Elden Ring: YOU DIED on a horse

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asqWq8MIAWA

I'm reading Russian interviews with Miyazaki and I can't wait to find out what "less annoying" means for invasions (also, invasions!):

https://www.igromania.ru/article/31725/Pogovorili_s_Hidetakoy_Miyadzaki_ob_Elden_Ring._Otkrytyy_mir_multipleer_i_yadovitye_bolota.html?from=mpp

Elder Bling

So unless I misunderstood, it sounds like GRRM's contribution was the back story of the bosses/demi-gods you must face, which sounds fine to me, because it's not like Miyazaki has ever really needed someone's help before, let alone a name ringer.

https://www.ign.com/articles/elden-ring-miyazaki-hidetaka-full-interview-summer-of-gaming

Yeah it sounds like he just wrote the mythology for the world and backstory, split and let From take it from there:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Eldenring/comments/o0680a/miyazaki_famitsu_interview_translation_part_1/

Oops here's a link to the rest of that interview:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Eldenring/comments/o0bvgi/miyazaki_famitsu_interview_translation_part_4/

looks absolutely incredible, sounds like it's trying to deliver on everything you could possibly want from "open world dark souls" and even more (there's a summonable monster collecting mechanic, combat is taking on some aspects from sekiro too), and bc it's fromsoft i believe they can actually pull it off. world design sounds like it's taking a lot from botw while directly addressing the biggest problems i had with it too

there's one more interview out there, in german but it's comprehensible enough with machine translation: https://www.4players.de/4players.php/dispbericht/Allgemein/Vorschau/40800/84122/0/Elden_Ring.html

I mean, it basically looks and sounds like another Dark Souls, which is fine with me.

Dark Souls (or at least some of them) are basically open world games anyway so i'm bout it bout it

Yesss, perfectly happy with how Dark Souls (except with added horse, jump button, wayfinding, stealth, and NPCs moving their mouths) this looks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JldMvQMO_5U

that looks really cool, definite Breath of the Wild things going on with it

Super cool, super glad this is coming out on PS4. Nice to see so much comfortably familiar stuff recycled from Souls/Sekiro games (and borrowed from BotW), plus new stuff.

Witcher RPG structure, Elder Scrolls sprawl, Dark Souls dialogue/lore/design/combat/UI and Breath of the Wild improv/central castle mechanic sounds like just what i'm looking for. just keep the stakes continually high and the procedurally generated shit minimal and you got me.

The summoning spirits thing seems intriguing, as is the absence of health bars and the like in those clips.

Oh the HUD is definitely just turned off for the demo, to make it look more cinematic I'm sure.

Ive never played Dark Souls (the way everyone talks about how hard it is put me off - I dont play games to get MORE stressed out). I love and still play Skyrim and BOTW, would I like this? It looks very nice.

The thing about Dark Souls and all its successors is that they're difficult in a very specific way; it's all about paying careful attention to things like the timing of your own attacks. It's not hard the way a bullet-hell game is hard. It's a slower-paced, almost meditative challenge. I didn't think I liked "hard" games either, but I did get pretty into DS1. I found it frustrating and I did eventually slide off it. A few boss fights aside, I didn't find it "stressful" exactly. YMMV of course.

That having been said, I'd love to see From embrace the recent trend of allowing players a temporary assist if they're stuck, a la God Mode in Hades, or the assist features in Celeste.

I think so? The difficulty of the games is way overstated imo, and this one is sure to be the most user-friendly version so far. It's more that you can't rush through or brute force it, at least not on a first playthrough. And there are so many different ways to approach the game, you can summon helpers and use magic from a distance if you don't want to get deep into the melee combat.

Forks otm...like, I get to enjoy the 'aimlessly riding around on a horse' mechanic of BotW and Red Dead Redemption, except when you get off the horse, it's Dark Souls? Yes please.

xp

Definitely overstated imo.... you mostly just have to pay close attention and remember things, and you're rarely put in a position where you can't take a breath (admittedly the only souls game I've played is demon's on ps3 but they apparently get easier from there)

To expand on X's point, I'd say the "taking a breath" aspect is a huge part of these games, eg. bonfires. The moments of peace and quiet are all the more delicious after having slogged through lugubrious combat

