4 ms·

Just a phenomenal game. IMO, all the From Games are great, but none of them really matched up to the original Dark Souls... until now. I've literally played thi

Just a phenomenal game. IMO, all the From Games are great, but none of them really matched up to the original Dark Souls... until now. I've literally played this every day since it came out, I have over 150 hours, and I still haven't beat it. And still I'm discovering cool new areas, items, and lore. The amount of times I've gotten to a new area and just gone "what in the actual fuck" is too many to count, it's just jam packed full of surprises and cool sights to see. Of course, I think that "open world" is a pretty broad label at this point, as there are other open world games that are totally different from ER but just as good. For instance, Fallout 4 (survival). It doesn't have as good enemy variety, locations, or combat as ER, no question, but the questlines are a lot better, the settlement stuff is awesome, and the general level of interactivity makes it an experience just as immersive as ER. But overall, for that type of "combat/exploration" focused open world game, ER absolutely takes the cake. I hope the BOTW sequel takes some inspiration, especially for the dungeons. But I do think Bethesda still rules for the "simulation" style open world games.

glouwbug 5y ago
You sure? Bethesda has rereleased the same game 7 times in the last 10 years.
- yen223 5y ago
  I am partial to the argument that Fallout: New Vegas is close to the perfect open-world game out there. It gets the open-world aspects right. All of the world is accessible from the start, the only limitations being your ability to tackle stronger enemies (like deathclaws). Exploration is rewarding, not forced. The world is designed such that exploration is driven less by quest markers, but by the player noticing interesting things in the world, like say a giant dinosaur out in the distance. It has a main storyline, but it is a storyline that can accomodate a huge variety of choices made throughout the game. There's no artificial "essential NPC" mechanic, you can literally kill everyone in the game and the story still works. This makes the game very immersive - the player has absolute free choice in how they want to approach the game, and more importantly it feels like the choices you make and the factions you side with actually matter to the world
  - periphrasis 5y ago
    New Vegas wasn’t a Bethesda game?
    - Arrath 5y ago
      Which is part of why its so great.
imiric 5y ago
I'm not a FromSoft aficionado and have only played Bloodborne for about 10 hours, which I enjoyed but probably would never finish. I've followed all the Souls games and now ER, have watched many hours of gameplay, and I honestly don't get the appeal and cult-like following around them. I can appreciate the detailed environments and characters, the deep lore, RPG aspects, and probably the best combat mechanics and hitbox detection in the industry. What turns me off is that the entire gameplay loop consists of boss rushes and fighting lower level enemies, just so you can gather loot, level up and fight more enemies and more difficult bosses. It all feels very one dimensional, and before ER introduced the open world aspect, very linear. I suppose most games can be boiled down to their essence like this and sound boring, but in a game like Fallout 4, BoTW or Skyrim there's much more to do than just combat, crafting, leveling up and exploring. There's a quest system, cooking, companions, horses (the one in ER seems just for traversal?), challenges, complex NPC interactions, branching storylines, etc. They offer a much richer experience than any Soulsborne title I've played or seen. My impression before ER is that all Soulsborne titles are essentially minor improvements on the same formula, with a lore and environment swap. ER introduces the open world aspect, but ultimately keeps the one dimensional gameplay loop. I'd love to be proven wrong, and get the appeal of these games, so please correct anything I'm mistaken about above. I don't even have a problem with the difficulty curve if the game would give me reasons to keep playing and git gud. It's just that it doesn't, so the high difficulty is frustrating enough to stop playing.
- emmo 5y ago
  It's just not for you, and that's ok.
- MattRix 5y ago
  The combat IS the driving force behind their games, even in Elden Ring. It doesn’t need all that other stuff to make the game more “rich”. It focuses everything into the combat, both in terms of the actions the player can take and the sheer variety of encounters. If you don’t enjoy the combat, then yeah, you’re not going to see the appeal. I would argue it takes quite a few hours (maybe 30?) of playing soulslike games to get to the point where the combat becomes more satisfying, as certain actions start to flow and feel more natural. With all that said, there is a more to Elden Ring than just the combat. There are quests, actually quite a lot, with a bunch of variety, and many of them are quite long and epic. There’s upgrading weapons and upgrading summons, and all the complexity that comes along with that, such as ashes of war etc. Then there’s the secrets. So. Many. Secrets.
bezospen15 5y ago
thatguy0900 5y ago
Personally, I still like sekiro alot more. I think the lack of build diversity in that one really let them polish how the fights are supposed to go. Elden ring is definetely my second favorite though

