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I'm gonna say it... Elden Ring has a lot of flaws, and is kinda overrated

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LakeOf9

Member
I got super into Elden Ring when it came out and really loved it, but I started a replay earlier this year to prepare for the expansion, and that plus the expansion has made me realize how overrated Elden Ring is and how much it gives up of what makes the games good, while not gaining as much in return:

  • The boss reuse is insane. Literally every boss seems to be reused at least once. The thrill of encountering bosses is gone after the first third of the game, especially if you have been exploring and doing the optional content, because many bosses you encounter will be reused and repeats.
  • In and of itself this is a big issue, but an even bigger issue is the design of the boss fights seems to be very poor a lot of the time. By this I don't mean they are difficult, but the exact opposite. Most of these bosses are damage sponge tanks that hit hard, meaning almost every battle becomes the same grind of outlasting the enemy while repeating the basic attacks. If you have spirit ashes like Mimic Tear, then it becomes even more laughably easy. And Elden Ring's idea of making a fight difficult? Face the same boss as before, but two of them! That's not difficulty, that's a lazy attempt to brute force the player.
  • Bosses aside, the mini dungeons (the caves/tombs/etc.) are all very poor and maddeningly repetitive. There are far too many of them, almost none of them is well designed, and they contribute to the problem of areas, enemies, and bosses feeling reused (because there are so many of them, of course the game has to reuse things)
  • The game is open world but it seems to be designed to be at odds with itself. You get locked into your build early on - the only way to switch it? A rare consumable resource. Which means the bulk of the loot you come across in the world is useless to you, because it doesn't fit your build. And you can't respect to try out the new loot you get, because some genius had the idea of tying respeccing to a rare consumable in a gigantic open world game that just drowns you in loot otherwise. So the end result? Most loot you find is useless, meaning most rewards are useless.
  • If you're keeping up, this means that the bulk of all content in the game - whether it be repeating bosses, poor mini-dungeons, or useless loot - actively deters you from exploring the open world, because all of the things that would otherwise be a reason to engage with the world are irrelevant. So what is left in the world? Big huge expanses of land just spacing the actual good content (the legacy dungeons) out with useless padded filler. Give me the tighter pacing of Dark Souls or Bloodborne over this any day, please.
  • I am not even talking about the technical issues with the game. The poor framerate, the horrible optimization, the fact that the game seems to be built on tech from the PS3 era. Ordinarily I don't care, but these little issues are just adding to the bigger ones I noticed.
Bear in mind I have not spent as much time with the expansion yet to have a proper opinion on it. And as many complaints as I have with the base game right now, that first playthrough was magical. But honestly, the game has a lot of issues built into its design that I am shocked were overlooked, and I think one part of this is because Dark Souls in open world had such an impact on the players. But FromSoft gave up the tight pacing, hand crafted areas, guided progression, and unique and challenging bosses all in favor of massively making the game bigger for no real gain, which as a fan of them since the King's Quest days, is a real bummer. I hope Elden Ring 2 fixes these issues - or even better, I hope they give up the open world design and go back to what they were amazing at. But with how successful this game was critically and commercially, i don't see it.

I hope they at least remaster Dark Souls 2 and 3 (I have given up on Bloodborne).
 

sloppyjoe_gamer

Gold Member
Formula 1 Popcorn GIF by Marriott Bonvoy
 

AJUMP23

Parody of actual AJUMP23
I didn't want to fight a Crystal queen 10 times but I did it, because the game is fun and beautiful.
 

phant0m

Member
Yeah gonna have to go with no. I found exploring the open world extremely satisfying the first time through. Obviously lesser on subsequent play throughs and you're going to optimize around getting the gear for the build you're making but it's still A+

And I thought I had a controversial take saying that Sekiro remains my favorite FROM soft game over ER.
 
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FoxMcChief

Gold Member
It’s easily the best game on the PS5/XSX. But it’s far from perfect.

Try to co-op with a real friend in the game might be the most fucking retarded thing since Nintendo voice chat on a phone.
 

AngelMuffin

Member
The game is massive, & is open world…so there’s bound to be some repetitiveness. Having said that, it’s not nearly as bad as games like Assassin's Creed It has flaws like any other game, but it does so much right that I haven't even taken the time to think about any of the points you’ve brought up.
 

LakeOf9

Member
EVERY game has flaws but that doesn’t make them “overrated”…that word is waaaay overused.
I agree that the word overrated is a catch all criticism and is used too liberally. I wanted to convey that I don’t think it’s as good as people say. There’s no way to fit that into the title but I hope I was detailed enough in my OP to at least explain why I feel this way. I know most people disagree and that’s okay! But I want to have a discussion.
 

