Discussion
Aces_High said:
This is such a great thread. So many folks’ comments resonate. I find the game wilfully obtuse, irritatingly vague (I’ve lost count of the number of quests I’ve not furthered as none of them are recorded anywhere - and I do genuinely feel that’s a mistake by From) and of course it’s punishingly hard. But….it totally gets under your skin. I find myself at work, wondering if I should stick with my upgraded grafted greatsword or switch to the ponderously slow but utterly lethal giant-crusher hammer. Should I continue down into Nokron, or spend more time in the Liurnia sections i glossed over? The landscapes, the enemies, the strategies…it becomes totally addictive and when you take it away….you feel you’re missing something.
At the weekend I finally got to Starscourge Radahn, a battle I’ve been dreading but building up to for weeks. And beat him first time. To be clear, there’s no skill on my part - I’ve farmed that chicken run like a demon and am hugely levelled up, so I know the achievement is massively diminished, but still, I found myself punching the air in total delight and excited to see what comes next. Few games have that impact, on me anyway.
It’ll never top TLOU 1 or Witcher 3 for me, but it’s easily my favourite game over the past few years. What an incredible achievement of a game.
Glad you are enjoying it.At the weekend I finally got to Starscourge Radahn, a battle I’ve been dreading but building up to for weeks. And beat him first time. To be clear, there’s no skill on my part - I’ve farmed that chicken run like a demon and am hugely levelled up, so I know the achievement is massively diminished, but still, I found myself punching the air in total delight and excited to see what comes next. Few games have that impact, on me anyway.
It’ll never top TLOU 1 or Witcher 3 for me, but it’s easily my favourite game over the past few years. What an incredible achievement of a game.
Interestingly the two games you call out as being the best are ones that tell you who you are and what you will do and how. Elden is quite the opposite. I am working my way through quests that I completely messed up the first time on this second character play through. The game is designed to have these obtuse quests etc to make it feel like you are uncovering something knew should you choose to play again. Not many games make you want to immediately dive back into them after 120 hours solid on the first play through. There are plenty other From Soft games for you to try after this :-)
Aces_High said:
This is such a great thread. So many folks’ comments resonate. I find the game wilfully obtuse, irritatingly vague (I’ve lost count of the number of quests I’ve not furthered as none of them are recorded anywhere - and I do genuinely feel that’s a mistake by From) and of course it’s punishingly hard. But….it totally gets under your skin. I find myself at work, wondering if I should stick with my upgraded grafted greatsword or switch to the ponderously slow but utterly lethal giant-crusher hammer. Should I continue down into Nokron, or spend more time in the Liurnia sections i glossed over? The landscapes, the enemies, the strategies…it becomes totally addictive and when you take it away….you feel you’re missing something.
At the weekend I finally got to Starscourge Radahn, a battle I’ve been dreading but building up to for weeks. And beat him first time. To be clear, there’s no skill on my part - I’ve farmed that chicken run like a demon and am hugely levelled up, so I know the achievement is massively diminished, but still, I found myself punching the air in total delight and excited to see what comes next. Few games have that impact, on me anyway.
It’ll never top TLOU 1 or Witcher 3 for me, but it’s easily my favourite game over the past few years. What an incredible achievement of a game.
I concur with everything you said, an absolute masterpiece of gaming and for me one of the greatest games ever made. At the weekend I finally got to Starscourge Radahn, a battle I’ve been dreading but building up to for weeks. And beat him first time. To be clear, there’s no skill on my part - I’ve farmed that chicken run like a demon and am hugely levelled up, so I know the achievement is massively diminished, but still, I found myself punching the air in total delight and excited to see what comes next. Few games have that impact, on me anyway.
It’ll never top TLOU 1 or Witcher 3 for me, but it’s easily my favourite game over the past few years. What an incredible achievement of a game.
I’m 30 hours in and haven’t looked anything up. Progress is slow but I don’t care, I just transport somewhere on the map and explore some more!
Ruskie said:
I concur with everything you said, an absolute masterpiece of gaming and for me one of the greatest games ever made.
I’m 30 hours in and haven’t looked anything up. Progress is slow but I don’t care, I just transport somewhere on the map and explore some more!
Only 30 hours in, you're only just scratching the surface. It gets even better from there. I’m 30 hours in and haven’t looked anything up. Progress is slow but I don’t care, I just transport somewhere on the map and explore some more!
I'm absolutely useless at this game but I'm enjoying playing it. Level 80 and can't get Margit below 50% health (Str/Dex build), Internet says the castle should be done at level 20-30 lol.
Had to youtube some things to understand some of the background and get some tips for locations while I level up, other than that just been wandering around killing stuff.
Had to youtube some things to understand some of the background and get some tips for locations while I level up, other than that just been wandering around killing stuff.
Durzel said:
Raging so hard trying to navigate the Divine Tower of Caelid. Jump puzzles with the clunkiest controls (basically every Souls game) known to man. Was bad enough trying to get up the tower on Torrent, but now I’m inside I’m having to blind jump to platforms etc. Died so many times.
I seem to remember the path down with the jump based stuff was all optional though, if you just want to activate the rune then you can do that by going up and through the door.Stevil said:
As you get to the top entrance of the tower from the outside, go right which takes you up instead of down the inside of the tower, then there's a door which looks like a wall as you get to the end of the corridor, that's on the left and quite easy to miss on first glance.
