My friend and I were just talking about this. We said that in base game you become the Elden Lord. In the DLC you’re ascending to God Status. Becoming a god isn’t supposed to be easy.

@KenobiStark1

5 күн бұрын

Damn, I really like that perspective. I absolutely agree. I’m feeling pretty godly beating these bosses.

@apolloisnotashirt

5 күн бұрын

Poetically beautiful.

@apolloisnotashirt

5 күн бұрын

I like to think in the base game you are picking up the pieces of Marika's fractured Order and putting it all back your way. And in the DLC you are proving why you are the Elden Lord. I wish this DLC isnt the end of Elden Ring, would be down for one where we basically help Ranni Bolster the Moon's rule.

@v0x712

5 күн бұрын

​@@apolloisnotashirtfor that ranni dlc I'd have to assume we do her ending

@apolloisnotashirt

5 күн бұрын

@@v0x712 oh yeah right, my bad. Then that would mean for the sake of lore and gameplay consistency, any content that takes place in the future will still have to be an age of fractured. Maybe in the future of The Lands Between it would show Ranni's age actually being good for a while but still losing to a bunch of other factions and ages.

FWIW, Marika's homeland wasn't abandoned, it was genocided. The hornsent killed everyone and chopped them up to be put into jars and made into saints. Marika's destruction of the Land of Shadow was retribution for this, an act of revenge.

@dannye7612

4 күн бұрын

Wait you're telling me the jar factory inside Shadow Keep is a product of the Hornsent? Sources?

@CreativeUsernameEh

4 күн бұрын

So Marika was a Goddess fueled by vengeance :( Honestly fck her why are we stuck with her?

@stagenine4702

4 күн бұрын

@@dannye7612 oh idk maybe there's a jar factory under belurat named "belurat gaol" and "bonny gaol" is next to "bonny village" which is populated by hornsent? Or what about the Lamenter's gaol which a lamentor is the boss of said dungeon and it's a hornsent creature that torments the jar beings? If circumstantial evidence isn't enough, let's take a look at the tooth whip's description, it reads "Whip bestrewn with rotting, misshapen teeth. Filthy and seething with disease, the teeth are embedded in the whip and dose the victim with deadly poison upon each strike. As the wounds ripen they grow inflamed and ooze pus. The flesh of shamans was said to meld harmoniously with others." Marika hails from the shaman village (evidenced by the golden braid being found there and the description noting it as a lock of marika's hair) meaning her people is likely the shamans the tooth whip is mentioning. You also have two random tree sentinels both with marika's blessings posted right outside the shaman village and that's not supposed to be a coincidence.

@DAsrada

3 күн бұрын

Essentially, it represents a persecuted religion growing more powerful - and turning into a supremacist religion. To the extent it itself persecuted those who persecuted them. The Christians were persecuted by the Roman Polytheists. Fast forward a few centuries, and any who believed in the old ways were burned, tortured and slain.

@inferno1217

3 күн бұрын

@@dannye7612 thats not a jar factory, thats a triage.

Finding the one Messmer Soldier who’s completely broken about being abandoned in the Shadow Realm, that even made me sad haha.

@nomore3115

5 күн бұрын

where is he?

@vugetunks

5 күн бұрын

Where????

@Diesalot-sc9qz

5 күн бұрын

@@nomore3115Castle Ensis

@KenobiStark1

5 күн бұрын

@@vugetunks Castle Ensis, like right in the beginning after you fight that hippo. He’s a spirit kneeling on the floor saying something like “Marika, you wouldn’t banish your own blood” or something. Being left there must’ve felt awful.

@eldensquall6158

5 күн бұрын

Generation Z are the worse when it comes to working hard to get through obstacles. The dlc is hard AF but gets easier if you roam around the world, just like base game. Sekiro is way worse and harder.

Been trying to piece together the whole consort thing. But I just can't shake the thought of what Alexander and little Jar Bairn really looked like. And the unsettling visage of Metyr.

@TheHi-NoteFunClub-BeatsByMike

5 күн бұрын

Though the "standard" use of consort implies a husband or wife, the other, general relationship consort defines is "companion". I've been thinking Marika gave up her companion husband, Godfrey, and absorbed that "relationship" into herself via Radagon. So instead of two beings, separate, the sum of their union also created/brought into being something greater, a third thing, a part of but also separate from their individual components - not a duality, but a trinity, with the Golden Order playing the part of the "holy spirit"... i.e. the Golden Order being the ACTUAL new God/worshipped religion in the world - she went all in on the, uh, selfish route to accentuate her genocidal approach and said "the Lands Between may need me to have a consort, but I don't feel that need... I, and I ALONE. AM. GOD... and since my ex decided to marry my greatest enemy, Imma just make him me... Consort problem solved... couldn't be me, Marika, making the Lands Between's problems that much worse... After all, by my greatest will's reckoning, I. Am. God." Something like that... something like that...

@BJWFenix

5 күн бұрын

yeah if theres one thing this dlc ruined for me (in a good way) was all the joy and cuteness revolving around the jars. I mean they seem happy sometimes ...right?

@Diesalot-sc9qz

5 күн бұрын

Right before a mace slams on them and smashes them to bits (Yes, I am going for the Frenzied Flame Ending)

@joshburke6747

5 күн бұрын

As far as the consort goes I was expecting Godwyn not radahn but then again was he really radahn because mohgs body was taken and radahn is using his blood fire technique

@TheHi-NoteFunClub-BeatsByMike

5 күн бұрын

@@joshburke6747 With all the need for several separate deaths/types of death for these characters, talk of moving souls between bodies, and the like, I'm starting to believe all these gods and demi gods are just aspects of the same singular will, with the "story" being the unfolding creative fantasy that will is defining in its own mind... I mean thoughts... I mean soul... I mean via the language of computer code in its digital body... Uh, I mean I forgot what I meant. 🙂

Throughout the entire story of elden ring we have heard how fearsome and blindingly powerful Miquella is. The same goes for Radhan he is literally the person who Melenia had to release a nuke of rot on and it didnt even kill him. I think given everything weve been told they should be difficult. Most of the demi gods we have fought have been twisted, run down or even mutilated by time and finally we are fighting one who is at their highest strength alongside another who was brought back at his highest strength.

@apolloisnotashirt

3 күн бұрын

And yet we still have mixed reviews on Steam. How did they get to the DLC in the first place? If they're this weak minded, weak willed.

@Xblack_Lung1899X

3 күн бұрын

Funnily enough, I was only able to defeat the final boss of the DLC by using heavy shield guarding and some talismans for gaurding and thrust weapons counter-guard attacks.

@dekkisfoddaci

3 күн бұрын

@@apolloisnotashirtmixed reviews are more due to the bad performance than people crying actually

@apolloisnotashirt

3 күн бұрын

@@dekkisfoddaci like fpsdrops? git gud pc lol

@Swampboiii

3 күн бұрын

@@apolloisnotashirt people get fed up with a game doing every single bullshit thing it can do against you isn’t weak willed It’s called people have better things to do with their time Your viewpoint is so skewed

You've gotta admit though, they need to fix Commander Gaius's Hitboxes.

@daniellink8727

5 күн бұрын

@@tonydelia9998 Yeah some of his hitbox's are jank especially his charge it's nearly impossible to dodge sometimes

@tonydelia9998

5 күн бұрын

@daniellink8727 the Boar Attack when he does the swipe is also jank.

@blu-rae864

5 күн бұрын

@@daniellink8727the charge can be dealt with using deflecting hardtear

@pstamn0

5 күн бұрын

Just finished all of the dlc and this is for sure true. That was the only boss I felt like there was a technical issue.

@tonydelia9998

5 күн бұрын

@@pstamn0 that one move Messmer does when he summons the Snakes and they go crazy, the end of that attack is jank because I get hit by nothing and still take damage. I love the Messmer fight besides that it's probably the best in the game.

Only complaint I have is that there’s no DLC trophies. Which is also a relief at the same time.

@kfk4441

3 күн бұрын

I only wanted some for getting remembrances and finishing St Trina quest. Please no more 100% items, routes or multiple NG+...They turned my game into a chore.

