Elden Ring

A game developed by Fromsoftware, released in February 25, 2022

Reflecting on Souls Games

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I have been daydreaming about Elden Ring (2022). Reminiscing about the adventure, the looting, and the side quests. The land in between is beautifully brutal. Then I remember writing a blog post about Malenia which I gave her a nickname: the Beautiful Rotten Flower. I was so consumed by finding ways to defeat her that, for a while, all I could think about was Malenia. I remember after beating the game, I felt drained. So when Shadow of the Edtree was released last year, I didn’t feel inclined to purchase the DLC. I am still on the fence about buying it because these games are becoming increasingly designed for cooperative play, which is a turn-off for me.

I remember my experience with Dark Souls III (2016).  It is a pretty game but I didn’t like how fast the enemies were and there were more of them compared to Demon Souls (2009) Dark Souls (2011) and Dark Souls II (2014). All the later editions seem to gear toward the “git gud” PVP crowd, and that is just not my forte. I remember playing Bloodborne (2015) and some invader got mad at me for using healing potions. This person was expecting me to follow some PVP creed that I was not aware of. I just laughed it off. The person invaded my world and was expecting me to play by some external rules? That sounds so ridiculous. I was always more interested in the creative design than the social aspect of the game anyway. That’s why I am so grateful that you can play Souls games in offline mode on the console version (I am not sure about PC).  If you were to ask me, my least favorite thing about the Souls game is the invasion. I don’t think I have ever invaded anyone’s world or voluntarily helped anyone defeat enemies. Well, there was one time I was automatically summoned to someone’s world in Dark Souls II because I was in The Way of the Blue Covenant. It’s an interesting gaming mechanic, and I learned that not everyone is an uncivilized brute.

Honestly, I miss the quietness of the earlier Souls games.  That is part of the reason why I have been hesitant with FromSoftware’s latest installment Elden Ring Nightreign, which I heard is designed for cooperative play. Finding the right skillful people to play with feels too daunting. That’s why I shy away from multiplayer games and lean towards games like Dragon’s Dogma (2012). The pawn system fixes that issue. You can use other players’ pawns to assist you without having the actual player control the pawn in real-time. It’s an ingenious idea for those who want to play multiplayer games but don’t always have the time to find the right people to play with. Even if you do have the right people to play with, we all have lives and different schedules outside of gaming. As I am writing this, now I am curious about Dragon’s Dogma II.

Writing down my thoughts made me realize…oh why don’t I just give Dragon’s Dogma II a try despite the negative reviews? After all, I am an atypical gamer. So this game may be the antidote that will cure my adventure ailment. In the meantime, I am replaying Dark Souls III because I’m looking forward to capturing pictures without the HUD. It’s the beautiful flowers in the game that captivate me. A mixture of adventure and flowers is exactly what I need.

Looking at the beautiful moon
My playthrough in 2016

Elden Ring Review: The Champion Game

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I platinumed and explored everything I could in Elden Ring, a game developed by FromSoftware, and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Now I am waiting for the DLC which will be released sometime in late 2023 or early 2024. I am quite curious to learn more about its story which I think I got it down, but I decided not to break it down in this review for many reasons. One, it will require some in-depth research on my part. Secondly, there are already plenty of sources on YouTube that attempted to explain the story in detail, although all of them are just based on educated guesses including mine, in which led me to the conclusion of this game: Why do we like to champion over other?

As you can tell from the blog’s post title, this game is epically unique. One, you don’t play as a hero, but as a champion. You are neither good nor bad. You are a Tarnished who is led by the Site of Grace to become the Elden Lord. Not only does the player competes with other Tarnished, but he/she also has to defeat other demigods to establish order in a shattering world. But why is the world broken? This is the question that got me hooked to the story.

I suppose this image is quite misleading. This game is not a fashion show. I did not tiptoe my way to the Site of Grace.
This image is truer to my experience.

Okay so the story is great and so is the gameplay but what’s the problem with that? It has to do with the flow of the game. Well the flow of my review is no better than the game according to AI Assistant so who am I to complain? Anyway, I was overwhelmed with the open-world aspect of the game. If only I followed the main route, I could have finished this game in a decent time. It took over 200 hours in one playthrough. I “wasted” a lot of time trying to get everything which earned me a game completion of 82 % on my first playthrough. Like Sorcerer Rogier the NPC, you might end up roaming the Lands of Between for a very long time until you lose sight of your original purpose.