*part of the appeal of these games*

A lot of these games are indeed pretty meditative, in mood and design. They're lonely and emphasize exploration and experimentation. All the dying and setbacks become amusing after a while, with the reward being how easy stuff that once challenged you becomes later on in the game, as if to emphasize, "See? you've come so far!" The only real stress comes with the boss fights, imo, which is where the real challenges lie, with a few specific areas or enemy exceptions here and there. The bosses, on the other hand, both impede progress and are the least forgiving, plus are more or less the only enemies where you can see just how close you are to beating them while still dying. Or, you know dying in just a couple of seconds, which can be frustrating, too. Don't think I found any/many enemies in Dark Souls 1/3 or Bloodborne as annoying or frustrating as many of the enemies in Sekiro, though, but clearly different strokes, etc. Maybe I'm just blocking them out. I'm sure I can find some posts of mine to the contrary.

Also the boss fights are designed to psyche you out with their epic scale and music, but almost all of them are a matter of learning the boss's moves and how to avoid them, and picking your moments.

Yeah, I remember reading a recommendation that sometimes when you hit a wall, just turn off the sound. Though sometimes you miss certain cues when you do that. Regardless of moves or scale or whatever, there will always be some bosses that some people can beat with their bare fists blindfolded the first attempt, but you'll fight 50 times and barely make headway. I tend to get bored after a while more than frustrated, which is another reason to turn down or off the sound.

I definitely turn off the music sometimes (you can do that and leave the sound on).

!

Yeah! Just go into settings and there should be separate volume sliders for music and sound fx.

I never had a PS3 so it was interesting to come to the Demon's Souls remake after playing all the other games. Some of the levels, one bonfire and all, seem monstrously punishing compared to later stuff, but the bosses don't really have any capacity to surprise when you've been through all the more developed, multi-stage/gimmicky ones from later games

I beat most of them in one try so far

Didn't get a network test code :(

Tons of info & videos out there today from people who have early access. I'm trying to avoid spoilers for the most part, except for stuff about the mechanics.

Standing poise (instead of Dark Souls 3-style hyperarmor) = in (not sure how I feel about this)
Powerstancing (ie you can equip two weapons of the same type and get a different dual-wielding moveset) = in
Mixing your own combo potions that can make you explode = sure why not
Solo hosts can't be invaded unless they use a few items = ok, fine
Invaders get a compass to see what direction the host is = sick
Invaders also get an item to quickly vanish from the host's world and reappear nearby = oh my god

It really does seem like a blend of all their games plus a bunch of new stuff, can't wait.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzFR5HsPcng

all sounds cool. I have no problem with spoilers, because not only will I forget by the time I get it, I can't play any of these games without walkthrough help anyway lol.

i have the same problem/gift with forgetting everything! really comes in handy on very rare occasions

Just finished that video and have some thoughts. One, I've never played Dark Souls II because I've ... well, I guess I just skipped it, but I've heard mixed things (and there are essentially two versions of it, for that matter). But it is interesting that some of its elements have made their way to other games, despite its reputation as a disappointment. For example, as I understand it your health can be halved in DS2, and a similar mechanic was brought into Sekiro. And according to this video, power stances from DS2 have made their way to this one, too. Second, I've never used magic in any of these games, because choosing magic is like choosing an entirely different, novel way to play the game, and if you're only going to play it once I'm not sure magic is the way to do it. But maybe it is in this game, because magic looks super cool. Third, I really hope this plays well on PS4 (and other last generation systems), but I have a bad feeling between it being open world and generally newer than the past several From games it might really benefit from the speed and power of newer systems. That's one advantage of (as this video points out) From never being on the tech vanguard, because it means the games generally don't *need* next gen tech to run. (I know Demon's Souls is PS5 exclusive, but those that have played it, do you think it could run on a PS4?)

Anyway, I can already tell there are going to be a lot of funny videos generated by this game.

Oh, also, looks like you don't take fall damage when you jump, which would have been a very perverse thing for From to do, so I'm glad they didn't do it! Or at least, maybe there are height restrictions/allowances? And I like how there is environmental damage that can be done by at least bosses, which I know was in "Sekiro," though I can't recall if it was introduced there.

