Elden SoulsBorne: Felyne Village - the FROM thread

Jim's tactic there has gotten me through the entirety of DS1, 2, 3 and ER without a single summon, so I'd say its valid.

I thin BB I was more dexy but that's kind of how the game is designed.

I ended up playing as a magic katana build in Elden Ring, so dexterity plus intelligence. Chop 'em up with the katana and some spells to pepper them at range. I eventually got a katana with a magic shockwave special attack that I used for the rest of the game.

Magic Katana sounds cool

There's a class that starts with a katana and a bow if I remember rightly. The katana I found was really tough to get - locked behind a nasty boss that I definitely fought too early - but carried me through the rest of the game after getting it.

I'll have a look when XVI is done and bunch of other games but July* is meh that it good look in then.

*Be interesting what games Andy use for his July Quiz.

I've started on Elden Ring. Really looking forward to it, given its sitting in the centre of the Venn Diagram of 2 games series I love*. Although so far there's been an unbeatable enemy which is: the PS5 Wi-Fi connection. I've been chucked out 3 times in an hour (although the PS5 itself never registers that it's been disconnected, implying that it's only going off for a fraction of a second). So I'm probably going to have to play offline, this denying me such helpful messages as "try finger ahead, but hole"

*Of course I'm talking about Ape Escape and Bubsy the Bobcat

I think my copy is mega-cursed in fact. Not just the online thing, but, feeling not so inspired, I just hit the "similar face" things several times.
Which resulted in:

Uh... isn't that?

Now Luke has to grow that beard

I'd normally chalk it up to "curse of the bald white man", but that genuinely could be Luke with different facial hair.

Yeah that actually is bang on.

I'm now at the point where I think my screenshot looks more like you than you do

Double posting: I'm terrified of playing a Souls-y game with a lot of freedom, and have followed the first piss lines up to the tower where there's what I remember from previews to be the first proper boss. I've also chosen to make I-don't-think-it-looks-like-Buska-anymore a magic lad, and I've never played any Souls game without either being a big-stick-smasher or a whizzy-fencer. I presume there's nowhere I was supposed to "find" on the way that'd give me some mega-helpful item?

Er... if not obvious, perhaps don't suggest things - I should probably do this properly!

Buska, I did click that, if only to see whether I was just doing something dumb! I should point out that, before I wrote that, I hadn't even been given access to the Firelink Shrine equivalent! And I've been scared to deviate from the main path, at least to start with, for that reason. Which I may do a bit, if only to find someone who can help out with my (for me in a Souls-y game at least) experimental build.

And I beat that first big lad. And I found the map I was supposed to find beforehand.

Really this has been embarrassing so far.

It wouldn't be a Souls game without some embarrassing failures, plus it could always be worse, back when ER launched one streamer I watched got stuck in the far east of the map for like 2+ weeks because he's so stubborn about exploration & wouldn't give up an area he clearly wasn't ready for yet.

I’ve played something like 5 to 10 hours of Shadow of the Erdtree now. I paid basically the same as a full-price game for it because I had to use my European account and pay in pounds sterling, which the yen is abysmal against right now.

I don’t feel remotely short-changed. This is a huge expansion, I saw the Bonfireside Chat boys say its basically Elden Ring 2 and I don’t think they’re that wrong to say it. I’ve had a couple of those incredible moments where a mindless wander down a side path unlocks a part of the map as big as everything I’ve seen so far.

It also hasn’t been taking the piss in terms of difficulty so far. Regular enemies can get me if I don’t pay attention, but if I’m on my game they go down in one or two swipes. Of the named, health-bar bosses I’ve fought, one was tough but essentially just because it was my reintroduction to this game’s combat. Another was a visual spectacle and a cool battle, but went down in two or three attempts. And one more was an absolute breeze.

The new DLC-exclusive pseudo levelling encourages exploration nicely and evens the playing field for characters. The game looks stunning, though I’ve had one moment which made me really feel that I was playing a game made for PS5 players on a PS4.

Spoiler:

I’m really digging this. Its almost on the scale of what TotK would have been if they’d actually released it as a BotW DLC instead of a standalone game.

I did think from what I saw and how people talking, SotE basically be it's own game why a expansion not dlc in same way CDPR talk about it or the old days of PC Gaming.

Aye it's something else, though I haven't played for like 2 & a half days now due to being a wee bit overwhelmed by the exploration side of it. Just need to pick a route and stick it out & I'll be back into the rhythm.

Buska's spoiler chat:

Jay already knows this as I asked him about what I maybe should play as seen him get the platinum in Demons recently, which I quite fancied playing after seeing some characters in Astro Bot, then it's in Plus as well Demons.

Yet I also saw that Elden Ring was £35 on PSN and I had my Concord refund just sat in my wallet, after talking
to Jay, looking at some reviews of recent indies such as Caravan Sandwich along with seeing what's coming out still this year that might be digtal only umm I couldn't find anything.

Yeah you've guessed it I bought Elden Ring, not sure when I'll start it as I've got lots to play, it was more ohh it's on sale at the moment & I've got credit lets get it now. Oddly, I WhatsApped EofGiz saying I might pick it up in the sale, then for him to show me he bought it as well and I think he's liking it.

Have had a look at some of the classes etc, talked to Jay along with chap in work and I think I'm going Samurai.

I'll let you know how I get on, will this be the From Souls game I enjoy?

Considering you struggled to play the very linear Dark Souls III because it involved the bare minimum of exploration and this one is an open world game which takes a few cues from BotW, part of me definitely thinks no. On the other hand, this game has a lot of RPG-type options which allow you to circumvent challenge, and the open structure means you can go and do something else when you get stuck, so it is the easiest FS game for someone who bounced off others.

I wonder if you'd have actually liked Demon's more. Especially as its the ultimate contrarian pick.

That what Jay was saying, if I get stuck on a boss or something, I can go elsewhere and level up etc. I could have came here first and asked, just knew Jay had recently played Demons.

I can still of course try Demons as it's in Plus.

Also now I have finshed the campaign of Space Marine II, though here is 6 COOP missions that have story etc that I want to get done. Plus few other things like Plucky Squire now out but I do think I'll be starting ER soon, as my next pick up is Silent Hill 2 which is still few weeks off.

Plucky Squire is out?!?!?!?

Yeah, yesterday it came out.

I started that ol'Elden Ring quite late Sunday night, where I made my Samurai class character and got out of the cave.

Then yesterday after work sat down for a proper play, and finshed up defeating Goldrick.

Now guess go find the divine tower to use the rune got from him, and then from the light from the last grace looked I was at heading north.

What I'm liking so far outside of that castle which felt like a traditional dungeon so was a fairly easy path to follow, but only like two graces I found and weirdly I struggled more against the knights then actual Goldrick. Is there's so many sites of grace, that if I do die (which hasn't been that often outside some knights and the two bosses) I'm close to where I want to be, I can use my runes more often which mostly been putting into vitality and strength (should I be doing intelligence etc?), then has that Ghost of Tsushima like gold path that has been aiming me in the right direction at least.

Yeah overall enjoying the game, what lore I have got, the cutscenes etc that this is my current game but as seen from October thread lot coming put, that I may drop for Silent Hill 2 but as got Elden Ring digtal I'll pop back in here and there if that does happen (also think November might be quite light for games, December often is as well).