You’re a star. Thought that passage was a dead end, didn’t see a prompt to open a door. 
Durzel said:
Raging so hard trying to navigate the Divine Tower of Caelid. Jump puzzles with the clunkiest controls (basically every Souls game) known to man. Was bad enough trying to get up the tower on Torrent, but now I’m inside I’m having to blind jump to platforms etc. Died so many times.
Caelid Tower wasn't too bad for me. Think I did it on 2 or 3rd attempt. However, there is a certain platforming bit later on , which is required for one of the trophy endings. I think navigating that was the real hardest boss in the game.
toastyhamster said:
I'm absolutely useless at this game but I'm enjoying playing it. Level 80 and can't get Margit below 50% health (Str/Dex build), Internet says the castle should be done at level 20-30 lol.
Had to youtube some things to understand some of the background and get some tips for locations while I level up, other than that just been wandering around killing stuff.
I found Margit one of the hardest bosses of all - harder than the one you’ll encounter soon after him. It’s done so well though, because I think FromSoftware really intended the Margit fight to be the real tutorial, especially for noobs (like me) who charge in expecting to easily brush past. At the time it was frustrating but it taught me to learn the bigger picture, the value of using NPC summons, using Ashes of War, levelling up first and seeking objects that can help with one fight (Margit’s Shackle in that case). It was an absolute punch in the air moment when I took down that dude. Had to youtube some things to understand some of the background and get some tips for locations while I level up, other than that just been wandering around killing stuff.
Trustmeimadoctor said:
Fire giant is pissing me off just can't get close to him to get that leg
That’s where I’m stuck too - feels like I’m close to the endgame and that big lummox is stopping me getting there! That shield rake is punishing . Trying to avoid a respec as I’ve come this far on a melee-only build, but this one is tough 
MWM3 said:
Durzel said:
Raging so hard trying to navigate the Divine Tower of Caelid. Jump puzzles with the clunkiest controls (basically every Souls game) known to man. Was bad enough trying to get up the tower on Torrent, but now I’m inside I’m having to blind jump to platforms etc. Died so many times.
Caelid Tower wasn't too bad for me. Think I did it on 2 or 3rd attempt. However, there is a certain platforming bit later on , which is required for one of the trophy endings. I think navigating that was the real hardest boss in the game.
I really want to like this game, it should be right up my street. But, 15h in, I just cannot get used to the camera settings. I cannot figure out how to have the view permanently behind my character, instead I an able to do things like run ‘towards’ the screen. I’ve no problem with that as such, lots of games let you use the right stick to move the camera, but they snap back to the default position when released, and that’s not happening here.
This means that I can’t figure out where I am in relation to an enemy, and so if they’re not 1-hit wonders, I get destroyed, sooner or later. Any sort of boss fight (the troll on the way up to Stormcliff, heck, even the guy with the fancy spear in the ruins before the gate) is just a lesson in futility, unable to see what I’m doing in relation to the enemy. It’s hard to get wowed by the majesty of a dragon you’re running away from fighting, when all you can see is a bit of a leg. It’s hard to block or dodge when you can’t see the hit that’s coming, because it’s above you, or on the other side, or whatever.
I would like to say I’m missing something, but I am all out of ideas from the menu settings. So, what am I doing wrong? (PS5 if it makes any difference)
This means that I can’t figure out where I am in relation to an enemy, and so if they’re not 1-hit wonders, I get destroyed, sooner or later. Any sort of boss fight (the troll on the way up to Stormcliff, heck, even the guy with the fancy spear in the ruins before the gate) is just a lesson in futility, unable to see what I’m doing in relation to the enemy. It’s hard to get wowed by the majesty of a dragon you’re
I would like to say I’m missing something, but I am all out of ideas from the menu settings. So, what am I doing wrong? (PS5 if it makes any difference)
Prinny said:
I really want to like this game, it should be right up my street. But, 15h in, I just cannot get used to the camera settings. I cannot figure out how to have the view permanently behind my character, instead I an able to do things like run ‘towards’ the screen. I’ve no problem with that as such, lots of games let you use the right stick to move the camera, but they snap back to the default position when released, and that’s not happening here.
When there no enemies are around to lock onto pressing down the right stick re-centres your view behind your character.Aces_High said:
Trustmeimadoctor said:
Fire giant is pissing me off just can't get close to him to get that leg
That’s where I’m stuck too - feels like I’m close to the endgame and that big lummox is stopping me getting there! That shield rake is punishing . Trying to avoid a respec as I’ve come this far on a melee-only build, but this one is tough Arrive in a little bit but not too close. Stay on your horse. Summon your ashes ( i have used black knife tiche +10 and this time I used dung eater (+10). Let the giant walk towards you a bit and then shoot off to the left to dodge his shield snow blast. Get underneath him and bash the ankle that doesnt have the big bangle on it. It is the other ankle that looks like its a bit raw. Bash only that as hard n fast as you can. Stay underneath him. When he lifts the opposite foot you know is going to lift the foot you are attacking next. If he rolls away follow him asap on horse. get underneath him and repeat. You can get him to phase 2 really quickly. Phase 2 isn't hard. Get up to him as fast as possible as soon as ph2 starts. get behind him and attack ankles again as he is now kinda kneeling/crawling anyway. When you see the fire start on the ground all around you, pull back and stay out of bother and the second that is dying down get back at it. Don't end up in front of the giant as you get double shield bashed and die.
Good luck
RW
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