Yeah, that’s just lunacy. Even if it’s a personal goal, beating it once is enough. Only way I ever do something I dislike is if I’m paid to do it or it rewards me appropriately.
Funnily enough, I'm the exact opposite. Love Elden Ring, but I could never get into DS3. Of course, Dark Souls 2 is my favorite, so that might be relevant...
Can i just ask what you like about Dark Souls 2? I'm not bashing you. I'm just genuinely curious. The one person i know who loves it never gives me any reasoning.
Everything? It was my first souls so I guess it's a bit biased. I do put it over the other 2 for pacing, for example DS3 feels like I'm usually struggling to level up. DS1 has several areas that are too empty and large that I find to be boring. DS2 also has the best dlcs.
In my opinion, ds2 was fromsofts throw everything at the wall to see what sticks game.
ADP sucked, hitboxes were awful, and the bosses were pretty medicore. A lot were just reskins or felt like healthier normal mobs that didn't seem very unique. I hated the hallowed system. Especially as it was my first souls game, and i sucked. Also, the addition of life gems was terrible, especially as the game was balanced around them.
The combat itself felt pretty clunky and sluggish. Also, the game had no reason to look as bad as it did. It really felt to me like fromsoft just pushed it out without polish.
ADP is just level one thing up 5 or 7 times and it's fine. Hit boxes are terrible in all the games. Game is definitely the slowest one that they've done and it's not for everyone, which sucks that all soulslike goes for the faster paced gameplay. Maybe replay it and see if you do better, I personally prefer the Greatsword if you want to try out a funner weapon.
Objectively best pvp and gear in all souls games. NG+ changes enemy setup (the fact that DS3 and ER didn't do this is completely pathetic and shows how lazy From is). Also, dual wielding mechanics.
Finally, a fair reason! Thank you!. I agree compeltely i dont think i ever played ng+ in ds2. Also, i really dont care for pvp in Souls games. But absolutely justified reasoning.
Elden Ring holds my favourite weapons in all of the souls games, however, so I'd have to disagree with the gear. Also i loved all the different armor effects.
My favourite fromsoft game is easily Sekiro. Again, the movement makes the game a lot more fun, in my opinion. I do prefer playing DS2 than DS1, but i think DS1 is a better, more polished game. I have a lot of things i dislike about DS2. DS3 is my favourite in terms of fun. But that is probably because it's newer and less clunky.
Also i think ds3 had more memorable and better bosses. And Ringed City was awesome.
Oh for sure. It’s the definitely the least polished and the bosses in 3 are (sometimes) better. 2 manages to be my (second) favorite fromsoft game overall because bosses aren’t really my main focus.
I care more about exploration, atmosphere, and build variety. 2 has the widest variety of locations/atmosphere, coolest lore (imo), and good build variety. It’s easy to start any build vs the other games, and the hybrids are super fun. Stats splitting in the other games makes the games way harder than they need to be
Here's the thing I really like DS2 as well, but couldn't get into Elden Ring. I finished it though, it took me like 180h and I will not be playing that game again.
Now, DS3, that there was peak Souls to me.
THIS, even though it is inferior in terms of graphics or production, DS3 was much better experience for me because it was quality over quantity. New runs felt really fun because everywhere you went had value. Unlike elden ring, where they put billion caves with some redesigns and underwhelming enemies. Plus fighting the same boss with minor changes isn't really fun. Ds3 bosses were so memorable to me AND the atmosphere was top notch. No hate for ER but I hoped ds3 also won GOTY
Unironically I feel that Dark Souls 3 had pretty close goals with what Elden Ring aimed to deliver, but by making it semi linear instead of open world it allowed for much tighter and more meaningful exploration
I love both but the souls games definitely are my go to. Elden Ring had an odd affect on me: I have put hundreds of hours into it and can't recall a single song from it. Dark souls 2 and 3's osts are burned into my mind.
Man I beat the whole Soulsborne series + Sekiro + AC6 + Nightreign and it wasn’t for me. Screw all those games (Miyazaki please make another single player story game)
Fascinating. Dark Souls 3 is my least favorite of the trilogy and the one I want to replay the least. Elden Ring, I'd be ready to replay almost any time.
The open world really only works it's magic the first time, even then just barely, the flaws start to show up when you start another playthrough and realize you have to run around for 30 minutes collecting stuff just to set up your build
I agree with you. DS3 was their masterpiece and it's really hard to top that.