glouwbug 5y ago

You sure? Bethesda has rereleased the same game 7 times in the last 10 years.

yen223 5y ago
I am partial to the argument that Fallout: New Vegas is close to the perfect open-world game out there. It gets the open-world aspects right. All of the world is accessible from the start, the only limitations being your ability to tackle stronger enemies (like deathclaws). Exploration is rewarding, not forced. The world is designed such that exploration is driven less by quest markers, but by the player noticing interesting things in the world, like say a giant dinosaur out in the distance. It has a main storyline, but it is a storyline that can accomodate a huge variety of choices made throughout the game. There's no artificial "essential NPC" mechanic, you can literally kill everyone in the game and the story still works. This makes the game very immersive - the player has absolute free choice in how they want to approach the game, and more importantly it feels like the choices you make and the factions you side with actually matter to the world
- periphrasis 5y ago
  New Vegas wasn’t a Bethesda game?
  - Arrath 5y ago
    Which is part of why its so great.

imiric 5y ago

I'm not a FromSoft aficionado and have only played Bloodborne for about 10 hours, which I enjoyed but probably would never finish. I've followed all the Souls games and now ER, have watched many hours of gameplay, and I honestly don't get the appeal and cult-like following around them. I can appreciate the detailed environments and characters, the deep lore, RPG aspects, and probably the best combat mechanics and hitbox detection in the industry. What turns me off is that the entire gameplay loop consists of boss rushes and fighting lower level enemies, just so you can gather loot, level up and fight more enemies and more difficult bosses. It all feels very one dimensional, and before ER introduced the open world aspect, very linear. I suppose most games can be boiled down to their essence like this and sound boring, but in a game like Fallout 4, BoTW or Skyrim there's much more to do than just combat, crafting, leveling up and exploring. There's a quest system, cooking, companions, horses (the one in ER seems just for traversal?), challenges, complex NPC interactions, branching storylines, etc. They offer a much richer experience than any Soulsborne title I've played or seen. My impression before ER is that all Soulsborne titles are essentially minor improvements on the same formula, with a lore and environment swap. ER introduces the open world aspect, but ultimately keeps the one dimensional gameplay loop. I'd love to be proven wrong, and get the appeal of these games, so please correct anything I'm mistaken about above. I don't even have a problem with the difficulty curve if the game would give me reasons to keep playing and git gud. It's just that it doesn't, so the high difficulty is frustrating enough to stop playing.

emmo 5y ago
It's just not for you, and that's ok.
MattRix 5y ago
The combat IS the driving force behind their games, even in Elden Ring. It doesn’t need all that other stuff to make the game more “rich”. It focuses everything into the combat, both in terms of the actions the player can take and the sheer variety of encounters. If you don’t enjoy the combat, then yeah, you’re not going to see the appeal. I would argue it takes quite a few hours (maybe 30?) of playing soulslike games to get to the point where the combat becomes more satisfying, as certain actions start to flow and feel more natural. With all that said, there is a more to Elden Ring than just the combat. There are quests, actually quite a lot, with a bunch of variety, and many of them are quite long and epic. There’s upgrading weapons and upgrading summons, and all the complexity that comes along with that, such as ashes of war etc. Then there’s the secrets. So. Many. Secrets.

bezospen15 5y ago

thatguy0900 5y ago

Personally, I still like sekiro alot more. I think the lack of build diversity in that one really let them polish how the fights are supposed to go. Elden ring is definetely my second favorite though