Soulsborne thead (Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, Bloodborne)

[Lostdragon]

32 minutes ago, zzip said:

I encountered these "vortexes" (for lack of a better word) near the Castle Morne area.   When I first approached, a pop-up appeared that told me how to use them, but I closed the pop-up too fast,  and now I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with them?   Can anyone tell me?

As Austin said, they basically act as trampolines, press jump whilst on your horse and you'll be launched into the air to reach higher levels (and I have seen items/chests located in the environment, you can't reach via normal means). 

 

 

Im also told, but have yet to try it, they also allow you, whilst on horseback, to fall from a higher area, safely to the ground, as they slow your descent and you take no damage, so they act as short cuts in 2 ways. 

[Austin]

Ooooohhhhh, safe falling with them? That I did not know. Would be very helpful if that is the case.

[zzip]

Another thing in Elden Ring,  I keep seeing messages saying "hidden path" and hinting that I need to perform some kind of gesture to open it.   Is there a gesture for paths or are these troll messages?    

[Austin]

Probably troll messages in some cases. However, I do recall there being a hint from a NPC somewhere to use a gesture to activate something somewhere. Yeah.. super specific, I know. But it wouldn't surprise me if the mechanic exists. There was an area in Dark Souls III you could only access by using a specific gesture at a specific location.

[zzip]

13 minutes ago, Austin said:

Probably troll messages in some cases. However, I do recall there being a hint from a NPC somewhere to use a gesture to activate something somewhere. Yeah.. super specific, I know. But it wouldn't surprise me if the mechanic exists. There was an area in Dark Souls III you could only access by using a specific gesture at a specific location.

Wasn't that the one where you had to summon a bird or something?   Was that the only place that used gestures in that way?

[Austin]

9 minutes ago, zzip said:

Wasn't that the one where you had to summon a bird or something?   Was that the only place that used gestures in that way?

I have no clue. I never tried it. Still too busy trying to uncover most of the map.

[Razzie.P]

9 hours ago, Austin said:

Ooooohhhhh, safe falling with them? That I did not know. Would be very helpful if that is the case.

The pop up message said it was safe, I thought, but every time I've tried, I died. ? So I assumed I misunderstood and stopped.

 

 

I'm near the end of the game, but having a pretty hard time motivating myself to finish it.

 

[Lostdragon]

13 hours ago, zzip said:

Another thing in Elden Ring,  I keep seeing messages saying "hidden path" and hinting that I need to perform some kind of gesture to open it.   Is there a gesture for paths or are these troll messages?    

Seen a good few of them, in front of doors, force field/barriers  etc, carried out the gestures, zero effect, put them down as troll messages, like hidden path try attacking, try jumping etc on other areas. 

[Lostdragon]

14 hours ago, Austin said:

Ooooohhhhh, safe falling with them? That I did not know. Would be very helpful if that is the case.

The online guides claim that is the case. 

 

You can use Spirit Springs (wind gusts) to also land safely

Elden Ring tells you pretty early own that you can use the Spirit Springs found in many parts of the world to reach greater heights while on horseback, but what it doesn’t tell you is that you can also use them to safely land without taking any fall damage.

You don’t even have to line up your horse perfectly, because Spirit Springs negate fall damage in a small area around them.

 

 

[Austin]

5 hours ago, Lostdragon said:

You can use Spirit Springs (wind gusts) to also land safely

I tried it last night and it definitely does work.

[Razzie.P]

I think I’m done with this one.  I’m about 70 hours in, standing at the door to the last boss, have already beaten pretty much all the others (to the best of my knowledge) but I really have no desire to try that last boss again.   It’s such a poorly designed boss, unless you use some sort of magic, I suppose.  But the entire fight is just me (a melee character) running after it from one end of the area to the next.  Not fun.

 

Really, the first half of the game was ok, I guess, but the second half just went down the shitter.  I describe a lot of the bosses in a way that I’ve NEVER considered the other souls games – they’re cheap.  Not “fair but difficult.”  Just cheap and frustrating.

