How Elden Ring Broke My Arrogant Mindset

[@CrazyFikus]

There's a video called "Malenia doesn't play by the rules - Elden Ring boss analysis" that goes over Malenia and her inconsistencies. But basically, there are some animations during which she *takes* posture damage, but *can't* have her posture broken. She is the only enemy in the game that acts like this. Bleed and frost can stagger her, but those are completely separate from poise and posture mechanics. I have mixed feelings on this. An enemy ignoring established rules is not exactly the following "tough-but-fair" ethos FromSoft games are known for. On the other hand if she were consistent, an "unga-bunga big stick" would stunlock and trivialize her.

[@CH4R10T_TV]

I think it's okay to have a boss that occasionally ignores the rules for variety, especially if it's only some of the time, but I do think that critique sounds interesting and I appreciate being given more information about my question. Thank you!

[@Fkuuuus]

She dosen't know defeat, i expect that she dosen't follow the rules, and i love it

[@AlasKenn1]

I being a strength n faith build would use the bloodflame choo-choo method where I take a hammer, cast bloodflame, use prelate's charge and just lock her down for massive damage and bleed build-up. A fairly simple, kinda cheesy way to win, however, I actually like her breaking the rules here because it implies 2 things. From a lore perspective, she's a graceful fighter that likes her whole dexterous swords and fancy steps, but as a Goddess, she refuses to fall to dumb hammer when it's her fucking turn. Second, mechanically, I am the unga-bunga. If I had no opposition to any attacks and didn't have to dodge at all, she would be one of the most boring fights in the game instead of arguably the best.

[@syn010110]

unga bunga still does trivialize malenia lmao

[@DrnMontemayor]

Attacks with priorities are nothing new, and unga-bungas do absolutely trivialize her.

[@FireTrainer92]

One thing about video games that i learned from playing Fighting Games specifically is keeping your self-evaluation near by when you critique the game. A lot of folks try to impose their will on a game that's not really designed uniquely to their playstyle and it sucks. But understanding that you're the cause of that gives you a way to see the game better outside of our own way of doing things.

[@icipher6730]

>A lot of folks try to impose their will on a game that's not really designed uniquely to their playstyle and it sucks. That's true for all art forms, all forms of entertainment and all genres and types of fiction. People constantly want to reshape things that hadn't been catered to the smallest parts of their highly specific sensibilities and their worldview into something they MIGHT (yes, "might"; a degree of uncertainty) like better by coercing and twisting and reshaping it into something it isn't and never wanted to be in the first place. No, motherfucker, it would become **an ever so slightly different thing** if you made these changes and implemented these "fixes", not "the same thing but better". Just accept that not everything is designed to satisfy you and you specifically.

[@dharmictribulations]

Learning fighting games or other competitive games or sports is a good way to keep humble and learn to critique yourself when facing difficulty. Blaming the game when you lose is often a weakness that shows a lack of flexibility and unwillingness to learn.

[@Mikae1300]

Well, if anything, this essay encourages me to maybe try the game again. I only got about 10 hours into it and quit because it bored me to tears. I really hate the open world format--like a lot--but the boss fights do look really fun.

[@anitaremenarova6662]

Yes, during waterfowl Malenia is immune to posture damage. The only way to stagger her there is via status effects such as bleed or frost. Frozen pot has enough buildup to do it in one hit.

[@CH4R10T_TV]

This game is so interesting. I knew pots worked but didn't realize it was status effect pots specifically. It makes sense why I felt like I was getting an imperceptibly different experience with the frost claymore.

