages are pretty much the only you can possibly find all the secrets without looking them up. I personally really like Gaius. The charge is a bit annoying but other than that I thought the moveset is really fun.

Commander Gaius was impossible for me at first. He made me switch my build for the first time. If you just use a shield and guard counter at the right times he’s easy. It took me so many tries before thinking of changing my weapons and style 🤣

@@certifiedcib7958 Guard counters seem like they'd do a really sick job against boar man. His charge attack has such a wacky hitbox lol

@@Eufuu dude that charge attack is almost undodgeable you absolutely need bloodhounds step and you still might get hit 🤣 Yeah man, with my usual build i could barely get him to half life but when I switched to guard counter i got him first try. He staggers after 2 or 3 and you get a free crit 🔥

Hmm, I thought about your comment and I think it's not about the fact that I find exploration tedious. On surface level, exploration is the same, but the experience is different. In base Elden Ring, we didn't know WHAT we were searching for. The items and the loot you find is novel, exciting and there's a ton of it. In the DLC, you are looking for one specific thing. It's more like looking for a needle in a haystack. Of course exploration is still intrinsically rewarding but the "stuff" you find is more limited and less engaging. I hear you though and I think that scadutree fragments succeed in motivating players to explore MORE of the land, but as someone who enjoys that already, having to keep an extra eye out for stuff I can't really afford to miss, it increased my level of frustration.

@Eufuu yeah I see where you're coming from. For me the hardest part of the exploration was finding it. I finished R&M with 13 scadublessing and I didn't find jagged peak, the coast or scary place until after. Failed all my npc quests 🥲

The last few are really tricky to find! Especially when it feels like you explored everything lol and quite a few are in hippos and pot guys. Don't tell anyone but I also failed every NPC quest.. oops

Oh, you think that the base game didn't have as much exploration? or do you just think that the exploration wasn't as forced?

How was exploration forced? You’re playing an open world game… you’re gonna explore things. Genuinely don’t understand this comment someone lmk

@@Eufuu it wasn't as forced as in not at all really, genuinely think about it, nothing about the base game ever really made it mandatory for you to go on essentially a scavenger hunt, you got the golden seeds and and levels from just the main path there was nothing other than natural wonder and curiosity that drove the exploration, seeing something and going "WOW That's so cool I want to go there!", and not "damn everything is 1 shotting me I got to go find these specific items hidden around the map to be able to even compete let me pull up a wiki or video on how to get all of them"

@@c2nder928 read my other reply

Yeah, I agree with your point! It's the difference between "exploring and getting stronger" and "trying to find this one specific item in a sea of items". The first one feels rewarding and the second one less so.

Thank you for your kind and polite comment! I did expect people disagreeing, but I also know I'm not the only one feeling this way, so I just wanted to facilitate a discussion about our different experiences. I get your point about scadutree fragments. I think, once you realise their importance, they succeed in achieving the goal of motivating the player to explore more when they are struggling with an obstacle. If you're hitting your head against the boss -> explore some more -> get stronger -> come back. This is the same loop as the base game. I think the difference, for me, arises when I say "ok I gotta explore some more and find ~cool stuff~ that will improve my build" versus "ok I gotta find scadutree fragments specifically". The latter feels worse, mostly because at that point I'm not really open or expecting anything else. And at the same time, it's the only way for me to reasonably get stronger in the DLC, whereas the base game featured different kind of power ups - seeds, weapons, stones, runes, etc. I also didn't feel that sense of tension in the base game that I have to absolutely check and engage with every part of the map. There was enough stuff littered around that I could keep up with the game's pace even if I wasn't turning over every nook and cranny. This feeling wasn't present in the DLC because every scadutree fragment carries so much power - I think if they had made them more aligned with the mainline paths or even simply reduced their individual power and scattered like 500 of them, it would've gone a long way to alleviating that. I would agree that this isn't necessarily a flaw, and people who enjoy that type of exploration are going to be extremely rewarded by how powerful the scadutree fragments are! But I do think that the base game exploration and the DLC exploration are different enough to have thrown me off. It is also true that I prefer the tighter level designs of the previous game, you got me there:) I will concede the point about upgrading weapons. I was always hesitant to upgrade weapons because I didn't know if it was worth it, but also because there are a limited amount of ancient dragon stones. In my mind, if I couldn't upgrade a weapon to its max level, there wasn't a point, but it would've been perfectly fine to upgrade it to one level lower, at least to get a feel for it. I think my apprehension for not switching builds more often is a curse of expectation, but also stems from the way I enjoyed playing previous games. By learning one particular weapon "strategy" and then trying to apply it to different bosses. The fun in that was that some bosses would be well suited and would be easy, while others would be way more difficult, but this variance was exactly what makes this playstyle fun for me. I had the same experience with the fists actually! But there was just a higher proportion of bosses that were on that "difficult" side of variance which made it tedious. I think I just wasn't really primed for Elden Ring to be so RPG-esque so I'll reiterate my finishing thoughts - just because they had tried to make almost every playstyle viable, doesn't mean that it's fun. If I had been more willing to switch things up and hadn't been so afraid of trying new weapons, my combat experience would've been more varied and enjoyable. Hopefully I can take these lessons into the next game Fromsoft makes :) (but also please give me another game like Sekiro <3)

