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Jan. 20th, 2025 08:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kradeelavsomething else really interesting about elden ring's gameplay is even when there's an option to cheese a boss - it doesn't usually feel like breaking the game/cheating/glitching; there's some kind of subtle environmental hint that you're encouraged to use if you're getting obliterated.
let's take the pre-big-boss fight in leyendell for example. (golden spirit guy with a huge honking axe you fight indoors).
his moves are huge sweeping axe swings, and he's fast/aggressive/jumps from really far. extremely difficult for most builds. but there's a little alcove under a balcony with 8 or so columns that you can place in between yourself and him to delay those jumps just so, and whittle him down with arrows. a lot of time elden ring's boss fights are super minimal in settings, so the devs absolutely put that alcove there intentionally to give you slack.
so many times i get obliterated by a boss a few times and think "okay, i was going in with no plan. what's the intended plan here." and then it clicks into place. scarlet rot arrows on a difficult boss that's heavily hinted to be weak to scarlet rot, charming-spirits-to-be-allies-and-siccing-them on an enemy spirit caller, etc. it really is one of the few combat-oriented RPG's that has made me think of tactics when you hit a wall of difficulty in brute-forcing them.
ER does that "suggesting" thing a few times elsewhere in visual themes (morgott reverting to "normal human stature" instead of being 16ft tall in-battle is such an interesting example) that i can see why this series has been a staple classic.
let's take the pre-big-boss fight in leyendell for example. (golden spirit guy with a huge honking axe you fight indoors).
his moves are huge sweeping axe swings, and he's fast/aggressive/jumps from really far. extremely difficult for most builds. but there's a little alcove under a balcony with 8 or so columns that you can place in between yourself and him to delay those jumps just so, and whittle him down with arrows. a lot of time elden ring's boss fights are super minimal in settings, so the devs absolutely put that alcove there intentionally to give you slack.
so many times i get obliterated by a boss a few times and think "okay, i was going in with no plan. what's the intended plan here." and then it clicks into place. scarlet rot arrows on a difficult boss that's heavily hinted to be weak to scarlet rot, charming-spirits-to-be-allies-and-siccing-them on an enemy spirit caller, etc. it really is one of the few combat-oriented RPG's that has made me think of tactics when you hit a wall of difficulty in brute-forcing them.
ER does that "suggesting" thing a few times elsewhere in visual themes (morgott reverting to "normal human stature" instead of being 16ft tall in-battle is such an interesting example) that i can see why this series has been a staple classic.
