Is Elden Ring Good For Beginners?

Is Elden Ring Good For Beginners?

if you are looking for an in depth review, you can find hundreds of those from souls-borne experts, which I am not or claim to be. I have never finished a FROMSOFTWARE title before, every time a new one gets released, my hopes get raised and without fail I purchase on day one before shortly falling off.

However, it isn’t a total loss as I usually get farther in each successive title for a myriad of possibilities. The games could be getting better, I could be getting better or Stockholm Syndrome is finally setting in.

In BloodBorne, the world seemed very rich and compelling with a lovecraftian spin. It also added an element of speed and range that made it feel slightly more forgiving than previous titles. However, afterndefeating 2 or 3 main bosses including the Cleric Beast and Father Gascione, my playtime ended.

Then came Sekiro, which ratcheted up the speed even more and also added in some mechanics that allowed you to approach different combat encounters your way or even sometimes bypass them all together. It also added in a parry system using a razor thin window that was fair but frustrating. This was easily the farthest I had played a FROMSOFTWARE title but once again, ran into too many walls and frustration eventually ended the desire to return

This brings us to 2022 and the release of Elden Ring. Another FROMSOFTWARE title and another round of people saying “this is the title to welcome more people into the FROMSOFTWARE circle” Is Elden Ring good for beginners? After a little over ten hours, the answer is once again, no. There is no difficulty level and there are many things Elden Ring doesn’t tell you including what character type to pick, what items are for, and where to go. It also has an incredibly difficult to maneuver UI when trying manage things like your inventory and pouches.

Whereas my tolerance for FROMSOFTWARE has been building up over the years and my appreciation for Elden Ring is the mystery of the world and the exploitability of the lands, Elden Ring is not welcoming to beginners.

It does have a slight hint of Breath of The Wild to it, by that you can explore in any direction you want, however in BOTW, you had an idea whether or not you were in an area you should be. With Elden Ring, you have the same ability to go almost anywhere you want except in this game it’s very unclear if you are out of your league or if you just aren’t good.

Following tradition, Elden Ring is the latest SoulsBorne that my adventure is lasting longer than the previous title. Hopefully, bucking tradition will be an area that eventually leads to leaving the game.