I’m Tarnished, like you. But unlike you, I’ve seen neither hide nor hair of this guidance for the longest time. Still, I won’t forget how it felt when I first came here, to the Lands Between.

-Sorcerer Rogier

I don’t deny it’s a time-consuming game. Not everyone would have the pleasure to experience it entirely because it requires a lot of dedication like watching Game of Thrones, which unfortunately I have not seen for obvious reason. My preferred method of entertainment has always been gaming. So, this game was like a gift from “heaven”, but for casual and non-gamers, I can see how off-putting it can be. The characters are all interesting that you want to get to know them, but the gameplay gets in the way. Wander too far, you might come across a boss fight! At first, I struggled a bit because there is so much freedom in the game that it’s easy to “waste” time. 1) You had to explore and unlock the map. 2) You have to defeat the surrounding enemies or else you will keep dying and that will prevent you from exploring. 3) You might aimlessly wander off too long because you are bewitched by its beautiful environment. Of course, there is an efficient way to play the game, but I wouldn’t know that if I didn’t refer to a guide. Oh, I am talking about the story portion that is. There are 6 endings. If you are in just for the story, I recommend just sticking to television series. It’s much less work.

On the surface, it looks like I could go to this place easily. I remember spending hours trying to get to it only to learn that it’s part of Ranni the Witch’s quest, which occurs halfway through the game.

In terms of gameplay, apart from the main course where the player defeats the main bosses, there are also a ton of optional bosses. Some are part of the questlines. I found myself referring to the internet and walkthrough guide quite often when I got stumped, which depending on your play style, this could either be rewardingly challenging or simply annoying. The caves and catacombs themselves are like mini-side games. Some are short but some take longer, depending on how many times you slip and die or get killed by pestering skeletons. Just imagine all the indie games (which takes 1-5 hours to beat) you can play in one game. There is always a boss at the end of each “stage”. Once the player has defeated the boss in that area, the player is rewarded with unique items. So, they are worth completing. Personally, I found them quite fun. However, the downfall to this gaming experience is that it kind of breaks the flow of the game since it has nothing to do with the main story. Maybe that was the whole purpose? I was beginning to feel like a witless champion myself, a theme that reoccurred quite frequently in the story.

In conclusion, for such an ambitious game, it did champion over every other game out there for me. It’s a great game with a great story, but it sure burnt me out and I am not sure if I want to play another intense game for a long time. I suppose that might not just be a bad thing after all.

yeah…that’s one hella game!

So what about you? Have you played this game? I would love to hear your thoughts!

Elden Ring: Wrapping Up

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I noticed in my blog I covered a lot of gaming materials these past few months, and I enjoyed documenting my thoughts about them as well. It’s considered brain exercise to me. But after completing Elden Ring with a 92 percent trophy completion and obtaining the majority of the loots (I’m sure there are still some items I missed), I decided to move on once I finished my 3rd playthrough to get the Flame of Frenzied ending which will give me the platinum trophy. Then I can brag to other gamers that I have skills! I am just kidding. Bragging was never my cup of tea. Maybe it’s just my upbringing, I have always found it difficult to talk highly of myself. You see, the game is not easy but I managed to complete it. So, I should give myself some credit. I think it’s pretty amazing how patient and determined I am, but I wish I was a bit more competitive. I didn’t enjoy invading other’s people world and conquering them. As a result, I failed to see through some questlines in Elden Ring. If I am not enjoying it then there’s no point.

White-Faced Varre (He’s to the right) asked me to invade other people’s worlds, which is part of a quest line. I prefer my dress clean. Being strong enough to defend myself is more than enough killing for me.