 

I dunno… I may log in later and beat the thing just go wrap it up.  But I don’t see me coming back to this one at all.  Which is sad considering how many times I’ve replayed and finished all 5 others 
 

[Lostdragon]

10 hours ago, Razzie.P said:

I think I’m done with this one.  I’m about 70 hours in, standing at the door to the last boss, have already beaten pretty much all the others (to the best of my knowledge) but I really have no desire to try that last boss again.   It’s such a poorly designed boss, unless you use some sort of magic, I suppose.  But the entire fight is just me (a melee character) running after it from one end of the area to the next.  Not fun.

 

Really, the first half of the game was ok, I guess, but the second half just went down the shitter.  I describe a lot of the bosses in a way that I’ve NEVER considered the other souls games – they’re cheap.  Not “fair but difficult.”  Just cheap and frustrating.

 

I dunno… I may log in later and beat the thing just go wrap it up.  But I don’t see me coming back to this one at all.  Which is sad considering how many times I’ve replayed and finished all 5 others 
 

I get where your coming from. 

 

 

I can see this being another Dark Souls 2 for myself. 

 

 

I expect to finish it, but there will be no NG+ playthrough, due to how poorly the game is designed. 

 

 

Yesterday's play was yet more unlock a lot of the map, find misc weapons, segments of armour, another lot of NPC"s, including another merchant selling little of use, another blacksmith, who's a nightmare to reach, why not put it near a site of grace? 

 

I did some mini boss that was taken down within seconds, yet game awarded me a trophy for it. 

 

 

I've encounter sooo many takes on the Dragon mini bosses, it's in danger of becoming a Skyrim parody. 

 

 

I've put in motion a confusing NPC side quest, someone wanted me to give someone else an item, which they refused, returned to the item giver, but he just repeats the same lines of dialogue. 

 

 

The new areas just give variations of standard foes (Crystal versions, phantom versions, invisible versions, versions which now spew rot, posion etc). 

 

 

The game is simply too large for it's own good, From have struggled to populate it. 

 

There's no real urge to explore new environments when you know exactly what to expect, foes and cheap mini bosses wise. 

 

 

The game lore is worse than that of Sekiro. 

 

 

Yet I still keep seeing sites online refer to this as a masterpiece, From Software's greatest game yet, it's anything but. 

[Razzie.P]

Finished it.   Approx 72 hours, at level 128.

 

I did check out new game + for about 45 mins, and didn't see anything immediately different.  Other than it felt super easy, I suppose, due to my high level and maxed out weapon.   I'm sure there are changes, but nothing stuck out to me.

 

Never had a single "real" invasion during my playthrough.  Just the NCP ones.

 

Only had 1 instance where I used co-op to take down a boss in "my game."    It was me, ANUSTART, and Major Blueballs.     And those 2 names almost made the whole thing game it for me.  ?   Other than that, constant summon failed messages in the early game, and not a lot of activity at all in the late game.  I had a few other co-op sessions, but all ended poorly.

 

I don't think I ever used crafting, other than to see how it worked.  If I did, I don't remember.

[Lostdragon]

15 hours ago, Razzie.P said:

Finished it.   Approx 72 hours, at level 128.

 

I did check out new game + for about 45 mins, and didn't see anything immediately different.  Other than it felt super easy, I suppose, due to my high level and maxed out weapon.   I'm sure there are changes, but nothing stuck out to me.

 

Never had a single "real" invasion during my playthrough.  Just the NCP ones.

 

Only had 1 instance where I used co-op to take down a boss in "my game."    It was me, ANUSTART, and Major Blueballs.     And those 2 names almost made the whole thing game it for me.  ?   Other than that, constant summon failed messages in the early game, and not a lot of activity at all in the late game.  I had a few other co-op sessions, but all ended poorly.

 

I don't think I ever used crafting, other than to see how it worked.  If I did, I don't remember.

Your doing way better than myself. 

 

Yesterday I managed 2 catacomb bosses, those 2 Pumpkinheads in a confined area were a chore... 

 

 

And for what? weapons I will never use...

 

Found more merchants, blacksmiths and a new NPC suffering from rot 

 

Rode through even more mini boss dragons ?

 

 

After a few hours, despite unlocking even more of the map, I had to goggle exactly where I was supposed to be going, having now defeated Godrick and it wasn't in the new area unlocked after his death,, I had to backtrack from his boss area, back to a courtyard on way to him and take a side route, that's just poor level design. 

