Elden Ring IS NOT Legendary, Here's Why | Asmongold Reacts

by @dryblindvideo • Elden Ring ISN’T Legen...
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[@yimwee2401]

“For a game to be legendary, it has to be replayable for years” is one of the most bonehead takes I’ve ever heard.

[@saracchi1515]

Literally all FromSoftware games lel

[@Freshmaker420]

By his logic only games as a service that are catered for the mass can be legendary, right

[@thorveim1174]

@@Freshmaker420 and beware, only if they get that support and arent just dropped...

[@PrinceCollinXXX]

Also I literally still replay it. I’ve replayed it like 100 times

[@walls_of_skulls6061]

Here we are, a year later, with tons of replay value and mods to extend that

[@MrGeorge07]

the fact this game is only a year old and i already get nostalgia from just watching clips of people reacting to this game makes it legendary

[@Maximum7077]

legend of zelda and ff are not legendary games for me. DOS2 and Skyrim are legendary games. Games that are replayable and you can have 100s of hours in it. If a game was legendary you would replay it.

[@thomasjackson5204]

but because its only been a year ..which isn't long ..is the reason your reacting to it lol.............................lets wait 10 years its alteast 10 years maybe more.

[@savagedonut]

I dislike Reskin Ring

[@MrGeorge07]

@@Kriz-ff2qy nostalgia is feeling not logic lmfao. Doesn't take logic for people to consider which games they like the most, that's called opinion. Next time i decide on which game got me hooked and gave me nostalgia ill remember to think really hard about it because obviously it might be un logical 🤣

[@MrGeorge07]

@@Kriz-ff2qy to me it's legendary because it gives me nostalgia. This is my opinion. It doesn't take logic for people determine what they like in life 🤡

[@thelastgamer1]

I think this was a kinda bad take…the whole point of going to unarmed tunnel 5 is so you will explore the extra parts of the game and find even more stuff. It’s definitely a fun contribution. The ball bearings definitely took care of most of the problems he was talking about.

[@RAXI-rl4nd]

Elden ring makes nothing new. Its all the same. But its still a good game.

[@thelastgamer1]

@@RAXI-rl4nd yeah it was the dark souls formula but turned open world

[@antoniopietro6592]

​@@RAXI-rl4ndso does anything that a human creates.

[@lerippletoe6893]

If you don't want to struggle to upgrade, then you get the bell bearings. If you want to take even more away from it, then just play it on pc and hack it.

[@minhhieunguyen8096]

@@RAXI-rl4nd there are news things, do you see any dark souls boss that do a combo for fkin 20 seconds? Stance breaking is also make R2 and jump attack viable. Ashes of war can be apply to various weapon and so much fun to use. Puzzle, dungeon,.. all that and you say nothing new? Nahh brah, just say you quit the game in the first hour

[@airekofvinlandslayerofthes7965]

Elden Ring is absolutely a legendary game. Hands down.

[@shamsulhaqramzi378]

agreed

[@embern3372]

Just depends how you define legendary tbh, I think that's the only gripe of this video. In any essay you have to clearly define the shit you're talking about, he didn't really give a clear definition about "legendary".

[@vazazell5967]

It's worse than all previous from games and is more derivative of itself to the point it doesn't feel like a new game

[@thesupreme8062]

​@@vazazell5967tend to agree, its less balanced, and even though it has more of everything its ultimately less replayable than older souls games because its poorly balamced in comparison

[@vazazell5967]

@@thesupreme8062 it's not even about balance, it's about amount of new content to your asshole being stretched ratio. I beat artorias wannabe on steroids no48 just to access 3 more asylum demons, 4 pus of man and 2 shitty dragons? I miss phalanx, i miss maiden astrea, i miss mist noble. I miss every single thing that was interesting and wasn't actively trying to be the hardest thing in the universe. I'm once again seeing that from had no idea of what made their games appealing and just makes random stuff and huhahhh HARD. Lords of the fallen and the surge had similar level of difficulty to Elden ring which is why people disliked them, but those games at least have new animations and enemies. I'm so disappointed, and i wasn't even waiting for this one. Assassin's creed games change more stuff between games than From at this point.

[@joebk44]

My first playthrough I never got bored of the caves. I had fun exploring the whole times. It’s why I have 200 hours on my first character. But every play through after I skip most of them. That doesn’t mean they are bad. I just don’t need to explore it again. I got to the ones I need.

[@timmcgraw3096]

The first two playthroughs I fully explored every corner of the map, and then in randomizer mode, I did it again. After nearly 400 hours in Elden Ring, I haven't opened it anymore for 5 months. Maybe someday I'll play Elden Ring again, but probably not anytime soon. 😂

[@timmcgraw3096]

The first two playthroughs I fully explored every corner of the map and got every loot as possible as I can, and then in randomizer mode, I did it again. After nearly 400 hours in Elden Ring, I haven't opened it anymore for 5 months. Maybe someday I'll play Elden Ring again, but probably not anytime soon. 😂I'm a deep patient with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder of collection.

[@sk8legendz]

100%. not going to bother with a dungeon that at best gives me 3k runes when i can get that off a random npc or mob group. not that the dungeons werent fun, im just min maaxing my time and benefits gained

[@brandonvallier4214]

Yeah I'm at almost 300h on my first playthrew and I haven't been stuck on a boss for any real length. I just keep exploring.

[@ELDENLORD89]

same I was never bothered by the caves. On subsequent play throughs I would just avoid caves that didn’t have what I need. This idea that ER is hard to replay because the thrill of going into copy paste caves looms is utterly meaningless to me. The guy who made this video is a goof.

[@King_of_Hearts]

I think the whole weapon leveling thing is probably designed difficulty to make you feel attached to you’re weapon, and feel a sense of accomplishment or allow for again a development of attachment and risk involved with upgrading a weapon.

[@cronotriggered4314]

True, but in a game where you can find so much cool shit to use, not being able to try stuff out is a buzzkill to exploration. And even worse you have to actively invest into a weapon in order to figure out if it’s damage numbers and scaling is even remotely worthwhile, or just look it up.

[@CrzyLion]

@@cronotriggered4314 in the early game, the scaling hardly matters, its the base weapon damage that is most of the damage increase when you upgrade your weapons in the lategame you can just buy the stones, and find like 8 of each max upgrade stone last playthrough i did i changed weapons like 5-7 times, (was dual wielding so stone cost was doubled)

[@cronotriggered4314]

@@kayn9651 I’m not saying it isn’t designed with that in mind, being able to buy stones alone gives that impression. I’m just saying the way it’s incorporated ends up being cumbersome and annoying. Having to spend time grinding weapons up with excessive numbers of stones isn’t fun, and discourages me trying something else out. If I’m at a boss and want to try something else, but will need to spend 30 minutes to get it to a level where it’s functional, I’m probably just going to brute force with what I’m already using.

[@G1R2TS]

@@kayn9651good point about starting weapons. I used my Ugi long into the mountaintops and felt a feeling of loss when I benched it.

[@lawless7512]

I'm confused when people mean test or "use" test you can still test weapons you don't need kill bosses to "test something" but use is different if you wanna use a weapon then yeah you'll grind heck you can even equip weapons when you have no stats for it to"test it" but that's my view

[@creeperkinght1144]

I think gameplay time is more expansive than people think. Yeah 'I played this game for X hours' is great, but what matters is asking ' how did you feel during those X hours? Did the experience during that feel good, bad, neutral, or some variation?' Hours are not the only to show dedication, but the experience itself can add so much more to putting a perspective in the game. Edit: I find it fascinating that some people have put their own perspective/ experience below as a response. It gives an open idea of what people really think about the games they play, and as a result it can make one more aware of the experience itself.

[@Gromper7878]

Very true. I loved the first 80% of my first playthrough (160+ hrs total) but that last 20% just dragged and left a sour taste for me. I just wanted it to be over and it made me really sad that I started to feel that way about the game

[@Ghorda9]

@@Gromper7878 the game never expected you to do everything on first playthrough, saving content for the future to cut the time down to 80 hours or less would help a lot with enjoyment.

