Janet's "secret sauce" analogy is EXACTLY how I felt about breath of the wild. I played it, i could recognize why people like it, but there was just a disconnect for me and i dont hold it as high as everyone else does, while still recognizing its a good game.
I have the same problem with Horizon. I get what people like about it. It's beautiful (in performance mode), and fighting robot dinosaurs is dope. Everything else about that series falls very flat for me. It's empty calorie gaming, and no reward for an open world that wants you to explore.
@@EveryTimeIDavid Have you played Forbidden West? Because I felt the same about HZD - beautiful, cool robots and solid combat + an interesting backstory, but the tribes, characters and world design were just...flat. A 7/10 in my book. The sequel is a lot better. Reminds me a lot more of Witcher 3, which shocked me
@@EveryTimeIDavid I felt exactly the same. I can definitely see why people like it, and it is fun, but I just can’t get into the story for some reason.
Discounting GOWR impact based on same animations or other familiar stuff as last game is a huge disservice. Elden Ring is reusing animations and mechanics all FS games have been using since Demon’s Souls…
Blessing disrespecting Sly. They give such a different flavor to the Ratchets, Astrobot platformers or the stealth of Ghost. And the care put into the villains of each hub really makes the games memorable and special.
I didn’t get caught up in the Elden ring hype but that game isn’t just the goty its one of the best games in the last 10 years. I haven’t put it down since last Friday.
I don't really understand the "more of the same" argument. Why should that be a negative? I know that you are trying to explain why games media might perceive the differences, but it just seems unnecessary. Especially for Horizon Forbidden West. I thought HZD was okay at best. A visually stunning game with solid combat and great art design, but pretty bad rpg elements and a very static world with tribes and characters I couldn't care less about. But the sequel is leaps and bounds better imo. Almost every RPG element is so much better (except the choice options from time to time that do nothing). HFW is the best W(action)RPG since Witcher 3 to me. It feels more like the jump that happened from AC 1 to AC2. I don't really see that as a knock tbh. Same with Eldenring, which I have been playing for 40+hours. It is essentially DarkSouls 4, 5 & 6 combined into one big game with the usual great art design, level design and typical souls combat. It might be called something new, but that's what this game is. And there is nothing wrong with that either. Both are fantastic games in their own right with very different approaches, that build on everything created by their respective studios in the prior game(s), but add and improve a lot on that formula.
This. Elden Ring isn't brand new. It's Dark Souls in a BOTW-esque open world. It's not some mold-breaking out of left field thing like people say it is. And any open world can be directionless if you turn off icons, waypoints, etc, including Forbidden West. If anything, it's claustrophobic that Elden Ring doesn't have the option to give you icons, waypoints, etc. Similar point: I don't want GoW2 to pull an MGS2 with Atreus. I don't see how Atreus gameplay is gonna be better than Kratos.
I think the issue with games like horizon is that we have a ton of open world rpgs with maps full of icons, bandit camps, towers, tons of crafting, slowly picking up items etc. Even if it's the best of that genre it's still a very crowded genre. With elden ring, breath of the wild or rdr2 it feels more like you're on an actual adventure. Games like this are rare. Forbidden west looks fun but after replaying the first in february I got open world fatigue long before the end.
@@reed1645 Fair enough. I see your point, but I just don't think that the difference between those games is that big. Elden Ring has bandit camps and fast travel points like all the more typical wrpgs. Same with "points of interests". The only difference in that sense is the lack of markers. The game also has crafting and items that you can pick up to make consumables. It doesn't have towers (which are not as big of a negative as some people make it out to be, because they are optional), but it uses many of the things most open world do. The game just doesn't present them in the same way and don't get explained. Of course, Elden Ring has other strengths that no WRPG really has, e.g. incredible level design, enemy design, cryptic storytelling and so on. You should definitely try HFW once your fatigue subsides a bit. It is a much better game than the first one.
@@X5J2UY I think the main difference is the horizon devs desperately want you to see all the areas they've worked so hard on, so have the maon character self narrate and not shut up telling you to look at it all for 40 hours on top of all the markers etc. The elden ring devs have built over half the game that you may never see, even if you beat it. It creates a true sense of exploration and adventure.
@@X5J2UY well I think horizon was built so that you need a map and you need to keep in mind all the different tasks in the world and all the many many crafting components you need. With elden ring there's crafting but it's much simpler. I'm looking out for smithing stone 6, then 7 and so on. And I'm only using the map for fast travel. I'm not checking it because I've taken out two bandit camps in my current region and need to take out number 3. I find I have a completely different mindset when I'm playing either game. I'm definitely curious to pick up horizon down the road but there's not just elden ring, there are too many other games I need to play as well. It's hard to find the time :).
it kills me everytime lol, this game is so user friendly but its seems like they arent taking the time to make sure the things they’re saying are true before bringing them to the show. Love KF tho
Elden Ring, and really From Softs whole catalogue, does create a unique difference between critical reviewers and casual gamers. I think its because From Software created a thing that doesnt pander to the masses, but is executed so well that it doesnt have to. It is niche, but its niche because not only is it hard, but it also doesnt gamify things that people are used to being gamified, but it does what it does so specifically well that it doesnt matter.
but it is only considered "niche" by some because, what has been perpetuated by publishers to be "mainstream" are games that have been pushed through the mold of ex. ubisoft open world type games that have become the norm because of publishers' design philosophy. Not by the actual demand of gamers. That is why people love this game and it sold so much. It may not have had the marketing budget and test groups behind it but it is filling in a desire that gamers have not had satiated and I don't think that constitutes something as "niche".
I'm glad that Janet was able to articulate my feelings on Elden Ring and Souls games in general. They get hyped up, I play them, and I'm always left wondering what was so cool or innovative about what I played. What am I missing here? That sort of thing.
I don't think these games are innovative anymore, just different. For Elden Ring, every other open world has been based on Ubisoft's busywork formula, so to have one that just lets you do whatever without holding your hand the entire time is refreshing. Also, the fact that you can defeat enemies much stronger than you with skill alone isn't common for RPGs. That said, it's just a bigger souls game.
If you don't like them then you don't. When a game gets hyped its just people's opinions you don't have to agree with it. I feel the same thing about modern naughty dog games and rockstar games. I don't like them at all and I don't think that I'm "missing something". People just have different opinions and its fine.
To answer your question...yes. This, like BOTW, has shown what open-world design should be, which is "make the players want to explore and give them the freedom on how to approach it". I am absolutely shocked at how From have been able to translate their high risk/high reward system into such a GIGANTIC open world....And that open world! Literally every 15-30 mins I have had my jaw drop at what i've discovered on that multi-layered map, or the INSANE fights i've thrown myself into. Its been (so far) 100 hours of an unforgettable experience which I will absolutely treasure and look back at fondly in the future. Instantly in my top 3 games of all time! To add, Elden Ring is not a niche game. Its an Open World Action RPG. People call it niche because they think its hard, which it is, but its not hard to the point where its unplayable. Like all RPGs, you need to level up, get better weapons, get better armour to be able to fight certain enemies and bosses.
What you said about it not being niche I completely agree with. On surface it seems like it is as difficult as other from soft games (and in some ways it is) but if you pace yourself and spend longer in areas before main boss fights, you can really take down bosses pretty easily. My buddy spent 20+ hours in just the first region grinding and was able to beat Margit on his first try. I went to Margit a lot sooner then him and was less leveled and it took me like 2 hours 😂
"This, like BOTW, has shown what open-world design should be, which is "make the players want to explore and give them the freedom on how to approach it"." I don't think that there is a certain way an open world SHOULD be. Some people like the free exploration and looking at every corner (and sometimes find nothing or something great), others want markers and/or dialogue trees, tons of characters you can talk to and a fixed protagonist with personality. Personally, I am still waiting for a great mix of both in one perfect game - really rich and interesting characters and storylines (Witcher 3 and HFW) combined with the amazing exploration, level design and lore from Bloodborne/Eldenring. I am currently 40+ hours in Eldenring and loving it, but it just doesn't quite scratch that storytelling itch that I like. I'll watch videos about the story after finishing the game, but could not care less about those things while playing the game, which is a shame.
@@mattsmith6190 I did Margit after 20 tries at around level 30, but as your buddy clocked on way before us, I completely forgot that I can make this waaaay easier for myself because it is open world and you have the freedom to go somewhere else for a while and make your life less difficult. Now i'm level 120, got a third of the world still to unveil, and getting through each boss in my first try with ease. The only thing niche about these type of games is I will admit the approachability of them, but other than that, its a standard action RPG. It has explanations for everything in the menu. It has a tutorial/guidance on basic controls/traversal/combat in the menu system. The game may start off being on "hard mode", but if you put in the time and effort and patience, you can easily make the game convert to easy mode
@@X5J2UY I should clarify my point when I see Elden Ring and BOTW being what open world design should be, which is that it doesn't constrict players from exploration from the moment you step on to the world, which many modern open world games have been guilty of (for example, I can't go to this area because I need to progress 20 hours into the story to get a certain tool to be able to unlock this barrier). I completely agree that Elden Ring's story telling is an acquired taste. BOTW has a very basic story with Link being a silent protagonist throughout.
