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I play games of various titles every month, but since the release of “Elden Ring” (PlayStation 4 / PlayStation 5 / Xbox One / Xbox Series X / PC), I haven’t touched any other games. I’m playing.
“Elden Ring” is an action RPG released on February 25, and is a popular title that has sold 12 million copies worldwide. Although it is an open world game set in a vast field, it is a very difficult title, also known as “Death Game”.
The volume is also tremendous, and according to the official, it takes regarding 30 hours just to clear the story, but there are a huge number of detour elements such as dungeons and NPC events. In fact, I’ve already played 200 hours in the first week, and I’m finally nearing the end (there are still a lot of events left unattended).
■ Lots of mechanisms that make you want to explore
This work was developed by FromSoftware, but even the author who has played the company’s titles such as “Dark Souls” and “Bloodborne” feels a considerable response with difficulty enough to retry many times. increase. Also, the map is so vast that it is incomparable to the “Soul” series, and I feel uneasy whether I can explore it completely.
Although it is such a work, there is a mechanism that makes you want to explore and you will not break your heart no matter how much you die, which is addictive. For example, the early bosses “Tree Guard” and “Abomination, Margit”, which have already been taken up by SNS and media and have become a hot topic, will be killed instantly if you challenge them at a low level. That’s why players are exploring the vast field, thinking, “Let’s escape from this guy and explore to level up.”
As soon as you finish the tutorial, you’ll be in a vast field
The writer also challenged the “tree guard” at the beginning of the game, and escaped because he might not endure the fear of dying just by the opponent’s attack. I challenged the enemies and dungeons around me to raise the level and secure equipment. The small fish enemies are also quite strong, so it’s not easy to fight back while saying “earning” (laughs).
“Tree guard” who challenges once and loses immediately
Many people should have struggled with the first story boss, “Abhorrent Demon Margit”.
There are various enemies on the vast map, and not only dungeons but also equipment and events are hidden, so you should have started a detour to raise the level, but it is easy to forget the purpose of defeating the boss. am.
In the end, following spending 3-4 days exploring, I returned to myself and challenged the tree guard to win. In the following “Margit” game, I gave up once and escaped, and when I felt that I had finished looking through the surrounding area, I tried once more and was able to defeat it while being bumped several times. In this way, I feel that the mechanism that makes you want to search is unique to high-difficulty games because the boss is strong.
Besides, most dungeons have blessings (Recovery & Fas and Travel Points) at the entrance, and most of them have a boss room just ahead. However, the door of the boss room is closed, and it is a mechanism to open by releasing the gimmick in the back of the dungeon.
The blessing at the beginning of the dungeon is healing
Many RPGs have a boss in the back of the dungeon, so if you can’t beat it, you’ll have to go out to level up and try the dungeon once more. However, in this work, once you solve the gimmick, even if you go out, you can return with fast travel and immediately rematch with the boss, so feel free to explore and expand the map or challenge another dungeon. It is possible to raise the level while slacking.
In the early stages, the level was raised in front of Sekisho, but even if the enemy in the early stages is involved with multiple people, death can be seen.
■ Map search is also stress-free
When exploring a vast map, the functions that are indispensable for the open world, such as maps, compasses, and map pins, are firmly implemented. In addition, there is a system that points to the places necessary for the progress of the story, so even if you finish a long detour, you can return to the main line immediately, so you can search without worrying regarding it. Above all, I was impressed that I was able to get a horse from the very beginning and immediately ran around the vast field freely.
You can get horses from the beginning, so you don’t have to worry regarding moving.
New systems such as “Shield Counter” that receives the battle side with a shield and decides the counter, “Combat Maneuver” that uses gauges, and “Ashes” that summons spirit bodies that fight together are added, and capture The range of has expanded. In particular, “Ashes” is an excellent item that can be decoyed in difficult places such as boss battles and be attacked by enemies, and it is a great help for beginners.
“Elden Ring” has more tutorials and is easier to play than the Soul series.
It is also possible to forcibly break through difficult places with ashes.
On the other hand, many of the enemy’s attack motions have a lot of time to accumulate, and it is difficult to grasp the timing, so it seems that it has become a little difficult to avoid rolling, which was very heavy until now, and to play the enemy’s attack in a timely manner. Also, from this work, you can jump even if you are not dashing, jump avoidance and aerial attack may be the key to capture, so even those who have experience in the Soul series like me can enjoy fresh battles. (It means that even experienced people will die many times …).
The author, who thought that “Fromm works are parry!”, Tried parry in the early stages and was damaged, but once he knew the strength of the guard counter, he had a strategy even if he had the same shield. (I ended up using it all the time following I got the strategy for Parry in the middle of the game …).
■ Wide range of strategies, fun to watch someone’s play
This work has a wide range of builds, and you can adventure with various status swings and equipment. In addition, the equipment can be changed except for special ones, and you can customize the weapon more freely than ever before and enjoy the capture.
This is my theory, but I think it’s when you compare yourself and someone’s play that you can feel the freedom of “Elden Ring”. I was in close-quarters combat with a swordfighter build that had a “technical” status, but his friend was a magic-only build that mercilessly fired a beam at a small fish. Besides, when I searched the video on YouTube, I took a different tactic that I might not think of the same game, such as transforming into a dragon and spitting breath, holding a shield in both hands and piercing the enemy. I was surprised by all the people who were doing it.
It is an interesting point that not only the build but also the play style and the order of capture are all different. I want to challenge the boss at the lowest possible level and win at the last minute, but my friends keep raising the level and kill the boss instantly. Some video contributors ignored the first boss and defeated the midfield boss.
It’s fun to see them playing the same game like this, but playing completely differently, as if there was such a strategy, and I haven’t cleared the first week yet. Despite this, it also motivates me to build like this in the second week. I admire the high degree of freedom of “Elden Ring” that makes it possible.
There are multiple types of missiles such as magic, faith, and bows, and you can select them according to your status.
By the way, I’m playing with my friends on Discord’s server. There is almost no screen sharing, and it is a mysterious space where everyone talks regarding “Elden Ring” while playing each “Elden Ring”. At first, we shared information such as “where was difficult” and “there is a weapon over there”, but since everyone has different builds and capture orders, the story gradually became out of sync. A friend of mine defeats the boss he struggled with in a few seconds (laughs).
The boss that left the most impression on me was “Knight of the Crucible”.He is very strong to fight from the beginning and is a strong enemy who appears in the end
Talks don’t engage, but playing while connecting a call with a friend is courageous just because there are people on the other side of the screen who are struggling just like you. Playing while listening to each other’s screams and joyful voices is very reassuring, so it is recommended for people who tend to break their hearts. However, when I want to concentrate, I mercilessly mute the speaker …
When playing solo, I’m playing while being healed by online messages
As you can see, “Elden Ring” is a masterpiece game with a very high degree of freedom and as many ways to enjoy as there are players. There is no doubt that it is a difficult game, but when you break through the difficult points, you will feel a sense of accomplishment. As mentioned above, there are many mechanisms that will not break your heart, so I want as many people as possible to challenge! However, if you fit too much, your life will collapse like I did, so please be careful.
