Elden Ring Review • Where it failed, where it prevailed (Analysis)

[@AesirAesthetics]

I am certain to say something you disagree with in this video. This comes down to preference, not my intelligence or yours. Please keep things civil in the comments 🙏

[@WolfHreda]

Rumor has it From is going back to Armored Core next. I'm really hoping they do.

[@albertoign8678]

One question Aesir: in your commentary about Sekiro you made a really interesting point about final bosses, the whole "mood boss" factor that makes them more powerful moments than just a skill test. What are you're feelings about the one we get here? I think it's disappointing in both ways (as a challenge and as a mood piece) and that a game like this desserved something weirder, that would add contrast to the 4-5 boss rush at the end of the game, but I would be very interested in hearing your opinion.

[@AesirAesthetics]

@@albertoign8678 hated this boss

[@albertoign8678]

@@AesirAesthetics I really didn't expect something that direct, thank you.

[@AesirAesthetics]

@@albertoign8678 lol

[@comradecatbug5289]

I'm very happy someone voiced my woe about the shift in the combat system and enemy/encounter design. I really miss the tight enemy placement and weighty, high-commitment combat of older games. While it might not be as bombastic as with newer titles, I always found myself being much more thoughtful of my actions when playing them and it pulled me in and engaged me much more. DS3, Sekiro and Elden Ring are great, but in them, I find myself more so executing the combat mechanically like it's a reaction speed test with a DPS check on top. It feels more hollow if that makes sense. I miss when these games relied more on careful enemy placement and dangerous environments to keep a sense of tension while you explore, while also giving enemies more simplistic and distinct movesets that you could memorize. It was challenging yet it didn't blend together and it asked you to approach encounters with thought rather than with reflexes on edge.

[@Yobolight]

Great video. The “FS boss design” debate is really interesting to me because departures from their standard formula are often panned as “gimmick bosses” and never get much respect, and instead people praise Gael, Kos, Etc. And yet, “more boss variety” is a common thing fans say they wish they had. Rykard seems to be the first time that the broad player community has really fallen in love with a non-traditional boss, and I’m hopeful From can figure out why that felt so tight and take lessons away for future designs.

[@sasaki999pro]

Probably because it was a gimmick boss fight with a gimmick weapon that actually had a usuable moveset against a boss that wasn't *completely* invalidated by using it and didn't completely invalidate YOU by not using it. Goes to show how much entertainment value you can get out of a well crafted set piece experience.

[@zeroattentiongaming820]

@@sasaki999pro Nail on the head right there

[@Boots43096]

rykard isn't that different from standard bosses, the main difference is you have to use the serpent slayer sword and he can do that move where he summons thousands of skulls and sends em after you. That said, it's probably the best version of the "storm king" style fight fromsoft has done where they make you use a particular weapon.

[@ashenone3050]

Rickard seems to be the first? U have not played demon souls right? The storm ruler is hasically the same

[@TheAdarkerglow]

Because they want to join his FAMILEEEEE so they can devouah the very Gods TOGETHAAA!!!

[@zlodrim9284]

Your thoughts on From Software titles are always great to see and this video is no different, particularly when the discussion surrounding Elden Ring is so polarizing and such level-headed takes are seldom seen. I have stopped playing the game a month and a half ago when I reached Volcano Manor and did some exploring there and in Capitol, mainly because I haven't the time to completely give myself to the game which is the only way to play it, but from the opening hour I have loved my time with it and can gladly say it's one of my favorite games of theirs, third only to Sekiro and Bloodborne. Their take on the open world formula is refreshing to say the least, the combat I have certain misgivings with and you've rightly criticized certain aspects of it, like most boss fights present in it, but the things it does well it excels at and I am completely stoked to see the new era of From Software games unfold and can't wait to see what they have in-stored for their fans! Thanks for making this analysis of Elden Ring, hope more YT game reviewers take cues from you because you've been doing a great job with your channel, especially within the last 2 or 3 years and this is no empty gesture from a fan of yours, but simply an act of giving credit where credit is due.

[@zachtaylor5312]

If they are gonna keep ramping up the speed, combos and bs boss moves in the games then the players need more mechanics to deal with it.

[@tmbfreak_16]

And oddly enough, they DID do that in both Sekiro and BB. Sekiro has unlimited stamina and deflecting while hunters had quickstep innately as well as the rally mechanic. They have all the pieces already that they know works, they just need to start incorporating things like that in all future games.

[@zlodrim9284]

@@shawnmarcum8078 People just want to complain how it's not Dark Souls 1, and are unable to appreciate all the great thing Elden Ring does. This feels like the best high-fantasy game to date and the game Miyazaki always wanted to make, and I hope From Software moves on and starts doing something different and removed from the high-fantasy setting that has dominated a lot of their catalog in the past decade.

[@sasaki999pro]

I have a rule of boss fights, if they have attack combo's that require you to dodge more than twice before offering a punishable1 attack window Thats TOO much. It looks ridiculous seeing a knight in full plate mail hurling himself across the ground like he just got chucked into a tumble drier. Bloodborne and sekiro made dodge based gameplay work because you weren't given the oppurtunity to play heavy archetypes (and you werent somersaulting across the ground like a rodeo clown). I'm honestly dissapointed after sekiro made deflection timing a thing they didn't bring anything like a "timed block". Theres "barricade shield", but thats the problem it makes blocking TOO easy, you can literally hold down l1 and eat all of waterfowl dance. I'm not talking about neutering the challenge entirely. It doesn't help that all armor outside of Bull Goats is basically useless if you aren't stacking buffs from consumables and spells.

[@VladDascaliuc]

@@zlodrim9284 "The game Miyazaki always wanted to make"? What, a shitfest of reused poorly designed content where you're better off ignoring more than half of the game and with one of their worst bosses ever as its final boss to cap it all off? I think then that we're lucky that we've got mostly good games so far if that's what he always wanted. Regardless, the issue isn't that "it's not Dark Souls 1". Sekiro isn't, yet its combat is designed to deal with the enemies presented. Meanwhile, Elden Ring has bosses with the aggression of Sekiro ones without the system to make up for it. The game relies on hyper aggression and fake outs to bs the player as much as possible, which makes only for a lot of waiting happening in each of those bosses. Elden Ring has good things in it, obviously, but it severly dropped the ball in many others in such a way that you're only left to wonder if FromSoft will even realize they messed up.

[@secularspectator]

They gave you more mechanics

[@Shiningforceking]

When you talk about fromsoft games and sneak in a Kingsfield quote or reference I lost my mind. Thank you for keeping those old games in our minds. Maybe someone new will experience them thanks to you, and that means a wholw lot for an old timer like me.

[@mrdrquesos2795]

i tried kingsfield 4 cause of his vid

[@Shiningforceking]

@@mrdrquesos2795 what a chad! If you tried it even if you didint liked it, it's a win in my book. How didnyou find it?

[@mrdrquesos2795]

@@Shiningforceking I liked the enviorments and atmosphere but the controls and the combat sistem is too much for me xd dont think I will end it

[@dorkmoonblade4315]

33:21 I will admit to being extremely confused by what you said here. You say that by the late game your base defense will be high enough that you can afford to not wear heavy armor, but that just does not seem true because in Elden Ring armor gives you percentage-based reduction to damage, on top of passive poise, and in ER late game damage is so high that the added tankiness really helps. In addition, you say that straight swords never seem viable in the late game compared to larger weapons but you can powerstance straight swords much more easily than you can colossal weapons. Powerstancing is incredibly overpowered in this game, it is almost always vastly superior to two-handing, and powerstanced straight swords would probably out-dps a two-handed colossal. Secondly, bleed and frostbite builds work better with fast weapons and bleed is hilariously overpowered in this game.

[@porkwhisperer3050]

Yeah I have no idea what he is talking about here. Worst of all when referring to the colossal weapons he was meaning that this was a constant in from soft games what I have no idea how he came to this conclusion considering for pve strength builds are largely weaker than the other options a majority of the time. With the exception being ds1 where anything that isn’t a slow weapon or intelligence magic is just way way worse. Now he may have a point that straight swords aren’t necessarily the best in late game, but with weapon buffs they are actually really good in late game so this doesn’t even hold up. One last thing that I thought I should mention is why is it that most reviewers I have seen used colossal weapons, because it’s really unfortunate considering atleast in release it was definitely the worst to play and worst balanced for weapon type.

[@themaverick1898]

And this is why reviews criticizing the difficulty or boss fights have to account for every build not just thier sole playthrough using the same style. Not all bosses are easy to fight the same way. Not 9nly that but a player might be better at powerstancing, another player might be better at two handing, another might be better at parrying while another at guard boosting like difficulty is dependent on players skill×playstyle. There is no 1 all be all difficulty wise because this game is alot more broad and full of more variety. The fact the we have these discussions and some bosses can be really easy for some and really hard for others is obviously the point that fromsoft was going for. Everyone's journey will feel like thier own.

