From Software Elden Ring - From Software's new game with writing by GRRM

[Cat Headed Eagle]

FS fans are aware of that, they just wanna fight more things. Gameplay is the key preoccupation of the fanbase and stuff like lore or story is pretty secondary, no matter what Vaati might want you to believe. You have people playing games "for the story", but this isn't common in Souls games.

 

[Elttharion]

 

[Dhaze]

FS fans are aware of that, they just wanna fight more things. Gameplay is the key preoccupation of the fanbase and stuff like lore or story is pretty secondary, no matter what Vaati might want you to believe. You have people playing games "for the story", but this isn't common in Souls games.

I don't know how mentionning lore and story pertains to what I said. Possibly, you misinterpreted my point? I'm a gameplay-first kind of guy; never cared much for what story there was in those titles, and can't stand people like Vaati who will elucubrate for hours about nothing.

 

[Skinwalker]

– Miralda recycled into Mildred recycled into Melinda recycled into Madwoman recycled into Anastasia.
– Capra Demon recycled into Omen Killer.
– Boreal Outrider Knight recycled into Bloodhound Knight.
– Storm Ruler copy-pasted into Storm Ruler recycled into Serpent-Hunter.
– Vanguard Demon recycled into Asylum Demon recycled into Erdtree Avatar.
– Giant Blacksmith recycled into Iji.
– Thralls recycled into Imps.
– Alvina recycled into Sweet Shalquoir.
– Yuria being literally copy-pasted.
– Imperfects recycled into Monstrous Dogs.
– Phalanx recycled into Shielded Silver Tear.
– Kaathe and Frampt recycled into Two Fingers and Three Fingers.
– Lautrec's armor recycled into D's armor.
– Blind girl named Irina of Carim, defended by a knight from Morne, recycled into blind girl named Irina of Castle Morne.

Much of these are simple reused assets, which are explainable by cutting costs related to creating new 3D models/movesets/etc.

The creative bankruptcy when it comes to things like writing, otoh, is inexplicable. Is it really that hard to find someone who can write more compelling questlines and characters?

Ranni's questline is the only one that seems like a little bit of effort went into it. Some weeb must have really had a hard-on for witch dolls, or something.

 

[Skinwalker]

Not entirely sure how I ended up in Crumbling Farum Azula (story-wise, that is), or what this place is even supposed to be (other than weird and messy), but I'm spending way too much time trying to find every possible path in this level. It's clearly a re-tread of the Archdragon Peak from DS3, but not nearly as good as that area was.

The infamous Godskin Duo went down in two attempts. Reduvia works wonders on those fat fucks.

Oh, and Alexander got smashed. Rest in pieces. You were a sympathetic side-character in a souls game, therefore your questline was to invariably end in death. FS doesn't know of any other way to end a character's story.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

Not entirely sure how I ended up in Crumbling Farum Azula (story-wise, that is), or what this place is even supposed to be (other than weird and messy), but I'm spending way too much time trying to find every possible path in this level. It's clearly a re-tread of the Archdragon Peak from DS3, but not nearly as good as that area was.

The infamous Godskin Duo went down in two attempts. Reduvia works wonders on those fat fucks.

Oh, and Alexander got smashed. Rest in pieces. You were a sympathetic side-character in a souls game, therefore your questline was to invariably end in death. FS doesn't know of any other way to end a character's story.

the beast you fight is basically Marika's Blaidd. With him gone, the path to him/her/it is clear.
When you dispose of him, go to that weird church thing in Caelid. The one where you give the death roots.

 

[Nathir]

Not entirely sure how I ended up in Crumbling Farum Azula (story-wise, that is), or what this place is even supposed to be (other than weird and messy), but I'm spending way too much time trying to find every possible path in this level. It's clearly a re-tread of the Archdragon Peak from DS3, but not nearly as good as that area was.

The infamous Godskin Duo went down in two attempts. Reduvia works wonders on those fat fucks.

Oh, and Alexander got smashed. Rest in pieces. You were a sympathetic side-character in a souls game, therefore your questline was to invariably end in death. FS doesn't know of any other way to end a character's story.

What?? Farum Azula is way better than Archdragon peak... It's not even close. As for the story, I too don't know why you reappear in Farum Azula. I mean, I know you have to go there to kill the final boss, and why you have to kill him. And that Melina is the one who sends you there. But I have no explanation how it works, and there is some time fuckery involved aswell, probably.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

Not entirely sure how I ended up in Crumbling Farum Azula (story-wise, that is), or what this place is even supposed to be (other than weird and messy), but I'm spending way too much time trying to find every possible path in this level. It's clearly a re-tread of the Archdragon Peak from DS3, but not nearly as good as that area was.

The infamous Godskin Duo went down in two attempts. Reduvia works wonders on those fat fucks.

Oh, and Alexander got smashed. Rest in pieces. You were a sympathetic side-character in a souls game, therefore your questline was to invariably end in death. FS doesn't know of any other way to end a character's story.

