this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2023
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I’ve avoided all FromSoft games after poor user experiences in DS1, DS2, and Bloodborne. I still generally enjoy hard games when they’re done well; Ori, Furi, and Tunic being a few favorites - but I’d be curious if Elden Ring finally made any QOL improvements to the beginner experience. Having it on Game Pass would be a great way to just try it out with no commitment.
I think the legendary difficulty is a myth overshadowing these games. Some things the “git gud” crowd doesn’t talk about:
For PvE being a mage is going to get you far as a beginner. The ability to put distance between yourself and enemies by flinging spells is incredibly powerful even when doing chip damage.
Figure out how to summon help. It works a little different in each game, but having another player to distract enemies while you hit them in the back makes hard parts trivial. This especially goes for most bosses.
When you get to a new area scout it out by placing a summoning sign. There is no punishment for dying if you were summoned as a helper. You keep souls earned too, but cant collect items or progress your own world.
Alternatively, scout areas by invading. You will drop souls if you die doing this, but the enemies wont attack you, so it’s easy to run around everywhere and see where they all hide or patrol.
I think the newer games are easier too - for me Elden Ring was the easiest for a bunch of reasons. There are a lot of purposefully easy dungeons. If you get stuck there’s always a different place to go because it’s open world. You can summon NPC helpers instead of other players for a bit of mana, and some of them can be cheesy. Summoning items needed for players are extremely plentiful. Most of the hardest bosses are completely optional. If all else fails its very easy to over level. Being a mage is significant overpowered in this one (to the point that I think it ruins the fun, but if it lets you experience a great game I say go for it).
I think the “The legendary difficulty is a myth” thing is a myth itself.
My first time trying one of their games, Dark Souls 2 was as a mage, as you suggested. It gave me a really bad experience because it worked against teaching me the necessary core mechanics for brutal fights. The main difficulty wasn’t even just enemies being too hard, it was lack of signposting that resulted in me accidentally going to a midgame area without intending to; and thinking I was locked in that area because of a complex door.
All the other advice is nice, but I’d prefer to enjoy games without relying on conflicting third party tips. I’ve looked up advice for games like Tunic, but it was usually more for very specific things rather than a broad “Game is too hard, what out of 17 things am I doing wrong”.
Even on that end, actions like invasions or even juste eking up aren’t necessarily easy to figure out due to cryptic item descriptions and hidden NPC placements.
Same, I will give it a try if it come to game pass
I've played 2k hours of it since it came out. It's fantastic.
Damn bro
I made it to 420.69 hours and decided that was enough until the dlc comes out
I had just started like my 5th character after multiple playthroughs on the rest
Nearly 300 for me
I never really liked souls like games. Seemed to be hard just for the sake of it.
I wouldn't call them hard games, they're just precise with a sprinkle of bullshit. It's all about the timing, enemies follow attack and movement patterns that you can quickly analyse and work around, dealing substantial damage with minimal effort, and then you get hit by an enemy phasing through a wall and die just as you start chugging your estus flask because Miyazaki
It's not that they're outright difficult, it's all about watching enemy attack patterns and memorizing them. I can do a no-death run of the first Dark Souls game now and I don't even like difficult games, I play every game on easy the first time, but the FromSoft development style pulled me in hard.
In my opinion it's a completely different beast. The gameplay is much more fluid and forgiving while still being difficulty, just without all the jank.