Demon's Souls is quite a tech showcase, it wouldn't have been able to run at that framerate on ps4, and some of the lighting/particle effects look like they would have been a big stretch too

I like Dark Souls 2 to some degree, some dispiritingly shit world design like the infamous Earthen Peak Elevator Jaunt travesty aside. It's like a difficult 3rd album that isn't among the classics but fits a certain mood when you happen to want it. I found the DLC far too much of a grim slog though

Elden Ring looks unreasonably good, can't wait

This game looks fun, and by early accounts the open world design is supposed to be good, but I can't help but wonder whether the openness actually adds much to the Souls formula. The main draw of the world design in DS1 (admittedly the only one of these I've played) was for me, its labyrinthine density. Eldenringland just looks kinda vast and drab to me.

i was moderately interested in this game, but after watching some of those videos posted above i am now EAGERLY ANTICIPATING. my only problem is i don't have a system for it, and i was leaning toward getting a steam deck rather than a ps5.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9DWTt37khU

Fwiw, both videos note the difficulty of the first mandatory boss.

i showed the game a friend of mine who really likes dark souls, and he seemed to be a bit disappointed at first. i think he was thinking of it as a souls-like game, which, it is in some ways of course, very much so. but just being open world and adding jumping completely changes it. it reminds me of GTAIII or breath of the wild in terms of how those games were a departure from the games they built on

Souls-like.

And something else I was thinking about, given From's propensity for hidden walls/loot/enemies/NPCs/entire levels and/or alternate endgames, I wonder what that portends for an open world game? Gonna be a lot of OCD dudes slashing at every bush, rock or piece of foliage, looking for secret stuff, a la the first Zelda.

To be honest the open world part isn't particularly compelling to me. I do like the idea of all the new handcrafted zones that are the equivalent of large Dark souls areas, and a whole bunch of new build options and mechanics (and invasions, of course).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEypd23I0pQ

here's footage of the PS4 version - it seems like it runs without any serious issues or significant visual downgrades. i got into the network test on PS4 so i'll see how it is in a few hours from now.

i'm not at all concerned about the open world, all the footage of the network test has made it very clear that it's avoiding all the common open world pitfalls (repetitive content, big for the sake of being big, etc.) & is very dense with unique content. there are at least 10 bosses in the network test area alone (which is estimated to be around 1/12 of the full game's map). it's a big change, sure, but i don't think anywhere near as radical a shift as say GTA3 or BOTW were - the core gameplay is still very much the same despite the change in environmental scale.

For example, as I understand it your health can be halved in DS2, and a similar mechanic was brought into Sekiro.

DS2's max health decreasing on death (in increments down to a min of 50%) was more of an iteration on Demon's Souls' mechanic where you lost half your max health when you were in 'soul form' opposed to 'human form', which happened upon dying while human. in both cases, the game was generally balanced around the halved max health, with more than that being a bonus, but it was still kinda presented as a punishment. i think both were intended to give the player another incentive to go into human form, which enabled being invaded as well as summoning other players as well as removing the max health penalty. DS3 improved upon this by having embers, which worked the same way in enabling multiplayer, provide a bonus to your max health instead.

there wasn't any sort of max health restriction upon death mechanic in Sekiro though, and there doesn't seem to be in Elden Ring either.

DS2 is one of the weaker souls games but it's still worth playing. the issues with it are largely that the encounter design isn't quite as tight, the world design is clumsier & it rarely reaches the same sorts of high-point boss fights as the best of the series. i'd still put it above Demon's Souls at least.

i may be a minority opinion here, but i don't worry at all about whether something can run well enough on a certain machine. i can count the number of times i have been bothered by the framerate/slowdown of a game on one hand. i think part of it is that i came to gaming age playing games like LIFE FORCE. the slowdown was part of the game. the bug became the feature. aiming for this perfect-smooth framerate ideal is understandable but also kind of disappointing. it's just different, i guess

blighttown was pretty miserable at times in the original console versions of ds1 due to all the slowdown. it's certainly something to be concerned about & can make experiences much worse. with cross-gen games like this, it does happen sometimes that the last-gen versions are significantly inferior due to cutting corners trying to get the game to run on hardware they weren't focusing on, but that thankfully doesn't seem to be the case here at all.

IDK I think having a smooth frame rate is critical for a game like this where you have to time movements precisely. And while 60 is nice, 30 is perfectly good as long as it stays consistent. I played DS1 on Switch and it runs great!

As a relatively recent returner to games, I've learned my lesson the hard way. When I got "Doom" for the Switch it kinda ran like shit, even after a few updates. The slowdowns definitely affected game play in such a fast paced game, and even things like jumping were impacted. Like, you would run at a couple of spots (even with no enemies) and suddenly things would slow down, right before you pressed jump, and you would fall to your death. But tbf, "Doom" is almost uniquely busy and fast paced, and yeah, I can't think of another game off the top of my head with issues like that.

