Poll: Did You Buy Elden Ring?

Will probably be on Horizon for a while, but planning to tackle this next. Although all the performance reviews might make me hold off a bit longer, either for a patch, or a decent mod on PC.

I never understood everyone's love of punishment while playing these games. Great for fans, but I don't have time to get nowhere in a game.

I haven't bought it yet but I plan to. I'm too busy with Horizon Forbidden West atm. 20 Hours in and I'm overwhelmed with the massive scale of content.

My initial plan was to play and finish Horizon Forbidden West until Elden Ring comes out. I had no idea how gigantic HFW actually is.
Elden Ring has to wait. I go to find a way to get GAIA functional again.

I don't understand the hype. It looks like another dark fantasy game. Why not just play Witcher 3?

Just bought it at the store where I work lol. Can't play until later tonight when I get home. Finished every souls game and got the plat for Sekiro, can't wait to get my ass handed to me again.

@Ilovecoffee I haven't played ER yet but I'd argue that TW3 and ER are competely different games

Yap. 4 hours of gametime and only now I've defeated the first boss (not the first main boss, Margit, one in some cave) but I had to summon two guys to help. I'm having fun but damn I am bad....

I did, Robert, yeah. It'll be my first FromSoft Souls game and probably too difficult for me. But it sounds like a good time to try the series out.

@Ilovecoffee because witcher 3's control, combat and main plot are mediocre.

@Ilovecoffee let's apply this lazy logic, elsewhere. Why bother with gt7, there are six others. Why bother with any shooter, we have cod. Why bother with rift apart, we have the other r&c games. Why bother with ANOTHER mario or fifa or metal gear or resident evil or..

Yes, I pre-ordered. Currently stuck on a hard boss, blocking all progress of me getting to the store to pick up my copy.

I have Demon’s Souls on PS5, but still haven’t got round to it. Is it bad that I still want to buy, and play, Elden Ring before I do? Currently 15hrs into Horizon Forbidden West and the more I play it, the more I love it. Maybe I’ll get Elden Ring once I’m done with it.

Nah. I decided to get my frustrating punishment elsewhere, like trying to run or climb with Aloy without getting stuck.

@bimboliquido

I tip my hat to you, sir.

I arrived home and it was waiting for me. Now it will have to continue to wait because I need to make dinner.

I suddenly feel a takeaway coming on.

I had it pre-ordered but I won't be getting to it for a while.

I have a MIGHTY NEED! To keep playing Horizon.

I'll pick it up after I finish Horizon.

It Basically eats all my free gaming time right now, so no point in buying anything else.

Back to back top tier AAA games is a great "problem" to have 😀

Because of its difficulty I won't ever buy this game and I honestly don't think I'm missing out. Though in the future I may rent the game just to say I've tried it atleast

@bimboliquido know the problem all to well it took me 1,5 hours to create a character with DS2. 🤪

Actually I think at least for the beginning this is easier than Bloodborne in my experience. It feels like DS meets Skyrim and I'm guessing that's where the hype is coming from and for real, it's hard to put down, you want to keep exploring everywhere. It's their typical simple graphics but with a lot of art we've come to know FromSoftware. Every game can't be the same and have all the sharp heavy textured graphics, it's beautiful as it is.

I like the thought of this game but I’ve never managed to finish a From Software game. Still battling away at Sekiro years later. Glad people are enjoying it but it’s not for me.

No chance I’ll ever play another FromSoftware game. They are ridiculously hard. I played Bloodborne and hated it. Since I’m not a glutton for punishment I’m going to pass.

@Rural-Bandit This is Fromsoftware though.

Not a PS studio.

Yet.

Royal mail in my area have failed me again with my pre order, hopefully get it tomorrow then, still enjoying horizon so I'm still happy

@Uncharted2007 The same reason people love to go against the top players in something. People enjoy the challenge.

Personally Ghost of Tsushima's low difficulty was turn off. I don't like my brain to be almost completely turn off in a video game. I rather watch a movie if it doesn't promote the interactivity of it.

Hell yes. Plying at at the moment

Had it pre-ordered, will start it up this evening, played quite a few souls type games last year, but got a bit burnt out with them, have had a little rest from them, hopefully this one will feel fresh.

Not my type of Game. Even though I love Fantasy based games, I want to play a game to have fun.....not throw the controller out the window!!! For those who love these types of games, enjoy!