@@mabsali8770 That I can agree on, but Elden Ring has plenty of barriers and constrictions when it comes to exploration by level gating plenty of areas. That's fine to me and a more elegant way to make sure players stay in certain areas for some time instead of forcing metroidvania-esque tools on you, but it still doesn't truly allow you to go everywhere at any point if you want to enjoy the game or not grind a certain spot to become more powerful. Completely free exploration will never make sense for any game, because the player needs some sense of progression and evolution. Better weapons, higher stats, more challenging enemies and so on. Yeah, BOTW is unfortunately very basic in its storytelling. That's probably why I didn't love it. Good game, but just not my jam. I require stories and characters (especially in huge open worlds or long games in general) to keep me invested after 30+ hours. Very rarely is gameplay THAT great, that I can keep on playing it for hours on end. Sekiro and Returnal come to mind for me
Turning Hud elements off doesn't help at all if the game isn't designed to work without them. For example, I'd love to turn off all the map icons on Horizon but I can't make custom icons on the map so I'd constantly have to remember where things are
That's a really good point. Maybe a happy medium is being able to make custom waypoints in Horizon. I would have find that useful. I'm dumb and don't know where I'm going, that's why I prefer everything labeled but I would be okay with custom waypoints.
@@GodofWar3211 I think HFW's map design is actually fine except for that option not being there. I have no problem with people wanting those icons but it'd be nice to turn them off and then setting my own icons for stuff I find through my own exploration so I don't forget them afterwards. Say what you will about Genshin Impact, but it has the best custom icon system of any game I've played because you can even give them custom names
@@vishalbharadwaj570 The point is setting those custom icons after I found something. Not to be rude, but you're not making much sense with that comment
While I plan to pick up Elden Ring later on, this conversation illustrates why I think it got the reviews it did: the two people who aren't especially interested don't feel they have the tools to judge a game like that, therefore every outlet has picked the Fromsoft fan in their ranks to review the game, and since it's an evolution of they style they love, they love the game. Like with Red Dead 2 and Deathloop, it wouldn't surprise me if it got fewer Game of the Year awards than many expect, though I hope I change my mind once I actually play it myself
*It’s the best game ever made.* Don’t read too much into that though, I’m the Fromsoft fan you’re talking about. Seriously though, give it a chance if for no other reason than to experience the unparalleled sense of discovery and exploration.
This is a curious argument for me because it happens for every game. If Greg got asked to review FIFA 12 for IGN he'd probably pass. It would probably go to someone who likes FIFA. When publications are asking for people to review Call of Duty, they would ask people who are familiar with the genre, not people who don't play shooters. And people who play those games tend to like them, otherwise they wouldn't specialize or be well versed in them. Conversely, do we say the same for Gran Turismo? Nobody on this show is interested in this game in any capacity, and reviewers are probably driving sim fans, but nobody is saying anything about why it got the reviews it did.
@@ronaldlo8818 the difference is for third person action games or shooters it’s a wide pool of people who would be nominated for these games so scores would be more likely be up and down . But when you get to games like from software games FIFA or driving games there is usually the one expert at an outlet and it is people who love these games but to be honest there is no way to fix it .
As a FromSoftware fan, it's always disheartening when you know that one of their games just isn't clicking for someone else. The feelings of triumph, awe, and discovery that these games evoke are unparalleled and all I ever want to do is share them with everyone else. It probably becomes irritating for non-fans.
Yes, it does sometimes. For one extremely pushy friend, I eventually had to go from "it's not for me" to "every time you tell me I need to play, I mentally add another year to just considering if I'll try it again." It ultimately just comes down to style of salesmanship. If someone doesn't like to be sold things, don't do a hard sell, which everyone who loves FromSoft games does.
"Horizon and God of War are the same old gameplay" as if Elden Ring isn't just Demon Souls PS3 gameplay but with refreshed lore and bosses and its open world now lol
Exactly they just made it open world and didn’t even make sure it could run at a smooth 60. I turn around and the texture is building in right in front of my eyes but this is game of the year (already in March) imagine an Xbox podcast doing this, basically saying Sony have nothing better to offer then this glitchy game
@@FILTHYGEARSMUSIC I'm not even talking about the bugs and performance but that's another legitimate point too. I was mainly talking about how Souls games use the same gameplay loops every game but with a couple new gimmicks, but it's apparently a knock when God of War or Horizon re-use gameplay loops.
It's a weird knock, especially when both have new combat styles while Elden Ring does remain mostly similar to other Soul games I touched... Except with jumps! Though on a personal note, I still prefer Elden Ring gameplay loop over GOW 2018 and original Horizon
@@frickthefuckoff almost every sequel re-uses some fundamental mechanics and gameplay loops, so it doesn't make sense at all to criticize a game for doing that, especially when the most critically celebrated game is rehashing PS3 era gameplay. Basically, don't fix what ain't broken, and don't hate what's working.
The one thing about Elden Ring that i don't agree with from Blessing, saying there is no copy and paste - that's false. There is a TON of copy and paste, clumsy and repetitive enemies with small variations that personally don't feel fresh. The caves/dungeons do vary slightly but they're generally mostly the same and some even have the exact same layouts. BUT the game is still phenomenal, its really just a larger dark souls for me. - not a masterpiece or anything that amazing. I do agree that games need to learn from it though, a sense of discovery is necessary and should be a mandatory bullet point on dev design boards.
Considering I'm seeing all these people compare elden ring to other open world games to prop it up and give it more shine, I don't see why Ragnarok can't be compared to other thrid person action adventure games to get shine also.
@@RoaringTide Exactly. Sekiro is probably my favorite FS game (tied with Bloodborne), but the competition wasn't very strong. Death Stranding comes to mind, which was underappreciated imo, but actually a lot more niche in its game design to have a chance at winning many GOTY votes
@@X5J2UY yea it was up against death stranding and control which were both very artsy and probably put people off, resident evil 2 remake being horror survival, another niche genre not everyone loves and smash ultimate builds up hype but again not everyone loves playing it. The one with the most mainstream appeal was outer world sand honestly i would say was the only one that deserved the nomination the least. not a bad game by any means, just one that didn't do anything as special as the rest. sekiro while niche had such well refined combat and gameplay that it was a much easier win compared to the rest.
I don't think Elden Ring is niche at all. It's a modernization of one of the oldest genres in gaming- open world adventure games. It's like a modern Zork, or a Myst game with combat. You make your own adventure, in a world that's accessible if you figure out how to access it. It goes back to the argument Tam made against modern gaming, that resonated super hard with people like myself. It's a game that takes us back to the roots of how many of us fell in love with gaming. The sense of adventure and mystery is so prevalent, whereas modern games generally tell you exactly where to go, who to talk to, and take the thought out of the experience. I think gamers have been pining for experiences like this. I think the popularity of games like BoTW, Elden Ring, and the Renaissance of Dungeons & Dragons speaks to this plainly
i mean elden ring is good, but i'm enjoying gt7 just as much. granted i'm only like 15 hours into both, and it sounds like elden ring is 100 hours and then i'll probably do a coop playthough, so my impression of it will probably only go up. But atm i'm enjoying both equally, the tension of being so close to crashing in high speed races in different weather conditions has been a really great adrenaline rush. the sense of speed in the new gt is really good. but i've also not even touched the multiplayer of gt7 yet either.
My issue is the bragging about the lack of difficulty settings, hand holding, limited HUD, and map markers. Yet all these "Hardcore" gamers are using, guides, interactive maps, One-shot builds, and boss tutorials?? they don't realize lacking options, is quite frankly lack of options, not some revolutionary mechanic. Accessibility would only further the audience and benefit the games, meanwhile, the hardcore can play their hardcore limited options modes. The Devs exclude accessibility purposely to punish players. ALL other games literally allow you to limit yourself. You're not forced to use the pause menu whatsoever. You can literally play ultra hard and delete every icon and HUD marker in horizon destroying this entire argument. It's not a debate about the game being too hard or limiting. It's the fact that the devs don't bother to even include the option thus excluding 80% of the whole gaming audience which it is there decision. It's a great game. Just nothing Revolutionary. A dark Souls 3.5 with some added touch.
I love the IDEA of a GOW TV show or movie. I think going back to the style of 300 or the Spartacus TV series would fit perfectly. I see the show filling in the gaps between the Greek and Norse series, maybe expanding upon the Fallen God setup.
Since I’m in my 30’s and have responsibilities…My GOTY criteria comes down to how much sleep I lose until I finish the first playthrough. Last year Returnal destroyed my sleep schedule. That was my GOTY. And now a free update with more content?!?? We don’t deserve House Marque. This year Elden Ring has gone further than just destroying my sleep schedule. I dream of playing it in my sleep lol. I’m 55 hours into it and I’ve only killed 2 main bosses. That’s insane. I even bought a Switch for my wife (she loves “baby games” lol), so life would be easier around the house. Also now I want to play BoTW because of all the comparisons people are making with it and ER. Always wanted to play it, but Elden Ring oddly was the push. So whenever she gets tired of Animal Crossing and the new Kirby, I’ll be able to play BoTW. If there’s another game that does that this year I’ll be surprised. As much as I loved GoW 2018 I lost zero sleep playing it. Easily put it down when I needed to.
