Why Elden Ring Never Needed a Traditional Easy Mode

[@CircleToonsHD]

A HUGE Thanks to Keeps again for sponsoring this one!! Backflip on over to keeps.com/circletoons to get 50% off your first Keeps order!! These guys were extremely fun to work with and allowed me to make a super fun segment. :) Also, I really hope you guys enjoyed this one, me and Poptaffy really put a ton of love into this fella! I couldn't be more happy with how it turned out, also HUGE THANK YOU to 'Let Me Solo Her', for lending me their voice! Take care my friends!

[@gaioss]

E

[@MeBrian]

I am hungry

[@MaxTheVoidling]

@Amneya Animations was the first comment, commenting 1 second after you uploaded, please shout him out.

[@Bobby-tz5jd]

Hi

[@darkriversaben9163]

Fun Fact: Even if you lvl to 713 in your first playthrough, not new game+, Margit and Godrick can still kill you. You need to lvl weapon lvl and flasks to help you. This game is more skill than anything.

[@AVoiceForRadio]

Love to see that "Let Me Solo Her" is still getting the rep he deserves. FromSoft themselves even recognized his accomplishments and sent him a sword.

[@odnt5529]

Source?

[@lirich0]

@@odnt5529 FromSoft

[@Thestuffnope]

@@odnt5529 google exist...

[@odnt5529]

@@Thestuffnope its been an hour ive looked it up already

[@WannaHaveaBlastTime3715]

Source or link? I've spent alot of time searching what you said but there's nothing. Can you link me to it or its a lie?

[@theonlyzanny]

your long form videos are so fun to watch dude

[@Skinned_fried_n_cut_up_potato]

Cool guy alert

[@ranjela455]

Holy shit Its the cheese man

[@Big_Huzi]

Yo zanny what’s up?

[@warlocksunited2e580]

Yooo, it's the zan man, I know you've said in videos previously that on your channel you play whatever you feel like not what people want you to play, well, fuck that play battlefront two

[@maddoxotto295]

Craziest crossover known to man

[@thatonehatter8085]

I just want to say, I can definitely feel the appreciation of the summoning system. When I was struggling with Malenia with a colossal sword melee only build, I gave summoning a shot and summoned an absolute legend named “AIR SUPPORT” who, true to their name, used nothing but exclusively bows and crossbows from a distance the entire fight. Granted we lost a good couple times, but we eventually got her together. Being able to work with a stranger and share the same satisfaction of beating it together is an awesome feeling

[@jeus_cnt]

I had a dude named BIG BONKER with a big ass club and no clothes help me beat her. Shit like this is why the souls borne games are so goated

[@LeafLocrian]

Another aspect of the summoning system that I love is being able to just bring your friends in and learn the boss together. I was struggling with Mohg, and brought in my friend to fight him with me... we spent 5 hours attempting the boss until we got him on his world. Then we got to apply our strategy on my world and won 2nd try (even managed to kill him before phase change!) The best part was strategising after every 10 or so deaths to pinpoint what we were lacking and where we could improve. By the end we both had meticulous load outs to optimise fire defense and to attack his weak points. He used blood, and I used gravity sorcery. No other game EVER has had that same feeling of cathartic gratification that we felt after finally getting that final hit on him.

[@TeamKatastrophe]

I spent my NG+ as Three Fingers John, equipped in Renalla's hat and two finger clubs for that three-fingered silhouette, being summoned for beating underground Mohg, and leaving messages to assist people in their frenzied flame ending quest. Summoning is great.

[@camarobro1897]

LOL how do you struggle against malenia with a colossal weapon it's literally so easy. You stance break her every 3 seconds literally easy mode.

[@thatonehatter8085]

@camarobro1897 Classic soulsborne community response. I had literally never played a single souls game until Elden Ring so I didn’t know any of her openings, so I kept getting punished for using slow af attacks

[@thesong7877]

One of the most important thigns about the Soulslike games is that your deaths are cannon. They are an actual part of the game's continuity and progression. When it takes you, the player, 100 tries to beat a boss that's because it actually took that character 100 tries of dying and respawning to beat the enemy in setting. In other games your cannonically suceed the whole time and your deaths are a non-canon loading screen to get back to what you're supposed to pretend happened the first time. Supplying an easy mode in those games makes sense because it's like a time saver to see the real version of events sooner, instead of fake ones. Additionally, in the Souls/Borne/Ring games, players/characters who give up and never finish the journey are also cannon. Difficulty justified through cannonitity of player attempt.

[@CircleToonsHD]

I nearly added this!!

[@bethannart5146]

@@CircleToonsHD I know the naked guy reference he's a legend with beating the technically hardest boss over 3000 times now

[@thesong7877]

@@HeliosOfAtlantis They are absolutely cannon. It is a defining element not only of Souls and Elden Ring, but of Soulslikes. Deaths are cannon, fully and truely. A game cannot even be called a soulslike without cannon death, not without lying. Death and any associated penalty system just being mechanics, and not cannon, is a description that applies to the majority of games, but not any Souls game. Games where you die, and reload a checkpoint or save, and continue on with everything acting like you were successful you first try. Souls and Ring aren't like that. Souls makes it all cannon and entirely part of the story. Your deaths are cannon; the bloodstains are cannon, both yours and the ones from other players; summons are cannon, PLAYER summons; even player messages are cannon. Other players are cannonically existant npc characters in the Souls story. Ever play Sekiro? Sekiro puts it more in your face that your deaths and need of multiple attempts at a boss are cannon, makes it a little more obvious, but it's just as cannon in Ring as it is in Sekiro. If you honestly think deaths and all in Ring, or any other Souls game, aren't cannon, the only reasonable takeaway is that you've never played any of them. Barring that, you're just one of the most inattentive and unobservent people to ever exist. The games literally blatantly inform you it's cannon.

[@JoltBlade]

I wanted to get a souls game and honestly as a very new player this one was not the right choice I hate stabby goblin ambushes

[@dildoballins8545]

This probably does not apply post Maliketh, since not only do you unleash the Rune of Death, but you also lose the Guidance of Grace (in fact, grace points Godfrey towards you, since you were never meant to be Elden Lord in the first place)

[@4589dude]

Best feeling is finally beating a difficult boss and being greeted with messages saying "Didn't expect weak foe..." Very humbling

[@Toneill029]

No that sounds soul crushing like what’s the point of playing if you’re just spamming your way through instead of what you should be doing and what you’re expected to be doing.

[@MrKogarou]

@@Toneill029 Good thing about these games is, you're always doing what you should be doing. Enjoy the game your way. Maybe get inspired to try something new or learn deeper systems, later. The game is hard for good reason - you always arrive at a challenge that suits you. One that takes some time and learning. And beating that challenge feels good, even if it was a bit random. Overcoming soul crushing despair is sort of the whole point of souls-likes. :)

[@Aliens1337]

@@Toneill029 The point is knowing that you are slowly improving and getting better over time, which then gives you a sense of accomplishment??? A challenge (like a very difficult boss) that seems impossible at first, but YOU, yourself, beat it through sheer force of will and preservation. People tell stories about heroes who overcome their challenges and impossible tasks. Thats the fantasy for FromSoft games.

[@bennievaneeden2720]

I like it when a game challenges you enough to actually use your potions. Though many games with a hard mode just replaces your weapon with a wet noodle and gives the bosses 2x health meaning you just hit him more. That doesn't make the game more challenging, it makes it more tedious.

[@omarjimenezromero3463]

i were playing cyberpunk 2077 on normal and somethings were pretty difficult at the start because i do not know how to use them, and on my 2nd run of the game i discover more things, and started to play at hard difficult, so i had to use a new variety of weapons and prepare myself better for combat, but i know the game is unbalanced when some fights i win them camping, and other make me hack, shoot and dodge to win. and fo fromsoftware games, i hope i could play armored core 4, 4fa, v and vd, i like more the armored core franchise since the 4 series, but fromsoftware had do nothing since verdict day, i hope they do something, there are not other games like that out there, the 4 and 4fa were just muscle memory movement games, the vd were more of half muscle memory and half have a good ac, i had watch a guy with pilebunkers defeat the final boss in 5 hits per phase, he took less than 3 minutes to finish that mision. for me sekiro feels pretty hard, i do not know how to parry properly attacks on a human character in 3D games, i am more of armored core where i can shoot or hit a wider area because my ability to hit narrow parts of an enemy by hand is hard for me.

