@justin258: Steam hate maybe quite possible exceeded Windows hate at the time of Half-Life 2 releasing. I remember getting the boxed version which came on like 7 discs or something and then having to install Steam which was a broken piece of shit at the time and go through Online Authentication to play MY single player game?! The friends list didn't even work, and in fact wouldn't work for at least another year. Man Steam was such a piece of shit when it launched. But hey, give them a decade and it's mostly an OK game launcher / store!
I finished it but I definitely reached the point of "I'm over it" way before the credits rolled. It doesn't help that I was influenced by a few Twitch guys I watch to "soak in" the experience and comb through every area, do every cave, every dungeon, every optional boss. Playing a typical Souls games and being thorough is alright but playing Elden Ring this way can really be exhausting. For some people of course. I saw plenty of folks out there play through this game as thoroughly as me and not wanting it to end. Thank the lord for some of the quality of life improvements Elden Ring has over past From Soft entries but it still felt like a long journey and I think the Consecrated Snowfield is one area that really drags the experience out - for what it's worth at least it's optional.
@bisonhero: Those are way off. Originally this was a somewhat run based survival type adventure. Combat was very simplistic and you were constantly having to manage hunger and thirst in addition to other environmental “meters” eating away at you. It also featured a Souls like death system where if you died you dropped your currency and had to go back for it except in this game you also dropped your “lantern” which was an extremely important game-progressing item. The lantern in addition to simply lighting your way was used to reveal secrets and traps but more importantly open unique doors to progress further in the world. So when you died you had to go back and get it if you wanted to finish the game, and sometimes you would die a really long way down. This meant upon coming back to life you had to re-level up and restock on items just for the expedition to get your lantern back and that took time.
There’s a ton more I could write about how the game was extremely punitive in many ways but yah it wasn’t a very “chill” experience.
@bladeofcreation: I’ve looked over the button mapping many times trying to find a better alternative for the drift and I can’t really think of one. I’ve gotten used to putting both fingers over LB and LT at this point. I suppose if you have an elite controller it would help to put the drift onto a back paddle - now that I think about it I do have an elite controller that I haven’t been using.. oh well I kinda got used to the awkward layout by now but yah in retrospect an Elite controller seems perfect for this game.
@allthedinos: I will say the game makes one of the worst uses of whispering as internal monologue that I've witnessed in the last decade or so. It is both corny and difficult to actually make out. I am right at the end of the game and I hear there is an "interesting" reveal but honestly I don't think anything can really make up for as you said vague pronouncements, and cliched redemption moments. Being at the very end I can't say the game has really made a strong case as to why Nara suddenly stopped being a genocidal space nazi apart from a shallow "she felt bad about it" explanation that really seems inadequate for who she was and what she has done.
@constantk: Thats very cool. It's a stunning looking game with a really cool mix of environments and it feels good to play but originally it was extremely punishing for no good reason. Nice to see it be more accessible so more people can experience what it has to offer.
Dragons Dogma is great. I've been fighting the good fight on these forums for ages, trying to get cultured, intelligent gamers to appreciate the majesty of the dogma.
Please check out this BLOG POST if you are curious about playing Dragons Dogma.
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