GOTY for kinda funny won’t be Elden Ring as half of the panel may not even play it through. It may get top spot from Andy, Bless, Tam but might not make the list at all from Greg and Tim. So will average out a lot lower on the KF scale. For me Elden Ring is becoming my fave game of all time.
I've put about 30+ hours into Elden Ring, I think it's easily a GOTY contender and is the most refreshing open world since BOTW. But I don't see it as groundbreaking or a masterpiece. I've been playing FromSoft games since 2014 and while this is easily the most dense game from them and is a culmination of everything they've done since the OG Demons Souls. However it STILL has jank from Demons Souls (enemies hitting you from walls, enemy AI being super easily manipulative and just brain dead at times etc) which yes I understand is part of the appeal, I'm shocked it's just accepted and seems to not be improved. Also the co-op in the open world just seems very poorly thought out, not being able to ride Torrent while in the open world in co-op, just seems like wasted potential. Finally a lot of the boss fights you find in the open world feel really dull sometimes but that's just me. These main criticisms I have, Elden Ring so far is still my game of the year. I do prefer Sekiro and Bloodborne over this as a FromSoft fan but it's great to see FromSoft finally break into mainstream, I hope they learn to improve the jank and really really consider doing new things.
MatthewMatosis also has an amazing video that displays a lot of the main criticisms of FromSoft as a whole since the original Dark Souls: ruclips.net/video/Np5PdpsfINA/видео.html&ab_channel=Matthewmatosis
Feels like they just made it open world and added a few things and called it a day. Has they actually really polished the graphics and updated the gameplay more it could of been one of the best games ever but it feels a bit disappointing how amateur it feels at times. I love the difficulty but not how messy combat feels
@@FILTHYGEARSMUSIC They updated the graphics and the combat mechanics and animations, not everything but a lot of animations. You can still dislike it in its state but don't pretend like they just added fields between areas and that's it. The architecture of both levels and the open world, the variety in aesthetics, the number of armors and weapons, the number of bosses and animations they have, the extremely dense lore, this is nowhere near amateur.
Janet called From Software cilantro and I respect it. Some people taste the delicious acidic brightening herb that livens up any dish other people feel like you just squeezed soap into your guacamole.
A review industry that gives Elden Ring the scores it got when the PC version shipped and still is broken, where you can't pause the game, when the PS5 version periodically deletes saves, and where the "best" experience is forcing the PS4 version on a PS5 has no credibility.
It had the biggest non Fifa or Cod launch since red dead 2. Apparently it sold over 10 million on steam in its first week. So... not exactly niche lol. It's an open world fantasy game made alongside the creator of one of the most popular fantasy series' of all time. And fromsoft's last game won goty. It's obviously a big contender for goty already.
@@reed1645I can almost guarantee that this is mainly because of FOMO. At the end of the day its still a souls game. Regardless, the point is there's may games still coming out to straight up call it GOTY people are wildin.
@@FirmlyGrasp_IT Majority of people are not fans of souls games, its just a fact. Up until now they haven't even cracked 10 mil in sales and even now I bet this is only because of the media hype and FOMO.
@@TheeArcane well it's been out for over a week but the concurrent player numbers are very high. The sixth biggest on steam ever according to an article published yesterday. I think it's fair to say this is much more than just another souls game. It's one if the best open worlds in years. If it released last year it would be a goty without question. This year we may get gow2, botw2 and starfield so the competition could be tight. It depends on what gets delayed into 2023 though. It's safe to say elden ring is an extremely strong contender.
Also no it is not an issue to the guy who is talking about reviews being so varied, Elden Ring is still growing in popularity despite being difficult. It went to its new highest concurrent just yesterday on Steam. People would be putting the game down if everyone bought it based on reviews then just gave up due to how hard it is.
Should I play Elden Ring? I like open world games but I also like a game with direction. I played BotW years after it came out and I was not a fan of it. Partly because I've never had an interest in Zelda and also because of the scale of it was intimidating and unwelcoming I felt. I've never played a Souls game before but I'm currently playing through Bloodborne for the first time, and I'm hit or miss on it. I like the world building and the setting but I'm getting very frustrated trying to learn the mechanics and accept that dying is a part of getting better, which is not a normal thing for the games I'm used to playing. I feel like I'm having a similar experience to when I first played XCOM 2. When I first started playing that, I was terrible at it. I was losing characters left and right and I eventually rage quit. But after about a month, I came back to it and it's one of my favorite games of all time now. It made me appreciate and love tactical strategy games. I feel like Elden Ring could do this same thing for me, and I'll be honest there is a level of fomo here. So with all that information about my gaming history, I'll ask again. Should I play Elden Ring?
I'd say yes. I was the same. Bounced right off Zelda BOTW. I think it's very overhyped and put on such a high pedestal now that saying anything negative about it isn't allowed. It isn't a badly made game, but the world is empty and boring. Repetitive gameplay loop and still having ubisoft towers to reveal the map! Anyway, I, too, have put off FromSoft games for years because the infamous difficulty intimidated me. I took a punt and played the Demon's Souls PS5 Remake last year and I fell in love with it. Beat the whole game, and am currently playing Elden Ring and loving it even more. It's not the massive groundbreaking game the whole world says it is, as it utilises a LOT of things from their previous games. But it is fantastic and a lot of fun. So basically yes. Absolutely give it a go. Just know you cannot go in to it expecting to beat everything and be lead to your objectives. Go in with the knowledge that you have to explore everywhere and fend for yourself! It will either click or it won't but there's no shame if it doesn't 👍
Well I think elden ring is much less frustrating than other fromsoft titles due to the open world. I can ride away from enemies on a horse I can summon at any time (doesn't work in dungeons though). Also anytime I feel stuck on a boss I don't need to keep trying and trying and trying... instead I can just go somewhere else, explore, level up, improve my weapons etc. Typically when I return to this tough boss it's a good bit easier then. You can summon spirits in most boss fights too which will attack for you. This is a great distraction and helps a lot. The combat will feel a bit similar to bloodborne. Although you can jump now and there's mounted combat. Also you have more build diversity. You could make a mage or a big tanky character with a large shield. However if you want a game that offers direction then elden ring may not be for you. There are some golden lines which point you in some directions worth checking out but you have a lot of freedom. So that could be a bit overwhelming. There are also a lot of gameplay systems which aren't well explained so you just have to pick them up over time or watch some tips videos. Hopefully that's helpful.
@@jmorgmate I'm glad I'm not alone in my distaste for BotW. Thank you very much for your opinion and advice. I will say, I havent been able to stop watching Elden Ring content either. I do have an interest in the game and I think after I beat Horizon, if I still feel the same way, I'll pick it up
@@reed1645 Thank you for the insight on this. I've been watching alot of Elden Ring content pretty much non stop. I think after a bit of time with Bloodborne I'll have a better understanding of how to play a souls game and I'll give it a shot
The tutorials for everything in Elden Ring go into your inventory and can be looked at at any time. The game does tell you that so there is tutorial and it doesn't just "go away and leave you to fend for yourself."
Why is this conversation about Elden Ring getting a good review score becoming so controversial? I don't remember the same conversation surrounding God of War or The Last of Us.
Hey KF but specifically Blessing, have any of you finished Elden Ring yet? There's been all this buzz about the game being GOTY with amazing reviews, but many reviews didn't finish. I personally found the game to be amazing until the last 1/3 or so, and then the quality definitely dipped IMO. I'm wondering if you finished the game if you had the same opinion I did, or if this is just a me thing and everyone else still likes the final 1/3 of the game.
I haven't finished but you're correct that a lot of people seem to be fairly underwhelmed by the endgame content, although it seems like a lot of it is coming from people who tried to fight bosses without spirit ashes which seems like an unnecessary handcuff
We’re starting to reach a point where the souls games are no longer niche cause there’s so many people enjoying them. If you would have asked me 5 years ago I would have said yes the games are niche cause of the difficulty, but with ER’s apparent sales success I think it’s crossed over.
I feel like we're passed the point of Elden Ring being "niche" given its sales and massive marketing lol. Souls games combat and level design has been adapted in so many games and they have had such a massive impact on the industry that I don't think we're in the same era as 2009 where Demon Souls was just this nerdy game a few people were playing. One thing I hard agree with is that the difficulty of these games is overstated. In fact, it's gotten to the point where FromSoftware sometimes becomes a parody of themselves with how BS some of the bosses in their more recent games have gotten. Aside from Bed of Chaos which was just a gimmick fight, none of the bosses in DS1 really felt unfair IMO, they were complicated but once you got the patterns down it was pretty straight-forward. Some of the bosses in DS3 feel like they're from a different game and just aren't very enjoyable to fight, its like they were designed to be as punishing as possible at the expense of well designed. I haven't advanced in Elden Ring too much but I've heard the endgame bosses are like that too, which is disappointing, because so far the game is just incredible and could have been even better. There was a pretty easy way to ramp up to make these games more accessible and they've kind of just gone in the other direction because of the fanbase egging them on. Also, BTW the tutorials are all viewable in the "info" tab in your inventory. The game tells you this in the first tutorial pop up.