New people who come across my blog recently might think this is my first entry to the Souls games because I don’t like PVP. Truth is I started off with Demon’s Souls (2009). I have always played for the atmosphere. And one thing I noticed from all of the Souls games is the lack of feminine armors. I wish the Souls games had more of them. There weren’t many pretty armors. I know in real life wearing a pretty dress would attract predators, but this is fantasy. Why not? The armors in the game look so intimidating. I suppose it made sense in a world where dogs eat dogs. This is a battleground after all. There’s no time to be soft like a jellyfish, although I learned that being a “jellyfish” (soft) does not make a person weak as we see in the character Roderika, a spirit tuner who is afraid of getting her limbs pulled apart like her fellow men who have crossed the sea to the Lands of Between and got grafted in her place. Roderika may lack courage, but she compensates it through other form. You see, the spirit cannot be crushed. She makes them stronger. I like how the character’s weakness is turn into strength. Also, I just realized I wore Roderika’s armor this entire time. It’s the Noble’s Traveling Garb set as you can see from the picture below. It’s one of the few nice feminine gears I could find in the game.

The caption in the picture says, “No time to waste. Let’s see the stars.” The dialogue is part of a small quest line.

I know that I am rambling a bit in this blog post. I did warn readers that I want to be more casual and less structured for my mental health. It does take a lot of revising to get my point across. Anyway as I was searching for a picture of the Jellyfish, I realized something beautiful. According to the description of the Spirit Jellyfish Ashes which was given to me by Roderika, the Jellyfish spirit’s name is Aurelia and she is in search of her distant home. Well, it just dawn on me that the stars can be found underground in a place called SIOFRA RIVER. These beautiful creatures are indeed dead. It’s bittersweet and sad because before Aurelia reunited with her sister, her sister was hauntingly calling out for her in the Stargazer Ruins. I found this little aha moment quite delightful. It’s a lovely artistic composition.

Speaking of the characters, they are all quite interesting and balanced. It’s a theme I notice quite often. Perhaps, that is the thesis of the story that Hidetaka Miyazaki the director, and George R. R. Martin the writer want to express. That sounds like another blog post idea. There is so much to dive into in this heavy-loaded game. When gameplay is combined with a good story, it just blows my mind. I never thought I’d see something as grand as this. It got me obsessed for two months all because I want to escape from the prairie’s heat. However, I don’t know if that is a good thing. My mind can’t find rest. I have to piece the story myself but I am also curious about other people’s interpretation.

Because this game is so massive, it will probably be the last game I play for the remainder of the year as I have upcoming major plans in the coming months. Plus, I want to give more attention and love to the book department. Playing Elden Ring made me realize how much I miss reading a good book.

Elden Ring: Malenia the Beautiful Rotten Flower

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No, I didn’t throw the controller. Didn’t pull my hair. Didn’t scream at the T.V. I did none of that, but like a crazed gambler, I played until I win. During the battle, I called her the stinking scarlet rotten flower as a coping mechanism to relieve my frustration. The truth is she didn’t stink. She was like an alluring perfume scent that stunned me into a relationship for two whole days. She moved around with her blade elegantly with one swipe. I was obsessed. I kept thinking: “I am almost there if I keep trying,” but the result was the same. It was until I decided to re-strategize, reallocate my stats, level up, and went on a hunt for moon spells that I started to have a glimmer of hope. After all, I was facing a boss who claimed to “have never known defeat.”

Malenia, Blade of Miquella

For such an intimidating statement, I was beginning to lose hope despite my best effort to dodge and cast spells. Skills can only get us so far until we need luck on our side. If I can recall, medieval writers personify luck and called it Fortune. When things go wrong, we blame Fortune, but when things go right, we thank her. I felt the same way about this boss fight. I tried to beat the boss several times to the point I started daydreaming during the first phase of the battle because I knew her patterns quite well. In the second phase not so much because I was panicking. To defeat any boss in the soul-like games, it’s about natural reflex and timing! And unlike other games, if you die in the 2nd phase, you have to start all over again from phase 1 of the boss fight!  That’s why I said this boss fight was almost pure luck. When she consecutively bloomed twice in the 2nd phase, I knew it was my chance to blast her with a powerful spell (Thank you Fortune for being on my side).

Comet Azur may be an overrated powerful spell but I am so grateful for it.