Absolutely agree, plus lore wise Marika wasn't unjustified to do what she did to the hornsent and their civilization, they aren't good guys, they pretty much used the Numen, the shamans that were spirited away to that place, to torture them and experiment with them and turn them into jars, that is messed up, no wonder she wanted revenge. And it is Marika all along the one that is guiding us towards Miquella, we see the guiding of grace guiding us, and Leda knows it by the end, that we weren't invited here by Miquella, we were brought here by Marika, and not technically the Greater Will, because now we now, thanks to Ymirs questline, that the Greter Will actually abandoned the lands a long time ago, it left Metyr alone here, and so the fingers guided Marika, but it is not the Golden Order. There are obviously a lot of questions to be answered, but in the shadow lands we don't have as much guidence as in the lands between. Also I think the final boss is not unfair, but I do think that it is a bit of luck sometimes, because there are 1 or 2 chain of attacks that you can barely see anything, so you cannot learn how to dodge them correctly while facing the boss, so you just hope to try and dodge as much as you can and then heal afterwards, I think visually it should be tone down a little bit, because it is very rare for me to receive an attack and being unable to know what happened after multiple times receiving it, it reminded me to some bosses in Wo Long.

@ll-ll5gt

5 күн бұрын

if you think about it,there are no good guys in the lands of shadow. -The hornsent hunted the numen and destroyed marika's life. -Marika took revenge by manipulating his own son,Messmer,and eventually abbandoning him. -Messmer follow her orders because he wanted recognition from his parent,yet he also mass murdered an entir population because of it -Miquella wanted to create a better world,yet used and manipulated Mohg,Malenia,Radahn for it and allowed caelid's destruction

@EtheonStarWanderer

5 күн бұрын

@@ll-ll5gt oh absolutely, they honestly all suck and deserved the death that comes from us. The question is, will we be good lords? I doubt it It is absolutely a constant cycle that is not broken, maybe its only broken through Ranni or Goldmask, but probably not.

@colorpg152

5 күн бұрын

the greater will is not the golden order, the golden order is marika's order and the greater will is just order in general, why do i have to repeat this a thousand times

@EtheonStarWanderer

5 күн бұрын

@@colorpg152 you are correct sir! I just confuse some names sometimes, in my head it was the greater will what I was talking about, so I edited the comment, it happens the same when I mention Godrick and Godfrey, i used always the other's name T-T

@colorpg152

5 күн бұрын

@@EtheonStarWanderer thanks it just triggers me because people have been scapegoating the greater will for so long even though he has been out of power for so long, probably before marika even took over

0:43 "Scooter Ankle" 😂😂

@Wyrdist

5 күн бұрын

I’m stealing that

@deltastudio9726

5 күн бұрын

I’ve definitely felt that in my youth…

@2009samiy

5 күн бұрын

youtube mary and jesus in the quran and mohmmad in the bible and the Torah and the scientific miracles of the quran and mohmmad in hindu scripture … according the bible that you have (Matthew 4:1) Jesus was tempted (James 1:13) God doesn't get tempted (John 1:29) Jesus was seen (1 John 4:12) No man has ever seen God (Acts 2:22) Jesus was and is a man, sent by God (Numbers 23:19, Hosea11:9) God is not a man (Hebrews 5:8-9) Jesus had to grow and learn (Isaiah 40:28) God doesn't ever need to learn (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) Jesus dies (1 Timothy 1:17) God doesn't die (Hebrews 5:7) Jesus needed salvation (Luke 1:37) God doesn't need salvation (John 4:6) Jesus grew weary (Isaiah 40:28) God Doesn't grow weary (Mark 4:38) Jesus slept (Psalm 121:2-4) God doesn't sleep (John 5:19) Jesus isn't all powerful (Isaiah 45:5-7) God is all powerful (Mark 13:32) Jesus isn't all knowing (Isaiah 46:9) God is all knowing ...................

@danielrobinson7872

5 күн бұрын

It's a distinct pain that only scooter riders have felt.

@kishinasura1989

2 күн бұрын

A pain worse then death 😅

I did take my time. I had a lot of fun with nearly every aspect of the DLC. The views are breathtaking, the fights are exhilarating, the lore is captivating, I had a blast the whole time. Right up until the end. By that point, I was at +18 Scadutree blessings. For context, I was playing my favorite build, which was a Carian-inspired spellsword. It carried me through the DLC pretty handily with frostbite, Darkmoon Greatsword and Rellana's twin blades when I unlocked them. I was on a roll. Which the final boss crashed to a halt. Phase 1 wasn't the problem. In fact, if Miquella hadn't shown up the whole fight, Radahn might have ended up being my favorite fight in all FromSoft history. Parrying his triple swings for the first time gave me an unparalleled thrill, as I'm usually garbage at parries. Phase 1 still killed me a bunch of times, but they were enjoyable deaths, because I knew where my mistake had been and how to correct it. Phase 2 didn't click for me in the same way. The holy pillar being the size of a football field, the room-wide AoEs, that one move they do when close to death... It seemed tailor-made to counter my build, and that frustrated me to no end. I did end up beating them, so I know it's not impossible. It's HOW I beat them that bothers me. I gave up my favorite playstyle in favor of a turtle tank with a greatshield and a bleed spear. It made me feel like I had no other recourse but to cheese them. They were being unfair to me, so I had to be unfair back. That's what bothers me. I'd never felt that way about a boss before. Not with Midir, not with Malenia, not with Orphan of Kos. Although, and I must specify this: this is the ONLY PART of the DLC I feel could use an adjustment. I beat nearly everything else with my spellblade and had a blast doing it. Except with the hippo, fuck that hippo.

@onilink134

5 күн бұрын

@eW91dHViZSBpcyBjZW5zb3JzaGlw you're absolutely allowed to dislike it. I don't think they missed the mark, necessarily, they just implemented a mechanic from another game to stop people steamrolling the DLC in 15 minutes. The way I see it, most people who are complaining about the blessing system are trying to beat a 40$ DLC in 10$ or less, just bumrushing the main bosses and ignoring everything else. I personally like the system, as it helped me focus on taking my time and exploring instead of getting stuck on a frustrating boss. Every time I died 3 or more times in a row to a boss, I took a break and went to do some side stuff and get stronger. To me it helped it feel more like a natural progression, but I understand how it could come across as a little forced to some. It's only Radahn's phase 2 that kinda put a damper on the experience for me.

@shring727

2 күн бұрын

I agree, second phase of the final boss is really horseshit, i had to summon someone with that same turtle build and watch him not getting a single hit the entire fight lol

@THEJustinOfAllTime

2 күн бұрын

You absolutely do not need to go out of your way to make a turtle build. With the proper talismans and buffs you can still have a fun build! I had a powerstanced greatsword faith build that I used for the entire game where, with golden vow+flame grant me strength and the +3 physical defense and +3 pearldrake talisman, I achieved over 90% damage resistance and 1800 damage per sword with the +20 scadutree buff. No shield, no bleed or frostbite, two giant slow as hell swords, and totally doable because my build was well planned. If you, like me, aren't good enough to avoid their attack, ensure that yiu can't feel it when it connects and boom fight is made ezpz.

@onilink134

2 күн бұрын

@@THEJustinOfAllTime It's less that I wasn't good enough to avoid their attacks, and more that the zillion flashy beams and particles kept me from seeing the next windup. That was the cause of 9/10 of my deaths before I decided to turtle up with Moore's shield and a Bleed Cross Naginata and give them the death by a thousand pokes. I don't know about you, but my idea of a difficult but fair boss fight does not involve developing a resistance to flashbangs so I can see what the hell he's coming at me with next. The one time I won was pure luck and instinct, where I dodged his lightspeed meteor by the skin of my ass and finished poking him to victory. The point is that beating a boss should not REQUIRE building 90% damage reduction to tank one swing. Phase 1 was a much better fight and way more enjoyable, and Miquella ruined it by showing up.

@limpkola

Күн бұрын

Yeah, I do like this take more than any of the others. Is it fun? Yes. Is it hard? Yes, and it should. But is it fair? No, and that’s my only problem with it. My only other experience with a Fromsoft DLC was Bloodborne, and even though it might just be nostalgia, the Orphan was a lot more fair and more cathartic than Miquella.

Never played a souls game prior to Elden Ring. I avoided them until I heard Elden Ring was an open world. I leveled up, worked out a few builds and beat it. I approached the DLC the same way and have beat all the bosses up to Messmer. The only boss that was broken was Commander Giaus I would dodge and he would still hit me. Literally needed luck to beat him

@MessmerPhase2

5 күн бұрын

Good on you man. I agree giaus was a chore. And until you had a good bit of st-fragments, bayle was pretty rough too. Good luck with radahn man. It took me 50 tries maybe more. But once you do beat him and have his moves down, everything else in the game becomes slow in comparison

@JayAllenification

5 күн бұрын

@@MessmerPhase2 I hear he’s the hardest FromSoftware boss ever. If I beat him, I might have enough courage to finally try Sekiro!