[@kylegonewild]

I have way too much to say about this game to encapsulate it in a KZbin comment. So I'll just note a couple personal points. Also, if you haven't seen them DJ Peach Cobbler has a couple Elden Ring videos that I think touch on some good points. 1.) I think Malenia is one of From's best bosses hands down if you examine her in the context of the game. She's the "duel with a master" fight of the game. The ultimate test of what the game has been trying to teach you for presumably near 100 hours for the average new player before they even find her arena, and also the payoff for people who've been paying attention to the story being told in the background. The game has been nudging you towards measured aggression for the entire experience. Bosses are far less sluggish than in older souls games and their move pools and execution trees are pretty sophisticated. It only took me a few attempts to notice she won't even start going down the Waterfowl branch of her decision tree until she reaches a certain health threshold in each phase. She also won't outrun your standard sprint speed if you begin sprinting when she begins animating so if you can't figure out the patterns to stay in melee and dodge it (this is harder the worse your roll is) you can always safely disengage as long as you've kept an awareness of your surroundings and aren't about to sprint back into a wall. Learning I was failing that awareness by sprinting back into a wall anyway and having to readjust before getting sliced up taught me to shore up that weakness. The health regeneration mechanic I also think is very appropriate. In most fights you can stock up on resources and through attrition whittle your opponent down when strict combat engagement isn't going in your favor. The healing is extra punishment for not doing what the game wants you to do. It's telling you to find ways to push through damage as consistently and often as possible because any fuckup will result in pretty large setbacks and in the long-game she's going to wash you. If you want that win you need to pry it from her lifeless, flowery corpse. A lot of people complained that it was unfair but I think if From had implemented a continuous rot debuff instead the same kind of feeling would have been achieved but with less complaining. The health regeneration points out to your face, unlike any other mechanic in the game, that you just fucked up and it's your fault. And in a way, when it's all said and done and you've had your glorious success over the "Malenia, Blade of Miquella and I have never known defeat" ringing in your ears, it's a hollow victory. You murdered a woman lost in the depths of despair and loneliness and mourning for no reason other than to firmly establish yourself atop the hierarchy of skill. By this point most players have finished all the main content so the rune is near useless anyway. Hell, my first playthrough I never even found the Haligtree lol. 2.) The upgrade system is a bit too punishing for the otherwise flexible experience From wants you to have with this game. It feels like trying too hard to restrict progression due to the open world nature and as such robs the player of opportunities to pick up say...the Urumi for example and go "wow this looks cool as fuck lemme just go catch it up to where I'm at now and see how it plays" without also thinking "but I don't have enough stones" or more annoyingly "I'm going to have to farm runes to buy the stones to buy the upgrades from the shop after I loot all relevant bell bearings." And this is coming from a Demon's Souls lover, another From game notorious for its goofy ass upgrade system.

[@fotnite_]

That's kinda funny, I had the opposite experience with builds. I started with a magic build and wasn't enjoying it very much, then respecced into a pure strength jump attack dual wield greatsword build and beat the rest of the game that way. Before respeccing I was tilting pretty hard at Renalla, then later at the Godskin Apostle in the Caelid tower. After I respecced I enjoyed the majority of the boss fights going forward. I think I enjoyed Malenia more than some other people because I have a decent amount of experience beating the bosses from Kingdom Hearts games on max difficulty, and Malenia plays similar to how a lot of the human-sized Kingdom Hearts bosses play. The Waterfowl Dance in particular is reminiscent of the Lingering Will's DM from KH2 to me since it can be dodged in a similar manner. I think a lot of people had gripes with stuff like this because they were carrying over expectations from the Dark Souls games, whereas Elden Ring is the first fromsoft game I've played.

[@FireTrainer92]

Lingering Will and Malenia being comparisons is something I never put together but you're right.

[@dharmictribulations]

When you talked about entering with nothing it really hit me that that was the reason my friend would always get frustrated and yell about bosses while I had a good time learning them. There's a humility that is necessary to enjoy these games to their fullest. To enter the boss arena without baggage and engage the game on its own terms.

[@creatrixZBD]

3:14 ahh how great to be able to bathe in the sensory input of that piece irl.

[@david4233]

Beautiful mindset, I shed tears for my awe of this game too. Your metaphors of a painting that forced you to think on your feelings and emotions made it abundantly clear for me why I love them so much, and then you conlcude that they are also a safe space for frustration makes these games so personal for me. It is my struggle, my growth. Loved your essay.

