Current Events > Should I just give Elden Ring a miss?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I feel this weird pressure to like Souls games more than I do.

I played Dark Souls, and sort of had a love hate experience with it, but liked that I got through it. But I can't really remember really enjoying myself at any time. I was just glad it was done.

I played maybe 10 hours of Bloodborne and eventually just hit a wall with "eh, the amount of grind required to get past this bit makes me FOMO over everything else I could be doing". I still want to finish it, but I'd probably need to start again.

I originally intended to play all the souls games in order, but at this rate I'll never get through them.

And time and time again people say Elden Ring is a GOAT game contender, and maybe it's just another one of those that I will never get through.

Only souls-like game I've ever truly loved was Hollow Knight, maybe because the art style and humour was some much needed levity in a game that was so brutally difficult.

Maybe I'm just trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.

pinky0926 posted...

I feel this weird pressure to like Souls games more than I do.

This is the problem.

Play a game to enjoy it. If you like hard games and enjoy them, then do so.

Sometimes, this is why its nice to go for mods where there is just not enough fandom to really mess with your perceptions of pressure. Some of the worst pressure for a mod I have seen is something like Terraria's Calamity mod. But even then, the worst of its fandom surrounds the music creator for it more than the players (they pressured him so much he renounced everything and its a wonder he didn't outright end himself, and this is a fandom crime as he is... or was, truly an incredible composer, until the fandom killed his soul).

pinky0926 posted...

I feel this weird pressure to like Souls games more than I do

Don't. I couldn't care less about any Nintendo property. If that means I'm not a real gamer then fuck it I guess.

FWIW, I've heard Elden Ring described as the easiest Souls game. There are a good number of ways to make things easier and, being open world, it's much easier to just go somewhere else to level up.

But I've not played any of the others to judge.

you should go at your own pace, coming back to play Elden Ring at a later time, or not, according to your interests.

it took me three playthroughs to get into Demon's Souls (I only played it so much since the PS3 didn't have too many quality titles, IMO), and I entirely developed a love for the game and the rest of the series as the games came out.

I recognize that not everyone has that kind of patience or time, especially as we get older, and that not everyone will somehow enjoy the titles even if they did.

with Elden Ring, however, I bought it when it first came out, and I still haven't beaten it yet, lol.

I think it's a great game, and I'm close to the end, but the end game isn't as compelling as the beginning and middle of the title.

I still think you should try elden ring. Yes there is rage inducing moments but it is the best of the souls games in my opinion.

I already knew I wouldn't be into Souls games, but I initially did want to give this one a shot anyway because it looked neat.

Turns out, no, I'm still not into them, and this game didn't change my mind. Oh well.

pinky0926 posted...

And time and time again people say Elden Ring is a GOAT game contender, and maybe it's just another one of those that I will never get through.

My advice is: Don't listen to what other people say. There are always games, that are being extremely hyped, but that doesn't necessarily mean, that you have to play them or that you will enjoy them. Each one of us has different interests and tastes and even if a game is objectively great, still doesn't mean that you have to play it. Stick to what you want to play and play that.

In regard to Elden Ring, I was kinda in the same boat. I played DS1-DS3 and BB. I don't see them as the pinnacle of videogame history, but I really liked playing them.
But even though I liked them, I was thinking hard about whether or not to play Elden Ring and ultimately decided against it. Why? After playing 4 Souls titles, I had kinda "seen it". I mean, the games are great, but it's the same/similar formula over and over. I rather wanted to play something different instead of another Souls game.

On top of that, the open world was a huge turn-off for me. In general, I'm not against open world games (games like Fallout or Skyrim are among my favourite games of all time). But games don't necessarily have to be open world for me to enjoy them. I would have rather played another "normal" Souls game with shorter playtime than one that takes 100-150 hours to finish.

Time is precious and limited, so play the games you really want and not because someone said you have to play it.

Depending on the system you use, you could "rent" it from gamestop. My brother used to do this:

Pick it up used from Gamestop, play for 6 out of the 7 day return policy window, then return it for full price.

If you enjoyed it, buy your preferred version.

#1: Don't force yourself to try to enjoy things.

#2: Elden Ring was the first Souls game I ended up liking. >_>

CyricZ posted...

#1: Don't force yourself to try to enjoy things.

#2: Elden Ring was the first Souls game I ended up liking. >_>

1 Addendum: Don't be pressured to enjoy things.

2 Addendum: I myself did not play it so I can't comment here. So just see 1.

I should follow up that I don't think Elden Ring did anything particular special to get me.

I bounced off Demon's, Dark 1, and Dark 2.

Then over the next few years I'd watched streamers play the games so I started to "get" how it was all supposed to go.

I was able to apply that knowledge to Elden Ring and then was like "okay I get it now".

And since then I played Bloodborne and loved it, and now going through Lies of P.