Elden Ring (From Software RPG)

FromSoftware released a New Year card on its website that claims the Elden Ring release date will be in June 2020...this is possibly just a placeholder release month or even an error, but since its on FromSoftware's own website, that seems unlikely...furthermore, this actually corroborates a previous Elden Ring release date leak from retail chain Target, making the June release month seem even more likely...
 
looking forward to this as generally I love anything fromsoft does, just wish we had more info or gameplay on this
 
looking forward to this as generally I love anything fromsoft does, just wish we had more info or gameplay on this

From Software is my favorite developer so I'd be fine going in with as little gameplay footage as possible...
 
FromSoftware released a New Year card on its website that claims the Elden Ring release date will be in June 2020...this is possibly just a placeholder release month or even an error, but since its on FromSoftware's own website, that seems unlikely...furthermore, this actually corroborates a previous Elden Ring release date leak from retail chain Target, making the June release month seem even more likely...
Google translate fail that the silly gaming blogs ran with.. they clarified it's not being released June. The original Japanese was that it was announced in June.

I'd expect March 2021.
 
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They better have Co-op this time around instead of doing a Sekiro version where I couldn't even finish the game.
I didn't give it my all but cheated half way though the game.
 
Aren't they the developer that doesn't provide difficulty levels and tends to make games on the frustratingly difficult side?
 
Not really, you can always use summons to coop bosses, or NPC summons for most bosses. This mechanic was scrapped for sekiro, add to it that sekiro is not really a cheesable game, thus the gripe
 
I think at best, Elden Ring might make the next gen launch window. And by window I mean, Holiday 2020. It hasn't even been a year since George R.R. Martin said he'd given them a world/lore treatment. And there hasn't been any gameplay shown. They probably had some base systems and ideas in place. And then started adapted GRRM's treatment to creating the game world. And also, they need near final specs from Sony, to lock down their game engine.

Not really, you can always use summons to coop bosses, or NPC summons for most bosses. This mechanic was scrapped for sekiro, add to it that sekiro is not really a cheesable game, thus the gripe
Sekiro certainly is what it is. However, the cries about Dark Souls difficulty is pretty misinformed. In addition to being able to summon multiple NPC and/or live player helpers, each game has many opportunities to gain pretty quick access to powerful weapons, easily farm for lots of souls and/or powerful gear, and most situations are passable by MANY strategies. Some of which might be called "cheesing".

Lets take Dark Souls 1, for example. You can choose to start the game with the master key, which allows you to visit most main areas of the game, immediately. And some of those pathways are essentially back entrances, which allow you to get at fairly powerful gear, MUCH earlier than if you'd played the game without the master key. Also, in general, you can run through areas like you have ants in your pants, and get at stuff. I personally do not recommend doing your first play through with the master key. Because you are then carted through a carefully paced experience of well curved difficulty and discovery. But, you can, if you so choose.

Also, quite early in the game, you can get to an area where you can limitlessly farm sewer rats for humanity. Humanity heals your entire health bar more quickly than the Estus Flask (which is otherwise the main way to heal) and you can eat multiple humanity at a time, to stack for extra stat boosts. Which has a soft cap around 10 or 11 humanity. Humanity also gives you more easy opportunity to summon help.

Dark Souls 2 has similar opportunities for easy play. You can summon even more help at once. You can often run past enemies to get at stuff. You can run past enemies to reach an early boss, whom can fall off a ledge and die, after swinging at you one time. if you stand in the right spot. Meaning you get a bunch of souls for nothing. You can repeat this a second time, because you get a bonfire ascetic right away, which allows you to respawn a boss. There is powerful gear reachable near the beginning of the game. Requiring only that you can run there and/or spend a bit of time farming. An area which via the normal narrative, isn't available until mid game, is actually reachable right away, if you farm souls to buy a ring which will allow you to get there sooner. There are some super huge giants in the game whom are in a completely dark cave. You have to use a torch to even see down there. So, you can't use a shield and a weapon at the same time. But....there are also a couple of very simple ways to dispatch them quite easily. etc.

I'm not even going to address Dark Souls 3 because its a similar story. Also, Dark Souls 3 arguably gives you stronger starting options in terms of weapons/gear.

These games also often have meta details embedded in the lore, which comment on such behaviors. Like with arforementioned methods in Dark Souls 1, you can essentially become an undead hollow who abuses sewer rats whom have absorbed humanity from the corpes they have been feeding on. And you are a fiend who slaughters rats over and over, for a chance at this coveted "humanity", so that you can regain humanity for yourself and be stronger. Rats. You bash rats in a sewer. Good job bro!

And finally, the community compiles information about these games, in comprehensive, easy to use wikis. You can research virtually anything in the game, to make things easier and/or go more quickly.