you can fight mohg really early with the white mask quest and radahn is pretty early as well being a cake walk by endgame the only real indication that the dlc was meant to be endgame was it being a mohg technically and even then if you watched the trailer and beelined it you don't even have to be at farum azula where half the bearing are at, scadufragments shouldn't be necessary because "people have endgame builds" in fact I'd argue there's no such thing its just having a overpowered build or not, because you can beat the main game just as easily as people were claiming you'd beat the dlc with a "endgame build" also if that was the real issue it never should've been endgame content

⁠​⁠​⁠@@pricefieldxI know there are ways to expedite the process of actually getting there, but you’re looking from the angle of somebody who wants to start up the DLC immediately after creating a new save file; the average player is not expected to speedrun the game to meet the DLC’s minimum requirements. Most will be booting the game up with the builds they’ve used to beat it. That, in addition to the disparate geography needed to travel, Mohg’s status as an endgame boss (with the HP/Damage scaling that entails), the fact it’s been 2 full years since the game’s initial release, and Fromsoft’s previous track record with DLC (which have all been consistently a step up to their base games in challenge) should be more than enough to tell players to come in with fully prepared setups. It’s ultimately healthier this way; I bet if The Old Hunters DLC with its notoriously short distance from the starting area was released to an audience the scale of ER’s, you will get even more complaints than SotE about being stonewalled by difficulty. Your remark about how scadutree fragments shouldn’t be necessary also ignores the interview with Miyazaki explaining directly why they implemented it in the first place: it gives lategame builds an incentive to explore, both for exploration’s sake and to still feel a sense of progression. Not leveling up often in previous FromSoft DLCs isn’t as much of an issue because they tend to be beaten in the span of a few hours, but SotE’s massive scope means you will be struggling to feel an improvement on damage and survivability throughout tens of hours. This is as much a method to tackle stagnation as it is a pointed encouragement to explore all the new map has to offer.

Thank you fellow trash panda 🥹

The world definitely felt emptier! One reason is that I think it is objectively less dense, but also that there are just less "fun" things to find when you're already in the late game when your build is pretty much complete. The lack of a poise meter really baffles me because it feels like such a fundamental mechanic? But maybe the idea was that they didn't want players to FOCUS on it? In that case maybe a solution where an enemy enters a sort of "pre-stagger" state would work better visually and thematically hm. I don't think I mind big boss enemies not abiding by the same rules, but what drives me crazy is the ghosts that invade your world not abiding by them! having infinite stamina or poise but they're just like us, that feels so contrived lol. I get your complaint though and I think ultimately a game designed with that in mind would be more engaging (like Sekiro)

I hear you man, having information is the best way to beat any game. I also think that gaming has become an "open" experience with all the live streaming/youtube etc. Playing a game and looking things up, or learning about them from the people we watch, is just how we experience games in 2024. But the philosophy is that you're only able to play the game blindly once and if I look (too many) things up, I'm robbing myself of the experience. If I did look up more things, I'd have enjoyed certain parts more, but I would also enjoy certain parts less, so I don't think it's a silver bullet that would address and fix every one of my "problems". If I'm looking things up, where does the line end? Do I also copy great builds? Do I look up glitches? Strats? Every person has their own line , but to me games (especially games like Elden Ring) are about my own experience and discovery - not retreading the path someone else has already taken. I hope that makes sense :)

@@Eufuu then you can’t complain if it’s just how you prefer to play the game

@@chicken.8189critiquing the game is not complaining especially when the game doesn’t tell you anything

@@chicken.8189 Here's the thing, my goal with the video wasn't to complain, but to provide an empathetic perspective of how I experienced the game - perhaps this wasn't the "optimal" experience, but it was how I engaged with the game. I wasn't intentionally trying to make myself have less fun, I was just engaging in what I thought WOULD be the most fun, but it turns out that wasn't the case, especially after thinking about it. The argument that we can only share our experience if a specific set of circumstances is met is troublesome because a) who decides what these circumstances are? and b) that doesn't really change what my experience was, I think it's valid to talk about There is also a difference between the validity of a complaint, but you used much stronger language "can't". I invite you to reassess what I'm trying to say here, but if you can't bring yourself to do that, we can just agree to disagree!