[@LukasJampen]

That was similar for me in Witcher 3. I started on normal and was demolishing anything without using potions or bombs etc. Then I restarted a couple hours later on the hardest difficulty. Not gonna lie the first group of drowned after starting the game took me like 5 tries because on normal getting hit didn't matter much but now everything mattered. After changing my approach I used every potion bomb and sigil that could be usefull and I would prepare before engaging a group of enemies. I felt as if I was a Witcher preparing and using every tool in my arsenal. It also became a lot easier after that while still not being a complete cakewalk. At least until late game where I was demolishing again but still used everything. If a game is challenging enough and the mechanics are implemented well it will force players to engage with more of the mechanics. If I can defeat every enemy by mashing 1 button why would use complicated combos for the same effect or worse effect? If every thing was up to the player many of us would optimize fun out of the game. How often do we do things that aren't interesting or fun in games just because it works or is easy? I barely ever use potions in Skyrim, I always carry the maround with me but I nver really use them in case I might need it later.

[@sumdude5172]

Jokes on you, i always save my consumable for tough bosses and wasted them anyway

[@souffrantdepine3762]

I consider those kinds of difficulty increases to be more of a test of attention span and mental stamina. A fight can become easy once you adjust to it's duration and memorize everything, but if the fight goes on twice as long you become more likely to make simple errors or become mentally fatigued. It's about trying to outlast the boss instead of just outwitting or overpowering it.

[@gyrozeppeli00]

*cough cough* god of war: bullet sponge edition

[@GalactiCadet]

Imagine you just defeated the hardest boss you've fought yet, and your congrats message is "Try But, Hole"😂

[@justanidiotmk2749]

What's funny is some non English speakers were confused by the message and learned a small fragment of English just to essentially realize that someone made a butt joke.

[@theguywhoisme]

it was me all along, I am the try fingers, but hole man

[@blank.e5plus]

"try finger, but hole"

[@spoopytigrams9076]

@@justanidiotmk2749 similar thing also happened when english speakers left lots of “fort,night” messages and non english speakers thought it meant something big was happening in 2 weeks time lol

[@Atlastheburdenbearer]

I've mostly seen "Try Fingers But, Hole"

[@MothFable]

i enjoy your normal content, but man do i love the heck out of your animations!

[@alpacaofthemountain8760]

I’ve never been that great at boss fights in games. I picked up Elden Ring yesterday, and I can confirm pretty much all of this except for summoning (haven’t done it yet). I was having trouble with Margot, so I left, grinders runes to upgrade my gear and skills, and eventually I was able to beat him. It’s so much better to feel like you’ve worked hard to accomplish something purely through your own effort rather than having a difficulty slider do the work for you

[@diccchocolate416]

How is your playthrough going

[@andrewberrocal2281]

Level up weapons and strength, get Jellyfish summons, Margot’s seal. Thats the way I beat it.

[@TheHorreK2]

The single best feature of FromSoft Games is: The developers respect their players intelligence, they dont fear that people just fall into dispair if they wont get diffuculty settings or a guiding hand through the game etc. They just trust that people are clever enough to find their way in the world with the tools that are given and boy were they right

[@Ralathar44]

Or, you can just be an idiot but barely smart enough to go search up the broken shit online and coast through the game on easy mode while some try hard is trying to make dual daggers work :D. Elden Ring 100% has difficulty options, and they are in the form of some abilities and summons and stuff objectively making the game crazy easier when used. Not just "broken" stuff. The inclusions of things like summons and the ability to overlevel stuff so much easier allows people to have a far easier experience than in previous Souls games. Also, lets be honest, most people still don't clear the back half of the game because players who prefer lesser difficulty or more casual play will not enjoy the back half of the game with its much higher difficulty, much lesser exploration, and basically boss rush nature.

[@b.heaven9234]

For Dark Souls, you either beat the game and be the Dark Lord / Fire Kindle, or quit the game, lose hope and "turn hollow".

[@thephoenix4093]

@@Ralathar44 lets be honest, no amount of intelligence shall allow you to complete ranni's quest on their own, they went into an extreme mode when it comes to the open world.

[@benj4845]

@@Ralathar44 Thats the problem with elden ring. People will just go search up broken shit online and just breeze through the game until the half way point. Some people are gonna defend it with like "oh it's open world you're suppose to go explore and be rewarded", but when the reward is breezing through half of the game, what is the point of playing the first half anyways? And then the back half of the game is just absurd, the difficulty spike is just not reasonable bosses starting to one shot or two shot you at 40 vigor is not hard, that's just bullshit. The hyper aggressive attack pattern of the later bosses doesn't make that any better either. I played up to that point of the game without using summons but after I feel like it's just mandatory if you want to keep your sanity. My personal opinion on this is that they should have locked certain areas behind key bosses so that progression is actually earned instead of just searched up. Also the difficulty spike shouldn't have been that absurd, maybe that kind of difficulty would be ok for like 1 or 2 bosses, but most of the back half of the game is just um... questionable.

[@Zaudunyani]

@@Ralathar44 this is correct. Elden Ring was my first From game. It, uh...wasn't that hard. I'm going to be 40 in a month, so I lived through the original NES and actual arcades where games about Micky fucking Mouse were far more punishing than anything on any next-gen console, so maybe that informs my experience more than most. But also, my 13 year old is playing it, also never having played a From game or a third-person adventure game, and he's crushing it? Also, your points are all very valid. I didn't look up anything on my first run-through, and I missed a bunch of stuff because of it. I had a weird build until I could respec, but the dodging mechanics (and block-countering, which no streamer seems to ever do for some reason) were fine for getting through most of the game. Summons trivialized most combat, and Torrent allows you to skip basically the entire game. Definitely built-in difficulty sliders, but creative ones that allow the player to tailor every encounter to their desired level of challenge.

[@Practicallypreposterous]

Let Me Solo her has officially been animated by CircleToons and honestly I think that's an entirely new milestone he just reached far above his other accomplishments

[@jordannagel2683]

I feel let me solo her is now an official part of lore after how big they blew up and being sent a personalised sword from fromsoft

[@Practicallypreposterous]

@@jordannagel2683 I'm hoping he makes a cameo in the official manga, considering they somehow made it a comedy

[@matus19971]

I don't think this tops them becoming a living meme on the scale of Giant Dad

[@guilhermelamin9344]

The guy also got a rap

[@kishinasura1989]

I know I was with a buddy and he summoned him and we just watch him in action it was magnificent and encouraged me to get better at the game

[@BlueShellshock]

One of the coolest aspects of a first playthrough is how much of your success comes from little human choices. Noticing a noise, putting you on alert. Luring enemies with an arrow. Trying out a new consumable, finding it works well and can fit into a playstyle. Choosing to read a message or watch a bloodstain, finding out if a jump is possible. Even running away, and whether you acknowledged the cliff near you, is a choice that determines whether you succeed or not. It's not just builds and reflexes, it's decision making and awareness.

[@thecyanpanda241]

Yea, my performance in other games got so much better because elden ring drilled "make a decision and stick to it" into my head

[@fangwhiteclaw7089]

Running away is how I ended up in the city underground in my first playthrough. Freaking Rune Bears wanted to turn me into dinner. Got away and got stabbed by clay people instead.

[@yvaskhmir]

Also, there's the storytelling aspect of the difficulty. It's one thing when you get told by 40 forgetable NPCs that the next enemy is tough and used to eat stars for dinner, before he STARTED EATING GALAXIES INSTEAD, OH, PLEASE, CHAMPION, YOU MUST DEFEAT HIM! Then you go to the boss on easy and slap him around like a 30 year old man "practicing" martial arts with 12 year olds. And it's a different thing when you get told the boss is hard and you get slapped like the above.