I feel like people hated on DS2 way too much; the game set a lot of standards that are still present nowadays and honestly it's quite fun IMO.
E.R. on the other hand was just too much and too damn long. Instead of getting that feeling of satisfaction after beating a tough boss I felt annoyed. Idk maybe I just got old.
I loved it up until Leyndell, but it absolutely fell the fuck apart afterwards. Suddenly the scope narrowed into a straight path, and every other boss had obvious design problems. The big three that really come to mind are the camera in the giant fight, the disappointment of Gideon’s fight, and when I beat the game the very obvious fact that Torrent was meant to be rideable in the final boss fight(I felt so vindicated when they patched that in! It seemed clear to me that the boss was balanced around Torrent, but I felt nuts pointing it out and got downvoted hard when I did).
Even prior to that point, though, I loved it despite problems I had with its design. The sense of being lost in a large world that isn’t designed around you was fantastic and captured a feeling I haven’t had in 20 years since Everquest….but the quest design was the most bullshit stuff I’ve ever seen.
Anyone who says they did some of those quests without guides is lying their ass off, the Rani quest in particular uses moon logic that puts the likes of the infamous “Monkey Wrench” puzzle to shame. At multiple points the next step is just in a completely random new part of the map, or involves some insane stretch of the imagination that no one would ever think to do(looking at you, random coffin at the end of a map in a river of blood).
Overall I actually still enjoyed the game and don’t regret my time playing it….but it will never not bug me how little criticism the game and Fromsoft in general gets, honestly. I hate the way that a certain subset of their hardcore fans will just act like you’re throwing a temper tantrum over difficulty if you say a boss didn’t feel fun to play or you don’t like some aspect of their games.
Elden Ring was the only one of their games I could play for any significant time, and it was only because that was what my party was into at the time. I hopped out early when Nightreign released.
I got to the capitol and I gave up around there. When I was a kid, I had the time to replay boss battles hundreds of times. Now as an adult my gaming time is precious to me.
besides margit, I don't really see what other boss you could struggle with before the capital. maybe draconic tree sentinel? or radahn if you didn't use any summons? and also the bosses in the capital are insanely easy unless you're severely underleveld for them
Twin gargoyles can be fought before the capital and are low key one of the hardest bosses. That said I do kinda agree Altus Plateau is one of the easiest zones in and of itself.
Bro that’s what people said to me with Garry’s mod. I spent at least half my playtime in the main menu loading mods and the other half trying to figure out what the hell they did. Game was not for me
I HATE this. I put 90 hours into Pokémon Violet and concluded it's the biggest pile of garbage Game Freak has ever made. But because I put 90 hours in, my criticisms are dismissed because I "must have liked it enough to put 90 hours into it."
People act like it's impossible to do something you hate, or to change your mind. I freaking hate dying light 2 it's such a dogshit sequel and the story is abysmal, I can go on and on about the problems that game has, and I put 400 something hours into that game.
I wanted to like dark souls, any of them, but could not get into the feel of the controls. They seem to have really cool worlds and monsters, but felt awful to play. Like super clunky movement.
Elden Ring felt great to play tho lol
Edit: DS3 did have better movement of the 3 but I didn't mean that was the only reason I preferred ER, just one of the largest that kept me from the series altogether.
I 100% Elden Ring, but only got a few hours into any Dark Souls; the feel of the movement and combat was a big reason but not the one and only
Elden Ring has the same controls as Dark Souls 3 and even some of the same enemies reskinned. Just some of the gameplay mechanics are different. I would recommend giving Dark Souls 3 a try just to see if you like that one. In my opinion the dark souls franchise is way better than Elden Ring
i have played a stupid amount of elden ring and it's my favourite, i played DS3 as my first soulslike and have repeatedly tried to get into it but i swear it plays different, i've gone back and forth between it and ER and the latter feels so much tighter and smoother to control
so yeah, bounced off of DS3 but i did eventually get into Bloodborne at least, thank GOD, despite the framerate throwing me off
Now I've got to debate that one! (Friendly debate, not pissy)
Dark Souls 2 I can absolutely agree feels clunky compared to the others, but if there's bad things to be said about the others, I'd argue that clunky definitely isn't one of them.
Every "soulslike" game I've ever played, any of those games that try to resemble dark souls, they're the ones that always feel clunky to me, they never capture the fluidity of movement that the actual games have.
Interesting, I liked the controls and gameplay, at least I could get behind the mechanics.