@lordcraigdragneel136

5 күн бұрын

@@JayAllenification which attack did you think was broken , if i may ask ?

@Unhinged_cult

5 күн бұрын

Man you should give the others a try they are really good too Personally dark soul 3 and 2 are my favorites and ds1 is unique

@Kyron-qh3sn

5 күн бұрын

there are ways to dodge it its just difficult

Didn't sekiro get a lot of early hate for it's difficulty as well?

@mosthated8848

5 күн бұрын

Yep, they released a stealth update that made it slightly easier bc my torrent copy is harder than my Steam copy no cap.

@JorgeM270

5 күн бұрын

@@mosthated8848 This happens with every Fromsoftware game. They get slightly easier with each patch.

@geordiejones5618

5 күн бұрын

It happened with every previous FromSoftware DLC too. Eventually those who don't really want a challenge get weeded out. SOTE does everything I love about the base game, and it mostly does it better. The tomb bosses don't need to be unlocked with a hidden switch, the caves and catacombs are massive and very creative, the mini dungeons and legacy dungeons continue to amaze, the map is dense and extra crazy vertical with more interconnectivity, the bosses continue to look amazing and give you a real challenge, and the lore goes just as hard as the bosses. Most fun I've had with an expansion since I realized that all the New Vegas DLCs thread together. I thought The Old Hunters was their best DLC but my god this one has been beyond my best expectations. I feel like I paid $100 for double the value of content. Those who buy the base and DLC at $80 are getting it at a steal.

@Kyron-qh3sn

5 күн бұрын

imo its harder than this dlc i got it like 2 years ago and still havent beat guardian ape lol

@emorydaniel9084

5 күн бұрын

The base game Elden Ring got that same hate. Happens almost every time with a FromSoft release

Well, first off, i don't think people primary complain about it being "too hard", they complain about it being fundamentaly broken when it comes to boss fights. The hard but fair principle just doesn't hold anymore if the enemy boss input read, has insane tracking, does 10 hit wombo combos, aoe spams all over the place, has gap closers, teleports and you are rolling around like a moron 90% of the time, all while trying to manage a completely broken camera. It's the same issues people had already with the ER late game bosses like Malenia, Maliketh or Elden Beast, just cranked up to 15 in the DLC. Secondly, the mixed reviews are a really really bad sign and should tell FS something. Because the access to the DLC is being gatekept behind quite a bit of achievement in the base game. So the people rating have played and largely lauded the base game. It's not casuls with 10 hours in Souls games that are complaining it's too hard. It's people with 100+ hours (or even more) who are complaining that the game just doesn't feel fair. That beating a boss doesn't feel like an achievement but rather a relief of a chore. Not good. People who were following Reddit or KZread essays and similar media about the basegame already realized that a lot of people were shouting it from the rooftops: these boss designs are unfun, feel unfair and leave you with a sour taste in your mouth. But FS didn't listen and doubled down hard on it. Hence the reviews.

@derekfrost7751

3 күн бұрын

i loved the dlc and i used my summons every time and the hound dash for the final boss (its much more comfortable than dodging with his speed), dont let weirdos in internet to shame you for using the tools that the game give you to have fun

@slart1bartfast587

3 күн бұрын

@@derekfrost7751 That's part of the problem for me. For instance I tried Messmer without mimic tear like 30 times. I only got to the second phase once and was instadeleted. Then I used Mimic tear and beat him 2nd try completely trivializing the fight. I am having fun, mostly. I just wish they wouldn't put so much focus on making the bosses unfairly "hard" (which you then can completely offset with for instance mimic tear) but rather make them challenging and fun. Just compare it to Sekiro - Sword Saint Isshin, Owl, Lady Butterfly, Guardian Ape, Corrupted Monk, etc. - are all hard and challenging, but it's tons of fun to figure them out and work towards beating them. But Messmer? Radahn? Rellana? Half the time I don't even know what's happening on my screen because of the AOE, the relentless dashing/teleporting around and the insane flow chart like 7 hit wombo combos. Maybe I am just bad. I have no problem getting smashed into a pulp by a boss, but when I feel that I learned nothing from it for the next encounter...well, that's just bad.

Imagine buying a game that’s renowned for its difficulty and then complaining about its difficulty. SMH.

@TheT0nedude

5 күн бұрын

The base game was NOT renowned for its difficulty but in its open world and take it at your own pace approach that the dlc does not have.

@Kyron-qh3sn

5 күн бұрын

@@TheT0nedude the base game was hard u could just make it easy with builds the same applies to the dlc but u also need scadutree freagments

@Potato_Tomato-od2lz

5 күн бұрын

@@TheT0nedudedude you very much can explore you are ENCOURAGED to explore with the shadow blessing mechanic

@imawolf4429

5 күн бұрын

@@TheT0nedude wdym ”the dlc dosent” ? its literally the exact same thing. Explore to get stronger and there is plenty of variety how and when you decide to approach bosses

@nakiangoderich3014

5 күн бұрын

@@TheT0nedude 🤡 buddy, ever heard of scadu fragments? 30% of them are hidden around the map, and let’s not forget you can skip the dancing lion and rellana completely, allowing you to upgrade and come back later.

All bosses are fair and difficult. Messmer might be one of my favorites in ER now. All of them feel good to defeat and are fair. Except the final boss. That's literal unenjoyable trash. The second phase is literally Bed of Chaos level.

@agtjake

6 күн бұрын

I personally like the last boss. Didn't at first, but once I took the time to learn everything about the movement patterns, I'm already close to a no-hit run. Someone has already done it actually!

@9xkysR

5 күн бұрын

cope

@sir_gort

5 күн бұрын

I feel the same. However, parrying REALLY helps. This is like a Lady Maria situation imo where parry makes the fight much more bearable whereas without it is a freight train of nope.

@darkscoutergamer6168

5 күн бұрын

The last boss had me fighting for my life haha but in the end I enjoyed how crazy and cool it was,definitely at times feels too much I will agree 🤣💀 but overall I didn’t hate him compared to others like the avatar or gaius

@diegomittelstaedt5877

5 күн бұрын

That second phase is total garbage

This DLC i have no words to describe how much he is perfect

@issi529

5 күн бұрын

Very good but not perfect at all.

@TheStraightestWhitest

5 күн бұрын

@@issi529 About as close as it gets. Nothing is perfect, but if I had to start listing complaints, it'd take me a while, and the only one I'd come up with would probably be that I'd personally like juuuust a bit more downtime on boss aggression or smaller gap closers on their attacks so we can heal/buff mid-fight a bit better.

@CreativeUsernameEh

4 күн бұрын

@@TheStraightestWhitestnah. Lots of weak incantations, underwhelming weapons, not many new ones (one new scythe!) explorating little nooks and crannies has nothing there when it would in the base game, loot is pointless crafting materials (who ever crafts?? We don’t care!) and the story, oh man the story is so obviously a retcon and not their original draft. And personally I despise the verticality map design. Very few caves too. It is “more Elden Ring” that’s all. Saying it is perfect… Elden Ring was a great game so there being more isn’t a bad thing The difficulty isn’t too bad, but I explored a lot and had a +10 Dung Eater and fought with 15 Scadu and 6 Spirit Ashes.

@kishinasura1989

2 күн бұрын

Here brother take this axe we got some big fire boys to chop down daddy wants those new flask tears 😂

Having beat the DLC and all the bosses, there were a few bosses where I can kinda understand the frustration. I wasnt happy that I had to adapt but in some cases it made sense (Dont bring lightning to a boss covered head to toe in lightning sort of thing) While in others it just, felt like I needed to blitz down the boss because some of the attack patterns felt next to impossible to not get hit on. Overall I enjoyed the DLC, but there were fights who I just found frustrating if visually amazing... just wish I had more time to admire then before getting stomped into the dirt

@Dragonsworn864

5 күн бұрын

That flowers lady took me some time, and I gave up going solo

@sneaky5141

3 күн бұрын

if it wasnt fromsoft you wouldnt be so kind. people admitted dark souls 2s faults and now ER isdoing the same thing but more and worse and people are lapping it up

Golden braid was a game changer

@kiddtrunks6043

5 күн бұрын

Absolutely insane on elden beast

@sneaky5141

3 күн бұрын

i can even live 2 hits of physicall from the fucker either way

Great video, man. I can't wait to see what drops when all of you piece together the lore because as much as I've grabbed, explored, and read, I am still dum-dum lol

finally a good video about the mixed reviews on steam thank u AgtJake

Great stuff Jake. ER is my first souls like and first open world game. It was a challenge for me and truly thought about quitting multiple times. But I stuck with it and love it. I'm sure this will be true of the DLC. I'm only about 10 hours in and I'm looking forward to the next 60/70. I'm super excited to see your lore videos on the DLC. Thank you.