[@lukeskywalker987]

I remember my first time fighting Radahn and I saw all these guys going in with me and thought "Well this seems unusually easy." *Immediately gets one-shot by the first arrow. "Ohhhhhhh... That's why I got the extra summons."

[@Jetstreamsamsbiggestglazer]

@@lukeskywalker987 also the meator that left me star struck ( pun intended) where I just said “FROM WANTS ME TO FIGHT A HUNAN MEATOR”

[@benj4845]

yeah but the problem with Elden ring is that u can come in with a +10 moon katana (forgor the name) and like kill radahn with ease.

[@Jetstreamsamsbiggestglazer]

@@benj4845 no shit radahn is a early game boss and a plus 10 moon veil means you would of had to kill at least 3 demigods and had to defeat thunder leg man so yea a early game boss is easy

[@benj4845]

@@Jetstreamsamsbiggestglazer mb i meant +9

[@bradj9772]

As a souls veteran, im just happy to see how successful elden ring became and all the people who joined in to enjoy something truly awesome! Compared to other titles from fromsoftware, elden ring isn't easier or harder, just a little diffrent with more 'sliders' to change difficulty via items and build choices. Like how I wanted a challenge and tried to win my first playthough with 11 vigor! Everything went great untill maliketh and I respecced for more health. Though I was pretty sad to do so since every boss after that was killed in one go.

[@Yudaisei0]

I do not think any of the Souls games from FromSoftware are hard, cause if you are stuck on a boss or area, you can just grind for levels and resources to upgrade gear, becoming op to the point that no boss could beat you. The only FromSoftware game I would say is truly difficult (cause it required alot more skill) is Sekiro, but even there some bosses and enemies have hidden mechanisms that make them easier to deal with (ex: Snap Seeds for certain bosses, Finger Whistle for certain enemies, being able to skip the True Monk's second Phase, etc.).

[@Tralaby]

Ya not the same feel as dark souls which made me at first upset because that's what I expected when I started the game but tbh I very much enjoyed my experience and need to find time to create a new character now I that I know what build I want

[@GBSpiral]

I've had a lot of fun being underleveled and needing to use the full range of tools at my disposal to try and get through stuff. fun game

[@MrDuckyart]

Yeah the difficulty aspect has always been kind of hammed up a bit but almost every Souls game has been like this. Stuck on this boss? Grind some souls and overlevel it. Still stuck? Summon some people to beat your collective head against the wall until it falls over. That's not to say there aren't genuinely difficult encounters but there's always been a kind of underlying "difficulty slider" to an extend since Demon's Souls which is what I love most about these games.

[@0001captainawesome]

"Or harder"? Psshhh! Not a veteran then, or I'll assume you are and are just catering to pansies with slow thumbs or mouse clicking fingers. I beat Elden Ring at level 48 on my first playthrough with little difficulty and almost no deaths. My pvp win ratio is 20:1, and no I don't use hacks and purposefully create and use builds no one else is using, so no cheap tricks. My only regret is you can't be a legel one pyromancer anymore and crusade all the way to ng+3 or 4.

[@X-SPONGED]

4:52 "How about when you see a boss door and see dozens of messages like-" _"When will it end ?"_ _"I want to go home"_ _"Pickles~"_ _"try dog but hole"_

[@aemama88]

So accurate

[@sssslenderzzzz]

"Help me..."

[@matthewjalovick]

And afterward “Easy foe.”

[@thegentleman7307]

The greatest joy I had in this game was finding wacky busted combos to counter each boss's bullshit. Fight smarter not harder!

[@ReeseHosgood]

I play video games the same way and it’s really enjoyable when you pull off a strong counter.

[@watcher424]

Yes that’s my joy. But I hate when someone uses meta and then say they are good. And Complaining about otters being bad. That pisses me off the most.

[@Ceece20]

Not much will give me as much joy as when I cheesed Melania phase 2 by using 2 fully charged and buffed Full Moons while she was still in the beginning animation of phase 2. Her health went down so much I just needed 1 more full moon attack after that and she died. I still had to dodge her attacks to get that 1 attack, but I did it and it was so satisfying.

[@Data-Expungeded]

@@watcher424 i hate meta i agree

[@LORDSHIPICKLE]

Elden ring was my first “dark souls game” and it was amazing, I mean, seriously the control you have over your character is amazing, you constantly feel yourself getting better, doing more damage getting stronger and it feels super satisfying, the feeling of struggling with a boss, leaving, leveling, exploring, finding a new weapon, spell, or hidden weakness then coming back and destroying that same boss is increasible

[@F4c2a]

Yup. Makes Witcher 3 feel like an absolute joke. (Which it is, gameplay wise. Otherwise amazing tho.)

[@HarisBahriZ]

@@F4c2a yes, i hate the witcher 3 because some game journalists say the gameplay is like darksouls and then i found out that the combat is really bad. I really wanted to like the game because of the story but I didn't play it until I recovered from my disappointment with the game lol

[@Your-Least-Favorite-Stranger]

@@HarisBahriZ Witcher is definitely story driven; the combat mechanics are super basic, everything can approached from like 100 different angles and there's not a really high risk of failure. That being said: it's beautiful in its own respect and had a really interesting fantasy world. The souls games on the other hand _demand_ you learn to fight vs just cheese everything and more likely than not come out on top anyways. Witcher is beyond easy, the two aren't alike. ps. never trust game journalists.

[@upfrontplace0926]

Elden ring was my first souls game and yes at first I was extremely intimidated from hearing how hard the souls games are but after literally 1 out 2 hours of playing I kept telling myself "Jesus this is the most fun I've had in a game in a while. It is genuinely an amazing game and I fully agree that these games shouldn't have an easy mode, I'm now going to play the rest of the souls games bc of this, wish me luck!!!!

[@Rar830]

Gj, there’s nothing like your first play through of Souls game, enjoy.

[@ssiahisrael1026]

Elden ring is so fking easy it baffles me how ppl complain. You can literally use summon and use magic. You can also fight w another player(u a b is f you do this but thats just me)

[@supersbbrawl4ever]

​@@ssiahisrael1026It's only easy if you play like a coward

[@ssiahisrael1026]

@@supersbbrawl4ever never used my battle arts. Never summoned and only used magic against tree sentinels. After that I just went shield and sword. Parried most of my fights

[@ssiahisrael1026]

@@supersbbrawl4ever cowards would be using summons against a Boss.

[@tomog1]

these longer form essay style videos are a treat whenever they pop up. Keep it up funny circle man, the fact that you're able to do this is great 👍

[@kokujoman5025]

Elden Ring was my first souls game I started AND finished. Got every achievement. I hope they make dlc for the game, I would love that so much

[@riley3771]

Welcome to the community, if you do go back and play the previous titles, dont beat yourself up over the clunkiness of ds1 and ds2, and if you have playstation, the finite healing of DeS and BB

[@ApogeeSol]

There will be DLC, lots of it would be my guess.

[@TheSeriousSentinel]

My big achievement in this game was soloing Malenia. No summons, no ashes. It took me actual days but finally got it. That should feel like a huge accomplishment, and yeah it wouldn’t mean as much and I wouldn’t have probably done it if there was an easy mode.

[@Chaosqueenngami]

This is a good argument for why the Soulsbourne games are like art. A real artist makes something uncompromisingly theirs with the intention of conveying certain feelings to the viewer. Adding easy mode to the soulbourne game would be like de Vinci repainting Mona Lisa’s clothes becuase some people don’t like what she’s wearing or Edvard Munch painting a smile on the man on the bridge in The Scream becuase some people find it disturbing. If they did that the piece no longer belongs to the artist and doesn’t have the same message and just becomes audience pandering.

[@CarlolucaS]

The game is quite literally compromised. It is needs to be playtested and diffirent developers in the same team will have different idea on how to aprach gameplay problems.