If Sekiro won, Elden Ring will hands down win. Accessibility will not even be a factor with all this chatter. We are currently in From’s timeline. They stole Platinum Games soul and are cashing in. Edit: sidenote…people underestimating the sequel chops of Sony Santa Monica don’t remember how exponentially better GoW 2 was than 1, and also 3 compared to 2. They will blow us out the water, especially if they aren’t doing a trilogy.
Something else that is being brought up as a negative is that GOW Ragnarok will be using the same gameplay type as GOW 2018. To me this allows SSM to focus on story, acting, and polish instead of building gameplay, characters and story from the ground up. Automatic potential for a better game than many people's "best game ever". The same can be said for Breath of the Wild 2.
@@kvmedman6217 yep even people brought it up for horizon before it came out. Everything essentially (the trap limit was a little lame, but hey) was infinitely better in 2 than 1 quality of life wise. I think it’s just talking points mostly, but you definitely can’t count these juggernauts out just because there is a 2 behind the title.
Why are y'all sitting on here arguing and debating about if souls games and elder ring are niche. Everybody in the world knows that, this is the dumbest argument ever, there's no argument to be made about it
Every game you play, if you like it or not, has so much to do with immersion. Some people get very immersed in Elden ring, others dont. Das jus da way it iz. I was very immersed in Horizon for a long period of time. Played it for 75 hours, now Im done though. I hope I will get into Elden ring, I loved Bloodborne, and liked Demons souls remake and Dark souls 3. Will start it soon. I'm really immersed and into Deep rock galactic right now aswell. Best ps plus title since Rocket League and Fall Guys. I wish people talked about it in the same way. Sure it has a great community though. Yeah yeah, have a good day, xoxo
Amazon Prime making God of War is amazing and perfect, it should feel like a mix of Vikings and American Gods but with a budget akin to the new Lord of the Rings show they are doing. It would be fucking insane and extremely good as a spectacle.
Last of us 2 also had a major jump in production value as well though, graphics, gameplay mechanics, sound, music…it’s hard for other games to compete with that leap
Love that Jon Watts really came into his own in the industry and landed Spiderman. Not sure how many people know, but Watts and friends actually had a sketch comedy YT channel more than a decade ago. The channel is called WaverlyFlams and most of the vids are still up if you want to see some of Watts' roots!
I don't like this concept of "favorite game vs best game" you've played. I think they are both the same thing. When people say "this is my favorite game but I think this is the best game", I just cringe. If you really believed that one game is better than the other, then you will prefer it over the other game in question. Also, regarding the concept of critically/objectively reviewing games, that is also nonsense since all reviews are by definition subjective. Every single statement you make on a game is and will always be subjective as there is no "magical formula" to judge games. The only thing that you can state objectively about a game is that games' performance. Sorry for the long post.
How can you play so much of Elden Ring and don't see the Copy and Paste elements? Every mine, most of the optional dungeons are basically the same. Optional bosses get copied everytime. I fought the same one 4th time in different colored outfits. Damn, they even copy from other Souls games with design and moveset. It's so weird how blind people are praising this game.
Elden Ring is most likely going to be my personal GOTY when all is said and done, but it could have some serious competition. Providing they come out this year, God of War and BOTW2 are bound to be very strong contenders. There's also Starfield, which we know almost nothing about, but it could be a big surprise (Bethesda games have their shortcomings, but we still talk about Skyrim over a decade later). Hell, maybe we all get blindsided by Hogwarts Legacy? If all those games release, Elden Ring might not have it so easy, even though it'll likely get my vote.
I just have one question….who tf would play Kratos? Who is that ripped and able to act? Dwayne Johnson? Honestly confused how they are going to do that.
As far as PS5, especially with how much Forbidden West improves Zero Dawn, I don't see how GoW2 can overtake it for me (less room to grow from GoW 2018). Elden Ring is fine if you like Souls, but the slow tedious combat, copious amounts of bs, and bare bones narrative is not for me.
Everything you said about Elden Ring is just completely false. The combat is fast and extremely well executed, the game doesn't hold your hand, both gameplay wise and also narratively. I love Horizon, but From Soft lore is superior to Horizon's story and most others games' story because of how incredible the world building and character lore is.
As someone who’s a fan but not a fan boy for all the Souls game. Could someone please explain to me what makes Elden Ring this incredible masterpiece?? I’ve enjoyed and beaten every one of these games, but it’s still just another Dark Souls to me, but open world. It’ll always be top of the line in Lore, Enemy, World and Sound Design. But, the gameplay is still all the same sh*t from 2011. At least in SEKIRO they added ledge climbing which was considered NEW. While everyone was going YEAAAA! I was going WTF?? Anyways I could go on an on but I’ll leave it there. Still enjoying the game a ton, but Game Of The Year 10/10 Masterpiece?..I’m gonna have to disagree. 8/10 🤷🏻♂️. Love Ya Guys - Drew
I would argue that a game doesn't *need* to be groundbreaking in order to be a masterpiece. It just needs to excel in almost everything it chooses to do.
Hot Take: Forbidden West is miles better than Elden Ring. Its only competition should be Sifu, because FromSoftware games get a review bump in the same way a premier brand bumps their price just because of the logo.
I love Elden Ring and I guarantee it will be my game of the year. That said, the conversation about Horizon and God of War re-using animations is kind of silly. The Souls games have so much re-used stuff in every game. The fucking opening door animation has been there since Demon's Souls. Tons of the enemies are just reskins. The dogs are in every game with different textures. The Asylum Demon from Dark Souls has been in pretty much every game since with minor adjustments to the model.
By them, yes! You would think a PlayStation podcast would be championing our exclusives and actually be positive they could better the past games and not in March say nothing PlayStation will offer will be better than a copy and paste game that launched with terrible performance and has not improved since. Don’t trust the media when they lie in your face
I never thought I'd love a game more then Bloodborne, but damn. I'm 98 hours into elden ring, still haven't beat it yet and I'm level 205. I love looking up stuff and being more well versed in the systems and world itself. Always summon! You should never feel like you have to do it solo unless it's something you want to prove to yourself.
@@Gameonysus funny how on other kinda funny podcasts if Nick or Tim pronounce something incorrectly it’s called out and make a joke out of it. The pronunciations from blessing on certain words seems like he’s doing it on purpose. It’s only for certain words.
i love elden ring but i do wish they could have evolved the game play or fighting style. all u do is hit roll hit roll hit roll this fk have become so dam boring i hope with next game they do something new with fighting style then roll hit roll hit
I would say Wheel of Time was very controversial with the source material nerds and just as a watcher of the show I felt like it was way to rushed with too much missing info to watch without supported reading of reddit, Twitter, and random articles.
I started reading the series because I liked the first couple episodes of the show. I finished the first book before the last episode… I now hate the show lmao 🤣 maybe I’m just a nerd, but they went so far off from what the source material is, they should’ve just made their own IP, they’re already halfway there lol
At this point it's extremely tough to imagine anything beating elden ring. I don't think any of sony's upcoming games will be better but I could see botw 2 winning overall goty.
I’m confused because they copy and pasted the souls games into an open world, I like it and most of the souls games but honestly just because they hype a game up and say it’s a 97 and the best thing ever you don’t have to take it as fact. If this is the best we can get for the rest of the year i would be shocked and disappointed
@@vibezworldwide art is not defined by the sum of its parts. I’m going to assume you’re talking about Horizon? They’re very different kinds of games and one appeals to people like me an Andy more than the other one while it sounds the opposite is true for you. We already have your side of the conversation here with Janet and Greg. Bless is more in the middle to me
@@teamramrod27 I got Elden Ring as current Goty. That said, my issue is a lot of outlets criticize other games as being “more of a same” & technical issues but don’t keep the same energy when it came to Elden Ring.
Janet "bad take" Garcia lol not even 10 minutes in and she's wrong about batmans runtime and calls God of war a ps3 era game due to the "collection" being released on it, yikes it's not even that bad but she's so Gung Ho about it you cannot ignore how wrong those statements were
I never said God of War was a PS3 game. I asked if it was PS2 or PS3 and then said okay yeah. The collection was PS3. I think you’re just Gung Ho about not liking me.
@@paulsmith9192 maybe something new gets announced for a fall game. They already had Horizon but mey e they want to go all out 2023 with the VR, GOW, Spiderman
@@JTsavage7577 Pretty confident. Many developers at SantaMonica and Jason Schreier have mentioned that GoW:R will be released this year. The game doesn't need a long marketing cycle. A SoP 3-4 months before release and some marketing a month before release should do it. The game will be super popular anyway
I am so glad that FROM SOFTWARE stuck to the philosophy of creating a game that is old-style challenging and about figuring things out on your own. Elden ring is a typical dark souls game with an element of an open world but at its core, it is still about the sense of discovery and challenging gameplay. There are a lot of people who want the handholding element of it in the disguise statement of it not being accessible, Just accept some of the games are not for you in this case and move on. The expectation that the game should serve everyone is just unnecessary and in that sense FROM GAMES will always be niche. :)
I actually think elden ring does a great job at accomodating players who want a challenge and those who don't. So much of the difficult content seems optional and after exploring and levelling I find a lot of the main bosses haven't been that tough. The ability to summon spirits helps a lot and you can always summon real players too. It's so easy to escape enemies on horseback in the open world also. That said there are tons of optional areas I've explored which offer a good deal of challenge.