[@CaptinSpyke]

I think that gimmick bosses can be fantastic when done right, Rykard is one of the best bosses in the series . However, the more experienced player is going to be able to solve those gimmicks much easier as time goes on, and in a way those can be diluted in value like how the Artorias class of boss gets diluted in your example. I look at it this way: they don't really have a choice but to do this if they want to continue using the same core as they did in this game, and therefore pushing the limits of the reaction tests the series offers is the "right" decision following that train of thought. A friend of mine reflects very negatively on Demon's Souls having played it after Sekiro/DS1/BB/ER because of how simple and one note the bosses are and how unengaged he felt with their gimmicks. He really did not enjoy that game compared to the other from titles(he even really didnt like the levels) and its interesting to see how drastically different preferences can affect enjoyment of games in the same series between different people. Edit: I'm honestly intrigued again by how you insist you dislike bosses like the Godskin Apostle. Should the enemies in the game... not be hard? Should they not attack you in threatening ways unless its some 4d chess ultra gimmick or 3000 iq gauntlet set up to maximize the terrain to really challenge the player? Like, do we really need to have the DeS/DS1 pittance of reaction test fights? The series moved away from that almost 10 years ago now. For what it's worth, I heavily value both sides of the coin here, the boss that has curveballs and shocking twists and the boss that plays it straight and makes you put your nose to the grindstone to power through its onslaught. These games need both to realize their potential and bring the player more satisfaction.

[@zbmccarter]

I always assumed the reason the eternal (profaned) flame in ds3 couldn't be used to light the first flame is because it is "profaned." So, if the "first flame" bonfire is ignited by an already corrupted/ profaned flame, it would either not work, or result in some serious badness being inflicted on the world. (Kind of like if there was an endless fountain of chocolate milkshakes, but you couldn't drink the milkshake from the fountain, because the milkshakes are poisoned.) Even though the flame is "unending," it is essentially useless for restoring the "first flame" because of it's corrupted nature...

[@coolb126]

Oooo been waiting for this!

[@peckc16]

My greatest problem was how many side dungeons, mines, etc. I went into and got a negligent amount of runes and useless rewards that didn't fit my build. I wish there could have been the inclusion of more universal rewards like the flask shards- like upgrade materials you could use for any talisman- or permanent health/stamina increases outside leveling. I realize that is no easy inclusion, but it could have been a way to help along that issue.

[@AesirAesthetics]

I think the mines and caves and such also had the potential to be an alterntive way to get quest rewards. So, if you wanna speed through the game, rather than spending an hour talking to some npcs, there's a cave you can search up (like how the chalice dungens worked in Bloodborne.)

[@matrix3509]

>useless rewards that didn't fit my build You must hate every Souls game then because that's the reward loop for literally every Souls game. Its kind of an unavoidable consequence of having build variety in the first place.

[@VladDascaliuc]

@@matrix3509 Except it is several times worse in Elden Ring due to the size of the game and the amount of items. You will spend many, many hours of not getting absolutely anything useful and most caves and dungeons will be wasted effort in their entirety. This was not a prominent issue in something like Dark Souls 3.

[@noahraab2429]

The game like dumpster diving. I had fun but couldn't drag myself through the endgame.

[@steveb931]

The main problem with elden ring is that anyone who plays it can't forget it and start over blind. Now if fromsoft could come up with target memory erasing it would be much better than it already is.

[@lukew6725]

But if I could just erase my memory whenever I wanted why would I ever play any game besides Dark Souls 1? 😅

[@haughtygarbage5848]

Fantastic vid, fair and compelling analysis. Your From videos are all so interesting in their perspectives and this is no different. Your appraisal of the spirit ashes and comment on the mimic tear were definitely deserved. The idea of From breaking away from Demons Souls as a base for future action games is quite intriguing. I liked your commentary on how this combat really was better designed for dungeon crawling, never considered that too deeply before. Great work!

[@giacomogiliberti2673]

I think this game was mostly designed for mixed builds, wich is a tradeoff obviously and some builds are less fun as a result, and the proof that I have that the game was designed for this is that there is a seal that scales with strength and that empowers spells that thematically fit well with a strength build (bestial incantations), I played a strenght/arcane/faith/dex build (with points distributed in descending order) and the amount of tactical options at my disposal was absurd, plus until the end of the midgame game crafting and items were really powerful I couldn't belive that people were saying crafting is useless when i killed extremely easily the rotten draconiconic warrior that was destroying me by throwing 3 oil urns and 3 redmayne bombs, plus how can rot pots be ever useless is beyond me

[@sunnyta1990]

I think the balancing of the options is super whack. Sorcery is so good and faith is terrible, bleed and frost are overpowered due to high boss HP in the endgame, some summons are just way too strong, etc. I get From wants players to utilize all their options but they should have balanced them better so the game didn't become Mimic Tear and Bleed Build Simulator 2022.

[@giacomogiliberti2673]

@@sunnyta1990 well you are correct but I wasn't talking about the bosses but the areas and I wasn't talking about only the strength of builds but the playstile philosophy of the game. Again you are 100% correct about the bosses wich is why I don't like them too much malenia is the worst example, she has countermeasures against small weapons with her sekiro like deflect and is difficult to hit with big weapons, plus her hyper armor is so high that nothing staggers her out of it exept bleed and frost wich is really stupid since they already are so strong. In areas it's a different matter faith is quite decent and when implemented in a mixed build it's extremely useful, souls games aren't boss rushes despite what ds3 seems to condition some people to belive

[@albertoign8678]

I think that's also the case, but they failed to properly communicate the player about the importance of having a hybrid arsenal. You can get by the first 2 thirds of the game without using range options and feeling ok. The only way I can excuse the last boss of this game is by being designed with a hybrid build in mind. Something like expanding the range options for non magic, non faith builds or, extremely, having a few starting bosses being unbeatable without a range option may have been interesting.

[@giacomogiliberti2673]

@@albertoign8678 absolutely, although in my opinion that still wouldn't have saved elden beast in particular

[@enman009]

Well, I've played two pure melee (Greathammer and dual curved swords) and the game was extremely flexible for my style. If you don't use charge or jump attack, you won't get much out of it. The balancing issues is so ingrained in Soulsborne, specially Demon's Souls (remember pyro builds?), that From made the challenge in the context of "doesn't matter what you use, just do it". That's my biggest issue with the series (alongside with inconsistent quality). But, as many in the community, I think the bosses in ER are among the best. But Sekiro has the best boss design in the series.

[@osohista]

I really enjoyed Elden Ring. I wasn't beaten down by it's issues as much as some more vocal critics were so I just happily sunk 120 hours into my first playthrough and I immediately started another one once I finished. That said I really hope From basically abandons Souls now. This is it, this is the one. Release a DLC, sure, but I'm excited to see what they do once they let go of the formula.

[@routhy]

I definitely have some gripes with Elden Ring. While I beat the game and enjoyed my playthrough, I never took the time for a second playthrough to soak it all in, and the thought of revisiting it sounds so uninspiring that I honestly don’t think I’ll even play the DLC. This is not normal for me when it comes to Fromsoft titles. Normally I’m clamoring for a second playthrough and all the additional content. The spirit ashes were a huge letdown. A pocket summon at the ready anytime you feel overwhelmed or like you need an advantage. People will say, “no one is forcing you to use the ashes, just play without them”. To which I’d have to reply that the game is balanced around the player using these ashes to even out the difficulty. Why would I put myself at a disadvantage by not using them? In past Fromsoft games, I rarely used co op, and when I did, it was more so just to experience the game with someone else for a bit. It was never because I thought the segment I was on was too difficult. Using the ashes made me feel like I wasn’t alone the whole playthrough, but in a bad way. Lugging around this AI that I honestly wanted nothing to do with, but felt obligated to make use of. My other gripe with this game has to do with the world design and bosses. The main points of interest like Raya Lucaria Academy felt solid, but the random caves and dungeons throughout the world reminded me so much of the Bloodborne chalice dungeons. Stale, repetitive, and boring locations that didn’t have much to offer in terms of unique content. Almost all of the caves reuse enemies and after the halfway mark, they start reusing bosses as well. I guess my thought process is, if you’re going to reuse a boss or enemies for a dungeon, why not just scrap that cave/dungeon completely? These dungeons and caves led to me feeling like this world was empty and boring, regardless of how large it was. Just having them there isn’t enough, it’s not like more content is always good content. This is probably the biggest reason I don’t want to revisit this game. Replaying those mind numbing caves and dungeons sounds like torture. Idk, I think Elden Ring was a solid game with a beautiful world, but so overhyped and honesty disappointing for a fan like me. It’s better than most stuff on the market but that’s not saying much. I’d go with a 7.5 or 8 out of 10. Probably an 8 because of how wonderful the graphics, music, and gameplay are. It’s still just the same old Souls gameplay tho. No real innovation besides the horse lol

[@SleeplessSpecter]

I really appreciate you talking about trade-offs in this game. I see so many people say this part was “overturned” or “poorly balanced” without taking into account the vast amount of options and freedom the game gives you.