15 hours in (i got it early) and so far it absolutely lives up to the hype, it's exceptional.
It feels like BOTW but with Dark Souls' combat and atmosphere.
I can't see another game topping this for a very long time, not even BOTW2

I am about 5 hours in and... I really am not feeling it at all.
It's so empty and boring.
I am a huge fan of BotW. I am a huge fan of the Souls games. I wanted to love this so much and it's a real struggle so far.

Yes! That first mounted enemy just tore me a new one.

I finally found a game I could sink my teeth into, and it wasn’t Elden Ring or Horizon Forbidden West. Surprisingly, it’s Jurassic Park Evolution. Bought it a while ago, and finally decided to devote a few hours to it. Now I can’t get enough! I just love that feeling when I finally “get into” a new game. And, I hate that feeling of floundering when inbetween games and can’t seem to get into anything.

Anyway, I have too many games in the backlog right now. I’ll wait till Elden Ring and HFW drop in price, and then they’ll probably end up in the backlog, too. 😂

@patronmacabre

Agree the world is so empty and boring was expecting a great story but all I can think is What story?

It never seems to have evolved from the earlier games, the character models look poor it's not awful but it's not one of the greatest games made.

If other games had the framerate and hadn't evolved from earlier games they would be ripped a new one but this gets a pass.

Checking cex website it's surprising just how many copies they have I think this could drop in price quickly.

@Uncharted2007 not that hard once you get the hang of it

@suikoden

I was big into the Souls games from 2015 to 2017, but I recently played Demon's Souls and still adored it. Hell, I even really liked Dark Souls II. But Elden Ring is just... so boring.

I think it's the lack of any real forward momentum. I know the open world makes it more accessible because you can go wherever, but at some point I need to know when I need to just tough it out and beat this boss.

And like, I know visual design is more important than graphics. But FromSoftware isn't Atlus and they can't offset older tech with explosive colors. The game looks and runs like it was from 10 years ago.

I am still hoping I like it after a really rough start, but it's a struggle that I have never experienced before with their games.

@Uncharted2007 I'm not a fan of punishment. I like the challenge the games provide and I have fun whilst playing them.

Seems to be a great game. But not my type as I don't have the patience to learn all the moves, attack patterns etc. I just want to enjoy stories or games with mindless fun even if they are beat/ shoot 'em up.

I have high blood pressure, not my thing.

Will definitely get it.so many games to play. Nioh 2 with all the dlcs is another amazing game.word up son

@Rural-Bandit Well like you said it. They're coming. Games take years now. Could be asking the same thing for Xbox but with SP games, but I know they'll coming so it's not necessary to say it anymore.

They have 10 multiplayer games coming and I bet 5 of those are shooters (Firewalk, Factions 2, Deviation, Guerrilla and Bungie's game).

No . not into these type of souls/skyrim/bloodborne/diablo , mythology dark ages type games . the closest i ever was interested in some type of mythology game was the classic god of wars & that’s mainly because it was a hack-n-slash platformer

Probably at some point. But it's not a priority. Especially with multiple games coming out in the next couple of months I'm looking forward to grabbing.

@Ilovecoffee have you ever played The Witcher And any from software game prior saying that?

Just waiting for payday (next monday) and this baby will be mine...cant wait!

Indeed i did..i've been playing it for the past 3 hours and its everything i hoped it would be..frame rates a bit iffy here and there but its not that bad..oh what a weekend i have ahead of me..

I'll get the game sometime in the future.
I've only played bits and parts of other FromSoft games, but never beat one.

The game is way beyond my expectation. Playing since launch and thinking about it all day long when not playing. It is basically Dark Souls: Breath of the Wild: Adult version (without papermade weapons)... So it is basically what I always wanted for a souls like.

I had it preordered on PC since 2 months ago, and I've been waiting for it for even longer.
But given the issues it's currently having on this platform, I'll concentrate on Horizon FW for now.
I've been patient so far, I'll wait a bit longer. As soon as From Software releases a patch to remedy the current bugs, I'll get into it (I bet it won't take them more than 1 week or 2... just enough for me to finish Aloy's journey west)

Shame it's in such a crummy launch state. I'm just not sure how sooo many publications gave this game perfect marks. Regardless of concept if the game isn't technically sound that needs to count for something. The entire industry seems to ride From pretty hard...don't get me wrong I loved demon souls OG and bloodborne a lot but reading about all the crashes, unstable framers, save fails etc just makes me wonder how this game reviewed so well. I think the concept of From and GRRM combined had the entire industry fanboying over this game. I guess once Horizon FW is in my rear view I will find out myself...or hopefully it's just been patched several times in the next several weeks and becomes a more stable game.