Mossybrew

Banned
I got super into Elden Ring when it came out and really loved it, ... that first playthrough was magical.
Hmmm, you loved the game, it was "magical" even, but now you dust it off many months later, played it again and that magic has faded.

This has never before happened in the history of videogames. Alert the press.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
I agree that the word overrated is a catch all criticism and is used too liberally. I wanted to convey that I don’t think it’s as good as people say. There’s no way to fit that into the title but I hope I was detailed enough in my OP to at least explain why I feel this way. I know most people disagree and that’s okay! But I want to have a discussion.
That’s fine it’s opinion but I consider “overrated” it just click bait word to get some attention and I’m honestly sick of it.
 
It's not overrated. Most people complained about these issues, but that just means that it's not perfect and the qualities far outweigh the bad parts. Having said that, I much prefer a linear and more compact game and wish From could release shorter games more often, rather than spending years on something epic and bloated as Elden Ring.
 

phant0m

Member
I’m so fucking sick of the word “overrated” everything is considered overrated in here.
It's the Video Game Forum Cycle of Hype

  1. New much anticipated game comes out - > OMG it's so amazing! Game of the year! Game of the gen! GOAT!!
  2. <Enter cool guy contrarian> : Akshually game isn't that good and is overrated
  3. LTTP: Game is amazing, can't believe I missed this *OR* "I was wrong, game is amazing"
Cycle applies to almost every highly-rated AAA game, the only difference is how long between steps 1&2. Some stand out cases:

  • BotW (ToTK to a lesser extent)
  • HZD & FW
  • Elden Ring
  • Doom Eternal
  • Witcher 3
 
It should be as simple as, join a friend.

But no, there are multiple steps to help ensure you find the correct “summon”.
It's never been "simple". There always been multiple steps but it's trivial at this point if your a Soulsborne vet. Just consume the item and make sure your party is using the same password. No biggy.
 
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Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
It's the Video Game Forum Cycle of Hype

  1. New much anticipated game comes out - > OMG it's so amazing! Game of the year! Game of the gen! GOAT!!
  2. <Enter cool guy contrarian> : Akshually game isn't that good and is overrated
  3. LTTP: Game is amazing, can't believe I missed this *OR* "I was wrong, game is amazing"
Cycle applies to almost every highly-rated AAA game, the only difference is how long between steps 1&2. Some stand out cases:

  • BotW (ToTK to a lesser extent)
  • HZD & FW
  • Elden Ring
  • Doom Eternal
  • Witcher 3
I personally have no such cycle. I either like the game or I don’t. Even after two years I still consider Elden Ring magical experience. Playing the DLC made me feel that even more.
 
If it's that trivial, why is it tied to a consumable at all, rather than being a normal seamless menu option like every other game ever made? Fucking Pokemon makes it easier to co-op! POKEMON!
Cause these are not like any other games dur? Sheesh, I thought you were a Souls vets.
 

sloppyjoe_gamer

Gold Member
I agree that the word overrated is a catch all criticism and is used too liberally. I wanted to convey that I don’t think it’s as good as people say. There’s no way to fit that into the title but I hope I was detailed enough in my OP to at least explain why I feel this way. I know most people disagree and that’s okay! But I want to have a discussion.

If you felt that way and weren't looking for clicks because you're rage posting at the game kicking your ass, you would've left out the word overrated from your title.
 
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FoxMcChief

Gold Member
It's never been "simple". There always been multiple steps but it's trivial at this point if your Soulsborne vet. Just consume the item and make sure your party is using the same password. No biggy.
Just because that’s how something was done in the past, doesn’t mean it was good then either. It’s stupid for no real reason, which makes it even worse, imo.
 

LakeOf9

Member
If you felt that way and weren't looking for clicks because you're rage posting at the game kicking your ass, you would've left out the word overrated from your title.
If I wanted rage clicks I wouldn't have written a whole OP properly explaining my opinion

Cause these are not like any other games dur? Sheesh, I thought you were a Souls vets.
So just because I am a veteran I can't ask for mechanics and systems to catch up with the rest of the industry?
 

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
I feel like what you want, is overrated. Every game has its flaws. The people who enjoy it the most are willing to look past these things. Halo must be the worst game ever. They reuse the Elites and grunts over and over again.

Let’s all go back to the hand holding, yellow marker on the map, with heavily scripted dialogue everyone. 🙄
 
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