[@sasaki999pro]

The big issue with this whole "freedom" of choice is that trying to find a fair and balanced difficulty is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Elden Ring is an experience of extremes, it can be the easiest most boring FromSoft RPG ever made, or it can be the most frustratingly difficult one and it leaves the large portion of fans feeling wholly unsatisfied one way or the other. Sure you can exploit as many of the games systems as you want, stacking buffs on consumables on summons until bosses become a complete pushover, or you can do a level 1 bare handed run with a guitar hero controller. But for those that want something in the middle, something that requires their full undivided attention without needing sweaty twitchy CS:GO tournament reflex skills to avoid getting two tapped, the game is almost bereft of clear solutions that previous games already had.

[@SleeplessSpecter]

@@sasaki999pro It’s really not that bad. Like Aesir said, walk the main path and once you get stomped and it feels unfair TO YOU, go explore. It’s really obvious to most intuitive people that that is the way the game is setup for people looking for a more balanced experience. It also gives you more freedom in how difficult you want the game to be, which is awesome for both new people and vets who want it harder or easier.

[@sasaki999pro]

@@SleeplessSpecter Again, missing the point, yes an intuitive player will usually gun the main story path until they reach a wall and go exploring else where. A more hard core player will relish the challenge, where as a casual player would be deterred. Problem is that its just as easy for a player to come back TOO strong for that zone to bring any sort of engaging challenge, and theres nothing really telling you wether or not you're at the appropriate "level" for the zone except maybe if you get far enough in you might find a smithing stone which MAY indicate the ideal power level your character should be.

[@sasaki999pro]

@@SleeplessSpecter its like trying to play Devil May Cry and your setting options are Human or Dante Must Die with the player being entrusted with the responsibility to just find the right amount of self imposed challenges to satisfy themselves.

[@SleeplessSpecter]

@@sasaki999pro If you have an IQ above room temperature, there are plenty of context clues telling you that you are in an appropriately leveled area. If you feel like you are over leveled, you can use one of the hundreds of weapons you picked up that isn’t as upgraded. I don’t even understand what you are arguing for. Would you prefer everything scale or what?

[@enman009]

This was a pretty good review, well laid out, comprehensive and acceptive of other's opinions. I agree that the balance for any open world is a mess and ER, while not being completely balance, offers options to alleviate that. Still sloppy. I have one big disagreement: both Fool's Idol and Adjudicator were terrible, and many in the community tend to criticize these bosses, and most of DeS and DS1, because they don't offer that many options to master the fight in a compelling way, while also having many issues. Also, any non melee build in DeS was terribly broken. Pyro throws the challenge out of the window. While there's more people playing ER over any other Fromsoft game, there's no denying that some people love or hate the bosses. After 3, going to a 4th playthrough, I can say that the new mechanics, specially the posture system, take the intensity to the extreme and makes the combat a highlight. You can be low level and still defeat all of these bosses, but a lot of people don't master the mechanics.

[@TheAdarkerglow]

35:05 I went through with a magic build, and I felt similarly in some places; it seems to me that appropriate damage types are being emphasized, with the Crystallian strike vulnerability, the Erdtree Avatar and Tree Spirit fire vulnerability, and Sacred damage against the undead being extraordinary.

[@deschain1910]

I'm interested to see what From Software does after Elden Ring, because this feels like the epitome of the Dark Souls game that Miyazaki seemingly keeps trying to perfect over and over (or at least close enough to the epitome that we've reached the 'hard cap' of diminishing returns). It really feels like the right time to move on to a completely new project.

[@TheVioletBunny]

Definitely dlc for elden ring and I can see sequels happening considering it’s their biggest game and most successful which is insane considering how successful all their games are already

[@dyllwill]

@@TheVioletBunny yeah, after the success of Elden Ring and the wider appeal of the open world, i find it hard to believe they won't capitalize on that. Definitely expect to see a sequel in the future. That being said, i can see them doing one game in between perhaps, maybe a Bloodborne sequel.

[@FrigidOven]

I hope so, it feels like they have done enough with the iterations of this style of game. Hopefully they will iterate on the ideas presented in their “experimental” games, i.e Sekrio and Bloodborne. Or something new entirely. If there is an Elden Ring 2, I hope they retire this combat system, it has run its course.

[@joesaiditstrue]

I've been hoping that Konami outsources Castlevania to Miyazaki, the only way I could see Castlevania being successful in 3D would be as a souls/Sekiro type game

[@popkhorne5372]

They are going SF i think.

[@DrownedLamp]

Sekiro fulfils the sword fight fantasy better. Bloodborne leads you to hyper aggression like a (blood drunk) hunter. It could be that I've never played through a Dsouls game, but as open as ER combat is, it feels like a step down. It does feel more like a DnD type RPG. The enemies delaying their swings is worse than an anime...it can work with intelligent enemies, but normal animals/undead/status shouldn't have martial strategy. Tactics like pack swarming is fine. It's not Skyrim levels of watering down, but quantity over quality compared to Sekiro. Input reading is overkill, or maybe too blatant.

[@HolySok]

I don't think it's fair to compare to Sekiro. As Sekiro is a limited Action game about mastering 1 playstyle. Bloodborne is kind of a mix as it focuses largely on Melee. But Elden Ring is sort of a "play how you want". It isn't as satisfying, combat wise, as Sekiro from a pure melee perspective. But the huge array of tool, magic items etc. It's a game built around Role-playing and Creativity and Different approaches. So it's kind of just saying you prefer a more tailored gaming experience than an open one. I prefer Sekiro combat, also, but I recognise its not trying to be a RPG

[@flabbajabba9527]

0:30 Highly disagree. I can almost guarantee that even in the far future people will still look at ER very fondly, like most of fromsoft's works. Comparing it to bioshock in that sense is odd IMO.

[@mattgreim5778]

Hell yes!!!! Have been chilling in the Chapel of Anticipation inflicted with madness waiting for this video

[@BarneyGoogl]

I feel like ER is the video game equivalent of a 'greatest hits' album. Sure it might not have some of my personal favourite experimental tracks, and it might not have the mechanical and thematic consistency of the individual albums but, damn, it's certainly a collection of damn good songs!

[@UltraTaka1]

Stolen comment word for word from a small youtuber's review. Why bother?

[@Smeik2901]

@@UltraTaka1 Are you the youtube police or something?

[@UltraTaka1]

@@Smeik2901 yessir

[@connormccarthy2745]

@@UltraTaka1 that's really funny, thanks for calling that out, gave me a little chuckle

[@phantomjoker5]

totally fair critique and good content as always

[@Tstorm731]

I was once critical of your content years ago. I loved your takes but I criticized your choice of words. You have become one of my favorite critics in any medium. This was excellent and everything I’m watching has been excellent. Keep up the great work!

[@cognitivedissonance9938]

Love your review, you brought up some interesting perspectives on the combat. I guess i am just lucky that Fromsoft choose to take it in the direction I preferred. From what I have seen, it seems like Elden Ring brought the first proper wave of players that have grown tiered of the combat system. There probably was some voices after DS3, but I have heard several people talk about how this game showed the limits of this combat system. I personally think there needs to be a discussion in the fanbase on what we want from Fromsoft. If there is no clear message from the fanbase, the next game may see a lot of frustration. I personally love the current boss design (major bosses). Memorizing moves and learning dodge timing my favorite part of these games and I think ER did a great job in this regard (except for the gank bosses). I would personally see Fromsoft continue to evolve this formula, especially since so few others seems able to.

[@jeanfrancozaratemarcial7916]

Lack of communication between FromSoftware and the fans is what brought up the division and more people being outright negative about design decisions in their games, if anything Bandai are the ones who are neglecting communication between the two, feedback is actually rarely taken.

[@cowboy4187]

@@BBQcheese I'm playing sekiro now after beating elden ring and the combat in sekiro just feels so awesome. I just beat Owl on top of the castle after being stuck for a week and it was so satisfying to pull that off. I'm hoping that the combat and movement from sekiro gets used again in another game.