Yep, I bought it on a whim. Needed something new, already done with Horizon Forbidden West.

Thankfully it arrived yesterday, put nearly 15 hours in and its amazing as expected!

Trying cyberpunk for the first time now. It's very good, so I'll finish first. But Elden ring is on my radar.

Not interested at all, to be honest. And not because of the difficulty, but I always struggle to get into FromSoftware games because of having to go look for the story/plot.
Unless this one is different? I loved Nioh, mainly because I loved the setting, but the story was there, you didn't need to go find some item to read the lore.
And I've read a few comments (and even in the review) that said that the open world aspect wasn't well used at all.

pre-ordered, never played any previous souls games

Played and beat Sekiro. Great game, but I am now retired from these types of games after that nightmare…

I put 10 Hours into it on day 1........ Time just flew away.....

@Nyne11Tyme ps4 pro is technically sound. Looks lovely, runs without a hitch

So, I'm ashamed to admit it. But I bought it day 0, played for an hour, and then immediately refunded it on steam. Despite playing and loving Bloodborne, I really didn't end up enjoying the hour I played. It might just be me getting older, but I just dont have the patience to deal with these types of games anymore.

To me all their games are literally same game reskinned.

I'll pass like every other game in the souls genre. I didn't enjoy Demon souls, Dark souls and Nioh because of their high difficulty. I found them the waste of time, keep dying and dying, and no progressing.

@UltimateOtaku91 Even by renting, the game might be a torture, not fun.

im not good at souls-like games. but hey, its my new ps5, lets get a new game.. plus its my birthday! buys game.. installs.. plays. oh look, starting enemies are easier than demons souls and bloodborne! oh look, now im outside and i see trees and castles! oh look, a big golden knight on a horse. hi mr knight, are you friendly? YOU DIED

oh look, a cave across that pond! GIANT CRAB. ok im safe in the cave... oh look, scrawny weak enemies mining in a cave! one stands up, ends me in 1 hit

sneak past pond so crab dont wake up... on my way across a swamp... DRAGON LANDS. run for my life, to some old ruins. hah! weak skeleton thingies! i can do this... MANGEY RABID DOGS AND RATS SURROUND.

ehh.. ok.. im gonna go watch tv a while. at least i can "win" doing that i guess.

TBH I completed Demon souls and now I'm playing Dark souls remastered which is mind blowing, but I also find it a little overwhelming at times.

I'm taking a rest from the souls games for a while but I will play Elden Ring sometime in the future. I'll probably play DS2 and 3 first, so it's a long way away.

The only criticism I have of Dark souls remastered is it takes over your life, unlike any other game I ever played. I get up in the morning and it's what I'm thinking about. It's crazy.

@marnelljm
Sekiro is not really a souls game.

Yeah I bought it; straight up. Strange to think I’m in the minority here

Pre-ordered it as a birthday present for my kid last month, picked it up today, going to pick up the kid now. I may give it a go to see if I can get past the tutorial dungeon then see how fast I can ride my horse away from danger.😂

@Uncharted2007
It's not about punishment, it's about exploration with traps and enemies.

@Uncharted2007 If you can play a multiplayer game or a grindy game, then it's not too much of a stretch. The most important thing for these games is the load times. I usually feel the same way, but I tried Sekiro and I really loved it even though I died a lot. I think because the gameplay is so good and fair I didn't mind so much going back for more. I started playing hard games again with Nioh. I'm a stubborn type of person, so even though I knew it would take a long time, I always knew that I would beat it eventually. Knowing that you will overcome even the toughest challenge and then actually doing it is the most rewarding thing in games.

Pre-ordered it and I'm enjoying the exploration. It feels rather fresh to go open-world with a souls game though once you enter a dungeon or castle, that's the time it feels much closer to the previous souls games. Anyway, I'm not going to rush Elden Ring, I want to be absorbed by its open environment like BoTW and Arceus.

Yep! Standard Edition. Been farming the Gate Ruins guys. Got my controllers charged, a bottle of Buchanan's the 15 year one and a decent amount of Sour Desiel. I am ready for a night of grinding!

Yep had it pre-ordered and so far its been brilliant.

Yeah I've dropped a couple of hours and am willing myself to go to bed as I'm working this weekend. There's something about coming across a little dungeon in the world or an npc out of nowhere that's fantastic.