I cannot, for the life of me, understand the insane praise for Elden Ring or FromSoftware games in general. They are so clunky and janky. Graphics from 2007, terrible animations, horrible UI, non existant story and slow, boring combat. There are plenty of open world games where you can go off the beaten path and discover cool stuff. This is not revolutionary. Plenty of games let you stop a boss fight or quest and come back when you're leveled up. I literally just did that exact thing in Horizon. This is not groundbreaking. I'm glad people like it but it's not a 97, it's not a 10/10, it's not a masterpiece, it's not one of the greatest games ever made. It's a mediocre game with a very loud, very die-hard fanbase.
You can break every game down to dumb simple arguments like that to fit your narrative, you very clearly haven’t played Elden ring and it seems like it’s not the type of game for you which is fine But just because you don’t like it doesn’t objectively make it a mediocre game you weirdo
I'd recommend picking it up at some point so you can see for yourself. Elden ring offers something extremely different from horizon. If you just want nice visuals then there are prettier games sure but if you value gameplay, exploration and strong art design then there's a lot to love.
Janet opened that can of whoop ass without being confrontational about it. If you’re a fromsoftware person Elden Ring is GOTY. If you’re not into that niche it’s a clunky combat game with good art direction that’s just bad with game design.
That's far from reality. The number I've seen who didn't like From Software previous games, not liking a lot what they saw of Elden Ring, saying the game waw clunky, with bad graphics, that is basically dark souls and then played it and said it was one of the best adventure games they ever played.
@@lahunica2726 There’s always room for a lot of opinions, but the public acrimony that’s spilled out into forums, review videos and podcasts isn’t a temporary apparition…there’s a lot of bias going on with the reviews/public discussions and a lot of people bought the game expecting something different. Now those people are feeling like they got duped, but don’t want to fess up and say they don’t like the game because there are all these defensive people now gatekeeping…which is also starting to be more openly questioned. I’m a fromsoftware fan, but I would never rate ER above HFW because the game can get obnoxiously annoying and most people aren’t going just accept that making ER a game that’s not for everybody.
@@Imhotep397 the same happens with every from software game that appeals to people at first because of the setting and art direction and then they discover the challenging gameplay and either quit or embrace it. From Software has always been transparent towards difficulty in their games and 100% of game journalists talk about their games being difficult and even overwhelmingly difficult, which caused a lot of people to not play the games. Nothing new under the sun here.
@@lahunica2726 Ultimately, transparent category scored and averaged reviews would eliminate a lot of bias and deliver more information more people could trust rather than constantly getting caught in a quagmire of always having to analyze the person making the analysis.
@@Imhotep397 of course and if you do it, you'd see the average user review (except the review bombing) compliments the game a lot, doesn't mean it doesn't have problems but overhaul the feedback is positive.
Dont know how this conversation of Horizon vs Elden ring is relevant when those games are soooo different, the only thing they can be compared on is being open world. Elden ring is amazing but 90% of the package is the same as previous games. Horizon on a technical, cutscene, graphics is far superior. This is just Fan boy talk trying to bash Horizon. Both games are great.
Because they use every situation to belittle PlayStation and are trying to use this whole episode to say Sony is finished for the year, nothing to see! Nothing will beat Elden ring! They want us to live in a world where that’s the best we are getting all year and it’s okay. I’m not fooled
Whether you can turn all that clutter on the screen off in Assassin's Creed is irrelevant. I think the point of the image is that the Devs dumping on Elden Ring seem to think that's what a "good" HUD looks like.
I'd also argue that turning those elements off might even be detrimental, because those games weren't built from the ground up to accommodate players having no HUD. Elden Ring was built with the knowledge that players won't have explicit directions, so things like item descriptions and NPC dialogue can be written to account for that, and the game is not setup as a "checklist" style game in the first place. Whereas, I doubt games like Assassin's Creed have reasonable alternative means to get shit done without markers and quest logs.
Janet's "secret sauce" analogy is EXACTLY how I felt about breath of the wild. I played it, i could recognize why people like it, but there was just a disconnect for me and i dont hold it as high as everyone else does, while still recognizing its a good game.
I have the same problem with Horizon. I get what people like about it. It's beautiful (in performance mode), and fighting robot dinosaurs is dope. Everything else about that series falls very flat for me. It's empty calorie gaming, and no reward for an open world that wants you to explore.
@@EveryTimeIDavid upgrading weapons is not a reward?
@@EveryTimeIDavid Have you played Forbidden West? Because I felt the same about HZD - beautiful, cool robots and solid combat + an interesting backstory, but the tribes, characters and world design were just...flat. A 7/10 in my book.
The sequel is a lot better. Reminds me a lot more of Witcher 3, which shocked me
@@EveryTimeIDavid I felt exactly the same. I can definitely see why people like it, and it is fun, but I just can’t get into the story for some reason.
Sound like me and Super Mario Odyssey. It bored me and my 11 yr old.
Discounting GOWR impact based on same animations or other familiar stuff as last game is a huge disservice. Elden Ring is reusing animations and mechanics all FS games have been using since Demon’s Souls…
Blessing disrespecting Sly. They give such a different flavor to the Ratchets, Astrobot platformers or the stealth of Ghost. And the care put into the villains of each hub really makes the games memorable and special.
i cannot believe the under appreciation for Horizon Forbidden West
This show holds the power of indirectly announcing state of plays and showcases lol
We keep giving.
I didn’t get caught up in the Elden ring hype but that game isn’t just the goty its one of the best games in the last 10 years. I haven’t put it down since last Friday.
I don't really understand the "more of the same" argument. Why should that be a negative?
I know that you are trying to explain why games media might perceive the differences, but it just seems unnecessary.
Especially for Horizon Forbidden West. I thought HZD was okay at best. A visually stunning game with solid combat and great art design, but pretty bad rpg elements and a very static world with tribes and characters I couldn't care less about.
But the sequel is leaps and bounds better imo. Almost every RPG element is so much better (except the choice options from time to time that do nothing). HFW is the best W(action)RPG since Witcher 3 to me. It feels more like the jump that happened from AC 1 to AC2. I don't really see that as a knock tbh.
Same with Eldenring, which I have been playing for 40+hours. It is essentially DarkSouls 4, 5 & 6 combined into one big game with the usual great art design, level design and typical souls combat. It might be called something new, but that's what this game is. And there is nothing wrong with that either.
Both are fantastic games in their own right with very different approaches, that build on everything created by their respective studios in the prior game(s), but add and improve a lot on that formula.
This. Elden Ring isn't brand new. It's Dark Souls in a BOTW-esque open world. It's not some mold-breaking out of left field thing like people say it is. And any open world can be directionless if you turn off icons, waypoints, etc, including Forbidden West. If anything, it's claustrophobic that Elden Ring doesn't have the option to give you icons, waypoints, etc.
Similar point: I don't want GoW2 to pull an MGS2 with Atreus. I don't see how Atreus gameplay is gonna be better than Kratos.
I think the issue with games like horizon is that we have a ton of open world rpgs with maps full of icons, bandit camps, towers, tons of crafting, slowly picking up items etc. Even if it's the best of that genre it's still a very crowded genre.
With elden ring, breath of the wild or rdr2 it feels more like you're on an actual adventure. Games like this are rare. Forbidden west looks fun but after replaying the first in february I got open world fatigue long before the end.
@@reed1645 Fair enough. I see your point, but I just don't think that the difference between those games is that big.
Elden Ring has bandit camps and fast travel points like all the more typical wrpgs. Same with "points of interests". The only difference in that sense is the lack of markers. The game also has crafting and items that you can pick up to make consumables. It doesn't have towers (which are not as big of a negative as some people make it out to be, because they are optional), but it uses many of the things most open world do. The game just doesn't present them in the same way and don't get explained.
Of course, Elden Ring has other strengths that no WRPG really has, e.g. incredible level design, enemy design, cryptic storytelling and so on.
You should definitely try HFW once your fatigue subsides a bit. It is a much better game than the first one.
@@X5J2UY I think the main difference is the horizon devs desperately want you to see all the areas they've worked so hard on, so have the maon character self narrate and not shut up telling you to look at it all for 40 hours on top of all the markers etc. The elden ring devs have built over half the game that you may never see, even if you beat it. It creates a true sense of exploration and adventure.
@@X5J2UY well I think horizon was built so that you need a map and you need to keep in mind all the different tasks in the world and all the many many crafting components you need.
With elden ring there's crafting but it's much simpler. I'm looking out for smithing stone 6, then 7 and so on. And I'm only using the map for fast travel. I'm not checking it because I've taken out two bandit camps in my current region and need to take out number 3.