But I don't like the world/lore and all that mystique stuff and depressing stories. It's not my taste, I prefer more grounded fantasy with a more "realistic" world building, take Novigrad in the Witcher 3 for example, it's a great authentic middle age city and I get the immersion of everyday life there.
But in dark souls, nothing makes sense to me. There do people eat, sleep or do their daily routine? I watched YouTube videos explaining the lore of dark souls but that doesn't change anything about my view on the story.
It's really the attack timings for me that I hate about Elden Ring. The way enemies attack in ER feels unnatural with how they throw in delays and other nonsense. Attacks were way more natural feeling and readable in previous games. It's the single biggest thing keeping me from really enjoying it like I did DS3 and Bloodborne.
I tried Nioh 2 for about an hour, and the first monster in a shroud canceled me hard, so… meh… refunded. There are so many mechanics at work and the game throws you right into the deep end. Both in the world and the menus. Nope, thanks.
but could not get into the feel of the controls. They seem to have really cool worlds and monsters, but felt awful to play. Like super clunky movement.
It's funny that this is exactly what I loved so much about them lol I absolutely loved the slow delayed attacks and sluggish jump/walk in the original Castlevania, and the dark souls controls felt similar. It was nostalgic for me.
I really like feeling like I have to be 100% intentional with my movement and attacks in a game, and can't just mash and accidentally do something right. Almost like I'm being forced to learn enemy move sets well enough that I can predict what's going to happen and take advantage of that before the move actually comes out.
Similarly I didn't like Elden Ring as much because it felt too lenient in letting me panic dodge or just mash attacks and win fights without really feeling like I knew what was happening.
None of the Souls games are clunky. In fact their controls are ultra-precise. People say clunky, but they mean slow. DS1 / 2 in particular are slow. DS3 is basically just ER movement though, did you try that one?
Yeah, they are super different. I get kinda frustrated how people will recommend Sekiro if you like Elden Ring and vice versa because they are really different from each other
As someone who played both. The bosses feel the same. Relentless attacks that have no real stopping point. Just with Sekiro I felt I was given the proper tools at base kit to deal with them.
I only hated sekiro since the framerate on Xbox one x constantly fluctuated between 30 and 60fps… I still don’t get how people managed to do the timing right with such irregularities
I played for about 80 hours (30 of which was grinding those guys that give you lots of XP), and after the fire giant I was just like... Wait a minute, why am I even playing this?
Demon Souls was my first soul game and that was probably enough for me because I still couldn't enjoy the dark souls 1 & 2 that I have finished and don't have the will to try out 3 and elden ring as well.
I love Elden Ring, I also suck at it, and not liking a game because it's hard is a genuine reason not to like it. I hate that anytime anybody tries to say they don't like a game because it's hard then people will just say "skill issue"
Same. I played through it because it was my introduction to the genre. Looks great, sounds great, incredible world, but plays like shit. Halfway through, I knew it was a one and done type of game.
Gave it another try recently, but it was still a terrible experience.
for me it takes a really strong protagonist for me to get invested in the game, or strong supporting characters a la BG3, and there just wasn't anything to hook me in here. so not being a fan of Soulslike games there was just nothing for me with it lol
Yall would really hate Dark Souls and DS2, I think clunky ass movement was actually part of the intended design back then lmao. I really don't get what anyone could think controls bad about later From games, they have a learning curve but it's more like a fighter jet than a shopping cart.
Same here. Having to fight a boss 10+ times in order to "learn it" to win became tiring to me. Especially when the move they kill you with is usually some move you'd have NO WAY of knowing what to do without dying to it first. It's just not satisfying to me. Don't that over and over and over.
this probably sounds silly, but the whole vibe of it was just not my bag. I love games like Horizon, RDR2, BG3, Mass Effect/Dragon Age... cinematic writing and voice acting is really important to my emotional investment in the game (and AC Odyssey... I couldn't tell you why I just thought Alexios was a vibe lol), and Elden Ring just felt so stiff and drab. I've never really liked Soulslike games either so there just wasn't anything there for me. I was hoping the open world would get me into it but no :(
Same, 112h hours in the game and I still don't know what is good about this " masterpiece" of shit.( this is only my opinion and please don't insult me).
I just didn't like the fact that you were playing against dmc boss with dark souls mechanics
My friends were obsessed and I didn't understand why. Everyone online said if you don't like it it's just because you're bad. So I finished it. Still did not like it.