Currently I'm playing through Greedfall, and Tiny Tina is on preorder for next month so I wont be picking this up. Have only played the Demon Souls Remake which was fun though.

I’ve learned that Fromsofware games are not for me….twice. I love open world games not for the stories but for the exploration and that damn map looks so good but at the same time I’m watching streams and remember why I should not touch this

Uhh yeah... It's utterly fantastic! 💕
I still can't get over how close it feels to the Dragon's Dogma sequel we never got 🤤

@Brutal how are you finding Greedfall? I quite enjoyed it for a budget RPG. Spider's (the developer) new game looks pretty sweet too!

From software games were never that difficult for me, there are several strategies that players can discover to deal with a problematic area or enemy, this is part of the fun. In fact, after you play a souls game, many others without a decent challenge became boring. I preorder but my copy was not delivered yet. I hope it will arrive tomorrow.

Yeah. I couldn't make time for it today since I was still completing my previous game (Zero Dawn), but it'll probably be the first thing I do tomorrow.

As for other From Soft games, I've got 100% on the four Souls as well as Sekiro, but I haven't played Bloodborne yet.

I had it pre-ordered and tried it a bit. I'm already stuck on the first boss in the open world 😅. It's pretty good though. Basically just open world Dark Souls.

@Ilovecoffee We already have and this is different. Also Witcher 3 gets its PS5 upgrade this year. That's when I'll play it again.

Got it and beat the boss in the 1st cave i came across. The one with the wolves in. Took me a good few times tho. Best thing about it for me is the frequent check points. Its hard to figure out enemy level tho without giving them a whack only to find youve hardly touched them. Time to run!

@steizgr8 Maybe you can explain it to me as I don’t see how this game is so much better than any other modern souls game. I’ve put around 5 or so hours into it and it’s souls in an open world but the mechanics are barely better and nowhere near what games like Horizon and BotW offer. I’m constantly wishing I could climb. Yet, this stone is 2 inches too tall.

Unlike the companies that fart out annualised military shooters and cynical ‘game as service’ abortions, FROMSOFT never disappoint, and don’t add predatory features like micro transactions or obnoxious in-game currencies.
I was more happy to pre-order Elden Ring. It’s absolutely amazing and one of the best games I’ve played in years.

@Ilovecoffee they’re not even remotely similar games.

No and no.
No PS5 (can't get one. Can't get an XSeX either)
Never played any Dark Souls.

If I ever get a next gen (next gen for me, I have a PS4) I'll get it when it is on sale.

I’ve never beaten a FromSoftware game. I liked Sekiro, hated Bloodborne. I played the original Dark Souls a bit. Wasn’t a huge fan of it.

So I have a little experience with the games but I’ve never finished one. In the case of Bloodborne I was trading that game in a week after I got it. Dark Souls I put a little more time into but ended up burning out on it. I borrowed Sekiro from a friend of mine and thought it was really good. But it wasn’t long after that that I ended up trading my PS4 in on a Switch. So gave it back to him.

I’m not buying this any time soon. Maybe later this year when the big sales start and I can get it on a discount. Don’t want to pay full price and regret it. Like I did Bloodborne.

@CthulhuFhtagn Woah, the main plot? TW3 has one of the best plots and stories of any game I've ever played! Holy cow.

Personally, I have no interest in Elden Ring or anything like it because the combat in TW3 is about as hard as I'm able to handle. Even playing through it twice, I had to switch to easy mode to get through some of the boss fights. So the extreme stuff is just way out of my pay grade, and it has no appeal to me anyways.

I pre-ordered Elden Ring, but had no chance to play it.

Why?

BECAUSE RUSSIA STARTED A WAR IN MY COUNTRY.
I'm from Kyiv, Ukraine.

@mrbone I'm kind of in the same boat as you. I would love to play Elden Ring and would probably be decent at it, but I only have about an hour or so after work to play and it would take me forever to get through this game.

@lolwhatno On an Rtx 3070, all settings on high at 1440 p, my experience has been mostly smooth. There are definately frame pacing issues in the overworld but they are not frequent enough to take from any of this amazing experience. Most of the issues are when you are in the overworld, so when you're in a dungeon all of the issues go. Now I'm 18 hours in and what can I say, this EXPERIENCE, holy crap, and some of the vistas from the hidden areas in this game are "dream like", I haven't even fought the first major boss yet, I'm still exploring everything in the first area and I'd say I'm only about 2/3 of the way exploring that. Must buy everyone, the framerate issues aren't enough to stop this "once in a generation" experience. I can see this game in my top 3 games of all time, certainly my favourite From Software game. Everyone should play this game completely blind, it will enhance the experience so much and if you ever get stuck somewhere, put a marker on your map and go back to it, there are so many places you can go to get new gear and level up. Then you can go back to that boss and probably kill it in 4 hits!

