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‘Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree’ At ‘Mixed’ Reviews on Steam Because It’s Too Hard

Braag

Member
I'll wait for nerfs before I start my playthrough.

Suspicious Monkey GIF by MOODMAN
 

Thyuda

Member
There are no other games than From Software games that bring out this childish elitism in some gamers.

Elden Ring was fine, but nowhere near as fair and balanced as Sekiro. Sekiro never felt unfair, whereas Elden Ring has multiple points where the game just tries to bullshit you. But oh no, you're just bad, skill issue, etc etc.

The Elden Beast must've been one of the worst end bosses I've ever had the misfortune to fight against. The fight is not hard, it's... tedious and boring. But oh no, you're just bad, skill issue, etc. Just compare the fight to Isshin, where you have to utilize every single skill you've learned throughout the game. The Elden Beast requires... running.

It's baffling to me that, after all those years of FS games and Sekiro in particular, tedium is still mistaken for difficulty. Comparable to hipsters in a modern art gallery trying desperately to justify why this red blob on the wall is truly great art and you're just to stupid to understand it.
 

Caio

Member
Playing the DLC can be challenging, but not to the extent some people claim. The key is to find the right strategy or build and to learn the move sets of the Bosses, mini Bosses, and enemies. This is part of the learning process. Naturally, the game is unplayable for inexperienced players who don't know how to approach it. I apologize for saying this, but it is the truth.

For example, I allowed my son and his friend, both of whom have finished Elden Ring, to fight an NPC. They died ten times in a row before giving up. I managed to defeat the NPC on my second attempt by using a faster weapon and carefully observing its movements and attacks. I was also close to dying on my second attempt; it wasn't easy, but by continuously learning and watching how the enemy moves, you can always find a gap in their move set and adapt accordingly.

Believe me, I have seen people online trying to defeat Radagon/The Beast while playing with me and another player, dying up to 20-25 times in a row. I was essentially dealing 80% of the damage in each phase, and they were still dying, as if no effort was being made to learn the Bosses' move sets.

Sure the DLC is harder, challenging, I agree :) but don't give up, just learn, and don't scream :D
 

Spyxos

Gold Member
Unfortunately, I have to agree. The addon comes more than 2 years after the release. I had great difficulty getting back into it. And then of course the Dlc is also extra difficult. I haven't played more than 1-2 hours so far.

Too much time has passed and maybe I've had enough of the From formula. Dying 10 times and then trying again, I somehow don't feel like working my way through it again.
 
I love the game for being hard, but I never understood why not offering players who don’t want it that hard an easier mode. Even in From Software says it would break the game, let players decide what they want…
 

Thyuda

Member
Unfortunately, I have to agree. The addon comes more than 2 years after the release. I had great difficulty getting back into it. And then of course the Dlc is also extra difficult. I haven't played more than 1-2 hours so far.

Too much time has passed and maybe I've had enough of the From formula. Dying 10 times and then trying again, I somehow don't feel like working my way through it again.
This is also something that sours the game for me. For me to be able to truly enjoy the DLC I would have to level a new character, so I'm looking at another 120-150 hour time investment for a game I've already beaten.

No thanks.
 

Elios83

Member
I love the game for being hard, but I never understood why not offering players who don’t want it that hard an easier mode. Even in From Software says it would break the game, let players decide what they want…

These games are designed around trying to "get good" to overcome difficult enemies and the adrenaline rush coming out of it.
If you take that away you could basically do the whole exploration part in a few hours and there's not even a strong story to enjoy besides some complicated lore. It would expose all the limits of these games, this is why they won't give the option, although I agree that an easier option doesn't necessarily mean a completely dumb mode, just something a bit more approachable that doesn't require to summon other people to help with some bosses.

About the Erdtree DLC I won't buy it, too much time has passed since the base game, I forgot everything, how to play, the deep lore, the map, the secret paths to reach different places...
I'd have to basically restart the game to fully enjoy it and that's...just no. This is an issue I have in general with late DLCs even if they're good.
 
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Hypereides

Gold Member
While review bombing is unacceptable as people should know what they are getting into, but it is time that FROM SOFTWARE starts having basic difficulty and accessibility options in their games. It's not 1980s anymore.
With all due respect, go play something else, Heisenberg. Not every game needs to maximize its accessibility and compromise on its design philosophy.
 
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RoadHazard

Gold Member
TBH, this is making me doubt whether I should be getting this. I've beaten every Soulsborne (but haven't played the DLCs), and they have generally felt difficult but fair. Base ER was maybe a tad on the easy side except for a couple of bosses - I did everything solo (if you don't count using the Tear) except for Malenia where I summoned help like a little bitch. But I'm not sure I'm in the mood for something significantly more difficult. The frustration, and eventually prevailing, is a big part of the experience, but reading these comments I'm afraid it will be TOO frustrating and I just won't find it enjoyable.