[@DERyuga]

I both love this review because you talked about trade-offs and such and spoke very highly of the company instead of the usual gamer rant of "game didn't do everything perfectly? bad and lazy", and am slightly disappointed because I felt as though because of your build/playstyle you missed out on the benefits this combat system had over the older titles. Almost every boss has "hidden gimmicks" and I think on subsquent playthroughs people will understand them a little more. The game's combat system is complexly deep and I think a good turn for the series, but I think everyone was in such a hurry to beat the game that they missed out on what the game had to offer. I do agree that the weapon upgrade system could use some work and that the balancing was iffy at launch, but as more people learn the tricks to this game I think there's a lot more enjoyment to be found in it. I do like what you said about spirit ashes- I tried out a couple today for fun and it made the game feel completely different. This game is INSANELY replayable.

[@jakdex2210]

Amazing video as always, just gonna leave a comment for your better enjoyment Aesir. Go nuts with Guard Counter (heavy attack after defending an attack with a shield) seriously, is insane and really bring up Sword and Board style. Go nuts with Ashes of War, they are essencial tools now to really round up play styles forget about just pressing the attacks buttons, even STR "grug" builds have a use for Focus Points now because of how powerfull and varied the skills are on Elden Ring. Go nuts with jumping attacks, jumping with heavy attack is incredible strong, and the best new ally of STR builds, many ended up with two colossal weapons and jumping on the heads of enemies dunking on everything.

[@rainer516]

I enjoy your thorough explanation but I dunno about your central thesis here, it seems underbaked. I’d be interested in an updated perspective if you have one. This was a miss my man. The open world is very much just a large, loosely bound, dungeon. The weapons are gated and bound to dungeon “level” progression due to the upgrade stone and spirit ash availability. Love the detail you have though.

[@rainer516]

With that said, I came across this video rather late and may have the benefit of improvement patches Fromsoft has deployed on my end. Still love your work though.

[@evilfungas]

I strongly disagree with you about the bosses and combat system. The "execution-style" bosses have never been more complex and the gimmick bosses (like Rykard or Radahn, the latter of which is a synthesis of both) are finally technically satisfying. I also think you underestimate the extent to which the underlying mechanics of combat have been revamped. The entire moveset (e.g. charged heavies and jumping attacks) is finally useful thanks to accommodating the posture system from Sekiro. It's not very effective to simply roll and R1 spam anymore. You have to pay far more attention to positioning, rolling direction, and timing your use of the various parts of the expanded moveset to fight the bosses optimally from melee purist perspective, and despite this there are almost always multiple ways to counter most of the moves of the bosses. This is not to mention all the additional systems that have been added beyond melee. Fromsoft went to great pains to make everything available to the player be not only viable, but useful, in keeping with the expanded optionality of the open world. Despite superficial similarities with Dark Souls III, Elden Ring actually has a different and much deeper combat system. However, I do agree that individual encounters feel less directed than previous games, or at least less tense, even in the "legacy dungeons." I think this is partially due to the expanded moveset, and partially to the generally more spacious environments. Limited options, especially when it comes to attacking and moving, made encounters in the smaller spaces of the previous games feel more tense. I also disagree about the story. I think the story is far worse than Dark Souls. The "story" of Dark Souls was remarkable not because of complex and obscure lore but because of how simply it communicated its themes despite and through that obscurity (and more importantly, how this was all expressed through the world and gameplay). In contrast to Dark Souls Elden Ring feels like a jumble of meaningless facts designed to give "lore" youtubers content for videos, "lore" for its own sake rather than as one element communicating part of a total and meaningful vision. Yes, all of the typical "themes" show up, but haphazardly and without the coherence and singularity of vision that made Dark Souls remarkable. I accredit the pointlessness of the story to the influence of George R. R. Martin's "worldbuilding," onto which all the typical Miyazaki themes had to be retroactively grafted. Even the individual character encounters fall short of the emotional weight and significance of those in Dark Souls I and III, with the exception Radahn and maybe Maliketh. There are greater spectacles, but they mean less.

[@TheCrawl]

Great video as always, Aesir. I largely agree with your analysis here, and I definitely agree with your criticisms about the combat and certain bosses. My personal assessment is more negative and I'm disappointed it didn't click for me like it did for others. I dislike most open world games since few keep me mechanically present during traversal, and Elden Ring failed to do that for me. Imo, an open world need interesting traversal or some other form of monent-to-moment gameplay engagement. BotW's traversal toolset and immersive sim elements, Morrowind's journal, and Death Stranding's weight and momentum management are perfect examples, imo. Elden Ring's open world tension was seemingly supposed to be the combat, but I felt it was undermined by torrent, stealth, and the fast-travel--not to mention the openness of the landscape. If the most interesting bits of the game and best realization of its "combat as tension" goals are the choke points and legacy dungeons... Then I failed to see why the wasn't *just* choke points and legacy dungeons. Interestingly, I find that to be a consequence of its AAA ambitions and wanting to ensure a general audience sticks around. I don't necessarily think it was designed by committee, but I do think the points of friction that defined Elden Ring's dungeon crawler predecessors were filed down in the name of "polish," and for the worse. I guess one could argue these gripes fall under the header of "tradeoffs," and while I'm not sure they are, the point is: I was disappointed by the tradeoffs. But! This isn't meant to be an argument or rebuttal, just expressing my still-conflicted feelings on this game (and to sacrifice my words at the altar of the algorithm haha). I do love the highs of Elden Ring, but I just wish they happened more often for me. Nonetheless, like I said when I started this rant: I think overall I agree with you, and this video helped me compartmentalize my feelings a bit more.

[@DJWolfHouse]

The engagement of ER’s traversal is exploration and immersion. Traversal is usually boring in open world bc they give you a way point and you’re holding the left stick forward until you get there. In ER the environment is dangerous and you don’t know where to go so you have to actually pay attention. And the world is brimming with details that will reward you if you do. It took a while for it to click for me as well, but I think that’s what was intended.

[@TheCrawl]

I realize that. And it's great that it clicked with you! Unfortunately, I just don't find visuals (no matter how great they are) to be a suitable way for me to feel grounded in a game's world. I need to be *doing* and *thinking* about gameplay systems, and outside of the legacy dungeons, Elden Ring didn't do that for me. I appreciate the waypoint system and I think it's better than most open world games, and yes there's danger and stuff to pay attention to, but none of it is really ever *forced* in the overworld. Only in the legacy dungeons. Again, this is just me sharing my experience with the game. I get what they were going for, but it didn't click for me like it did for others--and that's okay!

[@DJWolfHouse]

@@TheCrawl absolutely. It reminds me of Red Dead where the game is trying to get you to slow down and “mosey” like a cowboy lol. It’s hard to get used to when most games are overloading you with things to do constantly.

[@TheCrawl]

@@DJWolfHouse eh. I'm not sure it's trying to get you too slow down. In fact, my whole point is it was to smooth and frictionless for me, and there was never any gameplay reasons to slow down. I wish there was--but hey, maybe I just played it differently.

[@jamiel8552]

I agree that reusing themes in new stories is not and should not be frowned upon. As it relates to storytelling, the aphorism, "There is nothing new under the sun" is especially applicable. The most important aspect of storytelling - and what determines whether a story is good or bad - is HOW it is told. The execution of relaying the message to the audience is critical: character development, dialogue, tension, tone, contradicting ideas and emotions, motifs - these are all tools among many others that must be used well to tell a good story.

[@vazazell5967]

same story, same characters, same themes, but all executed much worse

[@magatsudreemurr7717]

the Re-use of bosses actually killed the exploration for me. I started the game lusting after bosses but my experience shot down right after Redahn. Generally speaking i don't like what open worlds give that much compared to what they take sooo my experience started slowly going down after the 25-30 hours mark and fighting with a strength weapon too made the game less enjoyable plus i don't agree with spirit summons and the draw backs they caused to this game.

[@chan_martin]

I can’t deny that the exploration in Elden Ring is second to none. It’s consistently inspiring and jaw dropping to see how big the map gets and get lost in each new area that’s as beautiful and creepy as the last. I just dread having to fight the bosses. Up until Leyndell I’m mostly enjoying it, but after that I don’t have much fun anymore. Compared to something like Sekiro or DS3, the bosses don’t feel challenging but fair, they feel like brick walls that require finding the most broken builds in the game to get by. It doesn’t feel rewarding to have to go find Rivers of Blood and Mimic Tear and take out the last 3rd of the bosses with them. It can feel cheap and unearned. Hopefully if they ever make a sequel they make combat a major priority.

[@AesirAesthetics]

I think there's a segment missing around Leyndell which gives you 20-30 levels, if we had that we'd be good

[@nicholasdismukes6741]

I love you so much your content really helps in both my boredom and sleep.I watch every new video then I return to random videos to sleep.