@Nathan_Coley

6 күн бұрын

As someone who's first Souls game is also Elden Ring (though not my first open world game) I agree with this take. I'm still in the base game and likely won't get to Shadow of The Erdtree for a few months yet I enjoy the challenge of the base game and I'm sure I'll enjoy the DLC nay expansion when I get to it. It's the hardest game I've ever played and if SOTE is harder still I'm here for it.

@SmashinCoW

5 күн бұрын

aye same here. i loved it so much i basically went into NG+ and NG+2 without hesitation, and its probably why ive been getting my ass kicked. but honestly i like it, i felt the base game got super easy once you caught on. this is a whole different game and im here for it

This is the same thing that happened to Monster Hunter World, DS3 and Bloodborne: new harder bosses appear and they're impossible broken until someone (you, the player) learns how to consistently fight and win. Hitboxes for *some* attacks may need a bit of tweaking, but so far these bosses are excellent. And yeah, that discovery of Marika's place, it's probably one of the most rewarding experiences I've had in any videogame, period.

@KNGDDDE

4 күн бұрын

Dude you guys are coping so fxcking hard. This dlc is cheap af like ds1 and 2, THATS WHAT PPL DONT ENJOY. The issue is that everything is tuned to kill you. Dungeons full of ganks, hidden enemies and cheap shots everywhere, constant perched range enemies. How many projectile have retxrd tracking? ALL OF THEM! 💀😂😂 Tf are you ppl smoking, this shxt is 30% and 70% realizing the boss of this area I just mopped is 5 scadu fragments higher than the dungeon... Leading most ppl taking on ridiculous challenge just to not feel like they wasted they're time pushing thru these long, CHEAP, TAXING aas stretches of endurance where the boss fog requires a stake of Marika. Also, only boss victories transport u back, meaning that if u do get effed by scadu level ur aas is MANUALLY booting back to the open world... Hard? FOH bro this shxt is straight up aggravating. And I'm getting the fxcking frags lol, my 1st 18hrs was defined by how shxt you are until frag level +10.

I love the dlc my only gripe is the enormous areas of emptiness. Cerulean coast, Abyssal woods, the finger monument’s. I think it was a missed opportunity.

@KNGDDDE

4 күн бұрын

I like how they use a mesmer drop to point u in the right direction. I definitely didn't run around 5 hrs trying to figure out where to go or nothing. Now I gotta find the old ruah ruins... I always get lost in these fxcking games man and this map alone puts that shxt on steroids.

The main issue is i just don't feel strong enough. I've done my best to scour the lands as thoroughly as I can for weapons, incantations, spells, consumables, anything, but i still get annihilated pretty fast by most of the bosses. Realistically it's probably a skill issue but most of the bosses i try I manage to get to around a third of their health before dying so idk what i'm doing wrong, exactly. Perhaps i just need to practice and try until I win. But throwing yourself at a boss for hours just isn't that fun after a while.

@CreativeUsernameEh

4 күн бұрын

My advice is… shields! They’re pretty great. And you will feel very badass blocking a boss onslaught and then retaliating instead of somersaulting constantly like you’re a one of those lightning sheep!

@derekfrost7751

3 күн бұрын

i strongly suggest that in the final battle dont summon npcs, only you spirit ash, i wasted two hours fighting a behemot with over 100000 hp because the summons increase the health and the npc didnt do that much damage

totally agree, but bad review should not be a surprise. I geniuly believe that most people who play the elden ring are not traditional souls players. They come to play the game because of hype and the base game is much easier. so this is understandable.

@cynreiusacari3163

5 күн бұрын

@chuanhu6266 I watch more lore videos than play the games. I bought the game and dlc together last week of May so I could see the lore for myself before checking out the videos. It’s surprisingly accessible and it isn’t difficult to level the blessings through exploration. With that said, I stopped at Malenia’s boss room and haven’t defeated the fire giant yet to get a clearer picture to make my decision. I’ve made it through a few bosses and I am working on Messmer and exploring.

@jfknvd726

5 күн бұрын

I'm a tradional souls player since the original demons souls, the dlc was fun till radhan and it would have made me give it a bad review

@artiscool6873

5 күн бұрын

@@jfknvd726 bad review cause of a single boss, cringe

@Based_investor

5 күн бұрын

​@@jfknvd726embarrassing

@chuanhu6266

5 күн бұрын

​@@jfknvd726 I can relate, some of the boss fights especially the boss's move set, is just too difficult to read and respond. The learning curve for some boss fights is too steep to be fun anymore. If you design a game the difficulty level between boss fights should be progressive and feel a sense of accomplishment. But not for this dlc.

This is a great take on this, I like the idea of our "Levels" to be rune based aka Erdtree based vs Scadutree based.

bosses being hard aint the problem, being unfun is. the combos are unrelentless and unending. the gaps between em so small that u flat-out cant even use most of the weapon skills, ashes of war, incantations or spells. all u can do is dodge to no end and do a small poke from time to time...

The music in this video was perfection. But also, all your points were valid and fairly put! ✨

The problem is that there isn’t increase in reward to match the increase in difficulty. So many of the bosses I finished & walked away feeling empty because they drop nothing interesting. I’m like 30 hours into the dlc & I’m so underwhelmed by the amount of new cosmetics I’ve found. Wish they’d cut out a little of the time spent designing empty landmass & spent more of that making armors. Also, the lack of alterations for armors is a big let down. Oath-seeker would’ve been perfect with a cape, & raksasha would’ve been perfect without the skirt

@CreativeUsernameEh

4 күн бұрын

I agree. But hey atleast when we can get Mesmers Helmet we can alter it to remove his toupee off it, unlike Godfrey and Malenias hats. It’s a shame they focused so much on really irritating vertical world design with no rewarding loot (other than Scadutree and Ashes upgrades) instead of fashion and lore.

@Kotoy1

2 күн бұрын

ledas armor is oathseekers with a cape

This guy beat the dlc four times before I beat Mesmer.

@zenny_ox

5 күн бұрын

and then no hit Messmer, just to add some salt in that wound for you fren 😏😂

@a_angry_bunny

4 күн бұрын

@zenny_ox Technically, I haven't actually fought Mesmer myself. But I've been summoned there as I activated the summoning statue there and skipped away to less brooding pastures.

I’m still on my first playthrough of Elden Ring, for a while I had quit at the draconic tree sentinel, I have since then(in the past few weeks) progressed all the way to maliketh and I’m determined to beat the game then buy the dlc! Love the Vids Man🗣️🔥! Elden Ring is Such a Beautiful Game🤌

One thing I would also like to point out, that all though it contradicts the video, I think it may work. When you fight your way through the lands between, your fighting through the Golden Order at its literal weakest. Radahn, broken and still holding up the stars, weakening him further. Rannala, a mere fragment and recreation of her once great splendour. Morgott, hiding away and not embracing his true strength. Mohg, under Miquela’s spell, potentially weakening his relationship with the formless mother, as that is what Miquela’s power is known to do, stop outer gods influence. Godrick, a weak pitiful demigod. Whereas in the shadow realm, you find a land inhabited by people from a full power Golden Order, and potentially away from the influence of Rot, which may have been the cause of the Golden Orders downfall (My own personal theory).

I think its disengenius to speak as if nothing has changed sbout the series from Denons Souls to now. It clearly has. The series has always been challenging yes, but it was not originally designed to he srbitrarily difficult or to require a high level of mechanical skill. Compare hmthe boss fights in Demons Souls to Elden Ring and the difference is night and day. Obviously things evolve over time, but the bosses have dvolved exponentially faster and greater than the player has. They have virtually no recovery at all, infinite pose/hyper armor, infinite stamina and superhuman agility plus deal massive damage. The player can finally jump, thats about it. The level of mechanical skill required has reached a peak level and its partially just because of the difference in ability between the player and the enemies. Meanwhile, the "built in difficulty slider" has never been worse. Spirit Summons range from "beating the boss for you" to "doing nothing at all" if what I hear about the final boss of the DLC is true. So you don't even really have the choice to modulate the challenge to your own skill level anymore. Meanwhile, the cult of From will Sekiro deflect any and all criticsm with "git gud" even if someone already has -- like myself -- beaten the game with no summons or spirit ashes. But I havent done it at level 1 so maybe I havent even really beaten the game.