There were two phases in this boss fight and what made it so difficult was that not only was she quick with her blade, but she also regenerated her health by attacking the player. In other words, she absorbed the player’s health. It was like one of those soul-sucking relationships where the person took more than give. Not a pleasant feeling. So, I had to really learn how to play this game. I ended up defeating her by using only two important spells: Stars of Ruin in the first phase because it auto-locks the target and Comet Azur in the second phase because of its high damage. The rest was up to me on how well I dodged and blocked her attacks! For talismans, I equipped Radagon Icon, Primal Glinstone Blade, Edtree’s Favor +1, and Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman. My armor didn’t really make a huge difference whether I had it on or not, although I did wear something light so that it was easier to move around and dodge. One hit took a lot of damage. Meanwhile, my summoned Ash War Mimic Tears (a spirit that cn assist you in battle) didn’t take as much damage. I wonder how that is possible when the Ash War Mimic Tears is a replicant of my character. I didn’t use her though–instead, I used Black Knife Tiche who has been upgraded to Plus 10. As for the shield, I equipped Carian Knight’s Shield upgraded to +23 (which I am pretty sure there are better shields but I don’t want to waste materials because upgrading items can be scarce) and my staff/weapon Carian Regal Scepter upgraded to its max.

When I see videos of people fighting Melania effortlessly, I am not fooled by the thought that they probably struggle a bit in their first few tries. It must have taken the player several tries until they got pretty good at it. No damage hit? Yeah, it requires skills, but also a lot of practice too. While that is fun and game to some people, I definitely don’t want to deal with her again in NG + ! I am just happy that I finally learned how to play the game, and that in itself is an achievement! On my next round, my journey with Elden Ring would be less rocky and more pleasant. I hope! Who am I kidding? The bosses would just get harder on NG+!!!

On Introspective & Media Representation

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“What you enjoy is a reflection of you.” I agree with this statement to some extent. While I identify myself as a Fromsoftware fan, I have never been the machoistic, bully type found on Twitter (now rebranded as X), telling people to git gud if they suck at video games nor was I the vocal type that attracted a big crowd of gamers to come together and created a positive gaming community. The latter sounds nice. I admire those who can interact and lead an online community, but that is beside the point I am about to make: When a friend of mine learned that I am a fan of the Soul’s games she immediately asked me why there was a Satan in the front cover of Dark Souls III, and why do I play a satanic game? You can find the long answer here in this blog post I’ve written a while ago: Dark Souls: What the Bonfire Says about Humanity. The short simple answer is I like to play a good game. Elden Ring has everything I want: good story, adventure, exploration, puzzles, character-building and dolling up in different types of armor! Well, I can deal without the massive open world, but I am not complaining so much about it anymore because I am having a good time with the game. So, if that above statement is true about what you like is a reflection of you then anyone who likes this game is pretty epic. I can take the compliment. 🙂

Currently, I use my Instagram account as a billboard to showcase video games pictures I have taken so far in Elden Ring. Like most folks, I do enjoy taking screenshots. Initially, I wanted to share it here, but there’s not a lot of media storage under the personal WordPress plan, so I stop storing pictures in the media library. Feel free to check out my Instagram account. I may also use it as a place to announce blog updates. Not sure though if I will stick with it, but let’s give it a whirl. I hope I can represent the medium in a fairer light and also personalized my blog a bit. You know…give it some personality.

Coming Up~More Elden Ring content

Resting at Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy Site Grace
Resting after defeating an optional boss fight: Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy. Had to take on Lady Tanith’s questline in order to unlock Rya’s questline.

So far, I have completed Rya’s, Sellen’s the Graven Witch, and Sorcerer Thop’s questlines. All of their dialogues add to the richness of the story. So, I am glad took on the quests despite having to invade other worlds, which ironically, despite playing all of Soul’s games I have never invaded someone’s world before until now. And oh boy I do feel bad even though it’s the NPC’s world and it’s part of the game! Look out for more blog posts from Elden Ring as I have some insightful thoughts to share! 

Elden Ring: I Took the Dark Path but It Doesn’t Seem Dark to Me

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Well, since my last adventure with Elden Ring, I was on my way to Mistwood Ruins. A lot has happened since. As usual, I cleared out a lot of areas and beat a few bosses. I am so overwhelmed with this game that I don’t have words to describe my emotions or thoughts.

Since the last screenshot taken of this map, I have discovered more areas below the surface while partaking in Ranni’s questline which in turn alters the ending of the game (I have not reached the ending yet, just some info I found on the internet)!