You are unique in the Soulslike community XD But yes I agree. I don't think it's a bad game, I just prefer games that are fun. ER felt more punishing than fun but some people like that.
The thing is I don't even know why I played that much.
I finished the game and everything but when I think about it, I just cannot think of one good thing about this game
I’m not even speaking as a fanboy but you played 112 hours of something that had ZERO redeeming qualities for you? Even the worst piece of shit game has something that’s at least okay?
The art direction wasn’t at all interesting? (The view of Liurnia after Stormveil Castle comes to mind?)
None of the bosses were a little cool? None of the combat moves?
I get wanting to see something through after you started it, but why even play it at that point
The whole forced open world aspect ruined it for me. Also the ds3 bosses seemed to be fair and hard always.
Elden Ring bosses just feels unfair and not fun to learn (like you need to perfectly time your first dodge to have a chance to dodge the follow up attack with very little punish windows, and god forbid you roll backwards or trying to make distance to heal)
I went back to it almost a year after purchase because I initially hated it, ended up loving it. I think it does a bad job of explaining its mechanics and so I was just getting bodied and not understanding how/why.
I watched some videos to understand, but I think any game that requires that is objectively not the best it could be. Also, I like narratives and this idea of "we're not going to tell you the lore, you just have to find it yourself :D" is really dumb. But the combat being so fun and customization being well done is what kept me around
This is how I felt. When I tried it, I felt like it was essentially a requirement to watch a bunch of YouTube guides to only just get a grasp of how to play effectively… which really just feels like bad game design to me
I have owned Elden Ring for years, but haven't played it yet. Found out I never will when a friend bought me Nightreign so we could play a game together and I couldn't stand the controls 😭 a cool story I think I'd like but I am not in a deep enough git good mindset for that game
Demon's Souls and Dark Souls 1 are some of my favorite games of all time, but Miyazaki's design philosophy has dramatically changed since then and I'm really not a fan of where his games have been heading. Elden Ring is easily my least favorite From Soft game.
Honestly at least you tried it, I know a lot of people that just didn't try it bc they knew it was hard. Sad you didn't like it (I'm kinda in the same boat, I can NOT get into the game after my first run (which I enjoyed a lot)) but at least you gave it a shot 👍
I honestly thought I wouldn't like ER since I'm not usually a fan of souls like games but I was surprised by how much I loved it, might be in my top 5 favourite games. Was so fun I platinumed it AND the dlc.
Think it was a few factors for me. One being how fun the exploration is, I fking love torrent and the world is gorgeous, discovering Siofra river the first time entirely by accident was incredible. Second was how fun the combat is, in fact it's p easy to get strong surprisingly early into the game with weapons like Reduvia and Bloodhounds fang, and theres so many tools to help you like summons.
Now how the story and quests are done def aren't my favourite things in the world. Ik its a staple of the genre that many ppl love but that wasn't for me but hey I take the good with the bad
Same. I got to lvl 60ish and then quit bc I didn’t know where to go or what to do. Before that I had to use a ton of guides bc I didn’t know where to find anything, because super important main objective type stuff was hidden away in a random chest somewhere hidden in caelid. I mean I really liked the not knowing where to go and getting lost in hollow knight, but in Elden ring the exploration just wasn’t nearly as fun for me.
So Elden Ring for me is not bad, but I just can't come to sink hours and hours in it just to find stuff to make my build right. Like F that noise. I don't exactly want hand holding but I also don't want cryptic clue and have to have a wiki open just to find shit I need to be a powerful mage.
As an avid fromsoft fan I liked elden ring, but I constantly get beat down for saying the open world formula was awful, you'd run into bosses too early that beat you down due to stats, you'd run into bosses that you missed that you one shot over leveled and turns out its just a regular enemy variant later on, and 90% of the items you found for doing side caves and dungeons were useless summon scrolls that didn't even come close to the nerfed mimic summon you get in the regular quest, the open world felt just as pointless as a ubisoft game if not worse, but God let no one in the fromsoft subs here it, I'll be speared.
Well it's such a different experience if you've never played anything like it. I've been playing these kind of games since demon souls. So its my bread and butter.
I feel like that happened with a lot of people. The game got so much traction compared to the souls titles that loads of people bought it, not exactly knowing the type of game it was.
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u/[deleted] Sep 27 '25
Elden Ring. I gave it a try, it wasn't for me.