Dark Souls.

[Animavore]

Bloody hell Elden Ring is hard, and this coming from a Souls veteran. Definitely don't recommend starting as Wretched. Takes way too long to claw your way to decent stats and scavenge good equipment.

At least its open world means you never hit against a brick wall.

[Animavore]

I think Elden Ring might be one of the best computer games ever made. The sheer size and scope of it is staggering. The world is sprawling and it reaches to the sky in some places and plumbs the depths in others. Every part of it makes you want to explore.

The game can be as hard or easy as you like. You can run straight to main bosses or scour the land for resources and level up your weapons and self before tackling them. You can also summon creatures to your side to help.

This is a stunning achievement from Fromsoft. To turn a linear, focused game into an open world one without losing its heart by simply changing the game loop from amassing souls by fighting bosses to finding equipment and improving it to increase your survivability and a few other tweaks. It's something else.

[Sendraks]

[quote="Animavore";p="2781652"]Definitely don't recommend starting as Wretched. [/quote]

I started as a wretched, to get the experience of scavenging my own gear together. It wasn't so bad.

I agree that Elden Ring is definitely one of the best games ever made. Everything you say about it is absolutely bang on.

[Animavore]

I started a new game a couple of days after that post because I messed some things up and started as Wretched again. When you know what to do you can amass loads of souls runes without even fighting anyone. There's graveyards in the immediate vicinity dripping with gold and you can get over 13,000 souls, plus another 100,00 are up for grabs, risk free if you go far east and kill a sleeping dragon and use a golden fowl foot for an extra 20% runes on kill as well as three great weapons within a Stones throw of your starting point.

Within 45 minutes I was level 39 with a great bleed weapon and fully kitted with armour.

So Wretched is fine really.

[Animavore]

[quote="Animavore";p="2782867"]
Within 45 minutes I was level 39 with a great bleed weapon and fully kitted with armour.
[/quote]

Some speed runner beat the whole game in 37 minutes today.

[Sendraks]

[quote="Animavore";p="2782886"][quote="Animavore";p="2782867"]
Within 45 minutes I was level 39 with a great bleed weapon and fully kitted with armour.
[/quote]

Some speed runner beat the whole game in 37 minutes today. [/quote]

The record is now under 30minutes. Crazy.

[Spearthrower]

So the claims of 100 hours of game play are bollocks?




j/k

[Animavore]

Looks like Hoarrfrost got nerfed in today's update so that'll throw a spanner in the works for speed runners.

[Sendraks]

[quote="Animavore";p="2783441"]Looks like Hoarrfrost got nerfed in today's update so that'll throw a spanner in the works for speed runners.[/quote]

The hysterical response to the changes is, predictably, out of kilter with the severity of the changes. Hoarfrost needed its damage toning down but, it is still a perfectly viable ash of war. The AI change to Mimic would have made it super OP without toning its damage down.

Can confirm both still super useable for boss fights.

[Animavore]

How big is this stupid game?! It doesn't end.