[@Bgh583]

Games are not art. Games are more like pornoghrapy

[@3bodYking99]

​​​@@Bgh583 i take that back, you might just be dumb. But listen here, games are another from of storytelling just like movies, tv shows, animation, and books, that's why most of those collide, where you would find a game inspired by a movie or tv show or book, or the other way around. The difference is, while books make the story more driven by your mind, and YOUR pacing. And while movies and shows are more driven by the visuals and dialogue. Games kinda use BOTH, from taking the visual aspect, and putting YOU in the world so YOU kinda control the pacing, it makes it interactive, which is the most important aspect of games, interactivity. Games are art the same way a beautifully directed and produced movies or tv show is an amazing piece of art. (Disclaimer, i am not a reviewer, nor am i a professional in any of the topics i spoke about, just a passive enjoyer who did NOT enjoy your stupid comment. Thanks)

[@RandomPerson-yf4ox]

@@Bgh583 okay, the fuck? What do you even mean?

[@personman8734]

Also when it comes to souls games. You’re experience is so heavily linked to the fact that there is no shortcut. To take away from that destroys the since of accomplishment . Why climb the side of a mountain just to reach the peak if when you make it to the peak you’re surrounded by people who just took an elevator.

[@vincenttorrijos9680]

I love how a guy whos going out of his way to kill the hardest boss for you is getting so much praise, really lifts the stigma around summoning that was over the system.

[@BairyHall]

4:56 to 4:57 touched my heart, and my soul such profound words from our fellow gamers

[@michaeljweaver1]

This was my first FromSoft game, so I decided to start the game without wearing armor to force myself to learn dodge timing (or die). I beat every single boss with no armor and dual wielded colossal swords. Loved the difficulty the whole time.

[@kllyfify1489]

Armor in elden ring is useless

[@flamingmanure]

@@kllyfify1489 it objectively isnt and theres a laughable amount of evidence to prove that. its less effective than ds1, but frankly all of them have been that way since bloodborne, but elden ring easily has the best armor defense values, ds3 and especially bb are where armor is ALMOST objectively useless, the only stats that matter is anti poison and curse and certain other elements, thats about the most useful they ever where. in ER, slapping some heavy torso on makes a good 10% difference. it can go up to 35% of physical and WAAAY more if you stack elemental defense armor.

[@firebat9664]

I’m playing my first ever from software game bloodborne and it has been the best experience ever. My favorite games are extremely easy and simple game, like slime rancher. And even I wouldn’t want an easy mode in these game. I love practicing my moves and dodging and learning the enemies, it’s very fun and rewarding.

[@italianspiderman5012]

Great to hear! I usually like chill games too but it’s nice to break it up with something more demanding from time to time,and if it gets frustrating just take a break,and yeah that feeling of overcoming obstacles is all those games are about.

[@riley3771]

Bloodborne is an amazing game, just dont get to off set by the healing being finite in that game and drop it like I did for almost 2 years before going back to it

[@river7874]

Bloodborne is my favorite game of all-time. Have fun! It's a damn good game.

[@arcanefire7511]

@@riley3771 I hate that mechanic lol, dunno why they did it.

[@riley3771]

@@arcanefire7511 at first I hated it, but now I love it, a flat 40% heal is amazing, and once you get better in the game you can do just fine untill you kill bsb cause then you can go to the cum dungeon for echos to buy them

[@mrrd4444]

As a FromSoft Noob the Jolly Cooperation is definitely what made this game a lot easier. That and sorcery lol. But all seriousness, people helping each other, or without that, your summons helping you, makes this game a lot more bearable for those who don't want souls level challenges but still want to play the souls game. It doesn't make the game suddenly too easy, but it does take away a lot of the most frustrating aspects of not being able to handle a certain challenge alone. There are even baked in NPCs that help you if you can only play offline, to feel that jolly cooperation even without other players. That, mixed with the open world where you can come back after grinding, makes Elden Ring way more accessible.

[@kishinasura1989]

Yeah I've literally walked my friends through every Souls born game and they asked me howed I know all this I'd just say Pain lots of pain

[@DrDoompenguin]

I very much agree with this. Malenia was extremely difficult for me and if there was an easy mode I probably would have chosen it. Instead I decided to stick with the same build with no help or summons. It may have take me 22 goddamn hours but when I finally beat her, it was one of my most satisfying experiences I've ever had in any video game.

[@shadowthetwisted]

and then she entered phase 2 lmao

[@kylethomas3224]

Summoning doesn't make the game flatly easier as there is an hp buff that makes the battle just as grueling.

[@DrDoompenguin]

@@kylethomas3224 I know but you can gank her with multiple people which at least somewhat lowers the difficulty. I don't know if that bonus still applies with spirit summons though.

[@kylethomas3224]

@@DrDoompenguin agreed, agro ping pong is the best bet with a ranged damage dealer/healer buffer. I managed with one other and it took 3 tries since the add was not used to my play style nor I theirs. Mind this was also 22 hours of smashing my head into a wall.

[@massgunner4152]

@@kylethomas3224 Hp buffs are meaningless if you can hit the boss thrice as often, and considering most endgame bosses boil down to "unstoppable wall the never stops punching you" is either that and/or cheese.

[@akaicedtea6236]

That long trail of messages in altus going up to a corpse item through a tunnel warmed my heart.

[@flaccidyam]

Yep! For me its always been that when I loose (with the exception of some swamp enemies) I know why, and where I messed up. I spend the whole game learning and adapting to challenges both combat and environment based. It’s the one series that really makes me feel like I’m existing in its world and interacting with it.

[@Femaiden]

i like how his animation skills have clearly improved over time. i mean, his older videos are still hilarious when he does the still images and sometimes you can see his finger or the stylus moving the guy around and i always thought that was a deliberate art style, but now i see actual animated movement and i'm even more impressed.

[@SpookyLumi]

I beat Elden Ring three times with little difficulty, wanted it to be harder, then started a challenge run where I can only use the Lightning Ram ash of war. Very difficult but also very rewarding when I finally conquer the boss. Then again I did go to Sofra River Well as the first thing I did because it was open world. Ended up in Caelid and went on from there. This was all before I got to Stormveil, I just went where I wanted to go.

[@TimothyGod]

Fuck yea, lightning ram is based as hell

[@jellypopcorn]

_i've recently started this game, a year late to the party! But for my first souls game it's been absolutely perfect! Alot of fun_

[@wariodude128]

I'm still hoping one day Fromsoft compiles the King's Field games and remakes them into one full game with each title being a "chapter" of it. That would be amazing.

[@Eidel_Rose]

I’m glad about Elden Ring not having an easy difficulty, I suck at this game and it took me 2 months to beat Margit, I felt so happy, I like how hard this game is for me. This is like the only time I like when I’m bad at something. I usually hate being bad at something and just give up (bowling), but I fricking love this game.

[@REVOLVERE]

I love it when you make these kind of extended videos.

[@thevioletbee5879]

My take is that it’s up to a developer if they want to have difficulty options. My favorite implementation is Celeste’s, but not every game needs to have that kind of difficulty management.

[@leonfurry]

As a first time player to these kind of games, I’m so glad it is as challenging as it is. I’ve never been so hooked and playing along with my fiancé as he played it with some experience with dark souls made it all the better. It was a breath of fresh air from my usual rpg games. Seriously a new fan.

[@thomasace2547]

I come from growing up playing games through the 90s Games where hard, and completing them was an achievement in itself

[@somerandomwizard5799]

‘Wow, I achieved something today!’ Vs ‘achievement; pick 100 red flowers’ is one of the reasons I enjoy older games

[@mistermann4163]

I hope this logic is still applied to there other games since hearing from the grapevine that Armored Core maybe coming back. Hope they return back to formula with mech builds having opposite ends of the spectrum instead of a illusion along with mission worlds being traversable and unique from close quarter tunnels to above ground oddities in that post apocalyptic world with it's wastelands.