@Wilhelm4131

3 күн бұрын

Good take

I have never understood that toxic part of the community that are against spirit summons, it is a part of the game right?

@sanguineregis5354

2 күн бұрын

I kind of get it, as in the base game a fully upgraded mimic tear used to trivialize alot of fights, but it hasnt been that way in a looooong time now

That talisman is every bit worth it, you saved me from going insane, thanks a ton!

In addition to the golden braid there is also miquellas great rune. Equip it as an item to use and when you get hugged, get some distance and use it and the second hug won’t kill you.

I dont know about other people, but i love the dlc. It's an open world, so of course, ur going to need to explore to get stronger. Similarly, i like a lot of the new bosses, except giant bosses since the camera always becomes annoying to deal with. The biggest thing i hate is the visual clutter of some bosses, like the final boss, second phase, and bayle. But im sure that is just the game being 3 days old, and I'll come to like the bosses as i continue to play.

I love this dlc. Not even done yet, but it is such an amazing and beautiful experience, might even call it better than the base game. Just defeated Bayle in 2 tries.

great video & perspective

I still remember playing Dark Souls 1 on my trusty PS3. How mad I was about how hard it was. And then I got Bloodborne. I was more mad because I loved the entire aesthetic of Bloodborne but it was "too hard". I gave it back to GameStop, then downloaded a free edition on my PS4. And then in 2019, something just clicked in me to embrace the difficulty. And in 2020 it became my pandemic game. I beat the game, I platinum the base game (so proud of that trophy). I tried Sekiro but I just couldn't get the combat down. It's fun, but the combat is so different from Bloodborne. And then I got Elden Ring. And yeah it's hard. But fighting cowboy has a great video walkthrough that I followed. I love it. Elden Ring and Bloodborne are two of my favorite games. The difficulty is what makes it fun. What makes people keep coming back.

I get the sentiment and agree... but my guy you beat it 4 times since friday? Maybe your assessment is a bit off from your average player lol. This is like Tiger woods explaining how to hit hit a ball 500 yards... "first hit it 500 yards, then make sure to not hit it more than 500 yards"... The bosses for me are fine, especially for how little time I have in it vs the base game so I wasn't expecting to own. But as whiny of some of the reviews are, some of you are acting like there isnt a challenge at all... I find neither opinion useful or helpful in any way.

6:20 So if people were to actually die their souls would end up in the Land of Shadow? So Godwyns soul after he died but not his body could have ended up there and Miquella could have used Mohgs body to give Godwyn a new vessel to live in right? I really wanted him to be the final boss so bad I am so confused we got a guy that Miquella send someone to assassinate as a final boss instead, especially since were already used to his moveset by now. Some spirit dude in Castle Sol literally says: “Lord miquella, forgive me. The sun has not been swallowed. Our prayers are lacking Your comrade remains soulless… I will never set my eyes upon it now… Your diving Haligtree.” I with all of my lore knowledge which includes that of the DLC I thought that implied Miquella sent Malenia to defeat Radahn so that the stars can be come unlocked and an eclipse can finally happen so that Godwyn could be revived, then his new vessel could be Mohgs body instead of his old one. I'm pretty sure Radahn had a soul this whole time but just under the influence of a lot of Scarlet Rot, his appearance came right out of left field. I wouldn't say I was robbed, just disappointed at something so many people speculated on and wanted to see for the longest time.

@thewhitespectre

5 күн бұрын

Nope you are right. We were robbed, it would've made Infinite more sense for Godwyn to be the final boss, he's the first ever dead demigod in history so why wouldn't it make sense for him to be the last boss in a realm where all the dead go? Not to mention Miquella's character did a massive 360. He went from going all out to help Malenia and Godwyn, to all of a sudden only caring about becoming a god and glazing Radahn? Bro doesn't even mention either of his siblings, he *only* cares about Radahn in the entire dlc, and now it turns out Mohg was innocent this whole time? 🤨 This honestly felt rushed and put together last minute. Like they focused 95% on the gameplay and 5% on the lore. This in turn ruins the game because lore in a fromsoft game is very important, the base game was beautifully written and tbh, considering what we were given, they should've left it alone...

@JayWhipp1e

5 күн бұрын

@@thewhitespectre youre just upset your head canon isnt correct, and youre making accusation after accusation about things you know nothing about and cant possibly prove. Im so glad real artists dont listen to the brain dead knuckle dragging opinions of their "fans". If they did, they'd have never gotten to where they were in the first place.

@sebastianb.3978

5 күн бұрын

​@@thewhitespectreYou meant to say 180. If he did a 360 he'd end up at the same exact point as before xD

@sootythunder3111

5 күн бұрын

I get the feeling that was possibly Miquella orginal goal to revive Godwyn however if I am to hazard a guess the rune of death that the black knives used disrupted this process, not just killing Godwyn but utterly destroying his soul, leading Miquella to use the next best thing and that was radhans soul

@thewhitespectre

5 күн бұрын

@@JayWhipp1e Just because you decide to glaze everything Miyazaki and Fromsoft comes up with even if it doesn't make sense or ruined the original lore doesn't mean I have to. I bet I would come up with a much better ending than whatever you would intend for the dlc. Don't call me brain dead

You raise some good points as I have only managed to defeat a few minor bosses but I'm also exploring the world to find new areas and collect new items to help me. I knew of the difficulty of the DLC going in and when they stated the requirements to access the DLC so I knew it was going to be end game content much like Dark Souls III.

Beautiful video and presentation 🙏🏼 Love Shadow of the Erdtree and its darker tone and brutal difficulty.. the last boss stomped me into the ground so many times 😂 after two days I managed to beat him 1 on 1... the ecstasy was indescribable 🌞 Imagine the fellowship in lord of the ring beating Sauron right away without any struggle... the magic of the whole journey would be gone.. Miyazaki makes us weak and through that gives us a glimpse of strength if we accept the challenge however impossible it might seem at first 🙏🏼

I love the difficulty the Elden ring dlc is a 100000/10

How about we dont berate the people who have been suffering trying to learn the complex and aggressive moveset of the boss and instead accept that this creature is a tad bit on the hardest boss made side, my only complaint is that he kills the framerate whenever a mirage attack is used...

From what im gathering based on what is said, alot of these new bosses are input reading/reacting, a nigh over long series of attack strings, very low punish window, absurd damage that willl basically not one shot you but the next move will thats coming right after.

I want to see you down radahn as a sorcery or incantation build. Since you are so good at this game like you say. The reason I also think this is too hard is not how hard they hit, but how bosses have endless stamina. Some do SIX attacks in a row. This needs adjusting.

Beating the dlc 4 times already is crazy love the video

@lachl8634

5 күн бұрын

My thoughts also, I’ve managed to squeeze 30 hours in around my work schedule and just beat midra. 4 complete playthroughs is bonkers

I feel a lot of the criticism outside of the difficulty stems from the final boss (BIG SPOILERS): I feel as though people who don’t care about the lore (valid by the way) feel as though Radahn is a cheap asspull, poorly made, rushed, or reliant on spectacle. Sure there may be some small part of something in there that’s true, but this is the way GRRM wrote Radahn, Mohg, and Miquella. From my understanding, the Radahn we fight is basically still a freshly revived corpse being puppeteer’d by Miquella to serve as her consort. Some people say that he has stiff animations and bad move sets, I haven’t fought him enough to really confirm the second point but the first point is just not true, it’s objectively well made and if you have a problem with it it’s your opinion, not fact. To the point about it being reliant on spectacle, of course the fight is going to be a crazy spectacle, it’s the end of the only DLC for Elden ring and essentially the final note of the Elden Ring franchise (as far as we know). I’m sure there’s bias with what I’m saying becuase I’m very happy with everything. I love the base game, the DLC, and this work as a whole. I’ll be playing it plenty until the day I die.