I find I have a completely different mindset when I'm playing either game. I'm definitely curious to pick up horizon down the road but there's not just elden ring, there are too many other games I need to play as well. It's hard to find the time :).
Blessing PLEASE search your inventory menu on ELDEN RING. There is a tab with ALL of the tutorials that you can read ANYTIME. PLEASE
Seriously, he keeps bringing up how bad the tutorialization is but all the info is already there!
it kills me everytime lol, this game is so user friendly but its seems like they arent taking the time to make sure the things they’re saying are true before bringing them to the show. Love KF tho
Elden Ring, and really From Softs whole catalogue, does create a unique difference between critical reviewers and casual gamers. I think its because From Software created a thing that doesnt pander to the masses, but is executed so well that it doesnt have to. It is niche, but its niche because not only is it hard, but it also doesnt gamify things that people are used to being gamified, but it does what it does so specifically well that it doesnt matter.
but it is only considered "niche" by some because, what has been perpetuated by publishers to be "mainstream" are games that have been pushed through the mold of ex. ubisoft open world type games that have become the norm because of publishers' design philosophy. Not by the actual demand of gamers. That is why people love this game and it sold so much. It may not have had the marketing budget and test groups behind it but it is filling in a desire that gamers have not had satiated and I don't think that constitutes something as "niche".
I'm glad that Janet was able to articulate my feelings on Elden Ring and Souls games in general. They get hyped up, I play them, and I'm always left wondering what was so cool or innovative about what I played. What am I missing here? That sort of thing.
Aw I’m glad. And maybe one day we will identify the sauce.
I don't think these games are innovative anymore, just different. For Elden Ring, every other open world has been based on Ubisoft's busywork formula, so to have one that just lets you do whatever without holding your hand the entire time is refreshing. Also, the fact that you can defeat enemies much stronger than you with skill alone isn't common for RPGs. That said, it's just a bigger souls game.
If you don't like them then you don't. When a game gets hyped its just people's opinions you don't have to agree with it. I feel the same thing about modern naughty dog games and rockstar games. I don't like them at all and I don't think that I'm "missing something". People just have different opinions and its fine.
I mean I feel that way about a lot of games that are seen as "innovative". Not everything is everyone's cup of tea.
To answer your question...yes. This, like BOTW, has shown what open-world design should be, which is "make the players want to explore and give them the freedom on how to approach it". I am absolutely shocked at how From have been able to translate their high risk/high reward system into such a GIGANTIC open world....And that open world! Literally every 15-30 mins I have had my jaw drop at what i've discovered on that multi-layered map, or the INSANE fights i've thrown myself into. Its been (so far) 100 hours of an unforgettable experience which I will absolutely treasure and look back at fondly in the future. Instantly in my top 3 games of all time!
To add, Elden Ring is not a niche game. Its an Open World Action RPG. People call it niche because they think its hard, which it is, but its not hard to the point where its unplayable. Like all RPGs, you need to level up, get better weapons, get better armour to be able to fight certain enemies and bosses.
What you said about it not being niche I completely agree with. On surface it seems like it is as difficult as other from soft games (and in some ways it is) but if you pace yourself and spend longer in areas before main boss fights, you can really take down bosses pretty easily. My buddy spent 20+ hours in just the first region grinding and was able to beat Margit on his first try. I went to Margit a lot sooner then him and was less leveled and it took me like 2 hours 😂
"This, like BOTW, has shown what open-world design should be, which is "make the players want to explore and give them the freedom on how to approach it"."
I don't think that there is a certain way an open world SHOULD be. Some people like the free exploration and looking at every corner (and sometimes find nothing or something great), others want markers and/or dialogue trees, tons of characters you can talk to and a fixed protagonist with personality.
Personally, I am still waiting for a great mix of both in one perfect game - really rich and interesting characters and storylines (Witcher 3 and HFW) combined with the amazing exploration, level design and lore from Bloodborne/Eldenring. I am currently 40+ hours in Eldenring and loving it, but it just doesn't quite scratch that storytelling itch that I like. I'll watch videos about the story after finishing the game, but could not care less about those things while playing the game, which is a shame.
@@mattsmith6190 I did Margit after 20 tries at around level 30, but as your buddy clocked on way before us, I completely forgot that I can make this waaaay easier for myself because it is open world and you have the freedom to go somewhere else for a while and make your life less difficult. Now i'm level 120, got a third of the world still to unveil, and getting through each boss in my first try with ease. The only thing niche about these type of games is I will admit the approachability of them, but other than that, its a standard action RPG. It has explanations for everything in the menu. It has a tutorial/guidance on basic controls/traversal/combat in the menu system. The game may start off being on "hard mode", but if you put in the time and effort and patience, you can easily make the game convert to easy mode
@@X5J2UY I should clarify my point when I see Elden Ring and BOTW being what open world design should be, which is that it doesn't constrict players from exploration from the moment you step on to the world, which many modern open world games have been guilty of (for example, I can't go to this area because I need to progress 20 hours into the story to get a certain tool to be able to unlock this barrier).
I completely agree that Elden Ring's story telling is an acquired taste. BOTW has a very basic story with Link being a silent protagonist throughout.
@@mabsali8770 That I can agree on, but Elden Ring has plenty of barriers and constrictions when it comes to exploration by level gating plenty of areas. That's fine to me and a more elegant way to make sure players stay in certain areas for some time instead of forcing metroidvania-esque tools on you, but it still doesn't truly allow you to go everywhere at any point if you want to enjoy the game or not grind a certain spot to become more powerful. Completely free exploration will never make sense for any game, because the player needs some sense of progression and evolution. Better weapons, higher stats, more challenging enemies and so on.
Yeah, BOTW is unfortunately very basic in its storytelling. That's probably why I didn't love it. Good game, but just not my jam. I require stories and characters (especially in huge open worlds or long games in general) to keep me invested after 30+ hours. Very rarely is gameplay THAT great, that I can keep on playing it for hours on end. Sekiro and Returnal come to mind for me
Turning Hud elements off doesn't help at all if the game isn't designed to work without them. For example, I'd love to turn off all the map icons on Horizon but I can't make custom icons on the map so I'd constantly have to remember where things are
That's a really good point. Maybe a happy medium is being able to make custom waypoints in Horizon. I would have find that useful. I'm dumb and don't know where I'm going, that's why I prefer everything labeled but I would be okay with custom waypoints.
@@GodofWar3211 I think HFW's map design is actually fine except for that option not being there. I have no problem with people wanting those icons but it'd be nice to turn them off and then setting my own icons for stuff I find through my own exploration so I don't forget them afterwards. Say what you will about Genshin Impact, but it has the best custom icon system of any game I've played because you can even give them custom names
@@vishalbharadwaj570 The point is setting those custom icons after I found something. Not to be rude, but you're not making much sense with that comment
While I plan to pick up Elden Ring later on, this conversation illustrates why I think it got the reviews it did: the two people who aren't especially interested don't feel they have the tools to judge a game like that, therefore every outlet has picked the Fromsoft fan in their ranks to review the game, and since it's an evolution of they style they love, they love the game. Like with Red Dead 2 and Deathloop, it wouldn't surprise me if it got fewer Game of the Year awards than many expect, though I hope I change my mind once I actually play it myself
*It’s the best game ever made.* Don’t read too much into that though, I’m the Fromsoft fan you’re talking about.
Seriously though, give it a chance if for no other reason than to experience the unparalleled sense of discovery and exploration.
This is 100% spot on.
It’s the same reason games like madden and FIFA get great reviews every year only the massive fans of these games review them.
This is a curious argument for me because it happens for every game. If Greg got asked to review FIFA 12 for IGN he'd probably pass. It would probably go to someone who likes FIFA. When publications are asking for people to review Call of Duty, they would ask people who are familiar with the genre, not people who don't play shooters. And people who play those games tend to like them, otherwise they wouldn't specialize or be well versed in them.
Conversely, do we say the same for Gran Turismo? Nobody on this show is interested in this game in any capacity, and reviewers are probably driving sim fans, but nobody is saying anything about why it got the reviews it did.
@@ronaldlo8818 the difference is for third person action games or shooters it’s a wide pool of people who would be nominated for these games so scores would be more likely be up and down . But when you get to games like from software games FIFA or driving games there is usually the one expert at an outlet and it is people who love these games but to be honest there is no way to fix it .
As a FromSoftware fan, it's always disheartening when you know that one of their games just isn't clicking for someone else. The feelings of triumph, awe, and discovery that these games evoke are unparalleled and all I ever want to do is share them with everyone else. It probably becomes irritating for non-fans.
Crank that irritation up to 11 and limit it to 3 hours spread out over a week but not every week plus other games and systems to play
Yes, it does sometimes. For one extremely pushy friend, I eventually had to go from "it's not for me" to "every time you tell me I need to play, I mentally add another year to just considering if I'll try it again." It ultimately just comes down to style of salesmanship. If someone doesn't like to be sold things, don't do a hard sell, which everyone who loves FromSoft games does.