[@k0sm022]

Good stuff Aesir! While I didn’t agree with every take, I appreciate your nuanced perspective and your commitment to integrity. So many reviewers lean into hyperbolic hype or monumental backlash just to ride the algorithm. P.S. if you ever want to do a retrospective on Evergrace I’d watch it in a heartbeat! ❤️

[@AesirAesthetics]

Thanks! I probs will do evergrace one day

[@k0sm022]

@@AesirAesthetics Very happy to hear it! I’d love to see you on Sinclair Lore someday to talk about Fumito Ueda’s games too. 😊

[@jeffu_]

13:43 i agree, but sometimes the only reason i'll remember a gimmick boss is because of how much i disliked it (yhorm). divine dragon is an example of a great gimmick boss and is one of my favorite bosses in sekiro. also, can you clarify what you meant by repatching radahn to be challenging? i'm pretty sure his damage actually got nerfed not too long after elden ring released. and i'm glad you addressed the reused assets. i noticed some things being reused, but the same house being reused? i didn't know until it was pointed out.

[@haughtygarbage5848]

The original Radahn nerf that came with 1.03 in March was supposedly inadvertent according to devs. For patch 1.04 in April this nerf was apparently rolled back.

[@jeffu_]

@@haughtygarbage5848 ohhh, thanks!

[@RxAxIxNxBxOxW]

Man great analysis as always, I wish you the very best on your future endevors. I'll be here, lurking.

[@a-kil5646]

I do understand where you’re coming from when it comes to bosses however I have to partially disagree when u said there wasn’t much going on. Considering you’ve got a strength build the fact you didn’t bring up melania is wild. For a 1v1 swordsman battle, besides sekiro (different genre) this is one of the best fights they’ve ever done. The way she responds to your movement, her life leech ability, the arena the music! To me she represents a perfect fight for a legendary character. She wasn’t a character with super armor nor was she a character with imposing size. She was a swordsman like me and if I lost, I fairly felt like I just wasn’t on her level. Radahn was cool in a way of spectacle, big guy, big swords, huge arena, huge moves! Melania felt personal, like a challenge to my skill level, close to how sekiros combat made me felt. The fact that a feeling like that bled over to this genre of tseudo dark souls nd yet they still have other bosses of different spectacle or skills. I think they really showed out this game when it comes to bosses. Great video though my guy

[@BaxBoogey22]

Ive been patiently waiting for this. Thank you Aesir.

[@AesirAesthetics]

Hope you enjoyed it!

[@BaxBoogey22]

@@AesirAesthetics definitely. I has just watched an old video, I think it was demon souls maybe sekiro but you mentioned elden ring and how we need to signal to from that we dont want spam roll fest, Im not sure how you worded it but when I heard it after playing elden ring I though well hes not going to be too happy. I agree, there was a lot of great there I just think the tradeoff of the open world wasnt worth it but I am happy for fromsoft but I really hope we dont get all open world games from here on and they branch out like you mentioned. Great video as always. And you can talk about lore, I hope you were joking when you said that.

[@Matthew-jb4cc]

Honestly I will always prefer skill based bosses. Mostly because gimmick bosses can be a double edged sword. They can be a refreshing and exciting new boss like Radhan. But they can also leave a sour taste in your mouth, tainting your view of the game. Like with the Moonlight butterfly on DS1 or That one Dragon knight in DS2 or Yorhm in DS3. My problem with those is that they are either really easy or frustrating due to their gimmicks.

[@vazazell5967]

Moonlight Butterly is GOATed

[@La0bouchere]

I kinda agree, however there's a point where the combat becomes so stale that skill based bosses are preemtively ruined, since you know it's going to be the same moveset memorization trial you've done a thousand times before. I think it only happens after you play the games a ton though.

[@SentientMeatloaf1]

For the algorithm! I may as well say something while I’m here anyway. Good video, you always have some interesting insights when it comes to from software games. I remember Nguyen finally booting up Elden ring for the first time my first reaction was “this feels like DS3….like, a LOT like DS3” which is an understandable sentimental have given asset reuse and all that, but at the same time once I started biting into the world and seeing what it had to offer that awkward feeling of playing an unofficial DS4 faded pretty much entirely. Who’s to say whether or not I just got used to it or if the uniqueness of ER washed them away, but overall the asset reuse doesn’t bother me nearly as much as I thought it might during the opening hours of the game

[@torch0037]

Love me some AesirAesthetics videos. Something about these long form videos always keeps me hooked. Please keep up the amazing content!

[@JazzyUnderscoreTrumpeter]

Alright, just finished, loved that bit about trade-off, thank you for succinctly communicating that

[@sewnmind1786]

I greatly enjoyed Elden Ring, hell I platinumed it in the first month. That being said I found that the further you moved away from Limgrave the less unique and refined the game felt becoming more and more like Dark Souls 4. My favorites are Demon's Souls and Sekiro which I think exemplify the heights of a games theme being restrictive combat and explosive combat. I think in the late game, they began creating bosses that require mobility that the player simply doesn't possess. The bulk of the players mobility comes from Torrent who is not allowed in most boss arenas and likewise you can see that the most mobile bosses like Maliketh and Elden Beast would execute you for trying to call him. Along with that the more defensive tactics are essentially worthless the further in you go; see guard counters which most bosses will either rip through shields or reposition themselves away from the counter at the end of their combos, leaving the jumping L2 to be your best bet for stance breaking. I apologize that this seems overly negative but I really did feel a sharp dive about 2/3 of the way through. I experimented with strength colossal weapons, dual scimitars for dex, I mained a moonlight magic swordsman repeatedly, and ran a paladin style faith build usinh crucible and lighting incantations. I always felt that pull down. That said. I beat the game 6 times and not a single time did I skip content or bosses taking them on with each build. I loved it but I don't think it can break my top 3 since I feel Bloodborne still has better combat likely due to a more focused theme for combat.

[@chillhour6155]

Elden Rings is definitely a different beast compared to other souls games, most open world games suffers from the same design shortcomings, Elden Rings could've only been improved on I feel if it was more scaled down, that would've maybe given them more time to focus on refinements such as balancing weapons better, along with enemy design and they're placement, still though not a bad first attempt from fromsoft, especially how it's raised all our expectations for what we want from open world games When all is said and done, I'll take 10 Elden rings over another ubiworld, fromsoft may not hit a home run on every swing, but they never miss

[@AesirAesthetics]

They always swing! That's what matters.

[@stikkykikZ]

That flashback to the quote from Bloodborne video!!! *CHEFS KISS***

[@auellaitaela8035]

One of the things I've noticed about the combat is that it wants you to play a specific way when it comes to melee, but it never really explains in game what that is, or teaches it very well, and I've noticed a lot of the arguments about the combat design come down to whether people approached it in this specific way or not. If so, the people are usually positive on it, if not, they're negative. Basically, the game wants you to take the Sekiro-style "posture break" approach to combat. If you focus on getting staggers more than just doing raw damage, a lot of the usual complaints fall away. Like the new guard counter option is OP and absolutely destroys bosses, as you can get staggers in just two or three of them, interrupting the long combos and such, and charged R2's do way more damage than they did in DS3 and are more than just viable, they're optimal. The less you use R1 in combat, the easier the boss fight will go for the most part. But the game doesn't explain that this is the approach, so most people play it like DS3, rolling around and waiting for openings and then hitting a few R1's, where that's objectively the absolute worst approach to combat for any melee build by a mile. Imo that's the game's main failing when it comes to the combat system, is not explaining how important posture damage is over hp damage, and for making the posture bar hidden. Simply showing the bar I think would make a lot of people who are negative on the combat change their mind. In my playthrough I used a greatshield build, and most of the complaints I read about the combat felt like they were playing an entirely different game, as it wasn't that I just disagreed, it's that I legit did not have the same experience they did, at all.

[@Morden97]

I absolutely agree with your closing comment. I think elden ring is incredible... possibly my favorite game ever... and I don't think this is gonna ever change... however, I think ER marks the absolute peak and exhaustion of the soulslike genre they themselves popularized. Some people want more innovation on the same model, I disagree, I want FromSoftware to distance themselves from the action rpg genre. I particularly think that a horror game would be a fantastic fit.

[@Sohelanthropus]

I'd be down to see them try an FPS

[@lukew6725]

Just give me more Sekiro.

[@zlodrim9284]

This video once again shows you're a man seeing trends, so it's no surprise you accurately predicted Elden Ring's hypetrain was going to mellow down and that people would start bashing the poor balance and asset reuse. I wholeheartedly agree with you saying we, as fans, need to have a discussion about what we expect out of From Software next, since what has become clear to me in the past several months since ER's release was that there was a huge divide in the fanbase; there are people who are open to new experiences and people who still just want a better, more refined Dark Souls 1 and are not going to be happy with anything else. While I understand them, I don't like how they make everything into Dark Souls 1 and are always ready to put down new games because "nothing compares to its connectivity this, it had the best hub that", From Software needs to decide whether they're going to continue with their high-fantasy formula that has proven successful, or whether they want to continue experimenting and making new, different and unique experiences that nobody else will give to players at the moment and avoid the trappings of your success and audience dictating what you do next. I'm sure From Software are going move onto something different entirely with whatever comes next after Elden Ring, I just hope that their fans do too.