It's also been two years since I touched this game, so there would definitely be a learning curve to get back into it.
 
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Wildebeest

Member
They should make a minimalist souls game where you only have one button, but you have to hit it perfectly with sub microsecond timing 1000 times in order to progress, and the timing is totally a matter of trial and error to find out. That would sort the wheat from the chaff.
 
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Can we please start admitting souls games difficulty comes from poor game design?
I wouldn't say it's bad but it's got very tired and played out.

All bosses do is hit for a lot more damage that's it. It's a very uninteresting way to be difficult and just requires close to perfection from the player.

Doom Eternal, Resident Evil 4 and Returnal are more interesting difficult games than Elden Ring.
 
Honestly I find it a bit too much. But I guess it's really a DLC for end game character.

I am lvl 115 (and weapon +17/18) and I feel like I am really underlevel. I am 2 two shooted by any bosses and strong enemy and I do very little damage to them.
So I find it quite frustrating sometimes. But again I am probably 20/30 lvl underleveled.

Also they went even further with "endless" string of attack. You have to dodge a lot of attack just to be able to hit the enemy/boss once or twice.
Also I was never a huge fan of "spinning" enemy and there are several strong standard enemy like that.

Nonetheless it's quite an impressive DLC. The art design is even better than in the base game. And so far no minor catacombs and cave to explore everywhere which is a big improvement for me.
New weapons are very original when compare to main game so it's quite refreshing.
I continue to explore, find the new bonus (that helps quite a bit for resistance and damage)and leveling up slowly till I am at a good level to appreciate the boss fight.
I remember playing the base game and just a 10 level jump made one boss go from really hard to me one shoting it.
 

SSfox

Member
I still haven't played much but yeah game feel harder than base game. But at the same time what did you expect from a fromsoft dlc? guess maybe those are first timers in fromsoft games huh
 

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
With all due respect, go play something else, Heisenberg. Not every game needs to maximize its accessibility and compromise on its design philosophy.
Nah, I can play difficult games without difficulties. I have platinum trophies in games like Returnal and Hades. I don't mind high difficulty, but we are hardcore gamers.

Not everyone is.

Besides, that's not even the point. The point is that there are certain basic things that all games need to have. Difficulty and basic accessibility options are among them.
 

Three

Member
The source has performance issues as a reason and people seem to find the bosses tedious/boring, not necessarily hard.
 
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FunkMiller

Gold Member
it does, even in the base game i improved performance by disabling it. I'm seeing similar complaints for the DLC.

Yeah, sounds about right.

I think most game performance issues on PC games all stem from bullshit anti-piracy/cheating measures that don't fucking work anyway.
 

Ulysses 31

Member
I'm not sure to be honest. I haven't bought Erdtree yet to test but the reviews are mentioning lower performance with the DLC. I don't know what the cause is.
I suspect it's all the foilage, it brings the game down to ~30 fps moving around in those open fields with all the wild grow.

Playing with an RTX 4090 and Threadripper 3990x.
 
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FunkMiller

Gold Member
I suspect it's all the foilage, it brings the game down to ~30 fps moving around in those open fields with all the wild grow.

Playing with an RTX 4090 and Threadripper 3990x.

That's got to be the EAC, because I'm not getting dips like that in the open field with everything maxed out, and I'm on a 4090 laptop card with a Ryzen 9 7945HX.
 
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EverydayBeast

thinks Halo Infinite is a new graphical benchmark
As of late we’ve seen gamers especially demon souls gamers face tough opponents also Returnal, I really think this is the difficulty era open world era.
 

Zathalus

Member
I have a 4090 and a 13900k, with everything maxed out I get a solid 60fps. There is still the occasional stutter though, I imagine due to shader compilation.
 

Hero_Select

Member
The "Git Gud" meme was hilarious at first but this DLC has a lot of imbalance with the bosses to the point where if you're not playing perfectly then your dead.

And then it becomes impossible to critique the game without the entire FromSoftware defense force coming to defend it because god forbid if the game isn't seen as anything but "perfect"
 

Valt7786

Member
I think just saying its "too hard" is downplaying what the actual issues are. Yes, all the bosses are beatable, requiring patience and skill etc, but on the other hand they are definitely way too aggressive and the input/animation reading is just obnoxious to the point it can stop being a fun experience.
Some bosses especially need an internal cooldown on some abilities and to just chill the fuck out for 3 more seconds so you can retaliate with your own combo instead of only getting one hit in then back to dodging their 8 hit combo.
 
