How are you doing, my lovelies? Did you have a good week? I hope so. If it wasn’t the best, fret not: the weekend is here to soothe your weary bones and souls.
This week, there isn’t much variety in what the VG247 crew is doing over the weekend, because we are all playing the same game: Elden Ring. We are even down a few folks this week because of vacation days and the like, but we bet they are playing Elden Ring too.
Here’s what we have to say about the game after playing it for a bit.
Dorrani Williams, Video Producer – Elden Ring
This weekend I’m continuing my journey to become Elden Lord.
I’m 45 hours into Elden Ring with so much more to do. I think when I first started playing, I underestimated how big the map really was. It is a joy discovering what is hidden around every corner and what makes the feeling even better, is that nothing guides you towards your discoveries. You make all the choices and are free to figure it out on your own terms. All this exploration isn’t for nothing though, Elden Ring respects the time you put into exploration by rewarding you with items and loot you might not realize you need until you are a lot further in the game.
For example, at around 10 hours in, I found a talisman that has lightning damage negation. I thought to myself “this is garbage loot,” because up until I found that talisman, I had not seen any enemies that deal lightning damage. Fast forward 30 hours in, and I’m thankful that I found that talisman because it’s the only thing stopping me from getting one-shot by a certain lightning sword-wielding boss.
It’s moments of realization like this that spur me on to continue exploring every inch of the map to find other helpful items that may or may not save me later on.
Clever gameplay design like this is what makes Elden Ring a great game that I’m happy to put tons of hours into. Wish me luck becoming Elden Lord!
James Billcliffe, Guides Editor – Elden Ring
Given my abstinence last week, I was very sure I wasn’t going to be taken in by Elden Ring, but its eldritch talons have gripped me all the same.
I have a bit of a complicated relationship with FromSoft games. I was overwhelmed by the original Dark Souls back in the day, learned to love the pain of Sekiro more recently, and totally bounced off the molasses-slow clunk of Demon’s Souls even more recently than that.
But whisper it quietly; I don’t think Elden Ring is even that hard.
There’s only been one boss so far that I’ve thought was complete bollocks – a duo boss with two stylistically unrelated designs, thrown together in a cramped chamber where you’re tripping over semi-destructible furniture in the jankiest way possible – and I think the game’s better for it.
Maybe it’s because I’ve seen a lot of the tricks before, or maybe they’re finding the sweet spot. But the overall package, where the open world and greater amount of present characters gives the labyrinthine lore room to breathe, is definitely one of the best I’ve played in a long while.
Stephany Nunneley, News Editor – Elden Ring, maybe something else
I know I said last week I would not be playing Elden Ring until additional patches are released for PC. However, I can resist no longer, so instead, I will be giving it the old college try on Xbox One (no, I don’t have a Xbox Series X, yet. If you can find one in the US, let me know where!).
The man of the house purchased the game the day it dropped, and I have watched him play it a bit here and there. He’s going out of town this weekend, and since I will be left to my own devices, I am going to give it a whirl.
Should I change my mind at some point, or get too down in the dumps over my lack of skills, I wil probably play a few indie demos I downloaded last week during Steam Next Fest: February 2022 Edition. I have a choice between this cool-looking village simulation game called The Wandering Village, the open-world Trail of Ayash that focuses on indigenous people and their myths, the remastered Egyptian city builder Pharaoh: A New Era, strategy simulation title TFM: The First Men, there’s also retro pixel-style roguelite Lost in Fantaland which blends deck building and turn-based strategies, and Farewell North which has you restoring color to world as border collie traveling with his owner. Your goal is to bring color back to the world while revealing a story about saying farewell. Sounds like that one might make me cry. We’ll see.
Tom Orry, Editor-in-Chief – Elden Ring
I finally started Elden Ring this week. And I should really put a special emphasis on the word “start” – I’ve played for about 30 minutes. In that time I did the hidden tutorial, then managed to get completely owned by a guy on a horse who happens to be about five steps into the open world.
Free time might say otherwise, but I really want to stick with Elden Ring. I am already loving the design of its world and really want to see what it has to offer over the next 70+ hours. Sadly, given that I play games in my free time for about an hour a week, I am likely to see the end at some point in July 2023. Check back then for my final thoughts!