I really enjoyed the final boss...in the first phase. My issue is that I think the inclusion of both the light pillars and lightspeed attacks was a bit much, and that they should have just added one or the other to Radahn's moveset. The grab move is a nice touch though and a cool way to add Miquella's known charisma

I think it's just people preferences of playing honestly. Some people like the hard content and they're going to adapt and get over dying again and again. But some people don't like that some people like to have maximal skill and damage and basically enjoy seeing that power boost. And I think the game knows that with the way we can boost our power at different areas. But you can't be mad at people for writing out how they feel. When I first entered the DLC zone I made it to the end of the field that you first started right before the road before being murked by an enemy that came out of the ground. I wasn't angry because I expected something like that and he got me just when I was about to kill him. This made me go into the DLC a bit differently playing more cautious and also looking around to make sure I was spotting the enemy and this is coming from someone who rarely locks onto an enemy. But it made me change my playing style and I think that goes to say that the DLC is truly different with the way some of the enemies are and that's a big skill jump. So I'm not saying that I find the DLC bad I accidentally enjoying it quite a lot. But I can understand why people are complaining. If this is your first souls game it makes a lot more sense as well. The main game was a lot more for giving in certain areas, This DLC made it so you have to engage in the map You have to explore You're going to have fear a lot of fear because it's a real chance you're going to get murked. And it's been exciting for me I'm exploring the map trying not to get kicked off alleges and also trying not to be creeped out by some of the enemies that come out of the shadows very quickly. So yeah it makes sense unfortunately, hopefully in a week or so everybody will adjust to the level of difficulty.

My problem isn't the bosses, the bosses 2 shooting you or 3 shooting you can be annoying but hey it's a boss... but regular mobs 2 shooting you? Sometimes 1 shooting you is absolutely ridiculous

The difficulty complaints seem to be around the difficulty being contrived. Elden Lord candidate needs to collect mcguffins because \this/ is the rough neighbourhood Maybe we're not worthy of the throne. Maybe we've been lame all along.

@Based_investor

5 күн бұрын

If it was contrived then we won't see players beat it as a solo wretch with a banana (which I guarantee we will). People are just mad their level 700 character on ng +7 is getting annihilated without the scadutree fragments. Souls dlcs are always the hardest part. Going in on ng+ or higher their 1st time is just incredibly idiotic.

@LockeTheAuthentic

5 күн бұрын

​@@Based_investor You misunderstand the meaning of contrived here. I'm not saying its hard because its hard, its hard because you need new currency to purchase new currency thing. It's busy work. Its disconnected and unnecessary. Its bothersome. But worst of all its narratively dissonant. All the work before has proven to be worthless because /reasons\. I sure am glad we have new currency to make number bigger though. Maybe they could have just kept the normal challenge without the gimmicks? It could have saved them some development time and lose nothing of value.

@CreativeUsernameEh

4 күн бұрын

Unfortunately there’s no option to yield the way to miquella So gl collect those fragments and become Elden Lord (literally just sitting on a chair, mute, with no audience) worst ending From a gameplay perspective I get it though, it normalizez difficultty so that the DLC isn’t either impossible unless you grind runes or too easy if you’re level 713. The fragments determining power means you have to start over somewhat: pretend you’re low level cautiously exploring a new world.

The bosses being “unfair” like undodgable attacks made me change my build to tank that, and honestly it’s was probably the most fun I’ve ever had in a souls-like. Trying out new builds until something works, it was fun, it was like playing a whole new game My only 2 complains are the bug and performance, and this might be a nitpick, but I think that all dlc weapons should drop already as level 9/25, it’s annoying to farm runes and level up every single one of ‘em to try out

“Committing scooter ankle” is now my favorite thing ever

The only thing that bothered me was the lack of lore, something deeply disappointing. As usual, lore ended up like a swiss cheese, with so many gaps you can barely make anything out of it.

@Nolimitsbestfriend

6 күн бұрын

i think i only saw a painting in midras mansion XDXD

@agtjake

5 күн бұрын

I thought there was a lot of new lore! Not much answered the questions I had beforehand, but once I accepted that and looked into what we did get, the lore is amazing imo!

@npc6254

5 күн бұрын

We got a fair amount of stuff explained. We have a pretty good idea what the crucible is now; it’s either the scadutree itself or the divine gate. We know Marika was from the land of shadow. We know Melina is Messmer’s sister. A lot of stuff is a bit jumbled, I won’t deny it. The Radahn consort thing literally makes zero sense. It seems like FromSoftware originally intended for Godwyn to be the final boss but they changed it because of Radahn’s popularity. Miquella even says a line like “and now my brother’s soul is returned.” We know Godwin’s soul was killed.

@Nolimitsbestfriend

5 күн бұрын

@@agtjake its so graceful for iam ungraceful

@baraovermelho3956

5 күн бұрын

Just wait for Vaatividya to post a new video, and you are going to see the LORE you are saying that isn't

Do you play on NG+7? My first run was NG+7 with a night comet build, cleared every boss EXCEPT Radhan... I literally had to swap to a great shield / spear cheese build to defeat him... every youtube I've watched were people clearing him on normal game though... NG+7 is completely different though, not even comparable I'd say

@DataDrain02

5 күн бұрын

Hm... so, would that build be fine in NG? I'm using that same build. Occasionally swapping to a Twin Wings of Astel build. I frankly don't want to completely respec my character to beat the final boss....

@Ntwolf1220

5 күн бұрын

@@DataDrain02you will be fine on NG with any build you are good with.

@StopTheTapes

5 күн бұрын

Somewhat true make sure your at least scadutree level 18 too. I tried at 15, couldn’t beat him then went to find more fragments. Ended up beating him finally at 18 and it helped a lot and kept me from re speccing with my current build.

Good vid man , i just really wanted a godwyn fight , or a marika fight so much rich lore in this game so many characters i wish we seen more of 😅

From my understanding, Marika was NOT in fault for most of the bad things happening both in the base game and the DLC. Her people, the Shamans, were persecuted by the followers of the crucible and LITERALLY minced in order to be put inside the jars to make them "saints". Marika was the only survivor and did her absolute best to become a god and take revenge for her people. The prevailing theory is that she killed the previous god (Fell god or the Dusk-eyed queen) in front of the gates of divinity and then ascended to godhood. She sent her then only (presumably) child, Mezmer, to wage a crusade in the Lands of Shadow and slaughter all the omens that had genocided her people. Sometime through this crusade (or maybe even before it) mezmer was cursed and Marika gave him a seal to ward away said curse. That was the eye that he breaks in the fight with you. So when he asks for forgiveness from her, it's because he essentially throws away his mother's efforts to protect him. I don't think Mezmer or the rest of his followers are aware that the two fingers have imprisoned Marika after the Shattering so they feel betrayed by her lack of support and guidance/grace. That's why so many of her statues are beheaded. Mezmer seems to also have doubts about his mother but still seems to trust her to a certain degree. As for Miquella, it would take a paragraph twice as lengthy to theorise about the full extent of his motives. It seems that he thought he could be a better Marika, and attempted to achieve godhood through different means than her. But in the process he actually became a much inferior version.

When people say the game is "Too Hard" and give it a bad review they aren't giving it a bad review because of how hard it is. "It's too hard" in reality translates to "this isn't fun". I don't think the DLC is too hard, it's a video game and all of the bosses are beatable in a reasonable amount of time. But i do think there is an argument that certain bosses are not fun.

@remasterzoofrombo152

5 күн бұрын

Which ones

@blazetanuki_4567

5 күн бұрын

@@remasterzoofrombo152 Commander Gaius, Consort Radahn, and the Golden Hippopotamus

@jfknvd726

5 күн бұрын

@remasterzoofrombo152 Radhan, he is the one true problem in this dlc. Every other boss is doable with a lot of different builds and strats you just have to learn but radian is just bleed. I haven't seen anyone who didn't abuse a heavy bleed weapon to kill him. Don't know how a int spell caster will kill him, at least faith has blade of death, black flames and scarlet aeonia to do max health dame but int ain't got shit

@iiiiiiiiiilililli

5 күн бұрын

@@jfknvd726 dark moon greatsword

@jfknvd726

5 күн бұрын

@@iiiiiiiiiilililli literally what about it? Frost is not a good enough status on its own

