• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Elden Ring is easy.

nkarafo

Member
Or at least it is compared to all other Souls games. A LOT easier.

Like the others, it's hard early on and gets easier as you progress. This is something all Souls games have, they are harder at the beginning, maybe because your character gets stronger at a faster rate compared to later enemies/bosses. But in Elden Ring this is much more unbalanced in favor of the player.

First of all, the "bonfires" are plentiful and usually close to each other. The process of getting to the closest one in order to use your souls/runes is also easier/safer. I remember this being one of the most nerve-racking things in Dark Souls 1. Finding the next bonfire was like finding an oasis in the desert after days of thirst. This got easier in later games with the bonfires being more plentiful and closer to each other but in Elden Ring they went one step further allowing you to teleport to one without even needing to be resting in one. If it wasn't for the catacombs where you aren't allowed to teleport, the item that sends you to the last used bonfire in exchange for your souls/runes (in case you got stuck) wouldn't need to exist.

As a result, it's far easier to level your character. In my 150h playthrough so far i don't think i lost more runes than i'm comfortable with, more than a couple of times. And those couple times were because i let my guard down and died for stupid reasons. Or because of some stupid platforming jankiness.

Speaking of runes, the game has too much to find, it has a ton of mini-bosses that give many runes and offers a shit tone of golden rune items to use/sell. For someone like me who explores every corner i can, there are a lot more opportunities to gather a lot of runes without ever needing to farm them, compared to the previous games. I still haven't finished the game (i should be close though since i uncovered the whole map) and i'm a level 171 freak. That's without farming or trying to level my character to become stronger. I reached the point where i don't really know what stat to increase anymore. And i always have so many runes on me regardless. "I have way too many runes" is something i never thought in a Souls game. And even now, the last boss i killed offered me 400K runes, which is enough to level up twice, even at such high level. Guess i'll get vigor to 60 or something. Or increase my INT (on a strength build), for some extra magic resistance, dunno.

Then you have the summons. That's literally an easy mode build in the game. Especially the mimic tear. So not only i'm an over-leveled beast, now there are two of us. Every new boss i find is demolished in less than a minute, without even needing to learn it's... tactics? What is even that? After, what, 100+ encounters there was a single one where i had to be patient and use proper tactics, only because it's one of those few ones where you can't summon and because the boss had a grappling move and a kill combo where my OP shield was useless. Other than that i just brute force any boss in my path, without caring about whatever they unleash on me and i usually beat them first try. I actually feel sorry for them, they have their fancy intros, do their fancy moves and screen filling spells, with their huge swords and the epic music in the background thinking "Durr, i'm a Souls game Boss, i'll punish this mofo like we always do"... Only for me to roflstomp them first try.

Not sure if it's my fault or my build. I always play tanky builds (except in Bloodborne and Sekiro ofc) that allow me to absorb a lot of hits later on in PvE (i only play offline) but i don't remember my build being so cheesy in the previous games without even trying to cheese the game. I'm pretty sure i'm playing the game the way it's intended, yet i feel like i should hold back because it offers me way too many tools and goodies to beat it.

I still love the game and i do feel rewarded for exploring/finding everything. Being so powerful is my reward, i get it. It's just that the previous games weren't that eager to reward me so generously.
 
Last edited:

Topher

Gold Member
It isn't easy. It just has less roadblocks. Personally, I think open world was the best thing that happened to a Souls game. I'm enjoying the hell out of it and I've only beaten one boss. I've died plenty of times and went back to grinding and leveling up to "git gud". Fun as hell and frankly, I can see why the game received such rave reviews.
 

Chukhopops

Member
Mimic tear
ouHGmSO.png

(j/k I agree it’s easier than DS3 for example)
 

Reizo Ryuu

Member
I wouldn't say it's "easy", but the open world design fundamentally changes encounters, because even though you can follow where the first few graces point you, it's entirely possible to go wherever you want and reach caelid before even fighting margit.
The design for the apparent difficulty has to take this into account, which has the side effect of being able to become really strong if you do enough exploring.

Also the tear is cool, but me and oleg are tight.
 

Jose92

[Membe
I played seikro and dk3 just before elden ring. To be honest compared to seikro elden ring is kinda easy
 

nkarafo

Member
Ability to read wiki and grind for 150 hours does not count.
I played it normally without wiki and it was very annoyingly difficult.
The balance progress is off the whack
I only used the wiki for some of the obscure quest decision choices (these haven't changed compared to the old games).

I never had to use it for anything else because i didn't need to. I used the wiki way more for Sekiro and that game still kicked my ass before i finally beat it. Because you still have to perform the boss tactics correctly yourself. I still had to die 30+ times on the final boss, wiki or not. Unless you mean trying to find "cheese" tactics, in that case no thanks.