[@Gromper7878]

@@Ghorda9 For sure, I just loved the game so much and burnt myself out. However my love has been resparked and I'm currently on my 4th playthrough :))))

[@BobbyJenko]

@@Gromper7878I have a tendency to go so hard on a game and get burnt out. I just wait awhile until the hunger for it comes back lol

[@bullcrab2032]

It was boring

[@MrTmm97]

8:50 I like the idea of upgrading the anvil to upgrade all weapons to a certain level. It would absolutely allow for more experimentation, likely leading to more build diversity. However I have two points- I think that Fromsoft attempts to address this by rewarding bell bearings throughout the game that way as long as your either heavily exploring to find the bell bearings or have a guide to find them….you will eventually be able to level any weapon you want up to either somber+9 or normal+24. However this still promotes farming to afford the runes to buy the smithing stones, especially as the higher level stones become extremely expensive. However with farming areas like that in Mohgwyn palace it’s not like the farming take that long. My issue with this solution is the bell bearing for certain level smithing stones aren’t provided until 1-2 areas after the region you would normally find those levels stone and level your primary weapon. This means that even though in the extreme end-game or NG+ you have the means to experiment as much as you want with different weapons…as you are progressing through the game you are still essentially limited by the stones you find the stones your able to buy when progressing through a given region tends to be weaker than what that area is expecting you to upgrade too-evidenced by the stones that actually are found in those area. I think that really stifles experimentation until the very late game which doesn’t feel the best. However your often also limited by what you can experient with by your level by means of scaling or stat requirements. The scaling can be side stepped by respecing… but high level requirements have to be overcome by leveling up. I do think that the entire structure of offering the bell bearing for smithing stones a level or two down from the stones that drop in that region was an intentional design decision by Fromsoft. The reason being because having to find smithing stones for a given region to upgrade your weapon as high as you can in that region encourages the player to explore for loot (weapons, talismans, armor, and most importantly for this point…smithing stones.) This increases the total play time for the game which indirectly helps by the player also gaining other loot and levels while they explored for those smithing stones. This increases total playtime which bodes well for the game and also better prepares the player for upcoming challenges. My and I’m guessing most players biggest complaint with that is that the dungeons that reward the vast majority of smithing stones in each region become repetitive and tedious towards the end game. In my experience it wasn’t overly tedious though.

[@lancelottrivino2273]

outside of story, there would be absolutely no incentive to play new game plus to try different builds as u could do it all on the same run. This makes the game worse. And yes to your point, exxploring takes precedent in this particular souls game. Its the first ever open world souls game ever...of COURSE they want you exploring and getting the smithing stones that way...

[@102ndsmirnov7]

the reason to play NG+ is partly for the challenge and also so that you can get multiples of otherwise "unique" weapons, for instance boss drops.@@lancelottrivino2273

[@just_a_turtle_chad]

This video was 100% made by an AI.

[@mostneuter]

@@bhutehole beep boop

[@lebron7071]

@@bhutehole big true

[@repghost9481]

comment bot reported

[@repghost9481]

@@bhutehole mustang and sally did it better

[@alchemyty]

What's sad is I cannot tell if you're kidding or not

[@fourjhin_cookies]

I havn't felt the sense of awe/mystery/exploration that Elden Ring gave me since I first played World of Warcraft back in 4th grade. And that sense of awe lasted through my entire 300 hour playthrough. That alone is enough to make me consider this game legendary. Remember going into that little stone building next to the giant bear scratching the tree? Finding an elevator in there that brought you so far down into a giant underground city whose sky looked like a galaxy cluster? (Nokron) Holy guacamole that was awesome. I only consider the first playthrough when reviewing a game like this. Of course your 2nd, 3rd, 4th playthrough isn't going to be as magical.

[@ravi-oli]

Seems like you haven’t played alot of good games then

[@fourjhin_cookies]

@@ravi-oli or maybe I just have different tastes than you

[@KhadiPlays]

@@fourjhin_cookies if you haven't try Outer Wilds (yes Wilds not Worlds), completely differente genre of a game but playing ER I kept thinking "I haven't had this much fun exploring since Outer Wilds"

[@enman009]

@@KhadiPlays and the fun part about Outer Wilds is that, even though you can still explore and move around, once you know the "clue", the exploration goes away in order to optimize your gameplay. That isn't inherently bad, since it serves feelings, themes and ideas that doesn't need 420 playthroughs. But of course some will disagree and find it as a negative.

[@xsomeNOOBx]

I'm a grown ass man and few games have really given me the sense of scale, wonder, and, exploration that Elden Ring have. Outer Wilds definitely gave me more "wonder" but despite being a literal solar system explorer felt neither as big in scale, nor as explorable (it is much more directed than ER and is more like discovery than exploration).

[@Dertlecup]

He has the least hours on Sekiro because it's by far the hardest one. You can't get carried by op meta weapons and whatnot, it's completely skill/reflexes based.. and I remember him rage quitting it from just a mini boss lol

[@johnray527]

I think the Bell Bearings for upgrade materials largely solved the problem, but I also think that defeating major story bosses (Remembrances) might have been a good time to lower prices for those stones at Roundtable Hold. Locating upgrade materials actually is fun for me, and prioritizing how to improve your build is key to the game. But there should be a way to avoid excessive runaround to try out new weapons. What ends up happening in Elden Ring is you just get people to drop an upgraded version of something.

[@reldey3900]

I think it's cool that the bell bearings exist, and that it gives you another great reason to explore the larger caves. It really isn't much trouble to upgrade items compared to previous souls games.

[@Wywern291]

This is so wrong it's not even funny. You can upgrade a weapon to max level like long before you get the bell bearings to do it with other weapons, especially somber smithing stones with which you can get +10 by the time you get to Liurnia.

[@vincey6158]

@@Wywern291 yeah, some devs decided to 'fuck it' and placed somber 9 near the Caelid tower. The fastest somber 9 in the lower region, lmao. I think you need to reach Volcano Manor and jump skip for Somber 7, but you get the idea

[@anhdunghisinh]

@@vincey6158 tbh north of Caelid was full of dragons, people would avoided there even after they beat Radahn

[@anhdunghisinh]

@@vincey6158 but still i think it was a good design, people try jump skip at Volcano Manor and people trying to get Radahn Great Runes must have to be quite mid or better at the game, they deserve to obtain high lv upgrade mats.

[@vincey6158]

@@anhdunghisinh except you can just fast travel there with portal behind marika church #2

[@Zach014G]

My 2 cents. I think If a game has you remembering it for ages with just 1 or 2 playthroughs its Legendary to yourself. Isn't that good enough? I think so :)

[@nujevad28]

Silent Hill 2 is Legendary, but I doubt you'd enjoy playing it multiple times.

[@axrye800]

Fallout New Vegas does this for me. A unarmed/melee build is the most fun I've had in a videogame, and years later I still remember bits and pieces of me running thru the Mojave and beating the shit out of most NPCS

[@Zach014G]

@@nujevad28 I still have memories of it LOL I remember forgetting to crowbar at the hospital and getting softlocked in the Well LOL

[@migueltucabron]

I don't think that standard is really good though. I have that with some really flawed games like Risen 2 which has pretty bad graphics (even for the time of release), pretty clunky gameplay and pretty bad armour diversity. I really liked the game and still remember it fondly despite those flaws but i would never call it legendary.

[@orangeeeeeee]

Or you remember it because of how bad it was lol. Not saying that's what ER was though.

[@thecrazygamer2853]

So one big thing I have to say to counter the leveling items, is the implementation of the bell bearings. Not only do they allow you to purchase material for weapons, but also spirit ashes. As someone who switched from a Dex katana build (why I played this build as a sole strength player in DS3 idk) a poison arcane/strength to pure strength banished knight Oleg cosplay, it was nice to be able to get the smithing stones for all the way up to level 18, which is a viable level for endgame even. And that is just with the level two bearing. I am incredibly happy they did it this way, in fact I feel like they give you the higher level smithing stones relatively quickly, since I have been clearing the underground shunning grounds I have gotten a ridiculous amount of lvl 7 smithing stones. And I know he talks about it, but I just thought I would bring my own opinion.