What?? Farum Azula is way better than Archdragon peak... It's not even close. As for the story, I too don't know why you reappear in Farum Azula. I mean, I know you have to go there to kill the final boss, and why you have to kill him. And that Melina is the one who sends you there. But I have no explanation how it works, and there is some time fuckery involved aswell, probably.

A lot of the plot elements are basically a Woman Moment tbh

 

[Skinwalker]

Farum Azula is way better than Archdragon peak...

 

[Skinwalker]

When you dispose of him, go to that weird church thing in Caelid. The one where you give the death roots.

Why, what's in there? I killed Malekith, but I don't see anything new there.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

I don't have a problem with masochism. I actually enjoy it.

 

[JDR13]

Not entirely sure how I ended up in Crumbling Farum Azula (story-wise, that is), or what this place is even supposed to be (other than weird and messy), but I'm spending way too much time trying to find every possible path in this level. It's clearly a re-tread of the Archdragon Peak from DS3, but not nearly as good as that area was.

The infamous Godskin Duo went down in two attempts. Reduvia works wonders on those fat fucks.

Oh, and Alexander got smashed. Rest in pieces. You were a sympathetic side-character in a souls game, therefore your questline was to invariably end in death. FS doesn't know of any other way to end a character's story.

What?? Farum Azula is way better than Archdragon peak... It's not even close. As for the story, I too don't know why you reappear in Farum Azula. I mean, I know you have to go there to kill the final boss, and why you have to kill him. And that Melina is the one who sends you there. But I have no explanation how it works, and there is some time fuckery involved aswell, probably.

I just finished Farum Azula, and I didn't really care for it tbh. Maybe I'm just getting burned out at this point, but everything looked too similar there, and I could never tell where the hell I was.

My favorite areas would probably be Stormveil Castle and Leyndell. I particularly liked the Subterranean Shunning Grounds area underneath Leyndell.

 

[Skinwalker]

At long last, after almost two hundred years hours of gameplay, I became Elden Lord. Whatever that means. Ruler of the world?

The last section of the game was just one boss fight after another:
Dragonlord Placidusax -> Maliketh -> Gideon Ofnir -> Godfrey/Hoarah Loux -> Radagon -> Elden Beast (?)


Only one I found somewhat challenging and rather infuriating was Maliketh, specifically the second phase where gravity apparently stops working and obnoxious anime jumps ensue.

Spoiler

Still no idea wtf Marika was hoping to achieve by breaking the Elden Ring (which is herself? was she just trying to kys?) but clearly she just ruined everything for everyone including xirself. Bitch, what did you expect would happen?

I had no doubt Gideon would attack me at the last moment, but I thought his motivation was to try and seize power for himself... instead, he seems to think that Marika wants the world to remain ruined forever? Weird. Godfrey being Nepheli's biological dad (grand-dad? husband? brother? uncle?) was a surprise, but no one in-game gave a shit, so w/e.

I picked the Goldmask ending, as it seemed the least weird/off-putting to me. Narrator didn't have much to say about it, which only reinforced my confidence that this was the best one to pick. If modernists hate it, then it must be pointing in the right direction.

THE AGE OF ORDER BEGINS

Oh, and all remaining questlines wrapped up with everyone dying. I don't even care anymore. My only regret is that I didn't turn Nepheli into Seluvis' puppet.

best wedding photo ever

 

[JDR13]

Only one I found somewhat challenging and rather infuriating was Maliketh, specifically the second phase where gravity apparently stops working and obnoxious anime jumps ensue.

Oddly enough, I had more trouble with the Draconic Tree Sentinel that guards his room.

 

[JDR13]

Fuck that bitch

 

[Skinwalker]

Ok, so now that I've finished the whole game, I can safely say that the first half of the game is considerably better than the second half.

Leyndell was too big and too annoying (the omen-infested underground is my single most hated level in any soulsgame to date), Mountaintops of Giants were too samey in their appearance, and I really wanted to like Farum Azula, but it was too hard to navigate that place because of all the debris floating around. And Ashen Leyndell was just a gimmick. The lack of any coherent resolutions to the game's story, if it can be called that, also did not help. Oh, and the Haligtree would have been much better if it didn't quickly devolve into yet another castle with convoluted directions.


6.5/10 and I'm being very generous here.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

I actually found Leyndell to be too small. The game is just a series of Souls areas pasted next to each other. I liked it more than what you did, but I'm a fanboy, so...

 

[Silva]

You're getting closer and closer to Malenia :D What level are you?

View attachment 37221

Apparently, someone is a He-Man fan.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

At long last, after almost two hundred years hours of gameplay, I became Elden Lord. Whatever that means. Ruler of the world?
...

Spoiler

I picked the Goldmask ending, as it seemed the least weird/off-putting to me. Narrator didn't have much to say about it, which only reinforced my confidence that this was the best one to pick. If modernists hate it, then it must be pointing in the right direction.