[@christianwood6140]

For Answer was the first "Souls" like experience I had even being an AC fan since Project Phantasma. I may be among the few who wants a Souls/AC crossover in difficulty.

[@collinkosinski5521]

Stop making the ad sections so good, it makes me watch them.

[@dogmat8733]

I remember when I first saw you a while back when you made your E3 2017 video, and wow your animation skills have come so far since then. Great take, and great video. Nice work CircleToons.

[@DamianSiIvers]

Love the appearance of "Let me solo her", he's a legend of Elden Ring lore

[@devinclowdus3366]

W

[@MinecraftMartin]

When I first started this game, I died to Soldier of Godrick like a few times. Few days ago I soloed the tree sentinel, margit and godrick at level 30 with my sword alone for the first time. The sense of achievement this game offers beats all. It's my new skyrim. And there's still a lot more ways to continue making the game harder. Next time I can go level 15, or go naked, and so on. Not only is the difficulty embedded into the core gameplay, it's so fluid you can dial in your own challenge to the decimal.

[@gonzalot.605]

Kenshi takes a similar approach to difficulty: Right off the bat, you start the game with little to no combat skills, so you are encouraged to not face any threat directly by yourself until you have a sizeable squad. Furthermore, the game also encourages the player to develop other skills in the meantime (lockpicking, stealth, agility, etc.).

[@GravitasZero]

"people don't know what they want" This summarizes humanity so well

[@theajtruth]

This is how I feel about customers and their cars. They don't know shit,they don't know what they want.

[@lovingthepastpresentandfuture]

Mmm pasta sauce

[@arcanefire7511]

@@lovingthepastpresentandfuture hello fellow radascar enjoyer

[@theportaldestroyer9487]

I remember my first fight against Morgott I had the Mimic and Melina summoned and we just had this all out war to gank him to death, This is the reason I love Fromsoft. I have never felt so alive, my heart beating faster then any excersize could ever get it to go and that sense of achievement when I got him on the first go. I love this game.

[@mauro9389]

Same , I literally destroyed morgott in first try thanks to the mimic and Melina summons, But that doesnt mean morgott Is easy.

[@Civic42]

I remember watching a few video on souls like difficulty curve. The difficulty is dependent on how you build your character. Some weapons works better than others for some boss. IIRC Magic was like the easy end and running great swords were on the harder end due to swing time and post attack animations.

[@papertroll1876]

I love these long uploads, you’d think they’d be worse cause they don’t show up that often, but they’re so well paced and scripted that they end up better than videos from you tubers who do this type of content as their whole thing!

[@Dumbledouche]

What a fantastic video! You broke down a very good point wonderfully and you didn't spoil anything. As someone who just picked up the game and loves your animation, this was a perfect video!

[@iljk]

Finally someone put the easy mode discussion into wise words and amazing animation. Love

[@silverlight6074]

The one most legitimate complaint I've ever heard about FromSoft game difficulty is that the control scheme is not a lot of fun for an action RPG. It comes from the school of games where movement is 'more realistic' and deliberately paced, where your controls are less responsive and *most* actions have a delay that forces caution instead of reflexes (dodging being the exception). It's the one case where I didn't try to argue, because, while it's true that is a form of game difficulty, that's just not fun for some people. I can't fault someone for not being able to enjoy what feels like handicapped controls, if it's something they don't enjoy then that's fair. It's just a case of the game itself not being for a person.

[@scottbecker4367]

Part of the reason I don't enjoy DS1 and 2 is the clunky controls, especially with the four direction rolling in 1. Can I beat them? Sure. Will I? Nah.

[@3takoyakis]

yeah, game wasnt made for ALL players, you cant make all ppl happy (except a working ready player one game ig). Though all companies would try to get many ppl as possible playing their game to gain more profit

[@aes1373]

Obviously it doesn't need an easy mode. Having a quest or some kind of enemy log would've been nice though ngl

[@3bodYking99]

Yeah, kind of valid criticism here. While, yes, they have and had a vary good formula with the npc's in previous games, this is a new and improved version, that NEEDS a new approach. The games did NOT have a hundred npc's that you had to memories their locations and quests when you might play the game for a HUNDRED FIFTY HOURS on your first run(i am at 130 and still exploring, did reach elden beast tho, just not gonna fight him for now). With a game this BIG, this LONG, it needs at least a little bit of help in remembering what needed to be done to further quests, and by WHEN, so you don't lose a quest by killing a boss in a WHOLE OTHER AREA. I heard from someone who was responding to the game's one star reviews, that maybe a notebook feature with names and maybe bits of important dialogue of npc's would be helpful, and also lore friendly at the same time, like it's not far fetched for the character to keep notes of what he needs to do or who he promised to help? It's only natural in a world this vast, and a journey that's gonna last this long for someone to bring a notebook with them.

[@Karak-_-]

A notebook that your chatacter keeps would be nice. Or some oracle NPC you could ask about werebouts of some NPC and they'll give a cryptic hint where to go next.

[@jlangerrr6240]

A notebook is definitely a plus, given that the NPC names are so similar, and even the same guy/soul with different names. Honestly, I was so confused for quite a while until I watched tons of youtube videos.

[@indalecio539]

This log does exist though. Go to the local general store and buy a pen and some paper.

[@ariannadravis3934]

@@indalecio539 You've already paid 60$ for a game, where the devs could've added it with little to no difficulty at all. Same with any game - and i mean it, ANY game - that requires a pen and paper that was made after the N64 / PS1. A open world game should definetly, no contest, have something like that because there's so goddamn much happening. It's not handholding, it's simple convience.

[@xlucky1373]

Honestly, an amazing breakdown of how the difficulty in Elden Ring is perfect the way it is.

[@thedongler69]

I played Int/Dex for my first playthrough and I feel that was the built in easy mode. Weapons like the Moonveil and Starscourge Greatsword just melt this game. Oh and Mimic Tear is ridiculous

[@Menace-To-Humanity]

the game's easy mode is just a pure arcane or intelligence build. all you gotta do is be some what good at dodging and your set. everything flops over at bleed and magic. want a baby mode? frostbite and bleed on curved swords or twinblades.

[@thedongler69]

@@Menace-To-Humanity Moonveil and Nagakiba with frost on it, get shrekt

[@watcher424]

If you use Metas in dark souls games. you’re not even playing the game at that point.

[@thedongler69]

@@watcher424 pee pee poo poo gatekeeping is for incels

[@utisti4976]

@@watcher424 Very true.

[@jonathanyesbest4616]

This is why getting over it worked, when I finally beat it, I felt like a legend

[@ApolloDawn85]

My dad is proof the Souls series doesn’t need an easy mode. My dad usually is the type to play a lot of games on easy mode since he prefers to just experience the game without getting frustrated. Elden Ring was his first Souls game and he got even more into it than even me. He played a magic build with using summons, which although it made the game easier, it allowed him to experience the same game I did as a strength/faith build without dumbing down the game like an easy mode would. Instead, if he ever got stuck, he would explore the game’s world and find a new weapon, armor, spell, or skill that better prepared him for the boss.