I think just saying its "too hard" is downplaying what the actual issues are. Yes, all the bosses are beatable, requiring patience and skill etc, but on the other hand they are definitely way too aggressive and the input/animation reading is just obnoxious to the point it can stop being a fun experience.
Some bosses especially need an internal cooldown on some abilities and to just chill the fuck out for 3 more seconds so you can retaliate with your own combo instead of only getting one hit in then back to dodging their 8 hit combo.
Where does Fromsoft go, though? They've painted themselves into a bit of a corner. If they don't provide insane boss fights their core audience will turn on them.
 

Generic

Member
  • “The gameplay makes the game hard to recommend - spastic bosses with jerky roll-catch movements and a plethora of physically nonsensical moves make the bosses in this DLC hard to put up with….As someone who beat all the Fromsoft games with gimped Lvl1 characters for fun (the base game included), I'll be calling quits on this one.”
  • “While the world design and colors are really beautiful and a lot of enemy designs too, there's a big problem with balancing, right now even with 60 vigor you get bishotted by nearly every enemy that's not pure fodder.”
  • “I really want to like this DLC but those enemies and boss fights are the worst parts of the whole game. I'm genuinely surprised whoever play tested this approved the golden hippo boss fight.”
  • “Was able to beat it but the bosses were so overtuned and aggressive that even being almost maxed out with the Scadutree fragments didn’t make it any easier.”
Sounds like rollsouls indeed.
 

Danny Dudekisser

I paid good money for this Dynex!
It'll be a while before I get around to Elden Ring, let alone the DLC, but I have to wonder if it's a well-designed challenge or just unbalanced. Some of the stuff I've been hearing about sounds more frustrating and annoying than legitimately challenging. The issue I've always had with Souls games is that when you die, it's a pain in the ass to get back to where you were - I don't want to fight through these mooks or run through the whole level again, because it just takes too damn long. I can see why a super high level of difficulty would tip people over the edge.
 

TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
It'll be a while before I get around to Elden Ring, let alone the DLC, but I have to wonder if it's a well-designed challenge or just unbalanced. Some of the stuff I've been hearing about sounds more frustrating and annoying than legitimately challenging. The issue I've always had with Souls games is that when you die, it's a pain in the ass to get back to where you were - I don't want to fight through these mooks or run through the whole level again, because it just takes too damn long. I can see why a super high level of difficulty would tip people over the edge.
That doesn't happen in Elden Ring, you get a checkpoint right after most bosses.


I think ER is easier than most other souls games, but it's not free of a good challenge either.
 

DelireMan7

Member
53810983255_022cb5be04_o.png


with mimic tear, so not exactly proud.
Thanks. Yes summon change a lot the difficulty but no shame with it.

Lvl 150 looks like a nice spot. 30 more lvl to go then.
I think just saying its "too hard" is downplaying what the actual issues are. Yes, all the bosses are beatable, requiring patience and skill etc, but on the other hand they are definitely way too aggressive and the input/animation reading is just obnoxious to the point it can stop being a fun experience.
Some bosses especially need an internal cooldown on some abilities and to just chill the fuck out for 3 more seconds so you can retaliate with your own combo instead of only getting one hit in then back to dodging their 8 hit combo.
I agree with that. Bosses are ultra agressive and give so few and short window to deal damage.
Where does Fromsoft go, though? They've painted themselves into a bit of a corner. If they don't provide insane boss fights their core audience will turn on them.
I agree with that. And Elden Ring and now the DLC makes me question if I'll like their next Souls game. I think I start to reach my limit with their way to make hard bosses.

Since Demon's Souls, bosses got more aggressive and dangerous with each game. Till the endgame of Elden Ring it was fine for me. But still they did some very aggressive with very clear pattern and opportunity window with Godfrey and Radagon. This is what I want.

But now I am not sure to like the way this is going. Of course I can use summon and stuff but I always like to solo bosses on my first run. But it looks like it might be the end of that.
But I'll wait to see with some level up and the new bonus (I have 4 now and still, it doesn't make a lot of difference)
 

Valt7786

Member
Where does Fromsoft go, though? They've painted themselves into a bit of a corner. If they don't provide insane boss fights their core audience will turn on them.
They don't have to be "insane", just fair. As they are now, they definitely aren't fair. They can still be difficult without being oppressive.
 

Gaiff

SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
53810983255_022cb5be04_o.png


with mimic tear, so not exactly proud.
That’s what people need to understand, bosses are not designed for solo play. All those complaining must realize that they still need to pose a challenge to summons and Spirit Ashes.
 

Raven117

Member
I miss when Demon/Dark Souls wasn't about memorizing bosses patterns and rolling every 2 seconds to active i-frames.
Same. I loved the slower more thoughtful gameplay. The faster it’s gotten, the more I’ve disliked it

(exception being bloodborne and seikro… game systems designed to be fast from the ground up)
 

geary

Member
That’s what people need to understand, bosses are not designed for solo play. All those complaining must realize that they still need to pose a challenge to summons and Spirit Ashes.
This... You don't lose cool boy points if you use summons. They are there to be used.
 
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