"Horizon and God of War are the same old gameplay" as if Elden Ring isn't just Demon Souls PS3 gameplay but with refreshed lore and bosses and its open world now lol
Exactly they just made it open world and didn’t even make sure it could run at a smooth 60. I turn around and the texture is building in right in front of my eyes but this is game of the year (already in March) imagine an Xbox podcast doing this, basically saying Sony have nothing better to offer then this glitchy game
@@FILTHYGEARSMUSIC I'm not even talking about the bugs and performance but that's another legitimate point too.
I was mainly talking about how Souls games use the same gameplay loops every game but with a couple new gimmicks, but it's apparently a knock when God of War or Horizon re-use gameplay loops.
It's a weird knock, especially when both have new combat styles while Elden Ring does remain mostly similar to other Soul games I touched... Except with jumps!
Though on a personal note, I still prefer Elden Ring gameplay loop over GOW 2018 and original Horizon
@@frickthefuckoff almost every sequel re-uses some fundamental mechanics and gameplay loops, so it doesn't make sense at all to criticize a game for doing that, especially when the most critically celebrated game is rehashing PS3 era gameplay.
Basically, don't fix what ain't broken, and don't hate what's working.
The one thing about Elden Ring that i don't agree with from Blessing, saying there is no copy and paste - that's false. There is a TON of copy and paste, clumsy and repetitive enemies with small variations that personally don't feel fresh. The caves/dungeons do vary slightly but they're generally mostly the same and some even have the exact same layouts. BUT the game is still phenomenal, its really just a larger dark souls for me. - not a masterpiece or anything that amazing. I do agree that games need to learn from it though, a sense of discovery is necessary and should be a mandatory bullet point on dev design boards.
Considering I'm seeing all these people compare elden ring to other open world games to prop it up and give it more shine, I don't see why Ragnarok can't be compared to other thrid person action adventure games to get shine also.
Always stoked to hear the gaming awesomeness you guys bring! Happy Tuesday! 😊🎉🥳
Janet says Elden Ring might be limited in its GOTY potential because of the kind of game it is, and Sekiro is over here confused.
That's true, although Elden Ring's competition could be way more fierce than the competition Sekiro was up against.
@@RoaringTide Exactly. Sekiro is probably my favorite FS game (tied with Bloodborne), but the competition wasn't very strong. Death Stranding comes to mind, which was underappreciated imo, but actually a lot more niche in its game design to have a chance at winning many GOTY votes
@@X5J2UY yea it was up against death stranding and control which were both very artsy and probably put people off, resident evil 2 remake being horror survival, another niche genre not everyone loves and smash ultimate builds up hype but again not everyone loves playing it.
The one with the most mainstream appeal was outer world sand honestly i would say was the only one that deserved the nomination the least. not a bad game by any means, just one that didn't do anything as special as the rest. sekiro while niche had such well refined combat and gameplay that it was a much easier win compared to the rest.
It depends on what you mean by GOTY; Sekiro wasn't GOTY in 2019 for most sites, but it won the most mainstream one at Game Awards
I don't think Elden Ring is niche at all. It's a modernization of one of the oldest genres in gaming- open world adventure games. It's like a modern Zork, or a Myst game with combat. You make your own adventure, in a world that's accessible if you figure out how to access it. It goes back to the argument Tam made against modern gaming, that resonated super hard with people like myself. It's a game that takes us back to the roots of how many of us fell in love with gaming. The sense of adventure and mystery is so prevalent, whereas modern games generally tell you exactly where to go, who to talk to, and take the thought out of the experience. I think gamers have been pining for experiences like this. I think the popularity of games like BoTW, Elden Ring, and the Renaissance of Dungeons & Dragons speaks to this plainly
i mean elden ring is good, but i'm enjoying gt7 just as much.
granted i'm only like 15 hours into both, and it sounds like elden ring is 100 hours and then i'll probably do a coop playthough, so my impression of it will probably only go up.
But atm i'm enjoying both equally, the tension of being so close to crashing in high speed races in different weather conditions has been a really great adrenaline rush. the sense of speed in the new gt is really good. but i've also not even touched the multiplayer of gt7 yet either.
My issue is the bragging about the lack of difficulty settings, hand holding, limited HUD, and map markers. Yet all these "Hardcore" gamers are using, guides, interactive maps, One-shot builds, and boss tutorials??
they don't realize lacking options, is quite frankly lack of options, not some revolutionary mechanic. Accessibility would only further the audience and benefit the games, meanwhile, the hardcore can play their hardcore limited options modes.
The Devs exclude accessibility purposely to punish players. ALL other games literally allow you to limit yourself. You're not forced to use the pause menu whatsoever. You can literally play ultra hard and delete every icon and HUD marker in horizon destroying this entire argument.
It's not a debate about the game being too hard or limiting. It's the fact that the devs don't bother to even include the option thus excluding 80% of the whole gaming audience which it is there decision. It's a great game. Just nothing Revolutionary. A dark Souls 3.5 with some added touch.
I love the IDEA of a GOW TV show or movie. I think going back to the style of 300 or the Spartacus TV series would fit perfectly. I see the show filling in the gaps between the Greek and Norse series, maybe expanding upon the Fallen God setup.
Since I’m in my 30’s and have responsibilities…My GOTY criteria comes down to how much sleep I lose until I finish the first playthrough.
Last year Returnal destroyed my sleep schedule. That was my GOTY. And now a free update with more content?!?? We don’t deserve House Marque.
This year Elden Ring has gone further than just destroying my sleep schedule. I dream of playing it in my sleep lol. I’m 55 hours into it and I’ve only killed 2 main bosses. That’s insane.
I even bought a Switch for my wife (she loves “baby games” lol), so life would be easier around the house. Also now I want to play BoTW because of all the comparisons people are making with it and ER. Always wanted to play it, but Elden Ring oddly was the push. So whenever she gets tired of Animal Crossing and the new Kirby, I’ll be able to play BoTW.
If there’s another game that does that this year I’ll be surprised. As much as I loved GoW 2018 I lost zero sleep playing it. Easily put it down when I needed to.
GOTY for kinda funny won’t be Elden Ring as half of the panel may not even play it through. It may get top spot from Andy, Bless, Tam but might not make the list at all from Greg and Tim. So will average out a lot lower on the KF scale. For me Elden Ring is becoming my fave game of all time.
I've put about 30+ hours into Elden Ring, I think it's easily a GOTY contender and is the most refreshing open world since BOTW. But I don't see it as groundbreaking or a masterpiece.
I've been playing FromSoft games since 2014 and while this is easily the most dense game from them and is a culmination of everything they've done since the OG Demons Souls. However it STILL has jank from Demons Souls (enemies hitting you from walls, enemy AI being super easily manipulative and just brain dead at times etc) which yes I understand is part of the appeal, I'm shocked it's just accepted and seems to not be improved.
Also the co-op in the open world just seems very poorly thought out, not being able to ride Torrent while in the open world in co-op, just seems like wasted potential. Finally a lot of the boss fights you find in the open world feel really dull sometimes but that's just me.
These main criticisms I have, Elden Ring so far is still my game of the year. I do prefer Sekiro and Bloodborne over this as a FromSoft fan but it's great to see FromSoft finally break into mainstream, I hope they learn to improve the jank and really really consider doing new things.
MatthewMatosis also has an amazing video that displays a lot of the main criticisms of FromSoft as a whole since the original Dark Souls: ruclips.net/video/Np5PdpsfINA/видео.html&ab_channel=Matthewmatosis
Feels like they just made it open world and added a few things and called it a day. Has they actually really polished the graphics and updated the gameplay more it could of been one of the best games ever but it feels a bit disappointing how amateur it feels at times. I love the difficulty but not how messy combat feels
@@FILTHYGEARSMUSIC They updated the graphics and the combat mechanics and animations, not everything but a lot of animations. You can still dislike it in its state but don't pretend like they just added fields between areas and that's it. The architecture of both levels and the open world, the variety in aesthetics, the number of armors and weapons, the number of bosses and animations they have, the extremely dense lore, this is nowhere near amateur.
Greg said Web lol 😂
I played through all of ds2 and ds3 and didn't know how to use power stance so don't feel bad, Bless.
Pizza bet Greg watches Twisted Metal.
Janet called From Software cilantro and I respect it. Some people taste the delicious acidic brightening herb that livens up any dish other people feel like you just squeezed soap into your guacamole.
no 🧢 i’ve heard blessing (last year) call every new release his game of the year, all year long.
I think he was consistently praising returnal every chance he got. I don't think anything overtook it as goty for him.
Because last year was OBSCENE my dude. Testament of the quality we got last year.
Vista is the new biome
Damn. You might be right.
This elden ring stuff gotta stop.... elden ring win over god of war...???? Nooo chance!! God of war appeals to a much bigger audience aswell.!
People are hung up on the mystery of fromsoft games. I pick a weapon i like and move forward, things click as you go.
Also HFW is an acquired taste too. I skipped most of the 1st games dialogue and didnt like the checklists. Awesome designs though.
A review industry that gives Elden Ring the scores it got when the PC version shipped and still is broken, where you can't pause the game, when the PS5 version periodically deletes saves, and where the "best" experience is forcing the PS4 version on a PS5 has no credibility.
I turned off most of the UI in Horizon, and it's making it much more enjoyable.