[@watcher424]

Bruh he was playing on easy mode.😂😂😂

[@Skinned_fried_n_cut_up_potato]

Hmph a magic build? *pompous laugh* Summons? *hm Phmm ha ha* he’s not really playing this game unless he’s playing at level one, no armor, stick only, no summons, no message reading, 90% all of his body is paralyzed so he has to play the whole game with his tongue, otherwise it’s basically cheating and he’s just trash. (I’m joking if that wasn’t clear because there’s too many people that actually think like this)

[@angelcorchado1567]

W dad

[@watcher424]

@@Skinned_fried_n_cut_up_potato hahah. But…. If that’s the case… I’m wondering what is skill. 🧐

[@Skinned_fried_n_cut_up_potato]

@@watcher424 look I won’t lie the people who played for the game using things like a piano and ridiculous basically naked runs are very skilled but I just don’t care or find that very fun I prefer to play the most entertaining way

[@PoisonousShiv]

I’ve beaten Elden Ring Twice and am a souls veteran who has always loved the challenge, BUT there are people who would still find the game challenging even with an easy mode. I used to be a staunch easy mode denier for the difficulty is what makes soulsbornes soulsbornes + the trials and tribulations of mutual suffering always bring my group of goopy gamers endless tales to regale. However, no matter how much you upgrade your health most of the bosses will still be able to kill you in just a few hits. My best friend watched all the trailers for Elden ring with wonderlust in her eyes. A high fantasy world with seemingly endless creativity put into it- her perfect game. However, she isn’t very good at games and understands that fact. Her hands just don’t always react like they need to during combat or high stress moments. So, I told her what the game was and the understated difficulty of it, and I don’t know if you’ve ever had to tell your best friend they won’t be able to play a game they were massively looking forward to but seeing the joy leave their eyes is about as fun as you’d think it’d be. Even starting the game with max health, I don’t doubt she would struggle on Margit simply because he would delete her health within one interaction even at that level. I’m still a little torn because the debate isn’t that simple. I want her to enjoy this game that would undoubtedly be one of her favorites, but I also know not every game is meant for everyone to play. I’m glad you took a more nuanced approach rather than saying “just get better” or “use summons” Sorry about the long message, but if you’ve read the whole thing than thank you for keeping your mind open. Games are meant to be fun at the end of the day and I personally believe why not let everyone join in on it.

[@Madoc_EU]

I totally agree. I'm a gaming nerd. But I got a little older, and I got kids. Which means that a) my reaction time and hand-eye coordination is now worse than it used to be, and b) I simply don't have the time to set aside anymore in order to "git gud" in a game. Those two factors taken together mean that I simply can't play games like Dark Souls or Elden Ring. I can just forget about them. Awesome experiences with amazing worlds, just barred away from players like me. And when I hear the arguments of the people arguing against adjustable difficulty, my opinion is always the same: Yep, those arguments are good for *you*. But you didn't consider that not all players are like you. You're not the only player, there is a great diversity of players out there. And who knows, maybe one day you get a little older too, or you have children, or something else occupies more of your life. And then you might find yourself in the same situation as many gamers do right now, and your evaluation of those arguments might change too. People seem to have a lot of trouble wrapping their heads around this. Not only that people are diverse, and not everything needs to be tailored for fitting a certain type of consumer. But also that they too will change. You don't know what the future holds, but we can be sure that you will be changed in some way after ten or twenty years pass. Not only are people diverse, but even you yourself are "diverse" across your life span. I'm so astonished by the many ways of how people fail to comprehend this. Even though it seems like an easy thing to notice, right? Of course, I will always read something to the effect of: "Then don't play Elden Ring or Dark Souls. Play something else instead." I get it. Different games for different people. But this doesn't apply here. For example, this point would hold if a player totally doesn't like science fiction, and we are talking about a science fiction game here. A pure preference of thematic taste. In that case, you can say: Go play another game then. One with a setting that you like better. The same applies to genre and flair. However, when using this as an argument against adjustable difficulty, this point would only serve as an argument in favor of gatekeeping. Gatekeeping is something else than selection by personal preference. How is that so difficult to see? After all, maybe we are still territorial animals. Maybe there is some satisfaction to be gained by seeing those Soulslike games as "mine", "my territory". And then, keeping other people with other character traits and lives out can feel satisfying. Maybe it helps players feel that they belong to some exclusive elite club. So at the end of the day, I would say: Just make the difficulty adjustable. All "problems" that people warn about associated with this are solvable in other ways. Just do it. And you will see that this won't break the game, and it won't take away the joy of the game for anyone. Just my two cents.

[@zeusstormbolt8116]

Very valid points I must say. However personally, i like there is no bar as I dont like to go through the hassle of finding “the right spot”. I enjoy the grind, or pattern recognition and progress in tougher games because not everyone can do it, Makes it feel like an achievement. People counter argue that I could go on “deathless runs” or “bad builds” which are very boring and seem pointless to me once completed the game. One great difficulty managed game is celeste, and it was an experience. I recently played cuphead, and its fun too! Sorry here too for the long message, but just my view on it :)

[@tggffddcvf7112]

Man, I’ve played elden ring for so long I recognize all the features bosses and armor you wore and I find it cool and a little funny that you chose to wear the lucarian knight armor on your character.

[@Anoki_S1]

I love the "Let me solo her" reference XD

[@CircleToonsHD]

They even voiced the character! :)

[@Anoki_S1]

@@CircleToonsHD thats so sick! :D

[@Bepanthen3HTeamOffi]

The whole cry demanding easy mode (mainly by game journalist who play game for job instead of FUN) is why sometime, Gatekeeping of a niche thing is a good thing.

[@aabbccddeeffgg1234]

Agree, and also gatekeeping should be done more to keep out the woke activist types and the very religious types, basically anyone who wants change because their feefees are hurting

[@monkewithearrings9535]

I’ll never understand how you can be so bad at a game when it’s your damn job

[@aabbccddeeffgg1234]

@@monkewithearrings9535 journalism is just sh|t overall. political journalists dont know politics, science journalists dont know science and game journalists dont know videogames, its why they went into journalism instead of going into the field they were interested, they were just not smart enough to actually do well in it so they became a journalist

[@Doombacon]

@@monkewithearrings9535 Their job isn't playing games, it's writing. It's rare for someone to be skilled in multiple fields and because most game journalists are required to play a large varietys of genres they are likely to be much worse than the average fan of that genre. This fact gets amplified further by short deadlines and an inability to communicate with other players of the game they are working on in most cases. Obviously, it's fun to make fun of polygon taking 15 shots to hit the first enemy in doom 2016 or the video of the accountant failing over and over at the cuphead tutorial but the journalism indutrsty being as dogshit as it is is the real reason we have these videos and the reason mass media reviews will always be questionable to dogshit in quality.

[@aiheki]

@@Doombacon It's easy and fair. True the environment is shitty but they didn't have to go for being a "gaming" journalist... If that was the only job they could land they're probably not that good at their job either... But even then not being able to perform basic tasks in a video game and calling it bad is just genuinely stupid... It's like calling chess an awful game because they wouldn't be able to beat anyone without the knowledge of how the pieces move and a bit of a brain for tactical thinking (which they probably also do not possess).

[@Necromantia_ad_Immortuos]

One of my favorite parts about the souls games was working with friends to defeat difficult bosses. We had this strategy that we called the Ornstein and Smough technique where my friend ran Dex, flipping around and doing all these super fast prodding attacks to distract before I, the resident Str build would line up a slow big damage attack. We still died plenty of times but it was so much fun.

[@00Clank]

I never get more dread than seeing difficulty settings in a game. Before I’ve started I make a choice that can drastically alter my experience with two different worst case scenarios being possible. Going too easy and removing all tension from the game for someone of my skill level, or making it insufferably difficult and frustrating for someone of my skill level. FromSoftware games offer enough depth and wiggle room in their singular, meticulously crafted difficulty setting to save me from this obnoxious choice.

[@nicholasm3265]

I feel that. There are so many games that means easy means you suck, medium is this is a cake walk. Then hard is like, fuck you.

[@tref5551]

Just pick Normal if you want the experience devs want you to have. It’s literally the one that is ALWAYS preselected on the menu. Getting “dread” from seeing multiple difficulties is kinda sad

[@massgunner4152]

People are always super black and white about difficulty selection and the arguments are starting to get plain, what they don't understand is that is a case by case basis, you are not gonna roll and cry for choosing a difficulty in Halo Reach (unless it's legendary) but something like an RPG that has it's difficulty heavily tied to progression can't have a difficulty choice due to the massive adjustments it, making balancing even more important.