 

 

 I also, whilst exploring, used some medallion to unlock some massive lift, took me nearer the capital city? 

 

 

 

I honestly have no idea, the games lore is so disjointed. 

 

 

I've had a good few 'proper' invasions, majority easily dealt with, what has been a farce, is the hunters the game summons to help, by the time they arrive, the invasion has been dealt with, so they return to their world. 

 

 

My major annoyance with the co-op side is people who return to their world, literally the moment you summon them to yours for assistance, so annoying. 

Edited March 13, 2022 by Lostdragon

[Lostdragon]

Just discovered a rather critical bug. 

 

 

Rennala Queen of the Full Moon boss fight is bugged. 

 

When you enter her arena for first phase of the fight, she should have a  shield around her  3 of the  little girls on the ground should have a gold arua and throw books at you, you get her to come down after killing the 3 girls in question.

 

Her shield and the girls were missing on my first attempt, had to quit and restart, she handed me my ass on phase 2 of the fight mind. 

 

Thought I would post in case others encounter the same bug. 

[zzip]

I'm enjoying Elden Ring a lot so far.  At first the open-world aspect was kinda jarring but I've gotten used to it.

 

My biggest gripe is they made a big deal out of George R R Martin's involvement, and gave the game a completely different name, so why does it feel like "Dark Souls 4" so often?    I was hoping some of the dated DS mechanics could have gotten an overhaul, such as NPC interactions.   I'm tired of fighting recurring DS monsters like "giant rats", some of the dungeons feel too similar to areas in previous Souls games.

[Lostdragon]

1 hour ago, zzip said:

 

 

My biggest gripe is they made a big deal out of George R R Martin's involvement, and gave the game a completely different name, so why does it feel like "Dark Souls 4" so often?    I was hoping some of the dated DS mechanics could have gotten an overhaul, such as NPC interactions.   I'm tired of fighting recurring DS monsters like "giant rats", some of the dungeons feel too similar to areas in previous Souls games.

The backlash on the over hyping of Martin's involvement, looks like it's starting to emerge.. 

 

https://www.denofgeek.com/games/elden-ring-george-r-r-martin-story-contributions-writing-hype/

 

[Austin]

I'm a little over 70 hours in now on Elden Ring and kinda just want the whole thing to end. It's been a good experience (mostly), but it honestly got kind of tedious like, more than 20 hours ago. Definitely could have done well to be a good bit shorter than it actually is. There's simply not enough variety in the world structure, enemy and boss types to keep things interesting. Every reskinned boss that's thrown at me now, I groan as opposed to being like, "Oh sweet, a boss!"

[Razzie.P]

On 3/13/2022 at 10:56 AM, Lostdragon said:

Just discovered a rather critical bug. 

 

 

Rennala Queen of the Full Moon boss fight is bugged. 

 

When you enter her arena for first phase of the fight, she should have a  shield around her  3 of the  little girls on the ground should have a gold arua and throw books at you, you get her to come down after killing the 3 girls in question.

 

Her shield and the girls were missing on my first attempt, had to quit and restart, she handed me my ass on phase 2 of the fight mind. 

 

Thought I would post in case others encounter the same bug. 

I hit that bug, too.  And I wasn't really sure what I was supposed to do, at that point, so it took a while to realize it was a bug instead of just my ignorance.

 

[Razzie.P]

I booted up the PS5 today and it auto downloaded a patch, so my first though was "I guess they're starting to lower difficulty and add more NPC summons."   Then I hop online and see a bunch of articles upset because they're nerfing builds.  So I guess they're going the other way with it for now  ?

 

Personally, I thought it was quite a bit more difficult than the other souls games.  Not always in the "right" way, of course, since I often felt things were bit cheap at times, but it got pretty brutal for me in those last bits.  So I figured they'd ease it up a bit since the director seemed to want more players to complete it, if I remember right.

[Austin]

I wouldn't expect any major difficulty changes outside of what will obviously be effected by nerfing certain builds and abilities. From Software doesn't *usually* toy with enemy layouts and stuff when they update their games.