Who wants to ruin the experience for themselves by looking things up? Not how games are meant to be played

I completely agree with you, it felt like it was missing some kind of connective plot that would lead up to the final boss and then resolve - almost every other game had that to some extent. And unlike DS3 where the final boss was an homage, DLC Radahn feels more like a "we have Radahn at home" type of deal, especially because of how different and unique the base game's fight is. It's this huge sprawling arena against a demigod that you fight with a ton of NPC friends and here he's just .. a guy. It really does feel like the team was spread thin so they couldn't have refined those last details that would have made it *pop*.

Yes! I was seriously dissatisfied with the ending. No new rune ending? No major story changes or reveals at all?!?!? It kinda was a let down. I wanted a miquella based ending as part of the dlc.

Did you complain when the Old Hunters DLC ended on a similarly muted note?

I never had much trouble with the bosses or the flask level luckily :) it didn't feel like I was losing out on healing or that was the reason why I was losing fights

Dude, I wish I had tried out parrying more in general! It seems like a fun way to play, but it flew over my head. If I ever replay, I'll try a parry build:D

rellana * but facts

That's a good idea and absolutely a way to experience the game - but it is a fundamentally different way to engage which I don't particularly enjoy. I think if I learned to enjoy it, I would've had a better experience with the DLC though, but I'm so eager to experience novelty that reloading etc feels like I'm not really "playing" the game if that makes sense

I must've missed it then! For me it dropped when I beat the npc summon boss against Lena and Dryleaf Dane and co., that's where I found his kicks :O maybe that was just a pity drop in case I missed it

you are confusing the weapon he is using. You get 1 from dryleaf and the other after the leda fight. no other way

@@yjoltetepique8555 Thanks for the clarification!! :)

You're right! I'm basing it off and a friend's experience because while diligently exploring (or so I thought), I had 15 levels, and my friend was at level 12. While not as significant, those 5 levels made a difference. I did look up a guide and got myself to level 19 because with my light build the PvP part was basically one shotting me - you're right though that the player doesn't need to find every fragment

thats only after the patch though

A quicker hack; void health items if you can afford it and if your damage stats are low AND the items aren't giving you dmg/tears :)

@@Eufuu Okay. Cool. Thanks for the pointer! 👍

I think to your point 2, I don't think any attack is unfair but I do think the game doesn't make it clear how you can evade an attack. Sometimes you can jump over when it doesn't seem like you can for example. I think that can create a lot of frustration when trying to learn the bosses. It feels a little janky to what is otherwise a great overall effort in presentation and map execution. I'm glad you enjoyed it so much! Did you find it more or less enjoyable than base game Elden Ring?

@@Eufuu I'd say it was more fun due to the challenge and new weapons but I wish it lasted longer

I wish it had more dungeons like Shadow Keep! That would've been cool:)

You're a Mohg expert by now!

@@Eufuu I'm mohging him

I thought he said Malenia I am traumatised 😭

The hero we need but we don't deserve

Mohg never stood a chance 🫡

I'm changing the title every day as a countdown!! (also I thought it was dropping on 20th but let's pretend that there's a 1-day buffer lmao)

@@Eufuu Ohhhhh Yeah ok Now it makes sense! I still need to beat him on my new character that I made for the DLC Only level 78 so far gotta grind those last few days 😬

@@ImWhyMortalsCry you got this Tarnished!!! (remember not to neglect your life.. well maybe a little! I have vacation on Friday and BOY OH BOY)

@@Eufuu Have fun on your vacation! I'm sick so this is the best I can do atm besides sleeping :P

@@ImWhyMortalsCry Feel better soon! I'll cast a healing spell for you

YES!! that's so frustrating, I feel like I'm on a damn carnival ride

his death was mohgnificent

He may be a God but that's why Elden Ring players invented cheese 😎

@@Eufuu 😂

Kamehameha always work!!

yeah but if u cant beat mogh regularly i dont think u can beat a single dlc boss

@@briefhydra16606 KAMEHAMEHA THEM TOO!

Mohg more like ohmohgod .. that was bad LOL