@lolwhatno if you like the souls games you are going to like this..its got a few issues but nothing thats made me want to stop playing it..i had to go and get some sleep at some point around 2am but i'm dedicating this weekend to it..the wifes on notice for dog walking duties and i'm having a golf free weekend (damn this game is that good) so i hope you can get it soon..maybe ask one of these unhappy campers if they want to donate their copy seeing as they dislike it so much..

@Blacksmith1985 damn.. stay safe, hope this all ends soon (in a good way) and that your life returns to the kind of normality where video games are an option again - not because video games are important, but because war sucks

I’ve only played a couple hours so no idea if it’ll live up to the hype, even as a big Souls fan, but loving what I’ve played so far. It’s got the same DNA as the other games but definitely feels new at the same time.

@Blacksmith1985 Your situation puts a lot of these comments into perspective. Stay strong, the UK is behind you, I do wish we could do more, but that madman has his finger on the button.
He wants the west to intervene.
Ukraine will survive.

@gloamin I wasnt expecting much tbh but its really got me quite hooked. It has its issues but im really enjoying it.

@danlk1ng @danlk1ng @lolwhatno, thanks guys.

Picked up my copy yesterday, but won't get to play it for a few weeks yet (Horizon & work).
All the best to everyone in the Ukraine, I can't imagine what you are going through.

@Blacksmith1985 our thoughts and wishes are with you all dude..stay safe..

@TheRedComet just FYI: I also never managed to complete any of Fromsoft's other games (still loved them regardless) but so far Elden Ring seems to be way more approachable and "completable" rather than seemingly impossible.

Your average enemies are much easier to slay, Super fast loading (PS5), fast travel and the new mount help keep momentum when you die or decide to tackle a new area. Progress tends to be much quicker throughout the game, finding new biomes, dungeons etc. The hardcore difficulty is left for the boss fights and I guess they're best done with friends as usual.

But yeah, I've heard many other people say that this one is much easier to sink your teeth into, even if you're a newbie or casual fan. I would have to agree. Definitely keep an eye out for a sale in th futuren 😉

Nope. Don't have the guts.

Zero interest in this game, or the other Souls games. Definitely not for me.

The problem is that I am just not good enough. I tried the Dark Souls games and Bloodborne and it’s just frustrating. FromSoftware Games are the only games I can’t get trough.

16 Hours in (On PC) a few stutters here and there but other than that my play so far has been great. I think I'll be playing this for the next 3 months. I can't understand those saying its empty, Its packed full every where you look. If you want the old Souls formula just follow the main path and grind out the bosses until you have the patterns down. I fell of HZD to play BOTW and same has happened again. I don't think I'll finish HFW till summer is over. For me this is good enough to win GOTY any year. I think its only GTA5 and BOTW that have been this good.

Currently sitting at the number 12 spot of best reviewed games of all time, on any system. Dang.

@TooBarFoo i dont understand their issues either..sotc one of the most regarded games of all time on the ps2 and the subsequent remakes all empty...devoid of anything except the namesakes but jeez say anything bad about those little gems and out come the pitchforks and tar barrels..now i'm not knocking sotc as i really enjoyed it on my ps4 and i'm intending to revisit it someday on my ps5 but all this knocking elden ring for being empty? Double standards me thinks..

@lolwhatno
I'm not gud at playing video games, eventhough I've tried to git there for over 3 decades now.

Bought it Friday and have started twice hahahah!

Having a great time 20 hrs in and just staggered how big it is!

@lolwhatno
I actually have the Demon's Souls remake installed on my PS5. I'll give it a go when I'm done with Horizon Forbidden West. No interest in Gran Turismo 7 so I'll be able to clear my backlog a bit before the next big release.

Metacritic user score dropped to 7.6 which it seems fair given the numerous technical problems.

@lolwhatno
Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.

@Fragile "It's only the gaming event of the century" not with all those bugs and framerate problems it's not especially with it being a AAA game and from has porting problems still after all these years. traversal is kinda weak too. no variety just a horse. no story whatsoever. just dark souls 4 but open world. Not really good enough and I think it probably should have had another short delay.

Good, not great.