Also, exploring doesn't count as "grinding", that's an entirely different process in Souls games. As i said in the OP, i never had to farm once in this game.
 
Ability to read wiki and grind for 150 hours does not count.
I played it normally without wiki and it was very annoyingly difficult.
The balance progress is off the whack

It's only hard if this is your first Dark Souls game. If you've played previous ones, theres nothing difficult in the game. It offers tons of tools for you to abuse, such as summons, overpowered weapons, etc. Hell its enough to stack some rot on a boss and just watch him/her/it slowly die.
 

ReBurn

Gold Member
It's only hard if this is your first Dark Souls game. If you've played previous ones, theres nothing difficult in the game. It offers tons of tools for you to abuse, such as summons, overpowered weapons, etc. Hell its enough to stack some rot on a boss and just watch him/her/it slowly die.
I played the first one and quit the first day because it was stupid hard and didn't make sense. I tried Bloodborne in the PS Plus collection and it was still stupid hard for me. I imagine even if it's easier it would still be stupid hard for me.

Souls games are an acquired taste
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
It's only hard if this is your first Dark Souls game. If you've played previous ones, theres nothing difficult in the game. It offers tons of tools for you to abuse, such as summons, overpowered weapons, etc. Hell its enough to stack some rot on a boss and just watch him/her/it slowly die.
You could do that in every souls.
I finished all of these games multiple times and found Elden Ring very annoying.
For sure harder to play without any cheese like poison and so on.

Anyway. It is not "only hard if you never played ds game".
The game is just hard. No matter what gamer you are.
If you consider this easy, then I would hate to play difficult games....
Bosses have infinite stamina, huge rush of AOE attacks constantly, thousands of hp... yay
 
Last edited:

Keihart

Member
The builds in Souls games have never been so extreme as in Elden Ring, but neither the bosses.
You can tank a lot more in Elden Ring because every stat gives you damage reduction, so the more levels you have the more tanky you are, str and arcane gives you the most damage reduction, so a build of vigor str and maybe arcane is probably the best way to tank hits to the face.
 
Last edited:

nkarafo

Member
Easy? Dang...




Ah, that's the last boss i beat. The one i mentioned that gave me 400K runes in the OP. Took me 2 tries because i didn't realize she was constantly healing the first time.

That's not a brag btw. I don't consider myself a top Souls player at all. I would probably get demolished in PvP.
 
I played the first one and quit the first day because it was stupid hard and didn't make sense. I tried Bloodborne in the PS Plus collection and it was still stupid hard for me. I imagine even if it's easier it would still be stupid hard for me.

Souls games are an acquired taste

When I said played, I meant finished. They're only hard at the start. Give them more chances.

You could do that in every souls.
I finished all of these games multiple times and found Elden Ring very annoying.
For sure harder to play without any cheese like poison and so on.

Anyway. It is not "only hard if you never played ds game".
The game is just hard. No matter what gamer you are.
If you consider this easy, then I would hate to play difficult games....
Bosses have infinite stamina, huge rush of AOE attacks constantly, thousands of hp... yay

I mean compared to your standard games that you play on normal difficulty, sure it's hard. As a souls game, it's not hard. Its the easiest. Saying otherwise is factually wrong. The game offers you more tools than any other Dark Souls, besides the fact that you are not mandated by the level design anymore and you can freely explore the map and get so high in level that you can simple faceroll anything you had difficulty with at the start. Enough with the bs posts.
 
Last edited:

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
When I said played, I meant finished. They're only hard at the start. Give them more chances.



I mean compared to your standard games that you play on normal difficulty, sure it's hard. As a souls game, it's not hard. Its the easiest. Saying otherwise is factually wrong. The game offers you more tools than any other Dark Souls, besides the fact that you are not mandated by the level design anymore and you can freely explore the map and get so high in level that you can simple faceroll anything you had difficulty with at the start. Enough with the bs posts.
factually wrong?
Maybe bloodborne dlc or ringed city is comparable (imo these are more fair and balanced) but Dark Souls 2 is way easier.
Again - the fact that a game OFFERS you all the tools to cheese it, does not make it easier. The tools are in every souls game.
You do not find every cheese and items by just exploring. The game is not meant to be 100% explored in one playthrough. Even Miyazaki said that... somewhere... I think.
I you play normally and do not use wiki, you will most likely not be overpowered and not find all items.
It took me up to godskin duo to realize that I need to rely more on my spirit ashes and level them.
I only discovered hoarfrost myself after defeating them. Then ofc I used it until the rest of the game.
But it requires very keen brain to catch up all the small details. How bleed or frost works is different than previous games.
Not going bleed or frost with melee build is 100% a waste in this game. It's something you discover later or learn from wiki.

