I have a nit to pick here: > Elden Ring just isn't very mechanically difficult. Most enemies telegraph their attacks with massive, seconds-long animations that

I have a nit to pick here: > Elden Ring just isn't very mechanically difficult. Most enemies telegraph their attacks with massive, seconds-long animations that give players plenty of time to react with a well-timed dodge, block, or parry. The windup animations in Elden Ring have random lengths. This makes them unreliable for executing dodges et.al., though they do tell you how to react. The timing of the defense relies on the start of the actual attack, which is tight. I noticed this difference because I’ve been working through Demon’s Souls lately, where the animation lengths are static. In other words, Elden Ring relies on mechanical difficulty as much as everything else to keep the game challenging for long time fans.