People acting like steam ratings is some holy grail will never not be funny

Yeah I feel like folks had their fully leveled characters they beat the game with and assumed they can just do a run on the bosses of the DLC. That aside on the lore front the DLC was actually pretty interesting and somewhat revealing. If you are paying attention you know what the Greater Will looks like now (Ymir's hat explains) and theoretically even get a glimpse of it (It's the middle of the Microcosm: if you combine the logic in Ymir's hat description with the Staff of the Great Beyond the lines begin to appear (Greater Will might also be the Primeval Current as well)). All of that actually helped me figure out things with Ranni's storyline. Like why the Black Knives did her dirty work and then killed Iji and attempted to kill Blaidd (possibly while looking for Ranni). This lead me to realize there is an item description in the base game that may have a typo or otherwise just a flat out error. The error is in Ice sorcereries when it talks of the Crone teaching Ranni cold magic and to fear the Dark moon. I think that what it meant to say was "... to fear the Black Moon." Why do I say that, well Ranni never shows any signs of negative outlook to the Dark Moon. But she turns on the Black Moon hard. What do I mean by this? The Black Moon is the Greater Will. The "Black Moon" that was destroyed over the Eternal cities was an effigy or statue of the Greater Will. The Nox are theocratic, in the base game they are all monks, night maidens, and the swordstresses who guard them. While the Greater Will banished them underground, note they locked away the finger slayer blade. The eternal cities goal is to usurp the order to absolve themselves. Black Knives teamed with Ranni because she was an Empyrean and likely promised to be THEIR Empyrean. Ymir and Jolan's items teach us the Lord of Night, the night, are not anti-Greater Will concepts. They color completely within the lines as a viable path for Order. The reason the Black Knives turn on Ranni is because she betrayed them, she slew her Empyrean flesh. Because of this they no longer had an Empyrean to become their god of the Night as Ranni can no longer contain the Elden Ring. They basically became worse pariahs as a result. When we get Ranni's age of the Stars ending we don't become an Elden Lord because Ranni doesn't become a god or vessel for the Elden Ring. While everyone assumes she took the ring and ran off to space the truth is, she let the ring finish shattering and the runes scatter in that last scene. Remember she has no Empyrean flesh so she can't contain the ring. She didn't teleport to space, she is just "Getting the heck out of Dodge" as they say. She's just committed an offense against a cosmic being, granted it will be a thousand years before any action it takes can happen (Thus the thousand year voyage) but best not to linger at the scene of the crime. This also why her journey is described as lonely because she will forever be on the run from the Greater Will after it reasserts itself on the lands.

I just beat the DLC today. I loved every moment of it, even the moments that in typical fasion would leave me angry to the point where I tossed my controller to the ground and stormed out the room. Only to come back and keep playing. I was a strength build so I knew I had more of a challenge without employing bleed or magic. But I also knew I signed up for that. The final boss did almost break me though. Like you said when mentioning different weapons, I changed out my fire knight's greatsword for the finger print shield / bleeding spear. I almost hated taking the turtle strat, but I cleared it. And could not have been happier. I do plan on trying the dlc again with a different build at some point, but it was an amazing dlc. A DLC that puts modern AAA DLC to shame as this is more of a old school expansion. I just hope the rest of the industry takes notes.

Every criticism is valid, even if I disagree. You're not upgrading by beating enemies; you're doing it by exploring. Elden Ring didn't need to force you to explore as it was already part of the game. They should have just let you use runes to upgrade. Alot of souls games dlc are at the end of these games. This isnt unique by making it in the center or after beating a few bosses People arent refusing to explore they love exploring they dont want that type of upgrade gimmick

@nakiangoderich3014

5 күн бұрын

You can still upgrade, your stats still matter, 60 vigor and 70 can make the difference between a one shot or not. And ever heard of Golden Seeds? You won’t last long in the base game without enough flask upgrades, this is the same thing but as scadu fragments 😂

Dismissing a criticism as subjective doesn't do what you think it does, as you yourself said fun is a purely subjective metric as such all that which you talked about the overcoming of challenges, the rewarding etc. etc. are subjective as well. So while you are praising the DLC for those things, some not enjoy them as you do, so they see it in a negative light. There is no role in which objectivity plays a part in this outside the game's existence and that's fine, people are allowed to like what they like and not like what they don't and voice their opinions on the matter.

I believe that some people complain simply because they can, while others feel like they are being penalized for trying to explore the options you mentioned when playing the game. For example, certain resources like character respecs are limited, and some crafting materials are extremely scarce when trying to upgrade weapons to level 10 or 25. A slight change in play style could end up consuming a lot of time or even closing off certain paths altogether.

I’m sad the story trailer set up questions we NEVER even touched upon in the slightest!!!! Nothing about the castle where the dew drips. NOTHING with Marika becoming a god at the Divine Gate, we didn’t even get the story trailer cutscene in the game! We also did see that scene where we saw a golden figure who we thought was an adult Miquella unveiling the shadow tree, like WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT!!!!! Where was the story/painting with Midras and Marika? What was the betrayal she made and to who??? The only thing I was able to pull together was that MESSMER is possibly the child of Marika and Frenzied Lord Midras!! And Melina is Messmers sister. So the smoldering butterflies DO represent Melina and the Black Pyre butterflies are for Messmer.

"skill issues" "bumrush" "beeline the boss"

Radahn’s second phase feels like Gael’s final phase if the amount of bullshit he threw at you was multiplied by 6 and the amount of fun you experience during the fight was divided by 9

@sparxskywriter2589

5 күн бұрын

No the amount of fun YOU experienced was divided. Don't you speak for me or anybody else

@xeox4280

5 күн бұрын

No​@@sparxskywriter2589

you’re cooking bro; some people need to hear the gameplay section of this vid

scooter ankle is killing me lmaaaaooo

People are saying difficulty is the problem….its FROMSOFTWARE! There known for this tiny series called dark souls where the difficulty is the selling point. This is that BS…Elden Ring is the easiest and friendliest game from Fromsoftware and now it’s gets a little harder and everyone cries and moans. Miss me with that crap.

The difficulty is artificial, chief. I'm conquering and persevering too but that doesn't mean it isn't incredibly jarring to step in the Shadow Realm, get a few skibbidi fragments and some dumb nobody mob takes a third of my healthbar because MUH SOULS GAME HARD!!!!

I did find that braid talisman. However upon getting in, for whatever reason, I swear to God it did not show up anywhere in my inventory until a random point in time after I beat the final boss without it.

It's the golden braid thing for me... This is exactly what I had to do. I rushed the entirety of the dlc and killed some story lines for myself but I made it through to Radhan. For two days I sat there and finally gave up and explored... Found Gaius and the braid. Did some story stuff and came back to fight Radhan and got him pretty quick!

The consequences of going mainstream. A bunch of tourist scrubs salty that they have to play the game.

@sir_gort

5 күн бұрын

FOR REAL! The same problem affecting more and more game communities over the past several years, changing those games, dumbing them down, etc. Fuckin tourists! Specific example would be Overwatch. It was once something special, now just feels like COD, especially when all of the effort is in monetization. Game removed what made it special (6v6), and now other team arena games (Marvel comes to mind) are offering similar things but with 6v6. Soon enough, the abomination that is OW2 shall bleed out and be left to rot. Sorry for the long rant. Just tired of things I once cared about being dumbed down (once again, due to fuckin tourists).

i’m not even a high level character but the new blessings really helping me get through and i love the difficulty makes beating the bosses way more satisfactory

So is playing through the DLC again just consist of starting a NG in the base game if so do you keep everything you acquired your first time playing or no?

Only complaint I have is that some of the bosses after you pass through the mist are immediately in your face doing damage - but even then through perseverance you can get a start where you can beat them. Just happened to me with the Baylen the dragon. But other than that one complaint it’s awesome - just at least let me walk through the door lol

As someone fairly new to souls games, I’m glad in-between getting a new character up to 150 without beating the base game and waiting for the dlc, I completed bloodborn and its dlc and played a little of dark souls 3 to keep in practice. Doing so prepared me for shadow of the Erdtree difficulty spike and I haven’t had much issues yet with the dlc difficulty curve. While I haven’t played much, I have beaten the two first remembrance bosses and gotten up to level 8 blessing and while most of the enemies still hit like a truck, I feel the challenge has been pretty fair so far. I haven’t played it since he got patched today, but I’m hoping it hasn’t made the dlc too easier.

Your passive commitment on committing "scooter aknle" killed me!

I like this video a lot, its a far more nuanced approach to the conversation. That said I did beat the DLC and I still am of the belief that the difficulty is overturned; I did achieve this by indeed gathering all the fragments, improving my ashes and of course dying a lot while learning the boss patterns until I eventually got it but in the end it felt like a chore. Regretfully the items introduced in the DLC didn't speak to me and felt weaker to conventional items in the base, I often felt like I was not progressing my character at all and I found the lore to not really provide any closure to the lingering questions from the game all of which compounded this feeling. Is the DLC bad? Absolutely not but I would also not call it good right now and do think its not as good as the base game was. You hit it on the head at saying a lot of the reviews come from a momentary state of frustration but the reality is that a significant portion of verified customers are expressing their opinion that it isn't fun for whatever reason and no amount of discussion will change that is their opinion. These opinions shouldn't be dismissed or invalidated specially when its coming from such a large chunk of the player base.

It was the hardest war marika’s followers ever fought. Messmer was her finest weapon, probably even beyond godfrey. The war against the dragons, the giants, every other substantial foe is still recorded in the history of the lands between. She felt the need to eradicate every record of the war against the hornsent and abandon a demigod to a ravaged realm full of godlike enemies

My issue with the final boss isn't the difficulty. It is the constant holy damage randomly raining down around you. It is cheap and unnecessary and degracts from an otherwise fantastic boss.