That said, I sort of suspect at least some of my problems with "Sekiro" were related to the frame rate. Usually I don't notice/care, but that game was all about timing, and while it could have been me (I mean, for sure it was me), it's also possible it was just that much trickier for me at 30fps than it would have been at 60.

I'm happy with Nightreign chat being here. It's all related. And there's not heaps more to talk about the main game and DLC.

I'm Nightreign-curious I must say. If enough Ilxors are interested in playing I could be tempted to buy it

I'm definitely going to be playing, mostly concerned that it'll be too frustrating playing with internet randos.

That was the Cowboy take. Good with friends, not so good with randos. Doable solo, but very difficult. Also, lots of room for improvement all around.

Do people still do those colosseum fights? I remember when the game came out and everyone was all, ooh, a mystery, what can it mean?! And the colosseum turns out to be a colosseum, for arena battles.

I tried. I would wait up to 15 minutes to get summoned, and then get destroyed in about 15 seconds. Never was one for PvP

Nightreign reviews I've seen so far havee been... a little mixed. Baffles me that they wouldn't include crossplay features, or inbuilt voice chat for that matter. Playing on PS5, I guess that wouldn't be too much of an issue, but finding two friends who are equally invested and are on PS and game at roughly the same times as me might be a challenge. It's not a 'no' yet from me - who knows, once it's out it might be the best thing EVAH?!

There's this Duskbloods game coming out for Switch 2 as well, which looks... a bit weird tbh - more like a parody of all the Souls games lumped together, with great dollops of FFVII/Lies Of P-style steampunkery (it's got a train in it)

Yeah, it's like From is testing the waters will all sorts of bad ideas (imo). Battle royale, Nintendo exclusives, online only ...

Yes, and there's that sinking feeling of product glut / fan-service / stack-em-high now that they've struck the big time with ER. I dunno. It's not the first time they've been accused of that, and they've reined it back-in in the past

Tbf, Nightrein seems pretty half-assed, while Duskbloods is a lark. ER movie is just silly all-around. But the return of Armored Core surprised and pleased people, and they've hinted there is more stuff in the works. There are still rumors of a Bloodborne re-release, but that is basically a meme at this point (along with Silksong and GTAVI gags).

There's actually an article sort of about Bloodborne in the NYtimes today: https://archive.ph/ikNU3

Baffles me that they wouldn't include crossplay features, or inbuilt voice chat for that matter.

From has never once had crossplay, doesn't seem like what they want to spend their time & money on (and I'm still glad about the voice chat, even though this does seem like the first game where that could actually be important).

I don't think they're slipping, I just think of these games as the equivalent of releasing experimental EPs after a big album. I'm sure they have a bigger game in the works that's not oriented around multi-player or a sequel. There were rumors awhile back of something focused around magic, and I could see the Nightreign spell system (which has some cool ideas, absorbing elements from enemies/allies and recombining them into spells) being part of that.

I hope the ER movie earns them some free license money (really wonder how that breaks down, actually) that they can parlay into a crazy game.

There were rumors awhile back of something focused around magic

I heard they were working on a single player game with magic, but also other powers/classes, like strength and dex and faith, obscure lore, no saves and with a currency system where you lose everything on death (but you can retrieve it!). Plus random hidden save points that you need to discover.

Ah yes, I forgot about Project Spellbound. Well I guess that's what Duskbloods is. From the looks of it, it doesn't look too different to Bloodborne and/or Lies Of P, whereas I was kind of hoping for a more original than that. Perhaps it's meant to be seen as a spiritual successor to Bloodborne, but there are too many wtf lol things going on in there somehow

lol ok Josh, but I mean like a Soulsborne game where magic is the primary system, and melee is a last resort.

I haven't looked into Duskbloods since I won't be playing it, I guess I assumed that it's based on Bloodborne mechanics and that Project Spellbound is something else, but who knows.

I've said it before, I'll say it again: Team up with Panos Cosmatos and make the FromSoft Mandy game we all deserve.

I haven't played Lies of P yet, but people apparently love the upcoming DLC. And the developers are adding a difficulty level toggle! I wonder, if you're From and you see all these Soulslikes appearing, do you lean in and do it better or do something different? More like "Elden Ring," or more like "Armored Core"? Where do you go after "Elden Ring"? Won't anything smaller seem, well, smaller?