[@frostrider3704]

I find it interesting that you compare Elden Ring to a song or a dance as that is exactly how I experienced the Ancestor Spirit at Siofra River. I got into the rhythm of the fight, until it felt almost trance like. The Ancestor Spirit had a movement and flow that was almost a musical experience and when it ended I felt sad that it was over. It wasn't a clean fight, I too am pretty bad at Elden Ring, but the boss had a grace to it that just spoke on some deeper level while I experienced it. I haven't completed the game yet, I only have so many gaming hours in a week and there are so many games to play. But I honestly understood Elden Ring at that point and it's why every now and again I'll dedicate another weekend towards completing it. Because it doesn't just feel like a game, but also a conversation between me and the developers that I've only really ever experienced through art pieces before.

[@garroon4056]

Ya know wasnt sure what id get when I clicked on this video. The intro charmed me, the voice was great to listen to and the points presented well. Needless to say gonna watch more

[@br1na332]

So I did end up spending the night playing Elden Ring again. Many thanks!

[@FNL47]

while i do have many gripes about elden ring, i only truly had them once i beat the game like 10 times played every build found out what i liked and didnt and then replaying with said knowledge of the previous run again. its beautiful, honestly not as difficult once you understand how vast combat systems are and understanding the flow of the boss fight like yhou mentioned like a song. damner 800 hours later, quite possibly one of the greatest games i have ever played and i would love to go back a year later with little to know memory of it and experience seeing radagon again

[@br1na332]

This might just be your most beautiful and artful video yet. I'm genuinely moved and know that in moments I'm about to start another Elden Ring playthrough. Just seeing the melee and Mimic Tear set up has me really excited! I'm somone who tried to get into Dark Souls for years, literally. A few times a year I would try and nope out somewhere between Asylum Demon and Bell Gargoyles. I wanted to love it. I loved the idea. I watched all the videos on why it was good and nothing took. A few years back, in a really bleak depression, I watched NakeyJake's video on how Dark Souls helped him with his depression and went back one last time. Something clicked, I have no idea what, but it is no exaggeration to say the unfathomable hours I have spent in the Souls games, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring, has, if not literally been the difference between me being here and not, absolutely making the quality of my life and capacity to cope with my C-PTSD, chronic conditions, disabilities, all the transphobia, my passion and drive to want to be more academically, politically and locally involved than I have the physical and mental capacity for, so much more bearable. Something I truly grieve is how poor many of our educations were. I live in the arse end of England in the perpetratual 1950s we had some classes with art and drama in the name, but we were never given the skills, space, or inspiration to learn about art, and, moreover, education and learning in general. It was all perfunctory, performative, and a fun set on buildings to get bullied in while my parents were at work. They didn't do art and also did bullying, so no luck there. Books and video games definitely kept the little me alive. Sorry for the bleak tangent, the point I'm making is that it fucking sucks how hard it is to learn to appreciate art when we're never given the opportunity and actively negatively reinforced to engage with anything at a deeper level. I truly appreciate your insights and honesty. This really is amazing and I apologise if I have over shared or trauma dumped. I just feel so stirred by your video and Elden Ring and the art of it all. Thank you. Love, support and solidarity ❤

[@mkjmoon8263]

I've never played any souls or souls like games, but I really enjoy listening to people talk about them

[@thirdcoinedge]

Same here. Noah Caldwell-Gervais' video on the trilogy was the catalyst for me, and I've just been digging through the rabbit hole of videos ever since.

[@gravelmonarch]

I did the same thing but with a pure Dex build. I learned quickly that the ashes of war were so powerful and ended up respecting int/Dex and had a great souls experience. Honestly goofing around with new weapons and dying is fun if you spend your souls.

[@fadedtyrant1604]

Just commenting to say 1) good video, and 2) I really enjoy the breadth of things you do on your channel. So yeah, bring on gaming or whatever, I'm sure you'll have an interesting take and I'll have a nice time watching a good video.