So far, I don’t know if that is a good thing. It always takes me a bit to process everything. I will provide my final input on the game when I do complete it. So stay tuned for that! Instead of writing out my thoughts, I will provide pictures from this game. I hope you enjoy it!

Standing on the cliff near Volcano Cave site
Purple Sea
Sitting on donkey?
A Child of the Cosmo
staring at the stars
The Stars Beneath the Sky
sitting in the cave
Resting after defeating Valiant Gargoyle and Twinblade
Standing in front of River Main Grace Site
I Have Become A Witch
Inside Nokstella, Eternal City
Inner Order
Nokstella Night Sky
Pointing upward
I beat Astel, Naturalborn of the Void
More Stars
The Moon and the Elden Tree

Elden Ring: Been Climbing Mountains

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Since my last adventure in Elden Ring, I raided catacombs and caves; climbed up mountains; defeat some dragons; and discovered new areas. I had to use markers to mark places that I wish to come back to at a later time. Quite frankly, I don’t enjoy having my attention pulled in so many different directions–especially not for task-oriented folks like myself. So, I can see why some people are just turned off by this game. At the same time, I can see why some people brag about beating the Souls’ games: it requires a lot of patience and perseverance to learn the gaming mechanics. But as the saying goes, to each their own. Some adults just don’t have that much time to invest in such a game. As for me, my life is as eventful as the monotonous prairie, which is relaxing but can be quite awfully still. Well, it’s beautiful when the wind is blowing through the tall grasses against the wide, endless blue sky until the storm is approaching. One moment it’s bliss, and then the other it’s a whirlwind madness. When it rains it pours and depending on your preference that could be a lovely thing. Similarly, the same thing can be said about Elden Ring, which perfectly describes my current emotional state. Plus, I like some of the scenery in the game. There’s something soothing about cathedrals, castles, churches, and ruins.

A sense of big relief every time I reached a site grace

So far, I have already clocked in 100 hours and I feel like I am not near the end of the tunnel. There are still some mini-bosses that I still have to tackle; tower puzzles I have yet to solve; and questlines I need to complete. Slowly, I am starting to piece the story together, but it remains convoluted. However, I did learn a bit about Queen Rennala and her tragedy which ties in with the story. So far, the battle with Queen Rennala was one of the most impressive battles I have seen in a game. I also learned that she is an optional boss as well.

Queen rennala standing in front of the moon
Queen Rennala

The good thing though if you do defeat her is that she reallocates your skill trees if you don’t like your current build. I haven’t tried it myself because I am quite content playing as a mage. But it was a real pain trying to defeat Queen Rennala as a mage since she is also a sorcerer. Longswords folks had it easier from what I’ve seen online. But if you are wondering how I survived as a mage class in the battle, I used Magic Fortification Incantation which increases magic damage negation. Her one-shot magic blast was brutal for me even when I equipped an armor with high magic defense. I believe if you upgrade your Arcane Stat it would also boost your vitality and negate some of that damage, which is something I learned later on in the game. I also summoned Lone Wolf Ashes to distract the boss and blasted her with a Rock Sling Sorcery spell. The spell can be located in the Street of Sages Ruins. Anyway, just some tips for players who might be struggling like I did in Phase II of the battle.

This game is indeed massive and the open world can be overwhelming, but I am learning more about its universe as I play. I wonder what purpose Minor Edrees serve. They are located throughout the map. I also wonder why the NPCs tend to be in mourning status rather than hostile toward intruders like myself. Everything and everyone seems to protect something and I am not sure if I am playing as the good guy. Well, I don’t think I am all that good if I am carving a path toward becoming the Elden Lord, which has to do with the big Yellow tree. Personally, I don’t care about ruling and establishing order if that is what it takes to be Elden Lord, although I do believe in some sort of structure in real life, but in video game life not so much. I just like adventure and beating bosses. I suppose that is why I decided to pursue Lady Ranni’s quest. She is the daughter of Queen Rennala. I am so curious why she decided to walk the dark path. She doesn’t seem so dark to me…It can’t be that bad being in a doll body on top of a tower with plenty of books to read. Is it?

Ranni the Witch sitting
She looks cold but she seems warm. Does that even make sense? I suppose everyone has two sides to them.