[@iamthejolson]

I feel like the build/weapon criticism stems from a very narrow view of Elden Ring. The game has a lot of replay value through making a new character or New Game+ and really if anything I feel like if you like the gameplay loop (the primary reason to play the game mind you) it entices you to come back and try different things.

[@Thulgore]

EXACTLY!!!

[@mahatmaniggandhi2898]

other souls games do that better

[@Idontevenknowman779]

No it doesn’t lol

[@Childofbhaal]

@@mahatmaniggandhi2898They all do it pretty much the same to me. I have platinum in every single souls game and I still feel compelled to start them over again with new builds or trying different things

[@CheeseOfMasters]

@@Childofbhaal Elden Ring adds nothing in New Game+ though sadly, other games at least gave new items.

[@miketike3246]

I actually loved the process of gathering smithing stones and other materials, it makes you explore the world and makes you patient and not rush the game. And I LOVED just taking my time and going through dungeons really thoroughly. I don't entirely know why, but smithing stone gathering felt really immersive and satisfying to me.

[@leoleo1035]

I think it is a retarded reason to explore and they could have easily done better. Walking around 20 hours to find fucking rocks to level a weapon I may regret and discard, is just stupid.

[@fullreinhard]

I dunno, gathering them wasn’t a highlight of the experience personally. With the game being less linear than previous Souls games, the materials you got were so spread out that there’s a chance you’d end up gathering every smithing stone but the one you might need. Also, streamlining the anvil would help build diversity by making it more feasible to try newer weapons without having to spend an hour or two gathering just to address some of the awful stat scaling.

[@miketike3246]

@@leoleo1035 Well then I think you missed the point of the game. It's not about instant gratification. Also, the game doesn't make you farm smithing stones the entire playthrough. There is a point when you get bell bearings and then you can simply buy the smithing stones at the Roundtable hold, unlimited. But you still had to explore and overcome obstacles to get the bell bearings. But once you had it you no longer had to farm a particular level of stone. Same thing for grave glovewort for upgrading spirit summons. After a while you could buy those as well. So when you say what's the point of investing in upgrades for weapons you might regret and discard....ummm...isn't that why it's INDIVIDUAL CHOICES that are up to you? In an RPG? Right? If you upgrade a weapon that you later don't use, so what? Didn't that weapon get you to a certain point in the game? If a weapon gets you 40% through a play through, it's not wasted. It sounds to me like you just don't like exploration RPGS and you want everything handed to you from the beginning.

[@miketike3246]

@@leoleo1035 If gathering materials in dungeons isn't a good reason to explore, then what is?

[@kreenbopulusmichael7205]

I hate crafting systems with specific and obscure resources. just give me one or a handful of resources to collect and let me upgrade everything with them, simply needing more as I upgrade more. having to find a bunch of some common item, and then one specific and rare item just to get a few stats increased isnt fun for me

[@Conrad75]

Elden Ring is the only game since Halo 3 & Reach that really made me feel like a kid again while playing it. I enjoyed every second of it and even just a year later I feel nostalgic about it. To me that’s more than enough to be legendary, especially with the majority (not all) of games coming out today being the dogshit quality they are. Even out of the fromsoft games it’s my favorite. I played through probably 2/3rds of DS1 and 3 but just got bored with them (I know I know that’s the greatest sin imaginable) and I’ve just started playing Sekiro

[@jgriff8533]

I agree, it ruined modern gaming for me for a bit because by comparison nothing is as good right now.

[@VeuTrox]

Good luck with Sekiro, you’re gonna have a hell of a time but it’s gonna be worth it. Just remember that hesitation is defeat.

[@duysin4]

Yup, my time exploring Limgrave without a single clue or guides, yet.. it was just so magical. It brought back the joy of exploring and sense of wonder and danger that most games just don't have nowadays. Definitely a top 10 or 5 game of all time for me.

[@ryanbarry34]

Same with me, felt the same way with the first dark souls and bloodbourne. 30 now so Halo 3 is quite a vivid memory. Sekiro is great, only tip I would say is perservere, you will get better just via muscle memory as you adapt, its quite amazing. My second playthrough was a breeze in comparison even a year later.

[@shade0636]

Tip for Sekiro: Don't try to play it like dark souls or you will be frustrated.

[@xConflictGodzx]

That upgrade idea is good… for a casual game not for a souls game, the whole part of an upgrade system in a souls game is that it’s a reward to upgrade your weapon and if all your weapons were max level that easily then build diversity would be even worse because everyone would use everything they can do, so you’d experience less wtf moment videos etc of someone using a unique weapon they’ve made a character to revolve around it

[@monyfornow]

nah man it forces you to stick to a singular weapon for an entire playthrough it just aint it

[@Morbid_Stoner]

THATS WHAT IM SAYINGGGGG, BRO WAS LITERALLY COMPLAINING ABT HAVING TO PLAY THE GAME

[@ttv.Backpack]

@@monyfornowit really doesn’t. souls games aren’t designed to cater to the players. search and go through failure over and over to deserve a reward

[@Anima18911]

Every souls game has weapon upgrade....

[@miceatah9359]

cool story but elden ring gives u enough materials to upgrade every weapon in the game ...soo what exactly is your argument

[@ImawandererIroamaround]

This is not what any Elden Ring player wants please don’t ask for these changes

[@talonblade336]

For the weapon upgrades part I will say that I prefer the way the souls game and Elden Ring does it. There are plenty of upgrade materials just sitting out in the world to hinder you if you want to experiment, and it also gives me a sense of mastery when I take my weapon that I have chosen from the dozens available to me into the final boss room.

[@redseagaming7832]

Correct and also you noticed how all the missing stones are strategically placed throughout the world so you can't become overpowered immediately in the game that's a smart thing on from software's part fact of the matter there's some areas of the game you can't get too unless you go through a boss and if you're not ready for that boss you're not getting past it and you're not getting those upgrade materials

[@talonblade336]

@@redseagaming7832 you can in theory get to everywhere but anything past Lyndell without killing a major boss.

[@RuneKatashima]

I think you used the word "hinder" incorrectly, my friend.

[@doublelizard767]

​@@RuneKatashima Running around this entire map remembering all the smiting stone locations is definitely a hindrance

[@johnfrankster3244]

Literally nothing wrong with the way you upgrade weapons. Once you have the bell bearings its literally not a problem. The only minor irritation is the limit on sombre 10s.

[@MrTeamGuy]

"Hoops" doing respec. "Not replayable" because you can't use all weapons on the same run. Smithing stones? You can buy them. What dafuk

[@MitoDrium]

Just someone having an opinion without having all the information. As is typical on the internet.

[@enman009]

And you know the funny part? Another KZbinr called Eredin complained that respect drags the game down. Someone's solution becomes another's problem, and both fail to see the impartial intention of the game rather than their personal take. That says a lot about good criticism and KZbinrs as a hole.

[@duewhat9815]

I like the upgrade system because it gives you a critical decision (although I understand why some people might be turned off by that) but it also gives kind of a mastery feel which I do feel is critical for any RPG...like, if you use and upgrade the same weapon throughout 20-30 percent of the game obviously you are going to do better with that weapon than a weapon you just got because you've already been mastering your original weapon.

[@Keyce0013]

Most games I know that have a weapon levelling system (Remnant: From the Ashes comes to mind) already have the problem solved. Once a player can be reasonably expected to have upgraded some or most of their gear with the current crafting tier and are ready to move onto the next level, add the previous tier of crafting materials to the vendors you find. Then they can just play the game normally and return to the vendor to spend currency buying upgrades for whatever weapon they want to boost up to their level. No complicated crafting hijinks needed!

[@sebastianb.3978]

Bell bearings, my Dude

[@_TheEnclave_]

Elden ring has bell bearings which allow you to purchase both regular and somber smithing stones.

[@admiralbright7308]

Elden Ring is very replayable, you just don't 100% the map everytime like the first playthrough. When you want to play new builds you can bline for the weapon itself and upgrades. I have dozens of new playthroughs this way.

[@SaltNip]

@@MonochromeMemories Honestly, while I agree on the combat styles side of things, I have to disagree with the endings argument. The Age of Stars and Lord of the Frenzied Flame endings are both cool, and the Age of Fracture ending is just the default option, but the other three are very weak in comparison. The three Mending Rune endings all have interesting lore behind them, but the actual endings are just palette swaps of the Age of Fracture cutscene with a minor dialogue difference. Generally agree on the replayability of the game though, since- to be a bit cliche- it's ultimately about the journey, not the destination.

