Elden Ring & Why My Stubbornness Will Keep Me Trying New Things
Elden Ring released yesterday, and while I wasn’t initially planning on picking it up until I saw it was named ‘one of the best reviewed games in modern history’. How could I pass it up?
I need to firstly clarify I have never played a game like this before. Not Dark Souls, Demon Souls, Bloodborne, Sekiro - NOTHING. I had always knew them as being difficult games, but never understood the full extent of how unforgiving they are.
Until I streamed Elden Ring last night.
Thankfully I had some amazing support, advice and words of encouragement from the chat while I played. From the get-go this game was not messing around. It really just throws you in and is like ‘“shoo, go explore and just see what happens” and what happens is that you die. A lot.
I came across an amazing thread on Twitter by @miracleofsound that I wish I had seen before I started playing, because I wasn’t sure what to expect going into my first Souls game. All I wanted to do was just fight everyone I saw, and if I couldn’t kill them the first time I just tried again.
And again.
And again.
And maybe just ‘once more because I almost had it’.
But this formula of stubbornness wasn’t going to fly, and I know you probably expect me to say that I learnt my lesson last night. But I didn’t. Kind of.
We need to address my stubbornness, especially when it comes to video games. Combined with my competitive streak, it’s an interesting combination. I have this one particular thought in my head that nags at me whenever I try something new, and it’s “if other people can do this, you should be able to!”
I know, I know. It’s not a good quote to live by. Unhealthy, even.
But I do think it’s what encourages me to try new things and keeps me persevering through getting something done, like finishing a game. I think about all the games I never thought I would try and ended up enjoying, like the horror in Resident Evil, point-and-clicks like Unpacking, or a rogue-like game like Hades. I am so proud of myself that I kept going with those titles, and some have become one of my favourite games of all-time. I’m quite open-minded because of this, and it’s why I would never turn down a new game or genre I’ve never played before.
If you’re here to read about what I thought about Elden Ring, I’m going to keep it super short on my thoughts and experiences so far as I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface.
The game is super intimidating initially with all the different attributes and points you have to level up for your character but once I wrapped my head around it, I actually loved how detailed it was. I’m still learning the ins and outs of the inventory and equipment interfaces because there is so much information to take in, but I would imagine it all comes with time.
The combat is really fun, and as an astrologer I get to use magic which is have thoroughly enjoyed so far. I’m still getting used to the parrying, but mixing up the use of the sword and the staff keeps things really interesting. I learnt that I need to get into the habit of ‘locking on’ to enemies because I quickly learnt how important it was when trying to engage efficiently.
It’s fair to say I have a long road ahead of me in Elden Ring, but I know that I still want to give it my full time and attention to get me past that learning curve when it comes to these Souls games and who knows? Maybe this genre will end up becoming another favourite of time. Only time will tell.