[@starcraft2own]

​@@massgunner4152 Except just about every RPG out there does have difficulty choices. Even those that have their difficulty tied to progression tend to have a hard mode, giving you choices on the difficulty. As someone who plays 90% of my games on the highest possible difficulty, i understand what the OP means as even i encounter the same thing. "Is picking a difficulty above the developers intended mode going to make this game unenjoyable in the long run?" Which is exactly what he is refering to except in the opposite direction. It's a choice you make before you even know what the game is, it's like the D&D style character creation sheet for a game you've never even experienced before, you don't know what any of the stats mean yet your entire game is going to be based on your choices right now. Fuck up and you're going to get a sizeable amount into the game until it simply isn't fun anymore and your only option is to restart or shelf the game. It is a big decision to make when you know nothing about the gameplay experience. And i think your argument of "It's a case by case basis" only reaffirms the problem OP has. He can't possible know based on the title of the difficulty if it's the right one for him without having spent considerable amount of time in the game. However, the only real choice in my opinion is to have the difficulty sliders, any inconvenience people might get from picking "Easy mode" is outweighted by allowing worse players to engage with the game. Being a retired pro RTS player, i wanted to show my friends all the old RTS games with great story campaigns like AoM, WC3 and SC:BW/SC2. He loved the first two but when we got to Starcraft Broodwar, he was unable to play being quite casual as unlike SC2, there is no difficulty option. He simply wasn't good enough to beat the harder levels which ended up with him not being able to experience the story. While in AoM, both him an I could play in tandem while he played on easy and i played on legendary. But not every game is for everyone.

[@wesnohathas1993]

It's when you develop a preference for playing on higher difficulties that this becomes a problem. Mostly because you have to trust that the developer balanced the highest difficulty option properly. The most common problems with hard difficulty options are being paced poorly, or simply having the difference between modes be *enormous* with no options in-between, or in some cases even the hardest mode isn't enough to give a satisfying challenge.

[@captaindoubleday]

Elden Ring was my first Souls game (besides me barely starting Bloodborne) and no other game has given me the same feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction as I overcame every challenge and boss fight. Yes, I relied heavily on guides and wikis, but the experience of players before me showed me that yes! It was possible to do it! The ability to put off a difficult boss for a little bit and go off and explore and become stronger definitely made the experience all the more enjoyable. Elden Ring is hands down one of the best games ever made with how it lets you approach challenges, not to mention the variety or ways you can play as well as the deep, intricate lore that I so love. Great video as always!

[@Circle_boi]

0:00 - Intro 0:19 - Let's Talk About Elden Ring 2:28 - One Difficulty One World 3:25 - Ad Break 4:10 - Messaging Systems 5:47 - Summoning 6:50 - Conclusion

[@realkingofantarctica]

Elden Ring is so good that my wife lovingly divorced me when it came out so I could play it all night long without interruptions.

[@italianspiderman5012]

Ah,truly a keeper...oh wait...

[@liamsamuel-qo5jw]

When he said “your build sucks” at 5:34, he was using Elon Musk’s build lol

[@CursedW18]

And the NG+ also makes the game significantly harder since you are starting off with your previous build and it's so much more fun fighting early bosses with endgame loot

[@SuperSylar]

It also helps that more often than not "expert"/"hard"/"extreme"/"impossible" difficulty in games translate to enemies being more aggressive and having more HP/defense/resistances, which just turns them into violent damage sponges. Also, a nice feature of FS games is that usually there is a boss with a unique weakness that's usually lore related rather than "attack type advantage", which in turn makes the game a whole lot more interesting to explore.

[@gloriousporpoise9731]

Yeah stuff like Gascoignes music box and Morgotts shackle are such cool rewards for explorations

[@victoonix2802]

5:35 "You build sucks" *spawns in the Elon Musk armor

[@KooHooP]

This was soo unique and full of character! I feel soo lucky this came up on my recommended. I never have seen your channel until now and oh my god this got you a new subscriber. I will even donate on Patreon because of this video alone.

[@seven1636]

Putting words to it I never really thought of, the game is so much more accessible and has so many new ways to enjoy it and progress compared to previous titles. Great vid, now for my slight dissent lol... The only times id disagree is just on the basis of some folks have very debilitating disabilities and need a kinda dumbed down or easier version to actually play. I think that's fair though, especially if your missing a hand or something. Everybody deserves a chance to experience the game, even if its through a "easy mode" mode/mod. I never see people bring up being disabled or disabled gamers in conversations about games. I think its important to remember that not everyone can actually play games like elden ring without certain accessibility features(it doesn't just mean having more convenient features for newer players), like maybe having an easy mode. But yeah that's pretty much the only time Id disagree. I try to always think very critically about stuff like this as anyone can be into gaming and nothing is ever so simple. Gotta look out for all our gaming homies

[@jennifervalentine8955]

I always see the non disabled demanding this, but I have yet to meet a disabled person who does advocate it.

[@Grim_666-]

I 110% agree with this video. Anyone who disagrees is maidenless lol

[@Wave9990]

Incredible video, this is one of the greatest games that has been released this year, last year, and probably every other year ever.

[@toomanylies7716]

I think the Spirit Summons should be mentioned for difficulty adjustment, like regular summons were, as the serve the same purpose. To me, that was definitely one of the biggest things they did to help players who might be struggling. I know some ppl solo the Shade with 3 skeleton fight, but why not at least make the fight 'fair' and sick some dogs on them, for instance.

[@chandler1473]

And not just spirit summons. Guard counters and physick flask make the game much easier also. I honestly think why most people complain about the difficulty is how the momentum of the combat takes getting used to. Most people I see having a hard time are always walking around only using r1 and l2, not using heavy attacks or running or even jump attacks, forgetting that they can lock onto enemies. Just general lack of mechanical understanding.

[@plonkosbrazoon]

I feel like many of these opinions of Elden ring and other from software games never seem to mention the elephant in the room being TIME, I could grind and make the game easier and do the research and make the game easier but comparatively the amount of time to achieve this is WAY more than similar games and absolutely isn't "the same level of satisfaction for everyone" when you beat a boss, if you have 4 spare hours a week it might be but time is an expense that differs between people and imo some games really aren't worth that much of my time, maybe it is for you but absolutely not everyone

[@mauricehopes9105]

Maybe, but this could be said of lots of genres. If you have no time to play then MMOs, RPGs, Online Shooters with unlocks, and any other game that requires a time investment aren't for you. But this is the equivalent of saying every tv show should be one hour cuz I don't have time to watch multiple episodes.

[@GnarledStaff]

Holy shit, that was a really good summary, and it didnt take 3 hours!

[@phoenixbythefire4555]

In short, it's an RPG with levels. Which means you can power up you numbers until you steamroll the hard boss or keep them low so you get a challenge. This works for everything except for Malenia since she can one shot in any armor and any hp.

[@Gabriel-lf9rt]

Not true, the wall demolishes her

[@chamathamara]

Fun Fact: There is an easy mode in the game, it's called summoning the mimic tear (or black knife tiche)

[@minhnguyenbinh7442]

Yes, mimic tear is easy mode actually. I kill manelia and Malikeh in first attempt

[@witheredapricot]

People ignore that death is a core gameplay aspect of the Souls Series, you are meant to die, a lot. It’s what you LEARN from those deaths that are important. They are some of the most fair games ever, as they let you try and try again with little to no punishment. Overcoming that hurdle by accomplishing something genuinely difficult is a high I have yet to achieve from literally any other game on earth. Patching in an easy mode where bosses do considerably less damage would shatter the games fundamental design elements. Fantastic video!!

[@Weed_Dante]

It's weird that people even complain about no easy mode when these games usually have an easy mode but you just have to find it

[@Diinytro]

Where is it?

[@celiafrostborn]

@@Diinytro It's everywhere, you can cheese the game to death before it gets a chance to breath.

[@raistlarn]

@@Diinytro Summons and Ashes make the boss battles significantly easier. Everything else can be taken apart easily with the right strategy.

[@MRCrazyKorn]

@@Diinytro What those two said but I'll add more. Bleed is broken and you can start with bleed by choosing the samurai starter class. There is also a LOT of magic that is just broken. I beat the hardest boss on NG+ after summoning friends (making the game harder) with said magic. There are plenty of "easy" modes.