[@AesirAesthetics]

The mech game is more or less confirmed to be on it's way but I'm holding out hope for another esoteric Survival Horror game like Kuon

[@zlodrim9284]

@@AesirAesthetics you were right, and "Fires of Rubicon" is hell of a title.

[@nextgenwarrior]

While I've certainly softened a bit on him since launch, I definitely recall feeling that Radahn was Bed of Chaos 2.0 on my initial playthrough. Was such a cool concept that I felt they absolutely botched the execution of. A miserable initial approach to a boss that had a ton of health and would just randomly one-shot you (and yes, I was leveling vigor) was just not fun. Again, I like it more now, but that bad first impression hasn't gone away.

[@AesirAesthetics]

I do think one shot bosses should be eradicated from these games. Ideally I think the max damage value a boss could deal should never be higher than the player's current health + physical defence.

[@Sohelanthropus]

Nah, I think he was perfect when he was OP before the nerf It made up for his laughably low health

[@savary5050]

@@AesirAestheticssekiro solved that exact problem with the 2 lives system. I think Elden ring should have had something like it along with a rally system to make finding openings easier.

[@suhfee]

not watching this since i'm on my second playthrough and want to make some more conclusions myself but i'm eagerly waiting to watch this. you always knock it out of the park with these!

[@AssailantLF]

he doesn't really talk about the lore very much at all if that's what you're concerned about. he mostly compares it to previous From games and talks about the various trade-offs the game made in order to achieve the big open world

[@MISERABLE_WRETCH]

My favorite review so far!

[@AesirAesthetics]

Wow, thanks!

[@marccrossland785]

I hope when ER gets its expansion, it ties the game together. It's a great game, but it's pretty clear that there is a lot more to develop both in story and gameplay.

[@TheVioletBunny]

I bet 100k runes they will make a few dlcs as they did for dark souls

[@metroplexprime9901]

I mean, we already have a point of interest with Miquella. The fact that the site of grace after you kill Mohg isn't called "Mohg, lord of blood", it's called "cocoon of the empyrean" really sells it to me. There's also 4 other outer gods to be further explored. There is no shortage of loose ends to be tied up in DLC. Given the massive amount of loose ends, I wouldn't be surprised if we never get an Elden Ring 2, we just get more Elden Ring DLC

[@MrRobotdragon]

I am actually planning to do a video about why I think that the balancing had issues with smaller weapons, as a game designer who loves math. This is one of the best reviews for Elden Ring I have watched so far, thanks for your effort.

[@thepaleprinceofruins9203]

Wow, man, you're killing it as of late!

[@AesirAesthetics]

Thank you :D

[@alexandrubighiu7637]

Thank you for this great video!

[@akira4142]

amazing Analysis and most of the things you pointed out were so true

[@backwardslongjump]

Really great analysis! Always a joy to listen to!

[@avibi]

The Abyss Watchers felt more "gimmicky" to me than they did "Artorias-like" (quite ironic, I know), especially so their superb first phase which alone makes them one of my favourite bosses in the (admittedly few) games I've played, mechanically speaking. Far from the most inventive use of setting/arena, but that deep into the series there weren't that many new things they could pull off (you yourself have only pointed out 4 "gimmicky" bosses in Elden Ring, one of which is a renewed take on the Storm Ruler formula and two others which revolve to some important degree around the new mechanical paradigm, leaving us with the absolutely fantastic Radahn as the only newcomer who could've been designed for Dark Souls 3), and the rogue watcher fighting everyone in sight succeeded at mixing up the dynamics of the encounter each time you fought them, leading to those very appreciated on the fly adaptations you have to make as the player. The visual effects on their combos make it so these are readable from start to finish too (unlike someone like Sulyvahn), so even the more action-heavy second phase shines as a challenge of its kind (is it now when I say they're difficult but fair? The phase which spelled trouble for me was the first one, though, the second phase watcher isn't a pushover per se but, thankfully, he isn't the most execution-heavy challenge either and has rather low HP, which makes sense since it's a second phase we're talking about after all). Maybe not the best of both worlds, but a more than competent fight on both levels. Also, they get staggered rather easily, something you can't say about many bosses in these games, which helps sell the idea that you're fighting "human vs human", toe-to-toe. That being said, they'd be even cooler if they used their weapon in-full, making use of its other intended purpose, parrying attacks with the dagger (at the very least bring it out in the second phase). And if they partook in the narrative and did not just exist in a vacuum.

[@arbernardo7554]

Great content, thanks. Enjoyed specially the discussion on trade-offs.

[@AesirAesthetics]

:)

[@insthesix]

281 hours in, just started NG+, going to try a few new builds this play through.

[@xavvvorg4653]

Great video as always dude nice analysis.

[@AesirAesthetics]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@TheGhostlyfire]

I agree with almost everything you had to say, aside from being able to give Fromsoft slack. I can only take so many mobs in a single location to really take me out of the game, and Elden Ring for all the gorgeous set pieces and story you can really branch(heh) together, seriously the sheer potential for finding any little detail to the narrative is incredible in terms of story that can be found oh yeah i agree. The game does a poor job making me care about what i'm doing and when every location is an enemy dump. Found myself running through most locations because it's extremely frustrating having big enemy after big enemy constantly. It single handily made this game more of a chore and I wanna say this game just isn't for me or maybe my expectations missed the mark on what i thought the game was goingand that's on me. This is just my experience with the game tho because when you point out the aspects of the game the game does right I agree. My experience of Elden ring sadly is a negative one but I'm glad many were able to have a positive experience enough to call this game a masterpiece! Anyway hope all of you have a wonderful rest of your day

[@BlyeRedandWhite]

Yet another great video! Man I was so excited to hear your thoughts on Elden Ring and oh boy I was not disappointed. BTW do you get any revenue from KZbin ads? This is like the only channel where I don't skip them.

[@AesirAesthetics]

I get some. I've been leaning a lot more on youtube in the past year or so than ever before to make ends meet

[@dudemcdude4383]

Whoever said you sound too much like anything to do lore. They are a silly billy! You’re voice is lovely and I crave the lore!

[@AesirAesthetics]

:)

[@Boots43096]

i thought phase 2 of fire giant was way harder, he even throws out more spells at once and has that flamethrower move and the move where he spits out a bunch of lava rocks around him. I don't think it's very fair to compare that to sif or the old demon king who move at a lumbering pace in their final phase.

[@AesirAesthetics]

I fought him on the horse so when he lost his leg and his mobility I felt he got much easier.

[@Dabedidabe]

Morrowind's approach to open world design lazy by comparison? What Morrowind has that ER doesn't: - Many joinable factions with multiple NPCs with a ton of dialogue and questlines - Many cities with NPCs with a ton of dialogue - A main quest that introduces you to the whole world bit by bit - A fast travel system that makes sense in-universe - Roads with signposts - Quests with route descriptions - A proper dialogue system Seriously, the only thing ER does to create these "chokepoints" is pull up a section of the map and make a path. In terms of open world creation ER's is much easier to create. (ignoring graphics quality of course) Creating a world and dotting enemy camps and dungeons around is much lazier than creating cities with many NPCs. ER is a great game, but the open world is mediocre.

[@ricardoaranha5200]

I actually noticed the house reuse, but makes sense in a standardized world of the golden order that houses would have a samey construction pattern.

[@losgann]

I think Elden Ring was too big for its own good. I've played for about 150 hours and gotten all the achievements but don't really want to do more playthroughs and challenge runs like I did with the prior games (even DS3 which is my least favourite). I think if a few of the open world regions were removed and development resources were instead reallocated to the catacombs, caves and dungeons it would've been a better overall experience. I really loved Limgrave and the underground zones but wasn't happy with Mt Gelmir (the Volcano Manor was cool though) or the two snowy zones (Elphael was fun to explore but the encounter design wasn't as good as it could've been) and wish the Atlus Plateu had more going on because it's so beautiful. The actual city of Leyndell was also a bit of a letdown but the sewers underneath were fantastic, probably my favourite 'legacy' area in the game.