 

THAT SAID.. I would absolutely love to see more bosses and enemies added in. I doubt it will happen, but one of my biggest issues with the game is all the repeat enemies and boss fights. It's simply tiresome in a game that is as long as it is.

 

Regarding the game's difficulty overall, its open world design is going to make it a mixed bag overall and will be highly dependent on how the player decides to go through the game. It'll also depend heavily on their play style. The general consensus at the moment is if you're going all melee, when things get rough, it gets really rough. If you're playing more with magic and summons, even the toughest parts can be made fairly stress free.

 

I'm personally doing melee (mostly--80+ hours in and I just now finally equipped a bow and this game's "Firebomb" equivalent). I've generally had to play it like a traditional Souls title, learning all the patterns and playing smart. It's definitely had some frustrating moments as you would expect from a Souls game, though I will say it's mostly been with the bosses. The other night I got to what I am guessing is a late game, mandatory boss, effectively this game's version of the Ornstein & Smough fight from Dark Souls. However, unlike that game, I'm barely doing noticeable damage, even at Level 120+ and with a nearly maxed out longsword. It's honestly kind of irritating and feels wildly unbalanced compared to the O&S fight, especially this many hours into the playthrough.

 

On the flip side, I took a break from that fight for a bit and have been referring to an online map to see what caves and catacombs I've missed. Turns out it's a lot, and I'm just ripping through them with barely the need to heal. So yeah, the difficulty is going to be all over the place depending on what areas you choose to do early, and which ones you do late.

[zzip]

10 hours ago, Razzie.P said:

I booted up the PS5 today and it auto downloaded a patch, so my first though was "I guess they're starting to lower difficulty and add more NPC summons."   Then I hop online and see a bunch of articles upset because they're nerfing builds.  So I guess they're going the other way with it for now  ?

 

Personally, I thought it was quite a bit more difficult than the other souls games.  Not always in the "right" way, of course, since I often felt things were bit cheap at times, but it got pretty brutal for me in those last bits.  So I figured they'd ease it up a bit since the director seemed to want more players to complete it, if I remember right.

It's hard to say.  Parts of it seem really easy while other parts are tough.    I decided to do one of the "painting quests" which took me to a castle that I seem kind of underpowered for.    One issue with the open world is if you go off exploring, you never know if you are over/under levelled for anything you encounter until you get your butt handed to you.

[Lostdragon]

13 hours ago, Austin said:

 

THAT SAID.. I would absolutely love to see more bosses and enemies added in. I doubt it will happen, but one of my biggest issues with the game is all the repeat enemies and boss fights. It's simply tiresome in a game that is as long as it is.

 

Regarding the game's difficulty overall, its open world design is going to make it a mixed bag overall and will be highly dependent on how the player decides to go through the game. It'll also depend heavily on their play style. The general consensus at the moment is if you're going all melee, when things get rough, it gets really rough. If you're playing more with magic and summons, even the toughest parts can be made fairly stress free.

 

I'm personally doing melee (mostly--80+ hours in and I just now finally equipped a bow and this game's "Firebomb" equivalent). I've generally had to play it like a traditional Souls title, learning all the patterns and playing smart. It's definitely had some frustrating moments as you would expect from a Souls game, though I will say it's mostly been with the bosses. The other night I got to what I am guessing is a late game, mandatory boss, effectively this game's version of the Ornstein & Smough fight from Dark Souls. However, unlike that game, I'm barely doing noticeable damage, even at Level 120+ and with a nearly maxed out longsword. It's honestly kind of irritating and feels wildly unbalanced compared to the O&S fight, especially this many hours into the playthrough.

 

On the flip side, I took a break from that fight for a bit and have been referring to an online map to see what caves and catacombs I've missed. Turns out it's a lot, and I'm just ripping through them with barely the need to heal. So yeah, the difficulty is going to be all over the place depending on what areas you choose to do early, and which ones you do late.

THIS. 

 

I keep seeing articles praising how well From have done the open world, without resorting to the usual flaws of the genre and that's not been my experience. 

 

 

New areas simply unlock more variations on a theme of enemy, reskin and reskin and reskin again and it not only gets tedioys, it kills the urge to explore as you know exactly what your going to find when you get there. 

