i don't really feel that way, i think it's possible to get very minmaxy with it sure (a plus in my book) but you can still beat the game at level 1 after all, the base combat is still really strong and I don't feel like it's strayed so much. I totally disagree that learn and punish has gone away. tbh builds are way more balanced compared to something like ds1 where certain things are just busted. + going back to like ds3 now i get sad that i can't jump attack, that was hands down the best addition. my main issues with it relate to the open world, if they make a new souls type i really want them to return to the dark souls 1 map building philosophy. second part of your comment is pretty fair though.
I mean sure, it's technically possible to beat the game on sl1, but even those people use mostly broken builds, as far as I could see. The bosses just aren't fun anymore, it's all about waiting for the boss to do his 50 hit combo, and if it's an attack where he can input read you attack, he just chains into another one and you're just fucking dead. Just feels like the middle class has been extinguished, you're either a souls pro who does a no-hit, sl1 run of the whole franchise in 1 go for fun, or you're a newcomer fine with just using spirit summons to do work (not judging people who do this, just personally not the way I wanna play). After every fight in the other games, while there was some bs, I mostly felt like me dying was my own mistake, and me actually beating the boss was rewarding. In Elden Ring, it felt like the me dying was mostly some bs, and me beating the boss left me mostly empty.
i would say the game is pretty clearly designed around using spirit ashes, i think it's a misread that they're just for newcomers. so it sounds like the arbitrary limitation you put on your own gameplay is what made it unfun... i simply used them for every boss lol. i think the bosses are overall pretty strong especially considering the volume of them. don't agree at all that they're any more unfair than your average ds3 or sekiro boss.
I've heard that, but at the same time when I did use them, it honestly just felt too easy and mindless. Instead of actually learning their attacks, it mostly just felt like endless spamming whilst the summon takes the brunt of the damage for you.
i think it's fair to say they add some RNG into boss fights which some won't like. but acting like they trivialise the hard fights and saying they're for newcomers, how you refuse to use them, just comes across a little bit "git gud" elitism to me... any hard fight they'll usually die halfway through anyway. sorry you didn't enjoy the game, sounds like it just wasn't really for you.
The summons also range from totally useless through to cannon fodder through to You But Tankier so the spirit summon experience is exactly what you make it. For every player that used the mimic there's probably five that used the first wolf summon the whole way through.
And having played Elden Ring 3 Times and then tried DS3: the bosses in DS3 are a joke that I mostly got on the first try because the ER bosses are much faster, with shorter warning windows, longer combos, and shorter recoveries, and that annoying delay before launching into their moves. ER is absolutely balanced around using summons.
It's not git gud elitism, in fact what spurred me to make this post was those fuckers appearing everywhere I went when I had any complaints whatsoever about this game.
I think the middle ground you're looking for is just kinda playing by vibes and being okay with getting hit sometimes. I never used spirit ashes either, just tried different weapons until I found some I liked and stuck with them. Only got stuck on bosses a couple times, even in the DLC.
i don't really feel that way, i think it's possible to get very minmaxy with it sure (a plus in my book) but you can still beat the game at level 1 after all, the base combat is still really strong and I don't feel like it's strayed so much. I totally disagree that learn and punish has gone away. tbh builds are way more balanced compared to something like ds1 where certain things are just busted. + going back to like ds3 now i get sad that i can't jump attack, that was hands down the best addition. my main issues with it relate to the open world, if they make a new souls type i really want them to return to the dark souls 1 map building philosophy. second part of your comment is pretty fair though.
I mean sure, it's technically possible to beat the game on sl1, but even those people use mostly broken builds, as far as I could see. The bosses just aren't fun anymore, it's all about waiting for the boss to do his 50 hit combo, and if it's an attack where he can input read you attack, he just chains into another one and you're just fucking dead. Just feels like the middle class has been extinguished, you're either a souls pro who does a no-hit, sl1 run of the whole franchise in 1 go for fun, or you're a newcomer fine with just using spirit summons to do work (not judging people who do this, just personally not the way I wanna play). After every fight in the other games, while there was some bs, I mostly felt like me dying was my own mistake, and me actually beating the boss was rewarding. In Elden Ring, it felt like the me dying was mostly some bs, and me beating the boss left me mostly empty.
i would say the game is pretty clearly designed around using spirit ashes, i think it's a misread that they're just for newcomers. so it sounds like the arbitrary limitation you put on your own gameplay is what made it unfun... i simply used them for every boss lol. i think the bosses are overall pretty strong especially considering the volume of them. don't agree at all that they're any more unfair than your average ds3 or sekiro boss.
I've heard that, but at the same time when I did use them, it honestly just felt too easy and mindless. Instead of actually learning their attacks, it mostly just felt like endless spamming whilst the summon takes the brunt of the damage for you.
i think it's fair to say they add some RNG into boss fights which some won't like. but acting like they trivialise the hard fights and saying they're for newcomers, how you refuse to use them, just comes across a little bit "git gud" elitism to me... any hard fight they'll usually die halfway through anyway. sorry you didn't enjoy the game, sounds like it just wasn't really for you.
The summons also range from totally useless through to cannon fodder through to You But Tankier so the spirit summon experience is exactly what you make it. For every player that used the mimic there's probably five that used the first wolf summon the whole way through.
And having played Elden Ring 3 Times and then tried DS3: the bosses in DS3 are a joke that I mostly got on the first try because the ER bosses are much faster, with shorter warning windows, longer combos, and shorter recoveries, and that annoying delay before launching into their moves. ER is absolutely balanced around using summons.
It's not git gud elitism, in fact what spurred me to make this post was those fuckers appearing everywhere I went when I had any complaints whatsoever about this game.
I think the middle ground you're looking for is just kinda playing by vibes and being okay with getting hit sometimes. I never used spirit ashes either, just tried different weapons until I found some I liked and stuck with them. Only got stuck on bosses a couple times, even in the DLC.