[@enman009]

Huh, I 100% connect with you on the replay being the best playthtrough. My 2nd and 5th, completely different pure melee set ups and paths to explore, made me realize how flexible and unrestrictive it is, while displaying the huge freedom of options the combat has. No longer I rely on rollspams and r1 to death, there's true flexibility in the jumping attacks, charge attacks and specially counters. It's worth pointing out the many patches ER received to make it much more polished than on release. The community has brought a lot of great feedback to make the weapon balance, at least in PvE, as excellent as it can be. I just hope Fromsoft expand the bosses complexity slightly more with the expansion.

[@minerman60101]

LupineOs's real best video was "Stop Complaining About Waterfowl Dance" where he found and/or popularized a consistent and learnable way of dodging Waterfowl Dance with midroll. I really liked this method because it structures the move in a way where you can understand why you failed to dodge the move, and the fail states skew towards dealing less damage than other dodges might. Also they patched the heal reading; bosses like Godskin Apostle feel great in that regard now.

[@CH4R10T_TV]

He's just the GOAT. There's no other word for it. (Also good to hear about the healing animation reading -- it feels like to some extent it still happens, but maybe they patched specifically what frame the bosses can read you on? I'll have to look into it.)

[@minerman60101]

@@CH4R10T_TV specifically it seems to happen later in your healing animation, and at least for the Apostles happen less often in general. It feels far less robotic this way and more like an organic part of the fight that spices things up.

[@RandomPerson-rt8zt]

Good video, I especially enjoyed your insights into how the game gets better after each play through (which is a sentiment I share). Also if you want a good response video to “Malenia doesn’t play by the rules” I recommend Magicat’s video “In defence of Malenia”. Thanks for making this

[@highvoltage7559]

I may have contributed to that video a little.

[@TheProblem2025]

Oh hell yea! This is rly interesting so far would absolutely froth more Elden Ring discussion 🎉

[@highvoltage7559]

While I may do no damage challenges and such in these games, I absolutely suck at the start. I take a long time to properly learn many things and because of my stubbornness I refuse to leave something be and instead keep throwing myself at it because I want to prove that I can do something. Making mistakes and losing over and over again is part of the learning process for me, as I've accepted that I will take my time learning and mastering things. And once I do, I start to enjoy things even more. Once I properly understand something I can better judge if my victory was indeed because of the boss being easy or because I got lucky, if I struggled because the boss had issues or because I was simply still learning things. For me Malenia is the best boss From has made so far in their Souls gameplay style. She is hard to learn, but her systems are very consistent and she has numerous windows to punish. It took me a long while to properly understand her moveset and its windows, how to dodge and position properly. But once I did, I genuinely fell in love. Orphan of Kos was From's best Souls style boss for a long while, making me feel a little disappointed by Dark Souls 3 despite it still having good bosses. Sekiro had bosses that surpassed Orphan, but I don't count it as Souls style action rpg gameplay. So I was very happy once I reached Malenia and she kept beating me to a pulp until I properly learned how to tackle her. I hope the dlc adds bosses that are even harder, but also more engaging. I do have an entire playlist of ER boss challenges if you're interested in seeing evidence to back up my view, or just in general how one might play when aiming to master a boss.

[@Oshawott315]

Ayyyyy Chicago suburbia representation! Also, I agree with you. Personally, it took me several playthroughs to fully love this game. Although I wasn’t initially as frustrated with the game, I felt it lacked the charm of the other FS titles. And there wasn’t a specific moment where it “clicked” either. It was a gradual shift to comfort and awe at how crazily amazing this game can be. Now it’s become a meme between my friends and I that I can’t resist opening and playing this game at the slightest mention of it :).