[@spozznik9246]

When i played the first Dark souls i had never played a game like it and i abandoned it for a while but when i came back and played it all the way through i really loved it ans played the whole trylogie many times since then. These games are perfect in their terms. Yes they are hard but it’s just a journey about you and the challenge. Can you make it?? Maybe. Maybe not. Just depends on you and how far you’re willing to go 😊

[@bruixotnegre7267]

tbh I always loved the rambly nature of npc dialogues, adds to the dreamy surreal atmosphere

[@TheLongBallofTheLaw]

I think your preference for gimmick fights has clouded your judgement on boss fights. They aren't samey and they require more out of the player than just dodge rolling and R1 punishes. Just the simple addition of jumping and crouching alone give you so many more options to combat, even for pure melee solo builds. I love gimmick fights, but ultimately they're just a cheap way to make boss fights distinct and interesting. You can beat challenging bosses that don't rely on gimmicks in creative and interesting ways. In my opinion, that will always be more interesting and satisfying than any gimmick boss

[@AesirAesthetics]

nothing is clouded. If I wanted to play an action game for the action I'd play something else.

[@kizuma4269]

@@AesirAesthetics is not elden ring an action rpg ? Yeah it is not complex but it still an action game I know that you want gimmicks and I do not hate gimmicks but the action of the game is not that bad even with how simple it is you do need to just to roll you can position and use heavier attacks and weapon arts it is like monster hunter (older ones especially ) not the most complex combat but positioning and prediction make it more fun kzbin.info/www/bejne/nKCXlYuAoslkmbM you should watch this vid

[@AesirAesthetics]

@@kizuma4269 The bosses I remember are the bosses which left me with some emotion or which directed the encounter in an interesting way. The "roll & punish" execution fights dont hit for me when every other fight works that way as well.

[@jusafuto]

Bro this is an excellent video! Been watching different reviews to get a feel for what I’d like to discuss in my own whilst also being aware of not rehashing points made elsewhere. Overall I found this to be an extremely well balanced, concise and eloquent document. And you don’t sound like Borat at all. Wtf? KZbin comments are just that gratuitously injurious. Your English is excellent.

[@JuliusCaesar103]

I can't wait to watch this video once I play the game! Hopefully it lived up to the hype.

[@saxoman1]

Well? I played it recently and agree with a decent amount of this vid

[@JuliusCaesar103]

@@saxoman1 haven't played it yet. How did you find it? as spoiler free as possible is you can

[@saxoman1]

@@JuliusCaesar103 it was great! Truly one of the best games to come out in the last few years! But it's no masterpiece and overhyped imo (I let the mainstream opinions of the game set my expectations waaaaay too high. I was expecting a transformative experience overall like BOTW was for me, not an iterative one). And it outright has flaws, especially balancing in the end game, copy pasted side-dungeons/enemies/bosses, and a clearly aging game engine running the whole thing. But is it worth playing? Hell yeah! The world design is pretty much as good as it gets, sense of discovery is amazing, the art style is gorgeous, the build variety is endless, even just fully filled out map is truly something to behold. And this game is especially for souls fans! For solo only melee players, its the hardest souls game yet! It destroyed me a la Isshin! I'm planning a 2nd playthrough soon as a dex build or caster (I was strength melee for my first run). I also got game for $30 on Steam sale, totally worth every penny! And most importantly, this is all just my opinion, seek out other points of view on this awesome game!

[@JuliusCaesar103]

@@saxoman1 thank you for sharing your viewpoints, my friend. I will be sure to lower my expectations as you said. I still want to remain as spoiler free as possible so I won't seek any other sources as of now and I want to form my own opinions of the game. I'm sure it will be a memorable experience, the minor spoilers of different places I've seen have honestly blown me away. I cannot wait to explore everything the world has to offer. In my mind it has the potential to be a sort of Dragon's Dogma 2 that we never got, and who knows when it will finally come out. Also I need to play Sekiro, I've heard so many good things from so many people, what did you think of it and where does Elden Ring rank overall in the Souls and From games for you?

[@saxoman1]

@@JuliusCaesar103 ill look into Dogma series! Sekiro is AMAZING! It's combat is arguably one of the best of all time. Sure, enemies are super aggressive and deadly, but unlike late game Elden Ring (which also has deadly/aggressive enemies), *you have the moveset* to respond in kind with your own aggression (so it never turns into a game of being bored with constant evasion waiting for your turn to attack. You can push forward and determine the pace of the battle yourself because of the posture break system). One caution is that you can't summon help in the game. But you can sometimes resurrect after dying AND the "lose experience" mechanic is to half the experience that is going towards your next level up, which is REALLY not unforgiving. But yeah, not for everyone! I hope you play both games, they are worth your time :)

[@JuhlaChessu]

A long delay? It was delayed by five weeks.

[@AesirAesthetics]

It was internally delayed by over a year

[@hugetapeworm4541]

I eagerly await the 15+ hour full Elden ring commentary video.

[@AesirAesthetics]

O_o

[@ghakal007]

great vid man

[@DarkSoulsFan12345]

been waiting for this one from you man, so hyped. gonna get a snack and beverage and perhaps some weed to enjoy this long one!

[@AesirAesthetics]

Your thumbnail reminded me of cowchop and now I'm sad

[@ghakal007]

loved your demon souls lore video and i been waiting to hear about what you think of Elden Ring

[@jonhard12]

Great job Its weird that reseting bell bearer fight need to have 2 time reset instead of 1 thats one of the more annoying fight if you lose alot and some camera issue Maybe when elden ring is really complete with dlc and final update you could do a minor review about since it will be quite a difference but anyway good video

[@mushymcmushington7176]

Hearing you mirror so many of my own opinions is incredibly refreshing and vindicating, especially after hearing nothing but absolute blind glowing praise for literally everything about this game. Side note: I'm going to shoot myself if I have to hear that Resident Evil Director's Cut tier "Limgrave Theme" one more time oh my God. I have to turn off music every time I go through that area.

[@mushymcmushington7176]

@beef business AH, you're right, dual shock. I'll refrain from editing my original comment so that your correction doesn't seem redundant.

[@redtukeguy4263]

For the algorithm! Great vid, Aesir.

[@MegaCygnusX1]

Good analysis. Thing about Elden Ring is, it represents the ultimate refinement of the Souls "formula" and in going open world it feels like the series has hit the ceiling of its potential and has nowhere else to go. I honestly don't know which direction From take from here unless it's Elden Ring 2, Elden Ring 3, etc. Like you I want to see them do something totally different. Unfortunately, the mainstream success of this game means From nor their publishers are going to be able to ignore the money, and that probably means they're going to be even more risk averse than they already are. After essentially releasing iterations on the same formula begun with Demon's Souls, it's beginning to feel kind of played out at this point. Elden Ring would be the perfect capstone for From to leave their old ideas behind and try something new, but the last 13 years leads me to doubt that they will.

[@bipolarexpress9827]

My thoughts exactly. I enjoyed elden ring, but during my playthrough I got hit with the fact that this game formula is getting tired. I was under the impression they were detouring from the “souls” formula after sekiro, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. It’s been 13 years From - Make something else.

[@revenanke3132]

As someone who played ER as their introduction to From and then proceeded to play all the Souls games, I absolutely adored their carefully crafted enemy encounters with slow-paced combat where every input was important, and their jaw-dropping level design and variety, but absolutely hated their gimmick bosses, the majority of bosses being beaten on the first try, even the final bosses, barely requiring any finesse and effort once you had grown accustomed to the Souls combat formula. I longed to the ER bosses with highly complicated branching movesets, requiring a grind of 50 tries to achieve the mastery required to beat them (if you didn't opt in to the easy mode) and experience the subsequent sense of accomplishment.

[@AesirAesthetics]

outside of Sekiro I dont think there's much depth to the mechanics in application, I think the best practices comes from direction which is why I like the gimmick bosses more. Your milage may vary but I dont find these games to do "power fantasy" very well.

[@revenanke3132]

@@AesirAesthetics I agree there's not much depth. It really becomes a simple test of moveset memorisation and reflexes. It's the result of the series having a reputation for difficulty, and From pursuing that identity. This is the simplest way to increase difficulty. I understand that it deviates from its roots, and that many people dislike this, but I admit that I do like it.

[@عمار-ج2خ]

Entertaining review man

[@AesirAesthetics]

thank you

[@DrnMontemayor]

Honestly, I was expecting to disagree with most of your points, but I share the vast majority of your points and approach to criticism. I do prefer "execution" bosses, but I also love the so called gimmick bosses of DeS, and obviously Radahn and Rykard which I see as almost perfect hybrids. I also like the approach to NPCs more than in DS1, but I also agree with what made them great then.

[@AesirAesthetics]

DS1 did so much right when you factor in it's limitations

[@Fewcus]

One thing I didn't care for with the world design which you don't talk about is that it felt like there wasn't much thought to integrating the main dungeons into the open world design. My main sticking point is Liurna, where you're presented with the prospect of discovering a means of entering the Raya Lucaria academy and there is only a single key to find (as far as I've explored, which was pretty extensively), with its location being fed to you on the doorstep. I'm tempted to say the way the open world is utilised is pretty uneven, there's some incredibly impressive moments like stumbling into the underground for the first time or some of the teleports you can find, but there's also a lot of times where it just feels like it's there and not much else. I suppose for a game that big it's to be expected, though.

