That's cool so one is for solo play and the for multiplayer. Like multiplayer is fun but solo is a lot different and a way different experience. Tbh for a a Soul's scrub I should've went a mage build 1st but eh wanted to do some melee damage so went dual 2H with Grafted Blade/Guts Sword and then moved onto Starscourge GS.

I did some MP with a friend in the earlier sections in Limgrave and its quite cool that you an help each other out. Also PVP is great fun - can pretty much 2-3 shot people with my meme Strength build lol. Think I will concentrate on a Katana build later after as they can be pretty OP for duels with the right arts and bleeds.

Also I do love that arts make a huge difference in gameplay as well as different weapons/combos. I'm on the last section of the game and I've not even discovered all the dungeons (something I have to get back to) or killed all bosses yet. And about the repeated bosses, I don't really mind them. And while there are a quite a few of them they aren't as strong as let's say previous FROM games but their is a whole of them and rewards and dungeons to find and explore is fun.

But yeah, it's really well crafted game with levels that feel hand crafted, oozing with atmosphere and dread (while beautiful) and fantastic OST. And the game while super punishing and challenging - as even small mobs can kill in a couple hits this game feels like the games of old where to progress the player has to well, play the game. Learn the mechanics, enemy patterns and persevere even when you hit a wall. Which I can see a lot of people do. Have no doubt this isn't a game for everyone and certainly won't recommend for those who don't like a strong challenge. But for those that are, it's a darn brilliant adventure and fantastic game and for me one a masterpiece.. way up there with with one of my all time favourites.

It's surely a game that developers will (and should) look upto for their games for inspiration. And yeah I'd agree it certainly deserves all the praise it gets. Aside from the performance hitches, this is a game that absolutely From has hit out of the park and should be proud of their accomplishments. Granted I'm still playing through ER, I can't wait to see what Miyazaki's come out with next.

Sure the purchase and investments should improve the team and what they are capable, but since they still don`t have a pedigree I wouldn`t expect to much, that way I won`t be disappointed.

Just finished Elden Ring at 85+ hours.. at level 151. I do have some gripes with it. A lot which are some the bosses, which are quite random and cheap. They have very small windows to attack and leave so VERY little room for error. Especially for people with went deep into melee Strength builds. A lot feels like luck with massive onslaught of huge cleave damage and straight up combo's/spells one after another.. a lot of which are are unavoidable. Trying to get a hit in even with a huge HP pool can be a daunting task. Never mind trying to get some 'quick' jump attacks in between or wallop with a great sword.

The rest of it though, just pure brilliance. The huge world made with love and well written characters. Enemies too and dungeons are so unique and wonderful - some quite disturbing lol. Side quests that are interesting, that you actually want to complete for the lore (and characters). They have meaning which I won't spol. Traversal is actually good and mounted combat is surprising decent and satisfying.

I probably will take a little break from the game but I think I'll start another character with a whole new build in NG+ later on this year. All in all haven't been this enthralled in a game in a long time. The last one for me was GoW (2018). Which got me hooked from start to finish. For those who finished it there are more than one ending - I got the 'Age of the Stars', obtained from doing a certain quest chain -

Considering Insomniac was allowed to announce 2 games with one being like 2 and the other even more further, after just releasing 2 great games, it would be more like it isn't that Sony doesn't want to announce to early but more like they are allowing the devs to announce when they want without pressuring them.

I feel like you have to be treating the combat like Sekiro, not Dark souls. In that, each boss is weak to certain play styles/abilities rather than just a one-style-fits-all. 

You can't shield/buff your way through all attacks. different attack patterns require different counters. sometimes you gotta dodge, sometimes you gotta stay away, sometimes you gotta stay close. I found the game mildly cheap at points, too, until I realized this. You can't just stick to one style throughout. I think that's why Spirits are so integral. 

Example: a mid-late game boss in the magma manor is just two of those rolly dudes with the pendulum blades. I found this boss fight nearly impossible solo because of their attack patterns. It can be done, if you're smart, but I couldn't do it at first. But then I started using the jellyfish to distract one while I focused on the other. That's where I learned that, against all logic, hug that contraption's booty. their swings will be just behind you and since this is a GOOD souls game where the hitboxes are TIGHT, you won't get hit! I had to use my smaller, quicker weapon to attack and dodge when they advanced or tried to grab. 

This strategy doesn't work for most enemies. Most bosses I found in the game have AOE 'get away from me' moves, and thus you couldn't stay in close. 

Once I realized each boss is even more specific in what you need to do to counter them and that just hitting them REALLY hard with a Zweihander won't work, my stance on the game's 'cheapness' changed drastically. Once I realized a strict 'dodge everything' or 'block everything' or 'tank everything' approach wasn't viable, I changed my stance completely, and that's when my pace quickened. You just have to adjust your behaviour and learn to adapt. that's why Ashed of War, Spirit summons, and whetstones are all so important. That's why, despite this game being the hardest one yet, it's also the most approachable and adaptable. I love it for that. 

Isn`t that just monthly and well Pokemon already being released for a few months?

Top 20 february 2022

I think a lot to do with this (at least in my playthough in a melee build) is that 2H colossal swords or GS's for that matter aren't really well suits for bigger boss encounters. Particularly hyper mobile ones. The swing animations and recovery are so darn slow that it makes the other weapons super fast in comparison. Tbh its nowhere near as viable and well suited to hyper aggressive boss battles as lets say 1Her's or Katana's. And extra damage doesn't make up for how 'heavy' and can be more or a liability when enemies can easily sidestep your attacks.

It doesn't help that poise is essentially crap in this game as well so you can't really trade blows with most enemies in the game, without some sort of interupt mid swing.. (like even small rats can do that). And you are kinda forced to play jump jack with heavy attacks to make up of the loss of DPS.

I get that it takes time learning bosses move sets and when to attack or set one up its just bleh, colossal weapons just seemed like an afterthought for this game. Which is a shame because one of my favourite looking weapons and GS in ER is based on a series that I personally love - Berserk.

For summons I mainly used my Mimic, which is kinda broken when upgraded. Which makes for a great distraction and quite tanky, actually does reasonable damage all considering.

Also tried GTA V in PS5 and its okay. Its essentially the same game as on PC textures and all, in addition to some added stuff like raytraced shadows (in RT performance mode) and DualSense support.

For DS features and haptics, its is pretty good.. Adaptive triggers works great for driving as well as combat. And HDR works really well, unlike PC which is finicky at best when it works. Not bad. Wouldn't pay the full $40 for it though, at $10 I'd say its worth it. Just don't expect a massive upgrade from the PS4 game outside PC textures, darker AO and some minor additions as listed above.

Only retail, so no Steam versions included:

Speam Spy's estimate for the Steam version of Elden Ring is currently over 20 million units: