Elden Ring - gamertags on first page

That’s it exactly plus a switch weapon/seal/stance in between each one. For a ‘right. This time is the one’ run it can be upwards of a dozen individual actions which doesn’t sound like much but it all adds up to just be a pain in the arse.

If I played in PC I would have absolutely learned how to bind all of that shite into a macro by now.

The closest I came to using a buff in my first playthrough (besides Lord's Divine Fortification on the final boss) was Terra Magica and the Cerulean Hidden Tear with Comet Azur the one time just to see how it worked, so... *shrug* FFS I didn't even use Great Runes

Now in the Niohs, on the other hand...

I wasn't convinced in the base game that the boss rubbishness came from a "difficulty above all else" mindset, I felt like they'd probably just made so much game they didn't have the time to give it the balance love they did in other games.

The DLC, not so much

Godrick last night took two bonks to phase transition, a third to stagger and a fourth to finish, and if I'd actually played well it could've been hitless too (second phase was)! For a +10 out of 25 Heavy Giant-Crusher with barely enough Str to two-hand it, an unoptimized buff sequence and no supporting talismans, I'm calling it a win

Personally, I like that you can tailor the difficulty yourself through gear and items you use. I would prefer they do that over just a flat easy, normal and hard options. For the most part, Elden Ring is the most successful implementation of that, as there are so many different options available to you. In theory, you could complete the game with any build, but some are going to be a lot harder than others. Plus, there are plenty of opportunities to go and level up to out level the challenge if you are struggling, but they also do a good job of a completionist being able to avoid becoming ridiculously OP if it they don't want that.

However, it isn't perfect. Mimic tear is definitely not balanced throughout the game, whilst boss fights are often balanced around having a summon far more than previous games expecting you to have a co-op. The DLC also occasionally feels like it is forcing you down particularly builds with its bosses (and the final boss is only where it really is a big issue).

Saying the mimic tear trivialises some fights doesn't mean that what they were going for is a bad way to handle difficulty though. It isn't any different from saying that x game's normal is too hard, but easy is too easy.

It's funny you mentioned the co op thing. I was thinking about that earlier- it terms of summons being a way to handle difficulty, it does fail in that as soon as you introduce a summon you're fundamentally changing the gameplay. With my other character, I was using the summons a bit for dungeon bosses and the two issues were that the fights became a lot more chaotic and I just didn't care about them. It's not fun for me and I just stopped playing. You have people saying it's great because you can play the game however you like, then you get snarky comments because you want to play without summons, as if you're just being awkward

The need for the games to maintain their reputation as being difficult is leading to a widening divide in difficulty due to upping the ante for the hardcore audience while satisfying their growing mainstream appeal (in my opinion). Great if you're in either of those camps, but not if you just want a challenging solo playthrough, like their earlier games

I'm not fussed how other people play or if they use the mimic. I don't really understand defending the game being too difficult for you- like, I wish Mario was harder so I had to use the white tanooki suit or Doom Eternal was so difficult I had to turn autoaim on and use the Sentinel Suit. Why wouldn't you rather the game was better balanced so you could just fight the bosses normally? It does come across as people being in love with the idea of the game being difficult rather than the reality of it for them (where it isn't, because they use things to remove that challenge anyway)

I would understand the push back if I just came in and said I couldn't beat the first boss, the game is shit and they should add an easy mode. I've paid my dues, played through the fucker solo and really liked it on the whole. But there has been too much frustration, way more than any earlier games and if people still insist on accepting any nonsense they put in for the sake of the game being well hard, it will only get worse. Look at the DLC

Maybe it's time to start sending the message that it's hard enough. Also find it a bit weird to say the game's creator using mimics and everything is a positive- he's signing off on everything and playing in baby mode. No wonder the balance is fucked. If another dev came out saying they played on easy or whatever, I don't think it would get taken quite so well. Man can do no wrong, even if he contradicts himself on the difficulty aspect. Cult of personality innit (see also DS2 not being proper)

As for what I want, just for the subject of the game's difficulty to not be such a controversial subject. To be able to point out its flaws. It's also fun to think about ways they could address it. People always just go straight to 'easy mode' but I've never said they should just lower boss health or raise damage. Personally I think it's an interesting design discussion and their games offer massive scope for playing with the difficulty in various ways

Also, as for leveling, my stats are not the issue. I'm happy with my damage output and health against Malenia, as with all the other bosses, they just have one or two aspects that are silly difficult. I could overlevel to beat her, but then I'm overlevel for the rest of the game, for the sake of a single boss attack. From what I was told, this is peak difficulty. If respeccing gave you back your runes instead of levels, so you didn't have to spend them all, that would be a cool (I think Lies of P does it that way)

My daughter was asking for a way to regenerate bosses that she’d already beaten without going into NG+ etc

I knew she wasn’t mine…

If easy respeccing was what Wo Long and the Niohs have over the Soulslikes, on-demand boss rematches are what Sekiro has. (technically DS2 did it, but while still putting them and their areas in a localized NG+, so not quite the same)

(and yes I would greatly appreciate such a feature as well. Probably a good thing I'm not loto's progeny )

Well, just as good that you are mine progeny, as I've wished for such a feature some pages ago

Which is fine but the problem with that is this:

Imagine playing Elden Ring if YouTube or the fextralife wiki didn’t exist.

Sure, you could work this stuff out eventually but, fucking hell, it would take some time. But, yes, that’s not really exclusive to builds. Is the most maddeningly opaque game ever made. I was still finding out fairly basic stuff into the DLC (I never realised two handing raised your strength stat until just after I beat moon knight).

That’s very charitable. The message system just seems designed to warn about hidden enemies and fuck with people trying to climb ladders

I agree that the game is way too opaque for its own good a lot of the time.

One of the most egregious examples is Baldachin's Blessing which you get from being held by Fia, which you must consume because as long as it's in your inventory your max HP is reduced by 5%. The game does not tell you this. This is bullshit, plain and simple.

Bayle the Dread - what an asshole for a melee build!

First phase is no problem but I'm having a fair bit of trouble on the second phase finding windows to attack.

FWIW the NPC summon in there is basically meant to be used, unlike other ones it doesn't raise the boss health.