THE AGE OF ORDER BEGINS

Of the six endings,

Spoiler

four of them are nearly identical: Basic, Goldmask's, Fia's, and Dung Eater's. They have the same brief scenes of Leyndell restored and the player-character seated on the throne, with only the lighting, weather, and sky differing. Moreover the narration is identical, except for the final line:

• Basic: "An Age of Fracture."
• Goldmask: "The Age of Order."
• Fia: "The Age of the Duskborn"
• Dung Eater: "The reviled curse that defined our age."

The Chaos / Three Fingers ending shows the player-character clutching his head, which becomes a glowing ball of chaos, followed by a rain of chaos that is welcomed by the PC with arms outstretched. The final graphic is similar to the Leyndell image in the four endings already mentioned, except that the Erdtree itself is emanating chaos, which affects the sky and is burning Leyndell below. There is no scene of the player-character enthroned.

The Ranni ending is quite different and seems to be the 'true' ending. If you created a back-up of your savegame, I recommend viewing it (use the summon sign near Marika).

 

[MerchantKing]

At long last, after almost two hundred years hours of gameplay, I became Elden Lord. Whatever that means. Ruler of the world?
...

Spoiler

I picked the Goldmask ending, as it seemed the least weird/off-putting to me. Narrator didn't have much to say about it, which only reinforced my confidence that this was the best one to pick. If modernists hate it, then it must be pointing in the right direction.

THE AGE OF ORDER BEGINS

Of the six endings,

Spoiler

four of them are nearly identical: Basic, Goldmask's, Fia's, and Dung Eater's. They have the same brief scenes of Leyndell restored and the player-character seated on the throne, with only the lighting, weather, and sky differing. Moreover the narration is identical, except for the final line:

• Basic: "An Age of Fracture."
• Goldmask: "The Age of Order."
• Fia: "The Age of the Duskborn"
• Dung Eater: "The reviled curse that defined our age."

The Chaos / Three Fingers ending shows the player-character clutching his head, which becomes a glowing ball of chaos, followed by a rain of chaos that is welcomed by the PC with arms outstretched. The final graphic is similar to the Leyndell image in the four endings already mentioned, except that the Erdtree itself is emanating chaos, which affects the sky and is burning Leyndell below. There is no scene of the player-character enthroned.

The Ranni ending is quite different and seems to be the 'true' ending. If you created a back-up of your savegame, I recommend viewing it (use the summon sign near Marika).

I didn't realize you liked japanese cartoon porn games Zed. I always thought you were grinding out classic dungeon crawlers all day.

 

[Skinwalker]

Of the six endings,

Spoiler

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I know, I've already watched them all on youtube. Fuck Ranni and her "thousand years of fear, doubt and loneliness". I should have left her dead on her Two Fingers corpse, would have been the "true" ending to her questline, as far as I'm concerned.

Still happy about my Age of Order, whatever that means. The Erdtree seemed radiant once again, and I imagine all the filth and demonspawn will get exterminated under my iron rod.

 

[notpl]

Of the six endings,

Spoiler

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I know, I've already watched them all on youtube. Fuck Ranni and her "thousand years of fear, doubt and loneliness". I should have left her dead on her Two Fingers corpse, would have been the "true" ending to her questline, as far as I'm concerned.

Still happy about my Age of Order, whatever that means. The Erdtree seemed radiant once again, and I imagine all the filth and demonspawn will get exterminated under my iron rod.

Reminder that the Erdtree is an alien parasite devouring people's souls.

 

[Caim]

Of the six endings,

Spoiler

undefined

I know, I've already watched them all on youtube. Fuck Ranni and her "thousand years of fear, doubt and loneliness". I should have left her dead on her Two Fingers corpse, would have been the "true" ending to her questline, as far as I'm concerned.

Still happy about my Age of Order, whatever that means. The Erdtree seemed radiant once again, and I imagine all the filth and demonspawn will get exterminated under my iron rod.

Reminder that the Erdtree is an alien parasite devouring people's souls.

Perhaps the same could be said of all religions...

 

[Skinwalker]

It can definitely be said of atheism. That goes without saying. With religions, depends on which one you're dealing with.

And there's no indication in the game that anyone's souls are being "devoured", let alone by the Erdtree. Are these retarded fan theories for gay people?

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

It can definitely be said of atheism. That goes without saying. With religions, depends on which one you're dealing with.

And there's no indication in the game that anyone's souls are being "devoured", let alone by the Erdtree. Are these retarded fan theories for gay people?

It's a FS trope. You're presented with a narrative where a stand in fod God is dying, and needs life support. You are the one being sent to help. During your journey, you meet people that let you know these other guys who hired you are corrupt, inept, inbred and absolutely wrong, and are just manipulating you (which is proven to be true in game). The Souls games have this "link the fire" thing to them, to protect the age of fire, butt that's useless because the age of darkness (the age of man) is coming and is going to happen no matter what you do.