this post was submitted on 16 Jul 2023
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I bought Elden Ring during the last Steam sale.
The world is intriguing, but there is a real plot hook missing. I still don't know the real motivation of my character after 40 hours of gameplay. The reason why I am there and why I care. It was never explained why I want to become an elden lord and what that really means. Some of the stuff will be probably explained at some point, but as I said I don't understand the motivation or why my character started the journey in the first place.
There really is not much story so far. There is probably a lot of lore hidden, but most places, events, bosses, quests etc feel disconnected or shallow. I really would love to pick up some of the books in all the places, but that's not possible. As I said the world is intriguing, but it is probably all just cryptic stuff with many blanks left. Lore wise it can't be all a big mystery and it doesn't feel like most of it is, but it is never conveyed to the player.
The world is beautiful, there are many weird places. Having the big glowing tree in the background is an amazing set piece in an otherwise grim dark world.
Gameplay wise the progression feels really slow and it is hard to change the playstyle due to limited resources early on. I am unsure if I like that yet. It doesn't invite the player to try out some of the new toys you find though which is a bummer.
Besides that it is the first real Souls like I got into and the difficulty seems reasonable. The lack of quick saves is an interesting design choice. Every failure hits a bit harder, but it also inhibits experimentation.
I can't really explain why I like this game, but so far I am having fun. The world looks and feels great, the gameplay is fun. It's just the story or storytelling aspect of the game which could be so much better.
@Swiggles @HollowNotion the story will come! Enjoy being lost and ignorant to what's unfolding in The Lands Between, because there's no going back. ;)
Also doing Elden Ring, but I've also done every souls game up to it. This game is Dark Souls through and through, but with the open world and a few slight mechanical additions. Otherwise it's the same.
The thing with souls games is the world kind of tells the story, and gives you bits and pieces to puzzle together along the way. The idea is to just do the damn thing and soak it all in along the way.
I'm about 60hrs in and also don't totally know what's going on, but can see more pieces coming together. But remember, souls games are very much journey over destination.
If you want to see a master class in environmental storytelling, though; play Bloodborne.
I don't know. All I am thinking is that games like Fallout do a much better job with environmental story telling. Also many blanks are filled by diary entries, manifests, dialog etc. You can learn a lot about most locations and the people that lived or worked there. Literally nothing even close to that was to be found in any of the locations I visited in Elden Ring.
Same for the Witcher where you figure things out and learn about the monsters. Every enemy feels so much more impactful than random monster 164 in Elden Ring.
I have a feeling that it is partly a very intended different style, but it is also an excuse to skip writing much lore. Just hint at some stuff and people will fill the blanks for you in hour long explanation videos. The world does not feel alive though or real. It is hollow.
Otherwise it seems to be a great game, it is just the storytelling aspect which is pretty bad for RPG standards. The world is interesting, but my curiosity is never rewarded.
Not trying to be funny, but the characters motivation feels the same as Pokemon Red/Blue. Just become the very best just for the sake of it. I really really hope I am wrong, because that would be an absolutely disappointing conclusion or rather lack of it.
Fair assessment. Though I'm not all the way through yet, I do know there is a massive amount of lore in the game, and a lot I've already personally read through in game. One big place a lot of people seem to miss with Souls games as far as the lore is item descriptions. Each item has a basic description, then a way more detailed description on a separate menu (PS5 you hit the square button to get the detailed description). The items you get along the way are a huge part of the lore.
Between that and talking to Gideon and a few others, I feel like I have a good baseline. I expect a lot more to come in the areas I'm about to tackle.
All that said: I'm a huge RPG fan and love a story-driven game. But that is not at all my motivation for playing any Souls game. It's all about the gameplay; that super rewarding game loop that they have mastered.