Good video imo because it remembers that Souls games are about world building first and foremost. The difficulty of the games, as has been stated before by From/Miyazaki, is to pull you into that world building and understand when the game says something is a god, or the progeny thereof, they mean it. The reaction is definitely linked to the meteoric rise to popular awareness of Elden Ring pulling people in that otherwise wouldn't have and misunderstanding what the games are - for those of us that have been here a while we know it was never about difficulty, it was about a deep love of world building.

I agree that if you look the game for things like the blessings, you will be rewarded and receive help for the bosses, and generally, I'll say I enjoyed most of them. However, the placement for a couple of those blessings were strange to say the least(the one in that hidden path in the final tower was a pain to fucking get, and that was the only one I didn't have). Bosses, in particular Commander Gaius and Radahn were way too difficult, and not in a funny way in my opinion. I enjoyed Messmer's fight, Rellana's, The Scadu Avatar, Bayle, and the others; and being honest those two do have some fun things in the fights...but having to dodge a string of like 6 attacks, and still being hit even when I'm dodging and Radahn is like two meters away from me is frustrating. I like to use sorceries, but by the end I just put my heaviest shield and poked him to death, I didn't enjoy the fight, didn't enjoy winning it at all. I ended up discarding magic all together and rebirthing with my points going into Vigor, Endurance and Arcane to proc Bleed faster. It's an interesting fight, with some really awesome attacks, it's a shame he is just too relentless to enjoy it.

@fifthhoven

Күн бұрын

Your point about enjoyment is important. There is a fiction that if one comes up with some justification for why the games are the way they are (without caring to look into any details) that it would also cover, or in fact overflow with, enjoyment, fun and fulfillment. This is often just untrue, naive and gullible. And I think it has already harmed the gaming landscape (not even talking about all the uninspired, copy&paste, "soulless", haha, Souls-Likes). And to argue against it one generally just has to look at the actual process of what happened and how it went down, or how much goes into it and comes out.

I've looked through the reviews, and it seemed to me a majority of them were complaints about performance. There were some criticizing the gameplay and boss behavior/difficulty but those weren't the ones with most support from others.

I will say, my biggest disappointment may be Radhan himself . I was genuinely hoping godwyn would be some sort of “resurrected consort” because of stuff like the golden epitaph. The Radhan focus by miquella seems a little out of left field given what we had previously known.

I was on TikTok and I seen a post that said people who look up videos and guides to fight bosses are cheaters. I had to stop and say, it’s a strategic game, learn the weaknesses and understand what they can do. Don’t torture yourself.

As a player who isn’t especially talented but nevertheless finished most fromsoft titles and DLC I like how it forces you to explore the world, because the side content is actually meaningful. Elden ring goes from being one of the hardest to the easiest fromsoft game based on the players willingness to engage with all the content. I must admit the DLC is making me question whether I can get back into the grindset that it will require but I think it’s just the shock based on how overlevelled I was in vanilla

Thank you for this! Idk if it's a catered culture, or ppl want instant gratification, or what. It's just a difficult game, but it does give you all kinds of assistance and tools to make it more manageable. I'm stuck on Rellana right now, and I've died like 12 times. I'll go search some other areas, regroup, get better, adjust my strategy, and I'll eventually beat her. Literally the cycle of every fromsoft game.

How I think about it is that in the base game of Elden ring we had fought against powerful beings but they had already fought a war against each other leading to them all being worn down and near defeat as is. That being said the dlc feels like we are fighting all of these powerful beings much closer to if not at the peak of their power.

The base game of Elden Ring clearly establishes that Radahn halted the stars to protect Sellia and engaged in a cataclysmic battle with Malenia over control. The game's lore indicates that the demigods, corrupted by the power of the Great Runes, vied for dominance. Radahn's arc was effectively complete with his descent into madness and eternal struggle coming to a halt at the festival. Conversely, Godwyn's narrative is left open-ended. Miquella's goal to grant Godwyn a true death and the Finger Crone’s prophecy that Godwyn needs to die a true death indicate a buildup toward resolving Godwyn’s fate. However, there is no foundational lore connecting Miquella and Radahn. The idea of a deep connection between Miquella and Radahn seems contrived, appealing more to a fan-fiction fantasy than to the established narrative. The imagery in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC teaser, such as the strings of life Marika pulls from a corpse, suggests thematic elements that could be used to craft a more cohesive story involving Godwyn and Miquella. Given Godwyn's soulless state and Miquella's search for a bodily form, the narrative could have explored reanimating Godwyn’s body or leveraging an eclipse to restore souls-fitting themes for a dark fantasy universe. Instead, the DLC's direction feels forced, especially the final boss fight with "prime" Radahn, which lacks the unique flavor and depth characteristic of FromSoftware’s other DLC bosses. The new lore items introduced in the DLC, with no foreshadowing in the base game, fail to provide a satisfying or convincing expansion of the story. The rushed and superficial connections between Miquella and Radahn diminish the potential richness of their individual arcs. The DLC's attempt to justify these connections feels like a thin plot device rather than a thoughtful extension of the game’s intricate lore. Many players feel that this DLC lacks depth and substance, making it a disappointment compared to the base game's expansive and immersive world. The encounter design often relies on cheap tactics, like placing enemies in unexpected spots solely to frustrate players. This approach feels less like a challenge and more like a gimmick. Furthermore, the DLC's item and enemy scaling are inconsistent, making the experience confusing and unbalanced. High-level players face trivial challenges while encountering outdated items that serve no purpose at their level ( Smithing stones ) . The story progression in the DLC is underwhelming. After extensive buildup around Miquella, the player finally encounters him only to be forced into a fight with little explanation or narrative payoff. This abrupt encounter, coupled with the lack of significant choices or consequences, reduces what could have been a profound moment into a mere checkbox on the player’s to-do list. The ending of the DLC offers no closure or reward, leaving many players feeling as though their time and effort were wasted. Unlike other FromSoftware games, where DLCs add depth and conclude the story meaningfully, Shadow of the Erdtree leaves players with a sense of anticlimax. There is no significant change to the game world or a deeper understanding of its lore-just an 8-hour extension of the base game's grinding and combat. In summary, Shadow of the Erdtree fails to meet the high expectations set by Elden Ring. The DLC’s plot feels disconnected and superficial, lacking the intricate and rewarding narrative elements that made the base game so compelling. The final boss fight and the handling of Miquella’s story are particularly disappointing, undermining what could have been a significant expansion of the game’s world and lore.

The only lore channel i have ever watched is VaatiVydia, but most times i have to wait for so long for him to release a video so i can discuss with people about the lore (yeah i know quality takes time), so i started to look for other channels and i am glad i found yours, very well done content man.

Scadutree fragments.......will help the bad players from getting destroyed. Challenging not not overly difficult.

I’m loving the DLC so far. Currently stuck on thr final boss but i’ll figure out a way to beat him eventually. My only problem is lore wise when it comes to the final boss. Miquella why? Why? WHY did you bring back Radahn?! I was really hoping he’d bring back Godwyn. Yes I know Godwyn’s soul is destroyed but im pretty sure Miquella couldve figured out a way to bring him back. There’s just so much more lore when it comes to the relationship between Godwyn and Miquella. They were close. Godwyn looked after Miquella and Malenia. Hell there’s a statue of the three of them hugging eachother. There’s no mention of any kind of relationship between Miquella and Radahn.

I disagree that it is harder than the base game. Working in the last boss now. The dragon took me 30 tries. Messmer took me 20. Most of the rest took 10ish tries. A few took fewer than 5. Melania took me 100+ tries and Radagon took me 50 my first playthrough (solo). Horah Loux took me 15ish i think. These bosses seem easier now, but we've had 2 years of learning about their moves and digging into different builds.

Real talk I feel you 100% yea I was getting was getting my foolish ambitions to rest by everything in the land of shadows 30 mins of learning the dodge window and just there overall fighting abilities and man oh man I beat 2 boss and didn’t even remember to use my new dlc upgrade and now it’s just more fun especially the feeling of finding new ash of wars and weapons that feeling of playing all over again

I think a big mistake poeple are making is judging bosses too early. Just by fighting and beating them once you will not be able to make a definitive conclusion on a bosses "broken" level. Thats because there is 100% gonna be stuff you did wrong/didnt know etc. Only when you truly understand the boss can you really judge about "fairness".