I played the pre-release demo of Lies Of P and I wasn't fussed. It's a steampunk game about Pinnochio, what can I say? Bloodborne for cosplayers and you fight clockwork robots. I also hope they fixed the combat because it felt kind of spongey. That said, a lot of people stand by it - I just can;t see it as anything other than a BB placebo.

I also played the demo of Khazan The First Berserker, which is kind of like Sekiro, combat-wise, but with a much more linear level design similar to Clair Obscur or God Of War. I did enjoy it as a game-qua-game, but I could imagine it dragging on after a while.

I'm almost certain Miyazaki said he wasn't interested in expanding the Elden Ring universe after the DLC, which in a way is a shame as I think there's definitely scope to do more with that universe, and to be honest I'd happily play more expansions if they released it, despite thinking SOTE was just slightly undercooked (it's still great though, I mean...)

Something I'd love to see in an ER-type game is, for example, a more lived-in universe a la Witcher or Red Dead: Much as Leyndell is jaw-dropping, on my way there I'd been secretly anticipating a bustling area full of everyday non-aggressive characters. Imagine if you'd played the game up to that point and suddenly you're in a marketplace and having conversations with people. Obviously it would be tonally off, and turn that bit into a totally different game, but they kind of did it with Volcano Manor. I think there's room for the next FromSoft game ot be a bit like ER but have these zones where it's a lot more RPG-based

Khazan is great. It has some of my favorite combat ever. It’s pretty hard though, even on ‘easy.’

As far as Soulslikes go, a lot of people liked "Lords of the Fallen," especially after they (reportedly) tightened up the gameplay. And people like the Nioh games, but they look pretty hard.

i kinda liked nioh (2 i think) but the fact is with soulsborne games you can kinda just get through them all with hit/block or hit/dodge/parry in the case of bloodborne and no need for any additional sophistication. nioh 2 had a load of progression and alternative effect structures that it put in the way of you continuing. certainly none of the DS games were like that. they’re surprisingly simple. Lies of P looks like an awful bloodborne epigone to me, dl’s use of the word spongey wrt to combat is correct. there is so much attention to getting v basic fundamental stuff in DS not just right but transformatively perfect.

After a few hours of Nightreign, I can report that it is not easy and requires some real strategizing to be in a strong position when you reach the boss (and I haven't beaten the first one yet). Just surviving and leveling up isn't enough, I need to pay more attention to elemental weapons, items, upgrading weapons, etc.

But it is very fun and addictive. That itch to jump back in after a good (but failed) run is problematic because a run takes so long.

I've met some amazing random teammates so far too. Had a good run with a couple, after which they messaged me "my bf and I are looking for a third, want to join us?" First time I've been able to accept that proposal.

Honestly the map is the hardest boss for me, I find it hard to take in all the icons and make sense of it while rushing around, so I've just been following my teammates and hoping they know where they're going. Planning on doing some solo play just to figure out the map.

Clips I've seen make it look like some sort of weird hyper mod. Supposedly someone already modded it for duo play.

Had a good run with a couple, after which they messaged me "my bf and I are looking for a third, want to join us?" First time I've been able to accept that proposal.

haha

It all clicked yesterday and we defeated Cerberus, and it was thrilling. The next run was of course a complete disaster.

Really wish you could all vote to quit out, but I could see that leading to problems if someone doesn't like the map or something.

An aside to that, I've seen people complain that you can't end a day cycle early once you kill a boss? Or however the system works.

It's more that the round doesn't end in defeat unless you all die while fighting an end of day boss, so there can be a long time to wait if you all decide to abort the run. Before that, you revive with a level lost (which can be very hard to recover from near the beginning, especially because the more times you die, the harder you are to revive).

This games sounds like it should have been free.

Nah

enjoying this, there's a charm to how janky it is and the absurdity of running through a from software game at breakneck speed, and jumping off huge cliffs makes it feel like you are playing a hacked version of elden ring. as someone said upthread a good run requires someone to have an one person to be very active in marking the next checkpoint (and likewise two people willing to follow). had a couple of runs getting the three headed dog down to half health. had one run where the levelling down upon death kind of locked me into a spiral of dying again and again which was pretty frustrating. playing on ps4, username is cruiskeenlawn.

sorry, swap out 'someone' for 'a team'

Exactly, I played some more and team dynamics/routing really does seem like the most important thing. I'm more comfortable with the map now and defeated two Nightlords, and got heartbreakingly close with a third.