Dark Souls games are incredibly clever about themselves. They are only prohibitively difficult if you pay zero attention and/or do not utilize the actual design of the game. And/or completely ignore the community. You also need to understand that dying in Dark Souls does not necessarily mean "difficult". Which is a tough idea for some gamers to understand. Again, death and resurrection is embedded in the lore and systems of these games.

And, if you do want to "get good" or otherwise take a bit of time to figure some stuff out------since Dark Souls 2 at least, these games are very good about rewarding you for utilizing the game. The things you gain may not immediately seem like good rewards. But you can trade a whole lot of stuff to NPCs. Stuff which might seem kinda useless.
 
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I don't dispute any of that. DS has tons of different builds and strategies available for taking out the various bosses. sekiro does not. the upgrades help, and some prosthetics can be very important, but if you can't get the timing and reactions right you will still struggle as the upgrades, excluding the double tap one, don't really make a tremendous amount of difference in how you have to play the game. Bosses remain butal, mistakes can cost 1/2 to 3/4 your health and so on.
 
I don't dispute any of that. DS has tons of different builds and strategies available for taking out the various bosses. sekiro does not. the upgrades help, and some prosthetics can be very important, but if you can't get the timing and reactions right you will still struggle as the upgrades, excluding the double tap one, don't really make a tremendous amount of difference in how you have to play the game. Bosses remain butal, mistakes can cost 1/2 to 3/4 your health and so on.
Generally, yes. And that's the way Sekiro is! The only reason so many people are complaining about it, is because Sekiro has seen wide acclaim and popularity, alongside gaming becoming even more mainstream and social. Some past, good, difficult games, were not met with nearly as much outcry.

*however, there is still the community compiling info in the Sekiro wikis for finding items, using prosthetics, etc. I havent' played Sekiro much. But, its my understanding that many enemies are weak to certain prosthetics and/or other tools. And while it may not seem like it, there are strategies out there which you can read and then dramatically lower the burden of learning. Also, the game has a resurrection mechanic which is right in the name (shadows die twice). And it can allow you to instantly punish an enemy for killing you.
 
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I have platinumed the game so I am very familiar with it and the various tools/guides/strategies. I used ALL of them, had ALL the upgrades, and many bosses were still a struggle for me. My reflexes simply are no longer up to the challenge required. I watch people that took say 2-3 tries on a boss. Thats not me. Most took me 20+ attempts and probably 100+ on the hardest bosses.

Probably the main complaint about the game is that it went from being "build" based to reaction/timing based.
 
when playing Sekiro for the first time I considered it the hardest From Software game but now that I've finished it multiple times I think it's the easiest...the initial difficulty curve is higher but once you master the combat you've mastered the entire game (those Lone Shadow mini-bosses are probably the hardest enemies)...there aren't as many build varieties but it has the same pattern recognition aspect...plus the prosthetics have probably the highest cheese value out of any of the Souls games...some of them make certain bosses much easier (too easy)

I've been replaying Dark Souls 3 over the past few days and I was surprised at the number of times I died to not just bosses but mini-bosses and regular enemies
 
From's games are always tough, but Sekiro is one of their easier titles. At least compared to the others. It's still harder than like 90% of games, though. It feels harder than it actually is because people try to play it like Dark Souls.
Rather than using pinpoint dodges and frame-perfect parries, it revolves more around pattern memorization and even straight-up mashing. The game lulls you into wanting to evade things when in reality, you can parry the vast majority of attacks by just hammering the block button rapidly. I don't want to make it seem like the game is easy, because it isn't. The key is that muscle memory and players over complicating things make it harder than it should be. I'm guilty of it myself. In the battles I struggled with, I found it helpful to just keep things simple. Parry all but 3 attacks and learn to recognize when enemies use those 3 attacks.
 
Elden Ring will be at the Taipei Game Show in February

Elden Ring, From Software’s mysterious current project, has been out of the limelight for quite some time since it was first announced at E3 last year...it's been confirmed that Elden Ring will be part of the Taipei Game Show, which takes place February 6th- 9th...although the game is going to be at the show, it won’t be playable...

Digic Pictures, the animation studio behind the Elden Ring trailer showcased at E3 2019, has released a brand new trailer for the game but it’s just a re-cut version of the original reveal trailer cut into a much shorter sequence alongside fresh, yet similar, choral music...the cryptic voice-over has also been removed...

 
Elden Ring will be at the Taipei Game Show in February

Elden Ring, From Software’s mysterious current project, has been out of the limelight for quite some time since it was first announced at E3 last year...it's been confirmed that Elden Ring will be part of the Taipei Game Show, which takes place February 6th- 9th...although the game is going to be at the show, it won’t be playable...