[@Soogooroo]

@@Diinytro everywhere. Popular ones being magic (comit azur mainly), bleed(RoB mainly, tho nerfed is still good), greatsword jump attack spam, bloodhound step(now nerfed), spirit summons(mimic tear, tiche), Hoarfrost stomp once apon a time, Sonaf once apon a time. You can even just overlevel. The game has no shortage of easy mode items and you can make anything usable, tho some are better than others.

[@femsplainer]

So much yes on the Malenia fight and the lack of participation trophies. I'm old (38 today you whipper snappers) so I can now say that the youngsters have been coddled wayyyy too much. I'm pretty sure I was in the last group to make it through elementary and middle school before participation trophies really took off, and I am so glad for it. Not understanding true excellence, meaning the ability to exceed the abilities of others through your own achievements, because some people's feelings might be hurt because they simply don't measure up has severely hampered the kids who grew up believing that they should be praised even if they do a crap job. This is fine for very young children doing finger paints, but not for kids who are actually competing against each other or trying to tackle a legitimately difficult task. Game Journos seem to be some of the most coddled children out of the bunch. I still remember that Cuphead video where the guy legitimately couldn't even get past the tutorial. It precisely framed the problem for everyone to see. The people asking for easy modes are whiners who want their participation trophy and don't want to put in the effort to "git gud" as it were. Elden Ring and the greater Soulsbourne series are not actually terribly difficult games, despite the hype, but what they don't do is ever give you an inch. Every victory must be earned (minus some fights you can exploit, but still) and everyone who goes through the experience has something in common with each other. They can talk about the struggles, how they overcame them, and it helps us form deep and instant community bonds with complete and total strangers if and when the games come up in conversation. It's something that we had almost completely lost as a gaming culture, but thankfully some visionaries saw the potential and stuck to their guns despite the whiners and they were justly rewarded. Truly a saga worthy of praise.

[@grubbygeorge2117]

If that's you in the pfp, you definitely don't look 38 lol

[@hellishdeath4206]

I can certainly say that that fact it only has 1 difficulty is amazing. I have played for over 40 hours so far and made barely any progress, everytime I do make progress or notice an improvement in my skill it just makes the feeling that much better. I love just about every aspect of the game and can't think of anything that I would want to change about it.

[@BH-wk8vd]

I do have some gripes regarding item balance for pvp. It gets stale when everyone is running ROB

[@CircleToonsHD]

Oh yeah, PVP would require an entirely separate video, I feel like FromSoft PVP is a whole different game lol

[@Fattipotato79]

@@CircleToonsHD pickle

[@Soogooroo]

Thankfully it's been somewhat rectified with the rob and bhs nerf but yea pvp is just the same build everytime

[@Evan24_7]

6:18 Bro got an angelic voice

[@smellyelevator7709]

In other words… The difficulty is up to you! (Most times)

[@ChristopherSadlowski]

As someone with memory, retention, and recall issues I really can't play Fromsoft games, or any Soulslike. I was really excited to get Bloodborne from PS+ and couldn't play it at all. It was disappointing because of all the rave reviews I read. Maybe I could hack it with Elden Ring if I cheese the fuck out of it by farming, but that doesn't sound fun either. From where I stand they're just not accessable to me and that's fine. I have a huge backlog anyway. As an example of what my memory is like, if I start a new game I'll forget the button map if I stop playing it for a few hours. Or I'll forget the story if I put a game down for too long which requires me to start yet again because I won't know what's happening or why. While I'm not advocating for or against "easy modes", accessability is always appreciated.

[@BarokaiRein]

Honestly I think that easy mode serves no purpose outside of linear narrative games. All non-linear games come with an easy mode embedded into the game itself outside of the options menu.

[@wesnohathas1993]

When people talk about difficulty options, it's easy to forget that programmers have to put a lot of work into fine-tuning and balancing every last thing in a well-paced manner. The whole concept falls apart when you have no idea what the player is going to do at any given point in the game.

[@BarokaiRein]

@@wesnohathas1993 Also whenever I play a game with difficulty options I have to immediately leave the game and google if the hardest difficulty is actually decent and not just one of those ''enemies take forever to kill but if they actually manage to hit you couple of times you die'' kind of situations like it is in most games, which usually doesn't make the game a lot more challenging but has infinitely slower.

[@stephenbyers6173]

The only thing I think the fromsoft games need is a compendium of enemies you've killed with little tidbits of lore and a pseudo journal that doesn't tell you what to do just what npcs have said to you. Not stuff that would make anything easier just neat little things that would make the games a little more immersive

[@starrymarch]

My favorite part about Elden Ring's difficulty is that it is as difficult as you want it to be. You think the game is too hard? I could name five ways to make it significantly easier off the top of my head. Game is too easy? Maybe stop using a bleed build and fighting Margit at level 150. Want a real challenge? Don't use spirit summons or online co-op and you'll realize how difficult some bosses are when there is nothing to draw aggro away from you. No adjustable difficulty required!

[@TuffMelon]

I capped myself at 125 by choice (simply because it was around the ideal soul level for pvp in other games, so plenty of options for builds at that level) and the bosses felt just right at that level for the rest of the game. Sure, I ended up with like 12 mil souls that went into random shit just because i wasn't using them to level, but the game felt so satisfying to finish at that level.

[@KuroMochiKimchi]

It kinda feels like the monster hunter series. The more they improve your ability to shmoove around and give you these sick abilities, the more the monsters feel less of a threat. MH Rise is the easiest monster hunter games out there and Monster hunter world made it far easier than previous titles as well. This is a great perspective on Elden Ring.

[@declandempsey5134]

I absolutely love playing this game. The grind, the challenge, and the fact that you can change strategies makes this game so fun to play.

[@deamongunner]

The lack of easy mode can also affect how you grow as a gamer for example I have played games on easy mode my whole life and anytime I tried to push myself and try a higher difficulty I failed and went right back but after elden ring I play on the second difficulty and if I can’t do it I turn it down for the one boss encounter im stuck on or I go farm till I can handle it either way I still have to just kinda throw myself at it till I learn the patterns

[@yep1486]

I agree the feeling of having improved is a good one, even when my head hurts I still want to continue pushing against what first felt like a nigh-invincible opponent

[@italianspiderman5012]

You know what Elden Ring really needs? A voice acted protagonist that will comment on things all the time,like “is that a freaking dragon?!” Or “am I shooting lazers out of my sword!? I’m shooting lazers out of my sword” oh oh or “I’m in a magic world and everything wants to kill me,better than being catcalled,duhhh”,yes,I think that would fit right into the game,definitely!

[@stevechase2232]

Is this satire?

[@LegendaryDreamslayer]

@@stevechase2232 This is almost definitely satire of Forspoken. A ruthless mockery that is absolutely deserved.

[@DcBLX]

Personaly, I love to play elden ring w my bro cause we just have fun struggeling to get better, and not that we are to lazy to beat bosses by ourselves

[@RenegadeLK]

This game evokes two feelings from me: - This game sucks. - This game is so fucking beautiful. There is no in between.

[@superfire6463]

4:35 "Try finger, but hole"

[@abyssano78]

"amazing chest ahead"

[@kevinmelendez5339]

I got to your channel after covid lockdown when i finished my only NG of DS prepare to die edition, here me out please, it was the most hardcore days of the lockdown, and i was locked down into my room playing DS dudes i lost the track of time and lost in a long nights, now everytime i hear the footsteps of DS i remember how deeply sound and midnights when no one was on the streets, Ahhh plus of that DS was my ticket back of my gaming life.

[@Adrian-zs3ol]

It really is comforting to see this sentiment shared across the internet. There are WAY too many people that want FromSoft's games to cater to them through the implementation of an option in a menu, all while refusing to take the time or effort necessary to fully interact with what each game offers. It is ESPECIALLY upsetting to see people arguing that an easy mode wouldn't affect others' playthroughs, despite the likelihood that fans would be divided further than they may already be when talking about these games.