[@Beelzeboogie]

Elden Ring was the Fromsoft game I tried and I've pushed myself but I honestly found Elden Ring too frustrating to enjoy. I didn't want to explore anywhere because I knew it would be a pain in the ass in there. I felt so tense and anxious playing that I had to stop. Beat Godrick after 7 tries, felt exhausted, put the game down, never went back. Never encountered anything like it, not in Nier, or Bayonetta or Devil May Cry, can’t figure it out.

[@Beelzeboogie]

BUT... I think this video has maybe given me some insight. I play a lot of RPG's over the last 40 years but I have never really *planned* a build, just kind of figured it out as I went without particular care for optimisation. Is that the wrong way to play Elden Ring? Should I be planning a build and what items I need beforehand?

[@Circadian_Wolf]

@@BeelzeboogieI think the most important thing to understand about these sorts of games is that death isn’t failure, it’s a mechanic. You ARE going to die, the boss will very likely will take multiple attempts and there’s nothing wrong with that. Each death is a chance to learn. So you die, you learn and the process repeats until you come out the other side, victorious. I can’t remember how many tries Godrick took me on my first playthrough but it was definitely a lot more than seven. And each time he killed me I learned a little more. “He does the ground slam an extra time in second phase.” “I can roll under his spin attack to land some easy hits.” “He does a follow up melee if I’m too close after he rolls.” Etc. It’s not for everyone but it really gives you that sense of mastery when you fully understand how a boss works and can match them move for move.

[@Powersd451]

I think your experience with the 9th playthrough is the same I had with my sl1 playthrough of DS3 and my first playthrough of Sekiro. Just being as aggressive as possible and trying to react on instinct didnt work. I had to take a step back and observe the bosses behavior, then I developed the best strategies to deal with them and deal the most damage. I clearly remember how my attempts against Gael went from frustrstingly banging my head against a wall, to a dance between us. He moves this way, I move that way. He does this combo, I counter like this. I got into the zone, and when I got to the last hit, it felt like it was over way too soon. I let him kill me, so I could do it all over again. Sekiro frustrated me in the beginning, until I decided to properly utilise the posture system, and embrace the combat philosophy taught by Isshin: "Hesitation is defeat". I relaxed, and started fights being defensive, while studying the enemies moves. Once I figured out how to deal with them, all that was left was to execute the motions. I took deep breaths, emptied my head of anything not relating to my strategies, and used them without hesitation. Carefully watching the bosses and knowing what I had to do within frames of their start up movements was exhilerating. I've spent entire evenings just fighting against Inner Genichiro, chasing that feeling. I got the mechanics, I got the bosses moves, I got what I had to do, and perfecting that felt amazing.

[@Windrider784]

Elden Ring confirmed my arrogant mindset tbh. It further proves that I can push through anything if I harden my head enough.

[@WaruiDeshou]

Love this video. And consider me very interested in your reacrion to other essayists reacts to Elden Ring. All your From Software content, honestly, I find really refreshing. EDIT: Wanted to add that yote analogy of falling in love with a song and falling in love with a game the xth time you listen/play was amazing. Excellent point. Agree hard.

[@10hawell]

Just turn on easy mode here's how: >Get dectus medallion >Go to mount gelmir >Sleep jar foreskin bro >Easy kill rykard >Get blasphemous blade Easy mode unlocked Mohgwyn place is also massive grindfest there's like 10 different grinding routes.

[@kweenslvt3911]

the first several minutes of this are the video essay version of Hegel making an introduction about why intros suck lol seriously tho, good work, I think you could have cut down a bit of this, but it's overall a pretty good video. good work! 💜

[@soulslasher7890]

Great video.

[@jessicalindo7977]

I definitely just slam my way into the game, time and time again, and it usually takes me a long time to get through it, but I always learn, I adapt. Even the fastest bosses can't keep it up forever, I just have to outlast them. It might be a... Very stubborn way to play, and be overall, but it is how I like to play soulsborne games. Also, DEX builds, all the way.

[@admiralpaco507]

Algorithm needs noms. Here is comment for algorithm to nom

[@monoclesquid9667]

One of the biggest things I noticed is that Elden Ring does not roll over and so easily allow itself to be trivialized by strength builds as previous games had. Many build brainlets simply could not handle it on launch.