You're right, not dying sure does help a lot. If you die with a lot of runes and can't get them back then it's hard to recover. There's a similar spiral in boss battles once teammates have died too many times and reach the dreaded '3 revive bars'...the lone surviving teammate turns their attention to hacking away in a futile attempt to revive someone, and they're not looking at the boss who is now fully targeting them. It seems like the ultimate moves are the only way to revive someone in that state.

I've been trying to focus more on upgrading weapons, which requires getting teammates to go into the mines (often they don't want to). I haven't been able to find many Smithing Stones (2), but supposedly random mine enemies have them sometimes?

I also haven't had much luck finding elemental weapons that correspond with the boss weaknesses, so I've had the best luck using relics that give 'starting armament is imbued with X'. I'll use whatever the strongest weapon I find is throughout the run, and then switch back to my starting weapon (even if it's weaker) for the Nightlord, because it makes a huge difference.

Anyway this is definitely not the typical From experience, it's totally different while using the familiar mechanics. I'm having a great time even though my thumbs and pollicis brevis hurt.

Co-op has always been the part of these games I've spent the least time on, I like meticulous solo play or invading (and steamrolling bosses in co-op felt like it robbed me of the classic From experience of a well-earned victory after a lot of defeat and learning). But this is the opposite, it really amps up the thrill of co-op because it's designed around it. When you have a good group and everything is humming along, it's a new type of thrill (or maybe its what seemed possible from playing with friends but I only experienced rarely).

I've been doing a lot of Ironeye, which is what I imagine Doom x Elden Ring would feel like. I always liked the idea of doing an archer in Elden Ring, but hated crafting arrows and relying on a basic attack that can run out.

had a bug the other night where both of the other players dropped out immediately and then none of the locations had any enemies so i simply had to wander round until i could get killed by the first nightlord. bug is a separate issue but seems bad there is no system for avoiding the dropout penalty if you are the only player left!

I’ve put a good chunk of hours into this since release. Had some good fun, playing with randos generally not as disastrous as you might imagine. Took several hours and runs to clear the first boss, really need to luck into a party with someone who knows the game and will take charge to prepare you for him. But it was a pretty thrilling, hard earned victory.

Game opens up after that and you’re almost always put with people who know what they’re doing. Playing the game as optimally as possible. And I’m not entirely sure I love what that looks like?

It’s a total mad dash from site to site, zero time to look at or consider the drops or how you’d like to arrange your gear. Find myself pathetically trying to catch up with my team as they’re zipping across the map, frequently arriving just as they kill a mini-boss. I don’t know the geography well enough to consistently navigate the spaces, so sometimes I’ll be right next to my team and look away for 3 seconds, turn back around and they’re gone. Map says they’re close, but they’ve descended into some hole, cave, or staircase nearby that I have to run around to desperately try to find. It’s a little too manic. I enjoy the boss fights when things finally slow down and feel more Souls-y. Not sure about the in-between.

Also don’t feel like I’m gaining anything significant after a failed run. Your character can equip 3 relics, each of which has 1 to 3 stat boosts, and every run win or lose you get a few of them. But 99% of these suck. Very oddball combination of benefits, some of them so hyper specific they’re useless to just about everybody. I did find you can sell these junk ones off to a vendor for currency to gamble on a new random one. Appreciated system, but overall these need a lot of tuning if they’re the core reward for every run.

Lot of potential here, great base, but it needs some work. And not having a duo mode is indeed a major bummer. Hope that’s in the works.

I'm having a similar experience, but getting used to the map and enjoying it. I can take the lead if necessary, but often I'm lagging behind too.

I'm still working on boss #3, had a perfect run going but one person quit out and we ended up with three sentinels as the night boss. The next one had some unfortunate incidents and we were behind on levels.

I always have such high hopes that all the pieces will come together. And when they don't it's so tempting to jump back in, but I don't have another 40 minutes.

I played a few matches with a friend and during one of them the 3rd, rando party member dropped out early. Probably got a sense of our skill level lol. So we had a run all to ourselves. Actually ended up doing pretty well, died at the boss right before the Nightlord. Wasn’t a blowout either, it was close.

Way more chill and enjoyable experience tbh. And suggests a 2 player mode isn’t some insurmountable balancing challenge. Very frustrating it’s not there.