[@extremelytraditionalistrom8539]

On the topic of weapon viability I completely agree. I just reached the Volcano Manor using whatever bootleg heavy weapon I could find. Then I killed an NPC invader there and found what seemed to be this game's version of the Whirlygig Saw. I was super excited since that was one of my favourite weapons from BB and was super viable too. But then as the game progressed it kept getting worse and worse to the point it became completely unusable and I had to ditch it. That shouldn't happen and it speaks to a larger problem with how bad the colossals are due to their sluggish speed against basically everything in the game. Though I hard disagree on the bosses. Fromsoft's gimmick bosses are actually straight terrible in my opinion. The puzzles that exist are too simple and just not stimulating enough to be enjoyable past a first playthrough and even on the first playthrough they often fail. Micolash is an incredibly boring fight since I know how to game his AI into the arena in 15 seconds and then I'm fighting a boring gank boss with one move and then a boring single boss with three moves. Bed of Chaos is a horrendous running and platforming challenge in a game not designed for it. It's just monotonous on repeat playthroughs. I'd never say that for all the "Artorius clones" since while the fundamentals are the same the way you experience them is extremely different. It's like saying every song of a particular Genre is the same because they use the same instruments. Every boss has a very distinct rythm that makes them worthwhile experiences each time especially when you switch builds. Fighting Orphan of Kos with a Saw Cleaver and Pistol is a completely different experience from fighting him with a Moonlight Greatsword and a Boom Hammer with some spells. That what makes me want to keep playing these games again. I feel like if any FromSoft game was made today with the quality of bosses from Demon Souls it would be universally panned (in that aspect at least). Though there is a bit of problem here and it does speak to your observation about the lack of a revamped combat system. Miyazaki clearly wants to make the bosses harder and harder but doesn't want to make the players stronger beyond some weapons or spells having completely broken damage. Their combos are too long often to maintain the back and forth and turns it into a waiting game. I think Malenia is the perfect encapsulation of what this obsession with difficulty gets you and it's good she's receiving backlash from the fan base.

[@AesirAesthetics]

🍕cutter deserved better!

[@Sohelanthropus]

Malenia is one of like 3 bosses that are actually challenging for veterans like me, I understand she's too much for newcomers or average players but I greatly appreciate there's a boss that OP for people like me

[@itsallaboutthatbass8558]

@@Sohelanthropus I beat her second try. This was my first souls game.

[@Sohelanthropus]

@@itsallaboutthatbass8558 found the guy who uses Tiche, Moonveil, comet azur and crystal tear

[@itsallaboutthatbass8558]

@@Sohelanthropus I beat her without summons. I used Bloodhound’s Fang. Easy game.

[@comradecatbug5289]

How come you (deservedly) criticize the balancing of different weapons and builds and correctly point out that the wealth of options is undermined by how many of the options players are given are just outclassed, but then in the conclusion you praise the "greatest build variety" that FROM RPGs have to offer? I find this confusing and cotradictory.

[@AesirAesthetics]

both are true

[@TheTaleSpinner747]

Great video so far, but one issue, the profaned flame is an everlasting flame yes, but its of the abyss and when yhorm linked the first flame using the profaned flame his entire kingdom burned for it, and the first flame rejected the profaned flame just thought id say that because the quality control on the story remark got to me a little.

[@bepkororoti8019]

Mimic Tear is sooooo fun, what a well executed spirit ash

[@chillhour6155]

Audio cuts out at 4:28

[@el_slender]

Aesir back again with the best videos in the platform

[@AesirAesthetics]

:D

[@captainfach]

Your videos are awesome. I really hope someday you do long analysis of the Dark Souls trilogy. Then I can have a huge Playlist of analysis of all of fromsofts best stuff. Also I think you'd just really be thorough with it more than most. Dewit. 7 hours per game boiiiii!!!!

[@unoriginalname9556]

7:03 as a fellow pure strength build user the combat felt no different to me than it did any of the other souls games, if it felt like anything specifically it has to be DS3 rather Demon's Souls.

[@tovlasek]

Hmmmm in the end I must say I disagree with you on a lot of fronts haha. Don't get me wrong, that's obviously not a bad thing. I enjoyed playing Elden Ring and still it's really a fantastic game. But I think lot of the issues really overwrite it's accomplishments. I agree with you on the combat front, I also much more enjoy the gimmicky fights mostly present in Demon's Souls and It's a shame they went a different route here. Well Rykard is absolutely fantastic bossfight. But I also must say that I enjoyed even those DS3-esque bossfights like Malakith because they still have a certaing great style in them. But well lots of the reused boss-fight were pretty underwhelming. And waiting for enemy to do their 10 moves combo to just have one more opening for one attack and then wait some more, was often not rewarding, but more of a yes I finally have this over with. It also really feels like you are either underleveled or overleveled in an area and no inbetween. I really enjoyed the NPCs here, but I have to disagree with you... their implemantion is in my opinion horrible. You are right that random encounters with them happen and they are great.... but most of the time you won't see them at all. I think the open-world nature really doesn't suit the classic From Soft NPC design. Especially if you want to finish their questline your only choice is to look online where the heck are they, because they give no indication where they will be in the next area. This would much more work in linear titles, but here it doesn't work at all, I mean if atleast the NPC would tell you what's their next move like.... right now you have no idea at all and it's a big shame, My main point with Elden Ring is... that I don't understand why it's open-world. I think the open-world formula in this iteration didn't give anything to the From Soft formula and i think it actually actively hurted it. It's quite appearent that all of the "story" main dungeons are the best parts of the game and well... they are linear with more choose your path how to get from one place to another. But the rest of the world... feels very... lacking. Repeated dungeons, repeated bosses, repeated enemies and in general only thing you do... is go from one place to another, explore and fight. And that's all. I think the open-world formula should have opened more doors to doing other stuff, more jump puzzles (even using the Sekiro graple hook system), more puzzles and in general adventuring. I think the game is essentially pretty limited. It's just a Souls game in huge world that's mostly not that interesting. Don't get me wrong I really loved the exploring in this game... but at the same time, it could have been done in a quasi open-world type of game like Dark Souls 1 with more tightly directed areas. Overall Elden Ring is still a great game, but in my view it didn't justified itself as an open-world game.

[@Ancor_Vantian]

0:29 Funny, I don't necessarily disagree with your point here; I _loved_ Elden Ring. One of the best games I've played in a very long time. This is very long comment, sorry 'bout that. Having said that, I'll be the first to jump ahead and say there are some _glaring_ issues with it. From my perspective, tl;dr (and by judging it by what _it_ is, rather than what _could've_ been), my main 'issue' would be *lack of balance* Seems like, even 'worst' case scenario, the least best game(?) from Fromsoftware, is still _galaxies_ away from the rest of the industry. Edit: Well, there's this one boss that... I really don't like that it was copied for no apparent reason. At least I haven't found it, assuming that it exists. Other than that, I really don't had much issue with the game. Edit2: 7:03 I think I can explain that point. See? we all know how every Tutorial boss in a FS game, basically, teaches you the 'rules' of the game: Asylum demon - dodge, Gascoige - Be, e aggressive, Genichiro - Parry this, you basic bitch, etc. Now, when it comes to Elden Ring, if approached with a - , I would call it, a strict, narrow, Dark Souls view - it might seem logical that the tutorial boss _should be_ someone like the Crucible Knights: a hard-hitting, but _well_ telegraphed enemy that seems to accommodate a Dark Souls (primarily dodging) playing style. Mini versions of the Nameless King as a comparison. But ER uses the Grafted Spider, an enemy that flails around like a monster going berserker. I think ER is trying to teach the player rather than just dodging around, this game should be played at a distance, at not as a typical Fromsoft 'turn base' (bosses attack, you wait until they're done and look for opportunities). I say this because, after 4 playthroughs (3 with range, 1 as pure melee), the str journey was _significantly_ harder than the rest. Which doesn't seem... unreasonable? (if that make sense) because ER's main addition to the formula was, the focused and revamped usefulness of the both Magic and Faith options. If I had to pick a one as the most powerful, I'd easily go with *Bleed* HS how it makes the game so much easier. Forget about magic. Bleed where is at.

[@maureenbouterse]

47 mintues? Was expecting a ten hour epic with a other 30 along the way. Jokes aside, I'm curious about your thoughts, especially as a Soulsborne veteran

[@sewnmind1786]

Give it a year or so. This is initial thoughts.

[@maureenbouterse]

@@sewnmind1786 Yeah I'm hoping for a story analysis from him after he's finished the game on new game+++++