[@nolanthedude]

@@SaltNip yea the endings have no effect on the world at all. I have a feeling they’ll impact the DLC, but it’s shocking that there is no tangible impact after the game is completed.

[@romdog1818]

Sadly, that B-Line just isnt as engaging as previous games. Most of the time you're just traveling on torrent for a couple of hours. The open world may have made making builds easier, but it also ruined the journey of making said builds.

[@entropy7705]

I cant help but feel this is due to the sheer size and not because the actual content is all worth replaying through again. If ER was a convention souls game and cut 75% of the fluff it would probably not be as interesting as ds1 and probably on par with ds3

[@ragegaze3482]

100% agree, found it odd how he complained about how it isn't fun to do x dungeon boss for the 5th time on x playthrough, like what? You literally only go to the dungeons you need and avoid teh ones you don't, maybe on the first playthrough that can be an argument but he specifically mentioned repeat playthroughs

[@joelbarnes6632]

I think the main reason I love Asmons reactions is because I like watching the videos he reacts to however a lot of the time I get mad at the inability to challenge some of the outlandish takes held and then find no one to have a good faith conversation about it with and always end up feeling somewhat isolated and questioning myself whereas when I watch Asmond he calls it as he sees it always leading reinforcement of my own takes or really unique perspectives that I would have missed. Edit: yeah after re reading this there were definitely better ways to convey what I was trying to say, rather than challenge which implies an open discussion I meant simply disagree, my vocabulary isn’t big enough nor my ability to articulate my thoughts clearly to fix this so fuck it, cheers to all the people that understood what I was trying to say.

[@alexpopov6661]

Good insight and self awareness

[@enman009]

It's a valid sentiment. There's a lot of very questionable points on the internet, specially videos like the one Asmon is reacting to, so it's reassuring to have people responding to wild takes. I highly recommend watching JK Leeds and LupineOs in this regards, they bring excellent points and respectful disagreements.

[@starcraftBR]

Yes whether you agree or disagree, its a good constructive criticism/discussion to take/give

[@nimmer4749]

"Asmond"

[@elwynn1230]

gosh an internet intellectual

[@SleepyRPGman]

Most people don't speed run games. Heck most people don't complete games. A game does not need speed running to be legendary.

[@GaMeRfReAkLIVE]

In regards to new weapons in the later game. It would be nice to have a display for its base stats (unleveled) and a display for the stats of that weapon at your current weapons level. Maybe have it in the comparison tab or something

[@madelen9279]

I appreciate the fact that you have to work for every thing in the souls like games. For me that’s a huge part of how it gets me so invested! Yea, it’s annoying when you find out you’re short on a type of smithing stone, but then again it always sends me on a new adventure. He can’t possibly be that familiar with the fanbase if he thinks there’s so few of us enjoying the grind lol. We enjoy the torture, sweat and tears, why else would you play it.

[@SimonRobeyns]

thats dark souls right there i think this guy is expecting the kids version of a from soft game and to some extent elden ring is a bit more user friendly but i wouldnt say its streamlined and easy id say its more fluid and solid in the sense that it's so huge of a world it wouldn't make sense to have too many roadblocks in regards to bosses and such im at malaketh black blade now; for instance and this feels like the first roadblock where i might need a couple of attemps to get through it. Last time i felt like this was in the sewer of that big city, i just felt underlevelled.

[@Ghorda9]

@@SimonRobeyns subterranean shunning grounds is set up in such a way that you could just sneak or run past the omens.

[@izmizzle]

You can max a somber weapon in a few minutes, think about how many more mushroom×5 we would be looting if there were no smithing stones

[@2lowfatmilk606]

​@@SimonRobeynsyou can have a hard game without a lot of grinding, he wasn't expecting it to be a easy kids game obviously, but you still make up claims.

[@gregs9210]

if you've played enough games you'd also know that developers use mechanics like that to water down the rest of the content in the game

[@BrianCarreraShaw]

It's always the 'climb' that makes you get attached to elements in the game or any game. Being strong enough to get through difficult content and bosses give an ample amount of payback

[@bl0ots]

i can’t be the only one who doesn’t get bored of the catacombs/cave. I have beaten the game 4 times and each time i enjoy going through the dungeons .

[@Thesrin]

Maybe it is

[@GitGoodGaming]

I still play ER even after having platinum trophy and 100% on steam. I'd say it's holding up very well still. Currently working on a Magma Blade chaos build with the Albenuric Mask, no chest pieces and only cloth arms and pants to make the most I can out of the blue dancer charm. The goal is to be a glass cannon and it's working splendidly

[@yungwarlocc]

Almost exact same situation just haven’t found the moon of nokstella or the magma blade. Dlc is still coming too

[@justpazzingby13]

Commitment is a cornerstone of all Soulsgames. You commit to a weapon, a playstyle, a stat upgrade, or an attack. Everything in a Soulsgames is a deliberate decision and thus either a success or a mistake.

[@electricant55]

Except other souls don't take 100 hours to beat

[@Aiden-iy9du]

@@electricant55 if it takes you 100 hours to beat elden ring again there's something wrong with you

[@confuscious5514]

​@Aiden it took me 101 hours to finish NG but I did it on purpose because I was exploring and completely missed the main bosses until I had to lmao

[@ryanbarry34]

Spot on, it's a refreshing design these days.

[@kadenfridley1285]

I get that but you can also respec your stats, It doesn't restrict you to one playstyle until you want to change the weapon you use.

[@chrismerrell7957]

Guides absolutely crushed the souls-born genre. It's one thing to use a weapon that is good, but it's a whole different thing to figure out a weapon that you LOVE. And I think that's where dryblindvideo fell short. Instead of trying to figure out what he liked about the game, he immediately went to google and figured out the 'optimal build'. As soon as you do that you've surrendered everything you accomplish to some blogger, KZbinr or journalist. You don't have to min-max everything, and doing so can absolutely make a game worse. I always try to figure things out for myself before I look up guides.

[@eyesfullofsky9776]

I was a MASSIVE PvP junkie back in Dark Souls 1, Bloodborne and especially Dark Souls 2. The build diversity in the last example in particular was staggering, so much so that that I had well over two thousand hours and there were still new builds I was playing around with. Sure, Ice Rapier/Sun Sword/Spear stab spam was strong and, sure, high Poise Katana builds ran rampant for a long time... But I still loved using dumb shit like Powerstance Caestus with Off-Hand Bone Fist, or Anvil-on-a-Stick with Lance in the left. My weapons and gear weren't as good as theirs, yes- but I could still put up a good fight, and I had a ton of fun doing so.

[@Shitockiful]

Yeah I agree here, it is indeed the strategy guide that killed the game from the beginning, it just wasn’t apparent until it was too late. Otherwise, somehow I’d probably see a hard copy strategy guide for Elden ring lying around an ad or something

[@dots1761]

@@eyesfullofsky9776fist weapons after a few buffs are now meta fyi, caestus is very fun and I highly reccomend it.

[@RomGomLP]

I ran half the game looking up best oonga boonga weapons, but then at some point found the cool bubble blowing trumpet, insta respecced and bubbled everything to death, it was much more enjoyable than following a guide

[@ollydavis2495]

It doesnt affect pve because i just dont look up guides, but pvp on the over hand has been ruined by sad unoriginal people spamming moonviel and ROB i just dont understand the appeal of doing thay

[@FairlyOddFather]

Crazy how incredibly fun it is to replay with different stats, weapons, incantations and spells. How confident you are the second time around enabling you to try new builds and explore new areas.

[@holdmymug4766]

I liked that in the other Souls games you had PvP if you had your humanity or ember. More health and summoning friends in exchange for pvp.