 

I have yet to download the new patch, but was starting to regret going for the melee build, never using magic, as even with improved armour sets, weapons massively upgraded along with character stats, on some of the tiresome mini boss fights, let alone main bosses, i am barely scratching them, instead having to rely on summounded help, who's characters are all heavy magic users. 

 

 

The game feels badly in need of a directors cut as it were, if it were a book, an editor.. 

 

 

Cut a lot of the running time, trim the fat, make the lore more interesting, have the game path flow more concisely. 

 

At present with huge swathes of the map unlocked, i am literally just unlocking new areas for the sake of it, rather than persevering to clear an area, eager to take the game forward. 

 

 

The sense of over familiarity is almost overpowering at times now. 

 

 

Facing more giant crabs, rats, dragon's, giants. 

 

 

Catacombs just aren't interesting to explore, boiling down to find lever, open door, take out cheese boss, get new ashes of war, which will probably never be used or weapon or armour piece, that will sit in inventory and never be used. 

 

 

Not seen a game try and offer so much in terms of size and ambition and flounder for it, since GTA:S. A

 

 

Friend of mine was all over it on launch, then put it on hold whilst he picked up Gran Turismo 7 on PS5, he recently returned to it and isn't sure if he's going to stick with it, as he feels he's made the wrong choice in terms of character build and is struggling to make progress, if the game is going to suddenly say, you should of invested more in other areas with your stats, when you face certain bosses, it's going to put a good few of us off from ever finishing it. 

Edited March 19, 2022 by Lostdragon

[Lostdragon]

11 hours ago, zzip said:

It's hard to say.  Parts of it seem really easy while other parts are tough.    I decided to do one of the "painting quests" which took me to a castle that I seem kind of underpowered for.    One issue with the open world is if you go off exploring, you never know if you are over/under levelled for anything you encounter until you get your butt handed to you.

Not tried any of these yet, think I have 4,maybe 5? paintings in my procession. 

 

Are they worth bothering with? 

[Austin]

11 hours ago, Lostdragon said:

I have yet to download the new patch, but was starting to regret going for the melee build, never using magic, as even with improved armour sets, weapons massively upgraded along with character stats, on some of the tiresome mini boss fights, let alone main bosses, i am barely scratching them, instead having to rely on summounded help, who's characters are all heavy magic users. 

I will say this, regardless of what build you were originally going for, you can turn it into a more balanced one in no time. For instance, for mine I've pumped up my Faith and Mind stats for the last 15+ levels, despite being a melee build that originally focused on Strength, Endurance and Vitality (all are at 40+ now). Now I have the ability to use a greater variety of weapons (the better ones requiring Faith), some of which have some pretty sweet special abilities that use up FP (so boosting the Mind stat gives me a bigger FP bar to work with). If you don't want to go that route, there's a character you can talk to at one point that allows you to redistribute your stat points, so you can basically fully turn your character into something else entirely on a whim.

 

I feel they really want you to experiment with as much as you can in this game. Boost other stats you might not normally regardless of "build", play with magic, use the spirit ashes for combat variety and to make your life easier, craft items to get particular things you want without having to go shop for them, etc. A lot of those mechanics I just completely ignored for most of my playthrough and I think I was doing myself a disservice in the process. I.e., selling materials "to level up faster" instead of creating useful items that could help me in a variety of situations, not using and upgrading my spirit ashes (which allow for greater strategic options in boss fights), etc.

 

The predictability of the open world is unfortunate, and I 100% know the feeling of reaching a new area later into the game and just groaning because I mostly know what to expect. People that argue this game doesn't fall into the same trappings of other open world games clearly haven't put a lot of time into this.

 

That said, there have been a lot of areas that have just completely taken me by surprise, a few of which I discovered last night. It's worth sticking around to experience these places, and many of the unique bosses they hold. There are a few fights in particular where I think From has really outdone themselves.

 

One tip: Don't be afraid to use guides. Maps online in particular can be extremely useful, especially if you want to figure out how to get to all of the underground areas (highly recommended!). I also suggest looking up how to complete various questlines, because with the world being so damn large, you're going to miss a bunch of them. There are a couple of major ones in particular that can unlock interesting areas, weapons and boss fights.