[@br1na332]

Damn, I forgot to say, if you haven't already, you should absolutely check out The Morbid Zoo! Mariana's approach to media and communication criticism is fucking inspired. Her mini episode on the 'Gwen is Trans' discussion is a perfect encapsulation of what she does, and the ones on Run, Hide, Fight; Out of Frame; and Race Horror are great examples of her larger videos, but they are all great. She also has a wonderful video on Elden Ring from her new perspective and finding something unexpected and beautiful in the game!

[@CH4R10T_TV]

I will check her out, thank you! I am always looking for new creators to learn from.

[@metalsludge8205]

11:40 castle dour? in elden ring?

[@CH4R10T_TV]

Oh my god, thank you for pointing this out, that's such a silly mistake I made, but yes, I meant Castle Morne, I swear I didn't teleport my Elden Ring character to Solitude in Skyrim and assassinate Victoria Vicci with Comet Azur.

[@FelisImpurrator]

I beat Malenia by batting her back and forth between my mimic tear and myself, as a spellsword with the Carian Scepter and the Dark Moon Greatsword. As it turns out, frost is amazing AND the unique version of Spinning Weapon on the Carian staff is one of the best in the game, so it was fun to have the stars align (pun intended) just right and have the mimic's AI finally decide to be smart and coordinate instead of getting stomped in seconds. What can I say? Gotta rep properly as Ranni's wife.

[@blackomega34]

You say that you weren't using ashes of war as if that's a bad thing. But I tried like 10 ashes of war I found interesting and none of them were better than a charged heavy attack or a barrage of light attacks. So I feel like when people say you're not playing right because you're not using ashes, what they really mean is that they think the game should be experienced by abusing the OP shit.

[@CH4R10T_TV]

I moreso said that about myself because I was limiting myself in a way I didn't realize, because of my preconceptions about the game. It's not that not using ashes of war is "wrong," but it was a choice I made without understanding what I was doing. Now I can make that choice for myself by seeing more or less what my options are, without too many loaded preconceptions.

[@blackomega34]

Makes sense.

[@vengerofthelight]

Not super useful to you *now*, but PS Seals while chaining Dragon Claw can absolutely wreck Radagon, especially if you have high poise (to feed your hyperarmor) and the Spiked Cracked Tear in your Physick (for extra poise damage to Radagon). I did this while trying to help someone with their challenge run. Dealing with Elden Beast afterwards was a bit harder, though Dragon Maw helped quite a bit. Either way, good video. My first exposure to your channel.

[@DevanConrad]

Elden ring feels the least replayable for being so big and the late game filtering many casual builds with tedious hp bars

[@ajiththomas2465]

Kind of off topic but are you practicing your voice work? Because I noticed your voice sounded quite different from usual. Or is it just an audio issue?

[@CH4R10T_TV]

I've been trying to practice a little bit. I figure, no time like the present.

[@ajiththomas2465]

​@CH4R10T_TV Ah cool, good to know it wasn't an audio issue.

[@zocialix]

Eh I don't know, Elden Ring's biggest flaw for me is how there's not that many unique bosses and the amount of reskins kinda cheapens the experience compared to say bosses in say Dark Souls III. Leaned too much in the quantity over quality side of things for my taste.

[@aayushdasgupta9754]

I agree with you but one thing I have felt is that ER has many more memorable bosses compared to DS3, especially if we exclude DLCs to make it fair. Like in a Playthrough of Base Game DS3, the bosses I really look forward to are- Pontiff, Dancer, Twin Princes, Nameless King, and Abyss Watchers. I usually go do Early Dancer followed by early DLCs, sometimes before even clearing out Irythil, after which I kinda clear the rest. As for ER, I find every Great Rune Boss memorable (except Rykard), and look forward to all of them. Not to mention non Great Rune bosses like Placidusax, Godfrey, Maliketh etc.