[@auxiliumtv]

Wasn't a huge mechanic of the game the gamble of exploration (risk vs reward)? So to gather more consumables it was a gamble because you might run into something way stronger than yourself. In order to upgrade weapons more it took risk. To become more powerful than the linear path took risk and/or exploitation of the leash free open world that is optional to you. It feels like complaining about a 3 course meal that has been painstakingly setup for you but then they also have provided you with a pro kitchen and all the ingredients that were used to make your great food so you can make yourself whatever you want. Then you complain that the food wasn't as good as the food you made or you complain that you're too full, or you complain that the food they made was better than the food you made...

[@team4star1]

To put it in perspective I have notes for elden ring mods that is just pages of ideas. For skyrim this would be very simple to do, you just sort of make the mods and it usually doesn’t crash, it’s why that game has one of the biggest modding communities out of all games. But for elden ring the way the code is structured, how big the game is, and having to balance everything becomes such a monumental task that even making one mod is a headache for elden ring.

[@zakuguriin4521]

I think my favorite build so far is the Paladin. Its the ultimate co-op class. Got the Great Stars mace with Blessed Strike on it. Then Howl of Shabriri, Blessings of the Erdtree and Sacred Oath for spells to beef my damage or give me and my teammates regen. Then i got the Momento talisman and Blessed Dew Talisman, the Regen Tear and the Iron Shield. I regen 5-6% HP a second. Great Stars does 1% regen a hit and Blessed Strike does 30% healing to me and my party members. So if my teammates are getting beat down, I can spam Blessed Strike to heal them back to full HP. Its hella fun

[@wildcoyot3768]

I played eleven ring 5 times, 2 on my first build and then 3 new builds after that, got all the achievements. And I still log in to play to this day, elden rings world is amazing, I played 5 different story's in one game.

[@BeastGrid]

Quantum, is that you??

[@kal-sheiargonianassassinof7980]

That guy was such a joke lol

[@Tend0nin]

He was hired by Quantum.

[@babypenguinwithagun5737]

@@Hk7762Tube and he couldn't be more wrong lol the graphics are great and fromsofr has the best artstyle in the industry

[@PotatoL001]

​@@babypenguinwithagun5737 The graphics are technically mediocre, but the meshing and art direction makes the graphics look better than they really are which is incredibly impressive.

[@oreledoria2537]

I was a fextralife daily user playing elden ring, finding every cave, dungeon, what have you and clearing them out of all the spirit summons, items, etc. on my first playthrough. Loved it. Got the 3 main endings through my first and 2 NG playthroughs alongside getting the elden ring achievement in 120 hours. Just the way I liked playing and I consider Elden Ring to be the best game I've played since The Witcher 3.

[@backyarddad4198]

Demons Souls is a completely different experience if you try to play it on dark world tendency. the tendency system is why the game becomes so easy in the middle, but if you forcibly keep the worlds dark, it's one of the hardest in the series, especially with the added black phantoms and the changes to enemy capabilities. It's worth trying to do a run at dark world tendency just to experience it at least once.

[@TheUnzeal]

Elden Ring for me was like the adult version of The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of time. Exploring those two games was an huge experience for me and will always be fondly remembered. But no game is perfect for everybody. But Elden Ring will always be a legendary game for me and these Tarnished eyes will always follow the glimmer of light.

[@DragonoftheDarknessFlame]

Adult OOT is Twighlight Princess

[@orangeeeeeee]

The themes that come up in OOT are pretty adult if you ask me lol

[@weskintime4177]

Just playing the game this is just the Skyrim of Darksouls.

[@Ghorda9]

@@weskintime4177 except skyrim has terrible combat.

[@brandonman1315]

I’ve said this exact thing since ER came out!

[@trollinthedungeon5255]

With millions of players, they still didn’t add a store. I think that’s pretty groundbreaking.

[@MtpMuzik]

fr

[@youngrootv]

But….but..I need my Elden Ring battle pass to make it a good game 😢

[@electricant55]

You have extremely low standards then

[@sunnyD301]

Would be nice if you were able to zoom further out when attacking the larger bosses to be able to see more of the boss and area instead of a foot or butt for the whole battle. But a small thing for me really.

[@readyupwait6138]

Elden ring is my first experience with a souls game and I didn’t think I was going to finish it but with all of the different weapons and armor I ended up going for the platinum trophy on this game and played through this 4 times each time around using a completely different build. Finding a new cave or hidden area on new game +’s really blew my mind. This is a hell of a game and has me wanting to play through the rest of the souls games. My only issue is that I wish it was longer or this dlc would drop already lol

[@splinterborn]

you might not like the other games, they have great level design compared to elden ring's bland empty copy and paste world.

[@PyroBlonde7777]

@@splinterborn As someone who played D1 and D3 I strongly disagree. ER has some of the best scenery and map design of any souls game. D1 and D3 were more linear so the levels reflected that. Doesn't make them better when they can't match the scale of ER.

[@JumpCatStudio102]

@@PyroBlonde7777 D1 established the vertical interconnected level design which ER reuses (lyndell / subterrean / depth root). It was praised a lot for this specific design because it makes you feel like the world is a lot bigger with different paths that you can traverse (while still preserve the linear dungeon tradition)

[@PyroBlonde7777]

@Trong Hieu Nguyen D3 had the same design to an extent. Doesn't change the fact that ER is designed to be open world. As a result, it has way more freedom of progression. You can straight up walk past many of the world bosses without pulling aggro. whereas the Souls games generally force you to face enemies. The map design reflects this. I'm not saying ER is completely different. It's just an open world Souls experience. Which gives it an edge imo.

[@fatusopp4739]

@@splinterborn levels like raya lucaria, stormveil, leydell, and volcano manor really put elden rings level design up there, with the open world being mostly scenic and filler.

[@n8doggy733]

25:35 my favorite way to play is to start as a wretch and only level vigor to 39 then wear the Crimson Hood to get it to 40. Now you have 40 vig and are only level 30 and also you cant upgrade regular weapons past +3 and uniques past +1. This is a fun way to play and rewards you the furher you get because at anytime you can still go and co-op around Limgrave and Stormveil to show off your gear

[@I-VisiBomb-I]

the part about upgrading weapons is difficult. see Ratchet & Clank for example. the 2nd and 3rd games in particular. in their system, you use weapons and the more you use them the more they level up until a certain cap is reached. it means the moment you max out a certain weapon, you'd want to switch to a different one to upgrade it as well, meaning you'd never touch the maxed out weapon again until all other waepons you have are maxed out as well, otherwise you'd miss out on "weapon exp" during your playthrough. on the other side of the spectrum you have systems like in Elden Ring that let you max out a weapon and it serves you well until the end of the game basically. the magic number is in the middle of the spectrum. meaning you can upgrade your weapons, to a certain degree, and just like the rebirth system, get a special item that lets you switch your full upgrades to a different weapon. this way you dont have to go through every weapon to upgrade and see its full potential, but also dont feel like its a waste of time to even touch different weapons. at least thats what i think.

[@adarkwind4712]

1:55 can’t really agree there. When discussing the weapons I think any of the basic weapons are viable as they can be the most diverse in usability via buffs. If anything this inherently can hold back the legendary weapons you pick up across the game. Now you can make builds to work around its weakness but that doesn’t make it a bad weapon. You’re not meant to have a single way to do everything with any one weapon.

[@Yurikan]

There is a balancing act with these games and builds, but that balancing act differs from game to game a bit based on how complicated the controls are and where the players progress is in the game. If someone was used to a fast weapon and later on found a slower weapon, but isn't too far into the game so enemy attack patterns aren't advanced, they can learn how to use that slow weapon rather easily. But if someone finds the same slower weapon later in the game when enemies have stronger attack patterns, and the game expects the player to do a lot more, it is harder to learn how to use that weapon effectively. Then there is FFXIV where it feels like someone doesn't really get to learn how to play a job until they get pretty far into the game, and then there is a huge jump in the necessity to time things properly at the top end of the game that makes learning other jobs much less attractive (let alone the gearing).

[@Carlin2810]

I had nearly 50 hours before I unistalled & didnt find a single weapon or piece of gear...No actually I found a shield in the first chest that I couldnt use.

[@_TheEnclave_]

@@Carlin2810wait, you mean you had 50 hours and you couldn’t find anything? Like you still had all the base stuff?