Btw re: relics, so far I've found that the most useful perk is elemental/status effects for your starting weapon. Then you can actually guarantee you have something that matches up with the boss weakness and upgrade it, even if you only use it on the final boss.

I just read a review that called it a subversion of the From formula. It's fast, there's no time for exploration or reading lore or comparing stats, it's not lonely because it's more or less mandatory to have a cooperative team ...

Yeah it feels a bit profane, but in a fun way. It's also like Gank Squad: The Game, but with a whole bunch of mechanics that make it more challenging and interesting rather than getting to steamroll a meticulously crafted boss fight.

Like, your reward for having excellent teamwork, strategy, and luck in the run is getting to actually steamroll the boss at the end. And there are no shortcuts with premade builds or relying on certain OP gear.

I also haven't had much luck finding elemental weapons that correspond with the boss weaknesses, so I've had the best luck using relics that give 'starting armament is imbued with X'. I'll use whatever the strongest weapon I find is throughout the run, and then switch back to my starting weapon (even if it's weaker) for the Nightlord, because it makes a huge difference.

finally beat the first night lord yesterday evening with the exact strategy as above. had a very lucky run in getting a seal and talisman boosting the same elemental damage, and in managing to upgrade my starting weapon twice before the 2nd night boss. good teammates also an important factor.

curious about the shifting world element, am I basically going to have to ditch my team to go explore this crater area or does everyone usually head there as a team anyway?

I've never gotten anyone to go into the crater. :( Or at least we've only gotten as far as the first Fallingstar Beast before having to leave, even though I was trying to get everyone to run past it.

I was having a really good one yesterday, but night 2 I got stuck in the rain on the way to the boss and lost 120k runes, was hopelessly under-leveled for the nightlord. After the night 2 boss I seriously considered running back out into the rain to try and get them, but that probably would have ended in embarrassment.

I keep reading the relics as 'Great Drizzly Scone'

Finally had a perfect run tonight, with two Ironeyes and a Revenant. Even made it to lvl 14 without much trouble.

There really are so many little mechanics to learn that makes a difference, and are also different from ER. Like, I had been two-handing my bow, but in this game you don't get a bonus for that so there's no reason not to have an off-hand weapon (and this time it was one that kept spawning a phalanx of glintblades over my head).

It's amazing how a boss can feel like an impossible wall if your team is slightly underleveled and wasn't able to upgrade your weapons properly, vs how it can feel like nothing if you're level 13+ with a +2 weapon, along with some good team synergy (and having fought the boss a few times helps with dodging attacks, as has always been so).

Yeah, I'm having more fun with this the more I learn the ins and outs. There really is just a lot to learn to maximize the effectiveness of your character. And what sites are worth hitting depending on where you drop in and what day/level you're at. Getting some better relics via remembrance questlines and a few boss clears has helped too.

Do hope that 2 player option is in the works, the one friend I have playing this doesn't have a lot of available game time so he's a little behind on the mechanics. Don't feel like having that 3rd rando in the party who is either calling the shots or waiting on us to call the shots is the ideal way to teach someone the game. Can't really take your time and explain stuff without feeling like you're ruining someone elses run.

From stealth-dropped a bunch of fun Nightreign updates without including them in the patch notes, including a much harder version of one of the bosses that starts on phase 2 and goes to a crazy phase 3. I wonder if the other hard versions will rotate or be added cumulatively? Really hope it's the latter.

How is Nightreign holding up for you guys, generally and out of interest? I have, like, one good mate who says she'd be up for playing it but only if we could find a third friend with the will and dedication

Honestly enjoying it way more than I thought I would, especially the pre-made characters aspect. It lets them change and stretch the mechanics in cool ways that they couldn't do otherwise. Creating a 'build' on top of that on-the-fly takes some getting used to, but gets easier the more you do it.

A friend of mine complains about how same-y certain aspects of the runs are (the main map, people hitting the same progression of camps > castle > etc). But for me it provides just enough consistency to feel like I have a plan, and I still haven't scratched the surface in terms of learning the different characters. Maybe I'll feel differently after I've finished all the bosses (2 to go I think, not counting the current superboss?) and I'm doing them again with different characters, but I'm into it. And after the initial rush it feels satisfying to just do one run per day, win or lose.

It also seems like people are getting the hang of going solo. I've toyed with it, for me it felt much more approachable after doing a bunch of multi-player to get used to the flow. And it's kind of nice to be able to make all of the decisions yourself.