Well, I am off to the Mistwood Ruins area to meet up with Ranni’s stepbrother Blaidd who can be found below Siofra River Well. Oh so exciting! More adventures to come! This game feels like playing inside a fantasy book. It’s a work of art!

P.S.

The smirk on her face while going through Gelmir Hero’s Grave is timeless. Took me a moment to get through this brutal area…but that’s my expression when I play Elden Ring.

Elden Ring: The Quest that Made Me Uncomfortable

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The bored centaur (I’m referring to myself) hath returned to Elden Ring. I am resuming my gaming adventure where I left off a year ago. After the completion of Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age, I thought I would return to this game because I miss playing a soul’s game. To my surprise, all I need is a little break. I got addicted to the game as soon as I got some sort of lead.

For those who are new to my blog, I need a reason to explore or else there is no purpose for me to roam in open world games. Oh jeez, why does it sound like real life? I still don’t know quite exactly where to go–but meeting Rya caught my interest. Got to save the ‘damsel in distress’…or is she??? She is no princess. She is a servant! What can we gain from unattractive ladies? They might have hidden motives because beautiful women rarely approach people. They are like unattainable stars that you can only admire from afar (I hope you can tell I am joking).

Rya staring at the player
Meeting Rya, the hunch back blonde for the first time. She is to the right.

She wanted her necklace back–stolen by Blackguard Big Boggart. Taking pity on her distress, I agreed to spend 1000 runes (money), which I didn’t find too difficult to spare. It’s not all that difficult to earn runes in this game. All you have to do is keep killing stuff that come across your path, which in my opinion is a barbaric thing to do. Not all NPCs will attack you, but we all know money talks. Because of my good deed, Rya found value in me. She invited me to Volcano Manor to meet her mistress. It was pure curiosity than flattery that made me proceed with this questline. I just didn’t know where to go in the game, and so I agreed to search for the two halves of the medallion which were located in Fort Haight West and Fort Faroth. I needed the medallion to activate the Grand Lift of Dectus that will take me to Volcano Manor. Anyway, after obtaining the pieces to the medallion, I was able to use the lift to reach Rya who was waiting for me.

holding a medallion in order to activate Grand Lift of Dectus
Two halves are put together to make a medallion. It was no easy task to find them

But I was surprised to learn about the manor and the lady she serves. Should have not trusted her easily with that mischievous look of hers. She works for the proprietress, Lady Tanith of Valcono Manor, who in turn asked me to kill other Tarnished folks like me (I am still trying to wrap my head around why players are called Tarnished). Why would I do that? Why would I perform a murderous task for a handsome reward? It doesn’t sit well with me.

Sitting next to Lady Tanith and her servant in Volcano Manor
But we can be one happy little family…

For instance, my first task is to kill the NPC Old Knight Istavan in Stormhill. Upon researching on the internet, there is one thing I learned from this quest: You don’t have to kill the NPCs and complete the side quest requested by Lady Tanith. It doesn’t affect the main story. Maybe on my second playthrough, I would complete the questline to learn more about the lore and its story. Currently, I just don’t feel comfortable accepting such a dire task. I still need the NPCs as I don’t play with people online. If you kill them, you can’t summon them. Old Knight Istavan can help you defeat a boss in Coastal Cave early in the game. In the meantime, I just need to continue exploring, beat bosses, kill stuff, and hopefully, it will all make sense at the end because I don’t know what’s going on other than the fact there is a big giant yellow tree, and I feel like I am in a dream–doomed to roam it aimlessly.

sitting and staring at the yellow tree in Elden Ring
Is this heaven or hell?

Elden Ring Impression: I’m the Bored Centaur Who Likes to Explore

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I remember one of my favorite pastimes is exploring the Dark Souls universe and I am surprised by this blog; I discontinued my adventure for Dark Souls prepare to die edition. Should I resume my half-finished journey? That was many years ago when I started dabbing my feet into blogging. Met a few gaming bloggers for sure, but most of them have abandoned their blogs and/or have moved on with their lives. I don’t blame them. All things have an expiration date. Even I deleted my old blog when I lost the motivation and the inspiration to write. My naïve self didn’t realize that by nature, gamers are overall just competitive folks, or perhaps as my friend said, people are just more honest and open to how they really feel online, which most of the time really has nothing to do with anyone but the individual. I wish I understood this sooner. My blogging journey would have been more of a pleasant experience. Writing about my gaming adventures was one of my favorite things about blogging but it’s also the least popular among readers. Somewhere along the way, someone is going to get offended and that is something I cannot control.