[@Carlin2810]

@@_TheEnclave_ Yeah..I did get a shield that was far to heavy for my character (Mage) from the chest on the cart in the starting area village but yeah I found nothing. But then I was also told in no uncertain terms that youre not supposed to be looking for better gear anyway because thats not how the game works. Was actually 43 hours

[@_TheEnclave_]

@@Carlin2810 huh, if you want I could help you through the game. I’m on my 7th play through and I’m level 237

[@Carlin2810]

@@_TheEnclave_ Been thinking about going back to it as it was my first soulslike,just dont have it installed. Currently on Remnant 2 thats alright I just finished that,bit more forgiving & the leveling up doesnt seem so obnoxious.

[@MetalMilitia83]

I would just like to add, you can get up to somber smithing stone 9 in an hour. Only barrier is a godskin noble which is easy with sleep pots

[@_Just_John]

4:15 - You can always try out a weapon against weaker enemies to check the move-set. Weapons upgraded to the max have quite similar damage output anyway.

[@SyIis]

No they don't 😂 And you can't even use them without the right stats for them to work A level 700 using a level 0 weapon isn't going to do any damage compared to a level 3-5+ weapon.

[@theredcinder7437]

I gotta say i do agree with what he said about item leveling, its honesty the one thing that keeps me from playing more, if skill point/ weapon configs and items scaling with your level existed this could mostly be avoided. I hate wanting to constantly try new builds but being limited by how many smithing stones or larval tears i have farmed, its a pretty questionable system for an open world rpg. I am forced to fast travel to two locations if i want to change my build and thats only if i have the materials and runes to do so.

[@cooltrashgamer]

use a mod lol, it's the "only thing" that keeps you from playing more

[@ragegaze3482]

literally just buy the stones from the table merchant it isn't hard. If you truly have beaten the game you can get enough souls to max a weapon to +24 or +9 somber in like 20 minutes or less.

[@lucifearus]

As for the weapon upgrade materials, it's meant to be a grind, it isnt meant to be easy to just swap entire builds and requires some investment, hence why you only have so many reborn/reroll options as well. Besides, if it wasnt for that grind, you wouldnt be introduced to a lot of dungeons and zones youd have skipped otherwise, its an essential part of the game. I know people will argue they're generic dungeons, but many of them were still pretty cool with some fun bosses. Plus, the limited supply of minerals for upgrades drives you to be wiser, to farm better, and to play NG+ or create new toons.

[@lucifearus]

i do def think covs or more incentive for pvp would be awesome tho, they were surely the best parts of the older games

[@ultrawhitebread]

The best idea I have for the new weapon issue is being able to refund upgrades on weapons at the cost of a certain amount of runes. It would allow you to move upgrades between weapons allowing for faster build switches or just switching to a different weapon with your current build.

[@wecros3249]

would make upgrading your favorite weapon seem less like a big deal. These are important decisions to make in video games and taking that decision capability from the player would hurt the player experience imo.

[@Mikazuchireborn]

They did strike a sweet zone when it came to fully upgrading the weapons. Upgrading a weapon to +25 doesn't automatically turn it into an ultimate weapon: it's just the cherry on top for a weapon you've gotten good at using. The difference between +24 is pretty negligible. Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones may be limited, but the game gives you plenty of them in a single play through, so you haven't completely ruined your save if you accidentally used a few!

[@Heathboy420]

Naw just get bell bearings like the game design intends

[@vazazell5967]

​@@Heathboy420 bell bearings lag forever behind the actual damage you need

[@ragegaze3482]

@@vazazell5967no they don't lol what

[@MrJonchester]

I think thr best fix for leveling weapons would br allow bell bearings to carry over to the ng+ runes are much easier to to farm in higher ng+ so leveling weapons wouldn't be an issue.

[@maximusstorm1215]

19:00: Some examples being the OG Dungeon Keeper (1997). That and ER are my top tied games, they're so vastly different that I can't place one above the other, but one is wayyy shorter and dated than the other, but stands the test if time despite the graphics not holding up to today's standards. Another is the earlier Pokémon games. Pokémon Yellow, Red, Blue (I haven't played them, as they were before my time, but I know people replay them a lot). For me, Pokémon Sapphire was my first and I played the hell out of it, then discovered Emerald, which is my favourite Pokémon game. It's a small game, but you can replay it a lot if you're a fan of that genre/enjoy those games as you can use different Pokémon, do different types of runs and mod it to make it more interesting. Modern Pokémon games haven't been very good, but the Gameboy Advanced versions & early DS versions like Platinum were absolute bangers... Platinum is my next fave after Emerald. Compare those to Elden Ring, Elden Ring has wayyyyy more replayability due to the crazy amount if builds, you can easily mod it on PC to respec as many times as you like and even on base game, per playthrough I think you can respec about 15-20 times, there are quite a lot of Larval Tears. Not to mention the multiple endings and the fact one playthrough can okay out completely differently from the next. I doubt anybody covered all of the content in one playthrough and to do so would take 200 hours minimum I think, as there are so many quests, unique weapons to collect and viable builds. Also, some builds that aren't viable for PvE, can be super interesting for PvP. Builds for PvP seem almost endless, and you don't need to upgrade your shit as it's all adjusted, so each player dishes out x amount of damage regardless of the level of the weapon (I believe). Also, like Admin mentions, you can get the bell bearings that allow you to buy the upgrade stones, and getting a weapon to +15 is definitely enough to play around with it and even use it for end game enemies/bosses with the right stats (depending on the weapon, sometimes). There's also been a lot of updates, flails are now pretty good weapons after many patches they've received. If you really like the game, it's not hard to get the Bell Bearings and then on your second playthrough, have plenty of access to buy stones off rip and try new builds, I just didn't think it's as much if an issue as this guy is making it out to be. It's definitely annoying for people that don't want to commit, but if you're going into new game plus and so on, you'll find plenty of runes to buy upgrade materials, and farming runes is super easy once you get that end game weapon and go to the Dynasty Mausoleum farm spot. If you want to, you can upgrade and try many new builds on just your first playthrough. Pump maybe 5-10 hours into getting the correct shit (granted you're a fair bit into the game). Also, I think the sheer amount of weapons/builds makes it seem like this is an issue, when really, it's just not as you can easily try around 15 builds on your first run, possibly more. Edit: There are 18 Larval Tears per playthrough, so you get to try 19 builds per game.

[@9usuck0]

His first point is literally just not liking how rpgs work. If you didn't have to work for your build, what would be the point in your build? Making it so you have to dedicate time and effort is the point of becoming powerful. The options do not need to be easy for you if you want to make changes because those aren't the first point. Those are point 2-4.

[@DevonRucker]

He wants it to be a Zelda game lol.

[@Harakanis]

he's also pretty damn wrong, when i finished the game and unlocked the smithing stones at the vendor (up to +9 and +24) i just farmed runes a couple of hours from the birds before mogh palace and maxed out like 30 weapons to try out before going into NG+ you HAVE the chance to try out anything when you reach late game, but it wouldn't be good to have that option right from the get go

[@swordre5805]

Playing this game for around 800 hour using the same build over and over again is fun for me, at least.

[@marwen4528]

as a 400 hours guy with plenty of builds, I respect you

[@beatsbymonny]

Elden Ring is legendary just based on the fact that every open world AAA game got inadvertently exposed, ER came and said “This is the minimum gamers should be getting”

[@907warrior]

They should have a respect training room, with the option of having the weapon you want at +10, just for that training room

[@Isosceles8818]

I think we live in an era now where novelty is spoiled by knowledge sharing and hindsight. ER is a massive game, and exploration and combat are the 2 pillars that the game is built on. After most people's 1st playthrough, they've learned most of everything they need to know to beat the game. I think our general game knowledge has outgrown how these games are meant to be experienced. We rob ourselves of hours of discovery by reading and looking up the information, and I think that's what makes ER easy to criticize. I think people beat the game, read and learn about all the different kinds of builds and generally consume all of the knowledge of the game online. Then it takes away the novel element of the game and then after that it feels more shallow because you feel like you already know where everything is. I think if a man on a desert island experienced this game without knowledge sharing, this game could be experienced for 1000+ hours.