Now the game is indeed a joke for ng+. But my first playthrough was very frustrating at times. In a bad way like no other souls games except Sekiro. Sekiro was all fun and easy but some bosses were the real challenge out of nowhere
 

nkarafo

Member
The builds in Souls games have never been so extreme as in Elden Ring, but neither the bosses.
You can tank a lot more in Elden Ring because every stat gives you damage reduction, so the more levels you have the more tanky you are, str and arcane gives you the most damage reduction, so a build of vigor str and maybe arcane is probably the best way to tank hits to the face.
I play a str build with lots of endurance for using heavy armor/shield with medium load. Same thing i did in DS1/DS3 but in Elden Ring the result is more OP because i can block physical damage with zero stamina penalty thanks to a combination of a talisman and skill. And with a certain end game shield i don't even need the skill, just the talisman. That's for 100% absorption. DS1 could do 90 something % at best iirc. DS3 was even lower so i used to roll more in that game. I rarely need to roll now.

And you have the mimic tear. Even with such a build, some bosses were still near impossible in DS1 and DS3 so i had to change tactics. Like a certain 3 phases boss and Midir. Now, no matter how hard a boss would be in a 1v1, the mimic tear breaks it just because it can take aggro away from you.

I never play these games online so i don't know how easier a boss gets when you summon a player to help you. But i assume with mimic tear is easier because it's far more tanky than a regular player and i don't think the boss gets extra HP+DPS for being in a 1 vs 2 fight...
 
factually wrong?
Maybe bloodborne dlc or ringed city is comparable (imo these are more fair and balanced) but Dark Souls 2 is way easier.
Again - the fact that a game OFFERS you all the tools to cheese it, does not make it easier. The tools are in every souls game.
You do not find every cheese and items by just exploring. The game is not meant to be 100% explored in one playthrough. Even Miyazaki said that... somewhere... I think.
I you play normally and do not use wiki, you will most likely not be overpowered and not find all items.
It took me up to godskin duo to realize that I need to rely more on my spirit ashes and level them.
I only discovered hoarfrost myself after defeating them. Then ofc I used it until the rest of the game.
But it requires very keen brain to catch up all the small details. How bleed or frost works is different than previous games.
Not going bleed or frost with melee build is 100% a waste in this game. It's something you discover later or learn from wiki.

Now the game is indeed a joke for ng+. But my first playthrough was very frustrating at times. In a bad way like no other souls games except Sekiro. Sekiro was all fun and easy but some bosses were the real challenge out of nowhere

Frustrated Headache GIF by Kelly Clarkson
 

nkarafo

Member
Not going bleed or frost with melee build is 100% a waste in this game. It's something you discover later or learn from wiki.
Really? Because i'm melee without frost/bleed and i think the game is still easy. I guess i didn't need the wiki to tell me how to play after all!
 
What makes it easier is the fast travel. I had 150 k runes down in Elphael and consciously died at a spot where I could retrieve it on respawn and fast travel the fuck out. Bosses are hard af without Ashes because they are balanced towards you using them.
 

nkarafo

Member
What makes it easier is the fast travel. I had 150 k runes down in Elphael and consciously died at a spot where I could retrieve it on respawn and fast travel the fuck out.
Couldn't you just fast travel without dying first? Or it didn't let you because you were in battle mode?
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
Really? Because i'm melee without frost/bleed and i think the game is still easy. I guess i didn't need the wiki to tell me how to play after all!
ok good for you.
You are just good at the game. Know it is not so easy for everyone.
Level 171 is not a normal progress though. I have no idea what you did to get that high on one playthrough.
I finished the game at level 107, 65 hours and then put 20 more hours to discover other areas and kill rest of bosses and I am level 140. That is so crazy high, every undiscovered boss just dies.
I only now went to Mohg and he just melted first try. Dual crucible knights? super easy.
So maybe if I grinded the game to hell before actually playing it, it would be easier.
But I discovered good 75% of areas and bosses before finishing the game... I didn't really even main line it.

edit: Literally, after finishing the game, I opened up wiki (I finished the game like 4 days after release o there was no wiki even) to compare maps and going killing everything that is left. I really did not miss too much.
You can make the game easy by skipping all main progress and doing EVERYTHING in the game aside from main progress but what kind of playing is that ?! previous souls were more linear and tightly balanced so you could not really do that
 
Last edited:

JMarcell

Member
I got killed with 1 or 2 hits on the first enemy encouter, the same thing happened to me in all past Souls games. So nope, it's not easier.
 

Keihart

Member
I play a str build with lots of endurance for using heavy armor/shield with medium load. Same thing i did in DS1/DS3 but in Elden Ring the result is more OP because i can block physical damage with zero stamina penalty thanks to a combination of a talisman and skill. And with a certain end game shield i don't even need the skill, just the talisman. That's for 100% absorption. DS1 could do 90 something % at best iirc. DS3 was even lower so i used to roll more in that game. I rarely need to roll now.