So here I am now continuing my adventures. If anyone enjoys this sort of content, welcome. Happy you are joining me. I decided to play Elden Ring. By now, most” hardcore souls/borne fans” have probably already completed the game. Once upon a time, I was a Fromsoftware enthusiast too. I once resonate with the game developer as being a tiny entity that rose from the ground and came on top. It makes a great tale. In fact, it’s a classic tale that works pretty well in video games even in books and it speaks a lot to those who enjoy those types of games. It does give you a sense of tremendous amount of achievement when you defeat all odds. For someone like myself who often got overshadowed by my peers for having neonate features that made me look a lot younger than my actual age, it felt really good to say I beat Dark Souls and got the platinum trophy, although it was my patience more than skills that got me through.

Fromsoftware brands itself for making difficult games and what you buy is what you get. You buy games to get slapped in the face repetitively. Now that doesn’t sound fun. But for some people, they like a good slap in the face, a challenge that reminds them they are not dead. Not just yet. It feels good to feel pain and overcome hardship. Well, that’s just my opinion, but is it?

Quote from an Interview done by The New Yorker

I bet Rooney, the suicidal girl from the survival horror game Nightcry would do well with Fromsoftware games. Only when our lives are threatened, that’s when we fight for it with all our might! Yes, go ahead and laugh at people like me. I suppose me and Rooney are the same. I don’t think I ever said I was sane. I mean “It’s okay to be undead just have a level head,” I quote the Blacksmith from Dark Souls II. Not everyone is fit for this type of game. Not everyone is born with perseverance. So, no hard feelings. Just move on and stop being a hater.

Drawing of Rooney from NightCry
Rooney from Nightcry picture source

So, what there’s not to love about Elden Ring? It’s a massive fantasy open-world game that got me just aimlessly exploring. In fact, I don’t know if I am going to the right place. That is a bit of a problem in my book. I’m not a fan of open-world games. There’s no sequence to anything. I just roam the landscape and pick up plants for crafting. Certain areas made me feel as if I am in heaven. Some pretty sights to see over the cliff by the sea.

Looking over the sea in Elden Ring
I feel as if I am already on top of the world even though I haven’t beat the game yet!
Standing by the bald evil in Elden Ring
Standing next to the bald eagle. At least I got more than one companion. Did I ever mention I love trees?

So far, I defeated a few optional bosses found in the caves; one field boss named Tibia Mariner which wasn’t all that difficult and Margit, the Fell Omen. All the other boss fights are too difficult for my under-level character at the moment. I really don’t want to have to summon other players to help defeat a boss. It can be quite fun if you are into multiplayer games, but not for those who play for the atmosphere. Luckily, you can always summon NPC if it’s available.

I wonder why this game is not called Dark Souls 4? It kind feels like a souls game. Just look at the picture below. I suppose this one feels like you are playing inside a fantasy instead of a fairy-tale book.

Views from the Cave in SIOFRA RIVER
View from the cave in SIOFRA RIVER. I wish I could live there. I am already somewhat of a cave woman anyway.

It’s so magical and I love that! I could just escape to its world and never come back to reality. As I mentioned before in my blog, I love books and games. Plus, the monster designs are actually pretty impressive and fun to battle with.

hawk-like animal in Elden Ring attacking player fiercely
The monsters in Elden Ring feel very real at the same time fantasy-like. If you look closely, it’s clutching two blades with its feet.

It’s like going to a zoo–except that I get to be more interactive and engaging with the environment. How awesome is that? And yet, I still don’t know if I will ever complete the game. All it is, it’s just a polished souls’ game, which is a great thing. However, this game requires massive time investment if you want to enjoy it to its max. And I wonder is that why I had the game sitting on the shelf for almost a year now? I’m not ready to invest my time in it. In the back of my mind, I feel that my time should be used for something else more worthwhile. But at the same time…it’s a great game to pass time.

Avatar sitting in Elden Ring at Castleward Tunnel

The game has a lot to offer, especially if you love to explore; you’re a lover of fantasy; and you love lore. There really is much to love.

To be continued…