[@enman009]

Further expanding your point: every game, even the indie darlings, use some sort of gameplay loop that becomes apparent and replace the discovery aspect. That isn't inherently good or bad since mastery of the systems, through thorough exploration, leads to a satisfying conclusion. In other words: of course people will explore as much as they want in the 1st playthrough, they don't know what they're gonna get most of the times. And subsequent playthroughs leads to multiple ways to play and explore the same map, which makes it dynamic and still mysterious.

[@DamesTC]

TRUE AND REAL, too many guide play-along andies.

[@Divinefapper]

Elden Ring was absolutely legendary. First play through was absolutely magical, and I'm still playing it after +450 hours.

[@KyleSherwoodOfficial]

Haha this guy’s arguments are very weird. “It’s not speed run friendly…there’s too much great content to get through” yeah….good….right? Like what are we talking about here lol

[@Hostobi]

the upgrade critic is kinda dumb, it defeats the purpose of upgrading a weapon in the first place and defeats the purpose of searching for shards, i do however have 1 grip with elden ring and that is if there was an easier way to respec other than larval tears, if they could be sold for unlimited times & at a high price say maybe 100k it would be much better imo

[@vincentjanse]

What I like about ER is that it reminds me 90ties games that weren't designed to be beaten but were designed to be played. To figure out how to beat a old rpg or puzzle game you had to talk to friends, read about it in magazines or just be absolutely relentless. Elden ring is still easier because there are hints in the game and the game expects you to Google things about it. The fact it's not perfect is why people like it.

[@firmak2]

The anvil argument. I feel that goes against the first argument he made about having to jump trough hoops to get sometging. Making it an anvil thing will increaae the value of the upgrade material. Imagine an anvil that would go to +10 in ER. Those 10 upgrade materials would have to be spread across the entire map. There are 8 dragon smithing stones in the game so you dont have to go to a final area to get 1 +10 weapon. With the anvil thing, that probably wont happen for balance reasons. Also if you miss a single upgrade material, it would be a major blow because the devs would have to balance the game around getting the anvil material in x time. But i get the feeling the guy doesnt like the upgrade and level up system in general.

[@alexanderstults8484]

I don't mind the upgrade system of er. I love the world so much that having to drop more time into it isn't a big deal to me. I still find it a fascinating place and I'm on my third playthrough

[@tobecontinued436]

I think with any single player game there's only so much you can do and redo before it gets boring and i think that's inevitable but as soon as a DLC drops it brings new life to the game.

[@AtticPCGuy]

I felt a noticeable decrease in amount of optional dungeons between after Leyndell and the Fire Giant - vast big areas with comparatively less in them, compared to the first few. Probably a product of having to hurry up production towards the end, but I feel that's what makes the mid section feel a bit... emptier.

[@Nebula_303]

When the point of ER is to explore a souls world than it makes sense to go to random dungeon 36 for a useful tool that helps make the upgrade system easier

[@mattgarrett2583]

Your best time with any souls game is always going to be the first blind playthrough. The frustration of fighting through 10 guys, getting killed and having to fight through the 10 guys again only to die to the first 2 because you got cocky.. and then the eventual super frustration of running past, panic'd looking for where to go to find a bonfire, then backtracking to see what all you ran past only to find a bonfire that was right before the point you first died that could of saved you an hour of time. Not knowing where to get new spells or upgrade material, finally finding the last bit you need to get your weapon +3, then finding a brand new weapon 2 seconds after the upgrade. My first elden ring I played the assassin cleric. Found those punch codex weapons and had a blast sneaking about backstabbing then unloading an unblockable combo of punches to chip away.. then getting frustrated toward the end of the castle, going to explore and finding a whole area i was now over leveled for that had all the estus upgrades i could of used to tackle the castle.. so now all future playthroughs I go straight there to get what i need. Great and all, but means never having that same experience again

[@ronniegogs]

I have seen Titus one shot the fire giant as a level 1. No game allows that kind of diversity with a crazy build and buff routine to calculate that much damage. He one shot the fire giant without any phases. literal one shot.

[@Spaceghost918]

18:46 Some legendary games are so good because there's a mystery to solve. Case in point is Outer Wilds. The indie game has so much damn charm and a mystery to solve, but once it's revealed you'll never have the same experience. The soundtrack is very repeatable though and I highly suggest it if you haven't played the game or listened to the OST.

[@eyesfullofsky9776]

I'm so glad that others are still talking about it. A fair few others mentioned the game as a counterpoint to his argument on replayability on the original video, and there are others that also apply -but none so fiercely as this title. Honestly, what a triumph of a game. Such a unique way of using the medium of videogames to tell a great story.

[@Shwizzynet]

8:02 I think the anvil upgrade would be good for ng+. Starting new game plus without stocking up on a treasure chest of smithng stones can be kind of annoying if you want to change builds.

[@thelastgamer1]

They made the somber stones easy to get with the bell bearings so you can basically play and weapon you want. Rune farming is also super easy.

[@Dripping-Liquidity]

Ikr what a terrible argument when mohg’s sleepy farming emporium exists

[@fellissilvestris7125]

I honestly love Elden Ring! I don't really do PvP in it! And I really like the diversity of builds the problem with the weapon upgrades is only during the first play after you get the Elden Beast weapon the rune farm is a joke if you wanna upgrade anything and start NG+ and keep experimenting ... I'm not going for meta builds and I'm only playing what I think is fun for me for the playthrough... (for the difficulty everyone can decide for themselves. If wanna do it at level 1 or some crazy one shot build it's up me ). Currently, I've completed it four times and I can't wait for the DLC!!!

[@chachawawa3722]

This video sounds like an AI text to speach.

[@migldiglfigl]

The system of leveling your anvil or leveling all of your weapons at once would invalidate the need of bell bearings, and the smithing stones would have to be way more spread out if you only need a fixed amount once. I dont think this would work well in ER, in the other Soulsborne games it might but ER is too big. Also, having to respec makes sense, in other games you choose a class, in ER you choose a build

[@NatMage]

About upgrade materials: I personally always like the way Bloodborne handled upgrades, where you unlock the ability to buy the materials based on gameplay progression. You can upgrade one or two weapons more early on, but generally you can keep all weapons the same level if you just farm blood echoes, up to the end of the game where you can max them all. Similar to ER or Dark Souls for example, you don't have to find the Bell Bearing or Ember in order to do so. That said, rewarding the exploration and game knowledge in a game like Dark Souls make things like maxing a weapon before the gargoyles possible iirc, whereas Elden Ring is such a huge game I think it would lend itself better to the Bloodborne method.

[@Downside311]

Yes, you can. You can farm runes forever. My main character has multiple weapons on different builds maxed to the highest level or 1 or 2 below max. And if I wanted to change out, use a larval tear.

[@dixelsyc]

Just collect a larval tear and all the mats to max a few weapons, then make a backup save. Boom, Infinite builds.

[@dixelsyc]

@@MeldinX2 Eh, only if you don't care about going online. I used to just use regular mules or CE, etc. in DS3 and had to have the game on 3 or 4 different steam accs to just family share a new account each week because they're pretty active with the beans.

[@SwedetasticGames]

Weapon and spell balancing isn't the core issue, but that the really cool and unique ones have such high animation duration that they are functionally unusable outside of co-op/NPC summoning/Spirit Summons.

[@notan3144]

@thunderborn 32 Well a lot of those videos are overlevelled players stomping the bosses and never showing their stats lol

[@enman009]

The fun thing is that, even with the many improvements and balance changes towards every weapon/spells, people fail to realize how strong melee is or how challenging can be to build a mage and deal highly resistant bosses. People complaint for thing they don't even fully understand nor they adapt to the new rulesets. Not that Souls games are balanced games, far from it, but Elden Ring has done a better job at improving its quality and viability of weapons in a year.

[@ragingsloth2846]

I've got one character at level 510 on NG+5. I can literally use any spell/incantation/weapon I want. As well as rank up anything I want. Runes are not an issue, neither is class making. Use 1 character as your tester for builds. Then you have a gameplan and ideas for your next character. Starting new characters is how you choose play styles.