Digic Pictures, the animation studio behind the Elden Ring trailer showcased at E3 2019, has released a brand new trailer for the game but it’s just a re-cut version of the original reveal trailer cut into a much shorter sequence alongside fresh, yet similar, choral music...the cryptic voice-over has also been removed...


oooohh boy, February is not long!
 
We don't know if we'll see gameplay or just vague teaser-cutscenes again, but here's hoping.
 
Elden Ring will be at the Taipei Game Show in February

it's been confirmed that Elden Ring will be part of the Taipei Game Show, which takes place February 6th- 9th...although the game is going to be at the show, it won’t be playable...

the wait continues...originally scheduled for Feb 6-9, the Taipei Game Show has been moved to Summer 2020 because of the recent coronavirus outbreak in China...
 
the wait continues...originally scheduled for Feb 6-9, the Taipei Game Show has been moved to Summer 2020 because of the recent coronavirus outbreak in China...

WoW noticed the prices for chinese good has been going up as well SSDs anyway
 
the wait continues...originally scheduled for Feb 6-9, the Taipei Game Show has been moved to Summer 2020 because of the recent coronavirus outbreak in China...

I am fine with this. hopefully they release some decent footage and timelines rather than more teaser stuff.
 
According to a new information from an Italian journalist with a good track record on Elden Ring, the game is on track for a spring 2021 release date...the game is said to be doing "just fine", and is expected to follow the example set by Dark Souls 2, which launched shortly after the release of a new console generation...the Spring release date also makes a lot of sense, especially with From Software's recent track record of launching major games in February, March and April...
 
Phil Spencer Has Played "Quite A Bit" Of Elden Ring, Calls It Miyazaki's "Most Ambitious Game"

During an interview with Gamespot, Xbox head Phil Spencer spoke briefly about the upcoming Elden Ring, a From Soft production directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki, with world-building from George R.R. Martin

"I've seen actually quite a bit. I've played quite a bit. As somebody who's played all of Miyazaki's games over at least the last decade, this is clearly the most ambitious game that he's done. I mean, y'know, I love his games, but seeing some of the gameplay mechanics stuff that he's tackling, he and the team are tackling this time, [seeing] the setting, working with another creator in terms of story...I love it. I love seeing him challenging himself, he's a good friend of mine, expanding his horizons, I think it's a good thing."

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/p...t-miyazakis-most-ambitious-game/1100-6484314/
 
Phil Spencer really going out on a limb, eh. :)

"I've played it, quite a bit actually. And what I can say with certainty, y'know, is that it's definitely quite a game".
 
Videogame Awards on December 10. Let's see if we get a reveal.
 
Videogame Awards on December 10. Let's see if we get a reveal.

I hope we do, but I'm not holding my breath. Wouldn't be surprised if we don't hear anything until E3 (if it still happens) next year.
 
Videogame Awards on December 10. Let's see if we get a reveal.

my magic 8 ball says Yes we will finally be getting a gameplay reveal trailer...From Software usually likes releasing their games in the March/April window so I'm hoping for a 2021 release

EDIT: Lance McDonald, the man behind the Bloodborne 60 FPS PlayStation 4 Pro patch, added more fuel to the fire, revealing that Elden Ring is almost finished and From Software is apparently waiting to show it publicly...this information comes from contractors who are supposedly working on the game...
 
Can we get a trailer that doesn't just show people staring into lighting effects?!
 
I hope this game brings back lots of build variety and min/max like the Soulsborne games.
I couldn't get into Sekiro at all and gave up on it after 5 hours or so.
 
I couldn't get into Sekiro at all and gave up on it after 5 hours or so.
Funny, I had the same reaction.. spent 4-5hrs waiting for it to "click" and suck me in like DS1/DS2/DS3/BB/DeS, but it never did. I still intend to get back to it to keep going, convinced I just didn't put enough time in, but I keep putting it off.
 
Funny, I had the same reaction.. spent 4-5hrs waiting for it to "click" and suck me in like DS1/DS2/DS3/BB/DeS, but it never did. I still intend to get back to it to keep going, convinced I just didn't put enough time in, but I keep putting it off.
The removal of RPG features I'd gotten used to from the other From games really put me off after a while.. at least for me, that's why I couldn't get into it
 
Funny, I had the same reaction.. spent 4-5hrs waiting for it to "click" and suck me in like DS1/DS2/DS3/BB/DeS, but it never did. I still intend to get back to it to keep going, convinced I just didn't put enough time in, but I keep putting it off.
I like min/max'ing builds, using underpowered builds, etc. None of that is possible in Sekiro which is a shame - I think no game can really touch From games when it comes to pure mechanics joy.
The setting also didn't interest me nearly as much (Bloodborne being my favorite setting), but that alone didn't lead to me losing interest.
 
*Game Awards trailer...no Elden Ring footage but I thought it was cool anyway*

 
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