And you have the mimic tear. Even with such a build, some bosses were still near impossible in DS1 and DS3 so i had to change tactics. Like a certain 3 phases boss and Midir. Now, no matter how hard a boss would be in a 1v1, the mimic tear breaks it just because it can take aggro away from you.

I never play these games online so i don't know how easier a boss gets when you summon a player to help you. But i assume with mimic tear is easier because it's far more tanky than a regular player and i don't think the boss gets extra HP+DPS for being in a 1 vs 2 fight...
yeah, makes complete sense that you find the game easy going that hard on the build, it was never this flexible and powerfull before.
I always play this games for the exploration and focus my builds on the roleplay aspect, but the bosses have been getting stronger with each game and taking emphasis away from the level's difficulty, i would say that Elden Ring has the hardest bosses of the franchises if fought at low level or not completly equiped

Just watch your damage negation, at lvl 50 naked you can have over 30% damage negation aproximately, get some armor in there some buffs, a shield, and you are taking god's punches to the face like nothing.
 

Majukun

Member
it's unbalanced.
the bosses per se and some of the enemies are not easy...lots of feints, hit like a truck and have animations that are way faster than what is human reaction times...

BUT

the amount of options available, the fact that you can just overlevel and the AI that is still as stupid as any souls game mean that you can make many encounters really easy with the right approach.
 
Last edited:

nkarafo

Member
You can make the game easy by skipping all main progress and doing EVERYTHING in the game aside from main progress but what kind of playing is that ?! previous souls were more linear and tightly balanced so you could not really do that
Exactly, it's what i'm talking about.

Previous Souls games didn't let you do that, that's why they were harder.

Elden Ring lets you do that. Which makes it easier. It's exactly what i described in the OP.
 
Last edited:
oh whatever.
I can't like a game but find some problems with it?
That is your counter argument?
Go troll somewhere else.

The game is great but it's a mess in many ways. If You don't see it, at least show some respect.
All I am saying are facts. I finished the game you know

Your points suck all the time, not just in this thread and you always argue with everyone despite being constantly proven wrong. Thats why I won't bother. You never admit it when you're wrong.



good luck doing this in any other souls game. Spoiler, you can't. Game is easier than every other souls game. Thats a fucking fact now piss off.
 
Last edited:

RoadHazard

Gold Member
I've just finished the capital, and so far I agree. The most difficult boss for me so far was probably the very first one (had to go explore some more and get stronger before I could take him). Later ones have generally gone down easy, I've rarely needed more than one or at most two tries. I haven't really had to bang my head against anything for hours like I've sometimes done in the previous games. The areas and enemies in general are also way easier now, most stuff I just mow right through without even being all that careful.

I like to more or less fully explore an area before taking on the boss and moving on, and I feel like that has maybe left me a bit overpowered? In the earlier games that doesn't really happen unless you intentionally grind, but here it kinda naturally does I feel. Of course you can choose to make the game harder by skipping most of the side content (or not using your runes to level I guess), but that's not how I want to play the game.

I also feel like the spirit summons are way too useful. An upgraded Mimic Tear makes most fights so much easier, both by acting as a distraction but also by dealing damage. Sure, I could not be using them, but why would I not use a tool the game gives me?

Still having fun though, but that sense of achievement isn't quite there in the same way as often (yet anyway, maybe there's more challenging stuff coming up).

(I'm fully melee BTW (except for some light bow use), don't like "cheesing" these games with magic. I do use a bleed sword though.)
 
Last edited:

tmlDan

Member
Easy? Dang...




I also thought the game was the easiest souls game, but Melania is a cheap boss - she can only be killed if you have the proper build which isn't exactly fair balance.

Most people in the community find her un-fun and broken.

Either way, the game is the easiest souls game and by the end i was bored because 100 hour games are exhausting, i hope we move away from it.
 
Last edited:

BlvckFox

Gold Member
I agree for the most part but bonfires close to bosses are a blessing. This caused massive headache continually trekking through bullshit just to try a boss that has murdered you 30 times before.

I will say though, I do wish there was more Sekiro style going forward. That game demanded you learn, you really couldn’t outlevel your enemy to cheese the game.
 
Last edited:

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
Your points suck all the time, not just in this thread and you always argue with everyone despite being constantly proven wrong. Thats why I won't bother. You never admit it when you're wrong.



good luck doing this in any other souls game. Spoiler, you can't. Game is easier than every other souls game. Thats a fucking fact now piss off.

Love that guy videos. But it’s not natural playing.
That’s just cheesing and research. You can do similar things in all souls.
The game is not easy because cheese.
My +10 mimic didn’t win the game for me. As I said. Have is quite easy now that I finished it but that’s not the point
Watch a proper critique

 
Last edited:
Top Bottom