[@ragingsloth2846]

I can see it becoming boring and monotonous going through the caves/tunnels/catacombs etc. But going through them again using a different class causes the fights to feel new again. Yes I fought them on my first playthrough. But I was using a greatsword, no magic. Now I'm using duel katanas with Incantations. Replayability in a game ultimately comes down to the game initially being fun, and what the player does to make the replaying entertaining to them. ER delivers us a sandbox that we can build off of. With countless ways to challenge yourself or go easy mode, and everything inbetween.

[@user-zj4rg9kn1c]

my initial run of demon souls was super hard because i chose the barbarian build. no armor, high strength. so i had to dodge everything, cheapshots got me all the time. my first couple of hours were hell.

[@Podckast]

Weapon upgrade problem was PERFECTLY fixed in DS2. You have an NPC that gives infinite upgrade materials and lvl of those materials depends on the amount of bosses you defeated (or it just counted some main once but you get the idea). You still can get a bit more lvls on a weapon by finding materials yourself but you still can try any weapon you find at a reasonable upgrade lvl thanks to that NPC having enough materials all the time. I hate how devs dislike DS2 so much they can't see a lot of neat things there. They did bring dual stance but there's much more cool stuff in DS2 they should have used in next souls games... I'm just sad. (and a little of a DS2 fun boy)

[@Podckast]

@@Thanatos2k So true!~

[@Totaldeltako]

You can just look up where the smithing stone ball bearings are and give it to the one lady in the hub area and then just buy the upgrade materials.

[@Freshmaker420]

To much effort for this guy

[@azurethegamerkobold5434]

Just use Pathfinder 2nd editions system. They use Runes that you SLOT into your weapon. You can then pay a fee to unslot that rune and place it in another weapon. Thus if you found a better weapon you could pull the rune off your old weapon and slot it into your new one.

[@Matt-sk6hi]

I literally use a dagger on my main build, and I have a dual greataxe build. They work amazingly, but they certainly aren't meta

[@muffinhydra]

His first argument falls flat as by the time you seriously want to experiment with builds(which is around end of the game /NG+), you have the ability to have infinite runes and thus infinite smithing stones thus being able to upgrade every single weapon to 24/9. And you do so with relative little effort compared to the overall game.

[@phokeydhoo8940]

His first argument seems to be 'I don't like RPGs'

[@karl0261]

Idk man this whole video seems like it was made by chatgpt

[@dudebruh8534]

It just seems like a *hit video essay that's only getting attention because of a hot take. It like me saying Tetris isn't good because the game doesn't reward me with a long block every single time, then I give some ridicules advise to the devs on ways they could change Tetris to satisfy my minority play style that goes against the majority of what everyone else likes. Therefore creating a discordance that only fuels the popularity of my dumb-ss video which others will feel a strong urge to correct becase it's gurenteed a small few will agree with my stupid take.

[@muffinhydra]

@@Thanatos2k Yes but what comes after the game? NG+ That would be then the point where you might wanna try out something new. Explore areas you didn't visit the first time around. And I would argue at that point the amount of ppl not having access to all the ball bearing/ not thinking about those drops by a lot.

[@samuelmoore6340]

I think the goal of the developers when it comes to builds and upgrades, is to direct players to commit to their build and weapon, and to manage your upgrade resourses carefully, especially early game. I appreciate that they did put things like larval tears and respecking, and miner ball bearings in the game, to allow you to change your build later in the game, but i think its pretty well indicated by when in the game they give you these, that its not something they want new characters/players to do right away. You don't get the miner bell bearing 1 until you kill the Astal clone in Yelough Anix Tunnel in the consecrated snow fields. Elden has everything you need, but it makes you work for it.

[@IndieArchivist]

Awesome take. I 100% agree

[@serenitygrizzly5913]

After watching your quantum tv reactions, its great to see someone who respectfully gives his opinions with actual legitimate, relatable reasons without bashing the game or the community behind it, the way he carried himself in this review was very professional and makes it impossible to be angry with, even if you disagree with him which for the most part i do… either way, great review from both of you guys

[@paladinanderson8433]

I don’t really get the weapon upgrade argument. The ball bearings are there for this, and gives you something to work towards. After unlocking those the NG+ gameplay will expand, letting you adjust your stats and weapon level to cater to your play style. I’m glad we have something to work towards.

[@saturn580]

The only problem with Elden Ring's upgrade system is that the smithing stone ball bearings are acquired too late in the game to be useful. By the time you can buy stones to upgrade a new weapon to +8, your current weapon will already be +12. Making your weapons as strong as possible is very important, so most players will just use the same weapon they started upgrading forever and ignore the huge selection of alternatives.

[@Thejigholeman]

i always thought of the smithing stone bell bearings like a checkpoint system. You made it to ___ point in the game and found bell bearing 3? congrats, now you can bring any normal weapon up to level. you still have to look for the bigger ones to progress further, but this will at least make most weapons work at your level.

[@enman009]

The whole point is that the bell bearings are a checkpoint for how strong your weapons can be without breaking the difficulty and progression much more. You have to be smart to spend those early +7 smithing stones with the weapons you commit, like most RPGs with emphasis on build variety. Not only that, but leveling up and getting upgrade material is already too easy compared to previous Souls games.

[@Suesserto]

I've never really had any difficulty finding upgrade material for equipment late game in Soulsborne. The whole complaint about built diversity and not being able to switch around freely is true to some extent but I think that's the fun of it. It's about crafting characters that can utilize certain niches. But I do agree with him on covenant tho, doing multiplayer in souls title feels like you're serving a higher purpose and you get rewarded with fun stuff.

[@ChumpyGames]

One of the problems with the OP's point about all the work that goes into changing your build is this: the game is an RPG and that's kind of the point. The whole point of an RPG is that you have to make choices about how to build your character, you have to invest time into building your character, and the consequence of those choices is partly that you lock yourself out of other builds. It's just like how rolling a barbarian or fighter in a D&D-style class system will lock you out of being a wizard or sorcerer.

[@TimothyGod]

That's kinda countered by how easy it is to re spec

[@kimonasskourtis6486]

Sekiro doesn't have a build diversity but in no way is repetitive. The way you can approach fights counterattack i find very complex even though it doesn't seem like it

[@MrJueKa]

in Elden Ring I solved the problem mentioned in the video with different types of weapons and the different builds that go with them quite easily from my point of view: I now play several characters with different weapon types and build orientations almost in parallel, depending on what I feel like doing at the moment, I currently have six characters with different orientations and it offers me a lot of fun ... I can concentrate well on each individual character and learn their individual way of playing, improve their skills and compare them with each other and also push their levels independently of each other ... so I don't have any stress at all with new types of weapons that I might like, collecting runes, smithing stones and redistributing stat points ...this way I can play Elden Ring more intensely with different playstyles and never get bored or one-sided and my own skills and experiences as a player in Elden Ring benefits from it as well ... Elden Ring offers me exactly these possibilities only by starting a "new game", so why not take advantage of them, it can be so simple ... I also do that in some other games that offer different build orientations and the ability to play multiple characters at the same time

[@darrenmills3943]

If every weapon leveled up simultaneously, you'd only ever use the weapon with the highest stats, there'd be no reason not to

[@Gromper7878]

The Demon's Souls remake was actually the first souls game I completed. (Before that I had probably like 10-15 hrs in ER but didn't have access to my PS5 for a while). Even with my minimal experience, yeah all the bosses (except flamelurker) were super easy. For me the difficulty came in when actually playing through the levels. Off the top of my head I remember having trouble fighting like 3 knights and 2 archers at the same time towards the end of Boletaria, fighting the strong skeletons on the side of the cliff with the manta rays shooting at you, and the entire Swamp of Sorrow (Lake of Rot in ER is NOTHING compared to that place). Even though it got to be frustrating and teetering on the edge of feeling unfair sometimes, I wish other souls games had difficult sections like that. After beating DeS and ER, I didn't find DS1 that difficult. The boss runbacks were just annoying, especially the Four Kings. I feel like I'm kind of breezing through DS3 too tbh, I'm only starting to find it difficult after reaching Irithyll. Anyway I kind of lost the point I was trying to make towards the end there, I just like sharing my experience with these games. I just felt the need to point out that DeS isn't EASY per se, just most of the bosses. I would like to try it again to see how it goes now that I have more experience though.