There's several games still coming out this year and people already talking about GOTY when Elden Ring is still niche, crazy..
Elden Ring isn't niche at all. Elden Ring is actually extremely mainstream. SEKIRO won GOTY, so what are you on about?
It had the biggest non Fifa or Cod launch since red dead 2. Apparently it sold over 10 million on steam in its first week.
So... not exactly niche lol. It's an open world fantasy game made alongside the creator of one of the most popular fantasy series' of all time. And fromsoft's last game won goty. It's obviously a big contender for goty already.
@@reed1645I can almost guarantee that this is mainly because of FOMO. At the end of the day its still a souls game. Regardless, the point is there's may games still coming out to straight up call it GOTY people are wildin.
@@FirmlyGrasp_IT Majority of people are not fans of souls games, its just a fact. Up until now they haven't even cracked 10 mil in sales and even now I bet this is only because of the media hype and FOMO.
@@TheeArcane well it's been out for over a week but the concurrent player numbers are very high. The sixth biggest on steam ever according to an article published yesterday.
I think it's fair to say this is much more than just another souls game. It's one if the best open worlds in years. If it released last year it would be a goty without question. This year we may get gow2, botw2 and starfield so the competition could be tight. It depends on what gets delayed into 2023 though.
It's safe to say elden ring is an extremely strong contender.
Also no it is not an issue to the guy who is talking about reviews being so varied, Elden Ring is still growing in popularity despite being difficult. It went to its new highest concurrent just yesterday on Steam. People would be putting the game down if everyone bought it based on reviews then just gave up due to how hard it is.
Also, I think HouseMarque’s next game is a 3D Next Machina.
Correction on Janet saying Elden Ring has the best rating ever on metacritic. It's tied for 24th place with 23 other games at the moment.
Should I play Elden Ring? I like open world games but I also like a game with direction. I played BotW years after it came out and I was not a fan of it. Partly because I've never had an interest in Zelda and also because of the scale of it was intimidating and unwelcoming I felt. I've never played a Souls game before but I'm currently playing through Bloodborne for the first time, and I'm hit or miss on it. I like the world building and the setting but I'm getting very frustrated trying to learn the mechanics and accept that dying is a part of getting better, which is not a normal thing for the games I'm used to playing. I feel like I'm having a similar experience to when I first played XCOM 2. When I first started playing that, I was terrible at it. I was losing characters left and right and I eventually rage quit. But after about a month, I came back to it and it's one of my favorite games of all time now. It made me appreciate and love tactical strategy games. I feel like Elden Ring could do this same thing for me, and I'll be honest there is a level of fomo here. So with all that information about my gaming history, I'll ask again. Should I play Elden Ring?
I'd say yes. I was the same. Bounced right off Zelda BOTW. I think it's very overhyped and put on such a high pedestal now that saying anything negative about it isn't allowed. It isn't a badly made game, but the world is empty and boring. Repetitive gameplay loop and still having ubisoft towers to reveal the map!
Anyway, I, too, have put off FromSoft games for years because the infamous difficulty intimidated me. I took a punt and played the Demon's Souls PS5 Remake last year and I fell in love with it. Beat the whole game, and am currently playing Elden Ring and loving it even more. It's not the massive groundbreaking game the whole world says it is, as it utilises a LOT of things from their previous games. But it is fantastic and a lot of fun.
So basically yes. Absolutely give it a go. Just know you cannot go in to it expecting to beat everything and be lead to your objectives. Go in with the knowledge that you have to explore everywhere and fend for yourself! It will either click or it won't but there's no shame if it doesn't 👍
Well I think elden ring is much less frustrating than other fromsoft titles due to the open world. I can ride away from enemies on a horse I can summon at any time (doesn't work in dungeons though). Also anytime I feel stuck on a boss I don't need to keep trying and trying and trying... instead I can just go somewhere else, explore, level up, improve my weapons etc. Typically when I return to this tough boss it's a good bit easier then. You can summon spirits in most boss fights too which will attack for you. This is a great distraction and helps a lot.
The combat will feel a bit similar to bloodborne. Although you can jump now and there's mounted combat. Also you have more build diversity. You could make a mage or a big tanky character with a large shield.
However if you want a game that offers direction then elden ring may not be for you. There are some golden lines which point you in some directions worth checking out but you have a lot of freedom. So that could be a bit overwhelming. There are also a lot of gameplay systems which aren't well explained so you just have to pick them up over time or watch some tips videos. Hopefully that's helpful.
@@jmorgmate I'm glad I'm not alone in my distaste for BotW. Thank you very much for your opinion and advice. I will say, I havent been able to stop watching Elden Ring content either. I do have an interest in the game and I think after I beat Horizon, if I still feel the same way, I'll pick it up
@@reed1645 Thank you for the insight on this. I've been watching alot of Elden Ring content pretty much non stop. I think after a bit of time with Bloodborne I'll have a better understanding of how to play a souls game and I'll give it a shot
There's a spot in the background where it goes "XX" instead of "XO" and it drives me insane.
Next GOD will not be dramatically different from the previous one, but it will have better resolution.
You don't know
You played it?
The tutorials for everything in Elden Ring go into your inventory and can be looked at at any time. The game does tell you that so there is tutorial and it doesn't just "go away and leave you to fend for yourself."
Why is this conversation about Elden Ring getting a good review score becoming so controversial? I don't remember the same conversation surrounding God of War or The Last of Us.
Triple H as Kratos. He's just got the look.
Yes Horizon Forbidden west ♥️🏹
Blessing was it the Rivers of Blood Katana?
Hey KF but specifically Blessing, have any of you finished Elden Ring yet? There's been all this buzz about the game being GOTY with amazing reviews, but many reviews didn't finish. I personally found the game to be amazing until the last 1/3 or so, and then the quality definitely dipped IMO. I'm wondering if you finished the game if you had the same opinion I did, or if this is just a me thing and everyone else still likes the final 1/3 of the game.
I haven't finished but you're correct that a lot of people seem to be fairly underwhelmed by the endgame content, although it seems like a lot of it is coming from people who tried to fight bosses without spirit ashes which seems like an unnecessary handcuff
@@HKISfreak1 You're definitely right that a decent amount of the complaints I've seen have come from people putting arbitrary limits on themselves.
that's a long time for Ads.
We’re starting to reach a point where the souls games are no longer niche cause there’s so many people enjoying them. If you would have asked me 5 years ago I would have said yes the games are niche cause of the difficulty, but with ER’s apparent sales success I think it’s crossed over.
I feel like we're passed the point of Elden Ring being "niche" given its sales and massive marketing lol. Souls games combat and level design has been adapted in so many games and they have had such a massive impact on the industry that I don't think we're in the same era as 2009 where Demon Souls was just this nerdy game a few people were playing.
One thing I hard agree with is that the difficulty of these games is overstated. In fact, it's gotten to the point where FromSoftware sometimes becomes a parody of themselves with how BS some of the bosses in their more recent games have gotten. Aside from Bed of Chaos which was just a gimmick fight, none of the bosses in DS1 really felt unfair IMO, they were complicated but once you got the patterns down it was pretty straight-forward. Some of the bosses in DS3 feel like they're from a different game and just aren't very enjoyable to fight, its like they were designed to be as punishing as possible at the expense of well designed. I haven't advanced in Elden Ring too much but I've heard the endgame bosses are like that too, which is disappointing, because so far the game is just incredible and could have been even better. There was a pretty easy way to ramp up to make these games more accessible and they've kind of just gone in the other direction because of the fanbase egging them on.
Also, BTW the tutorials are all viewable in the "info" tab in your inventory. The game tells you this in the first tutorial pop up.
If Sekiro won, Elden Ring will hands down win. Accessibility will not even be a factor with all this chatter. We are currently in From’s timeline. They stole Platinum Games soul and are cashing in.
Edit: sidenote…people underestimating the sequel chops of Sony Santa Monica don’t remember how exponentially better GoW 2 was than 1, and also 3 compared to 2. They will blow us out the water, especially if they aren’t doing a trilogy.
Something else that is being brought up as a negative is that GOW Ragnarok will be using the same gameplay type as GOW 2018. To me this allows SSM to focus on story, acting, and polish instead of building gameplay, characters and story from the ground up. Automatic potential for a better game than many people's "best game ever". The same can be said for Breath of the Wild 2.
@@kvmedman6217 yep even people brought it up for horizon before it came out. Everything essentially (the trap limit was a little lame, but hey) was infinitely better in 2 than 1 quality of life wise. I think it’s just talking points mostly, but you definitely can’t count these juggernauts out just because there is a 2 behind the title.
"I'd like to nominate *Tic Tac Toe - 3D* for GOTY"
"Aka!" the only show that matters PS I love you!
I'm giving it to Horizon 2. All the way.
Why are y'all sitting on here arguing and debating about if souls games and elder ring are niche. Everybody in the world knows that, this is the dumbest argument ever, there's no argument to be made about it
Every game you play, if you like it or not, has so much to do with immersion. Some people get very immersed in Elden ring, others dont. Das jus da way it iz.
I was very immersed in Horizon for a long period of time. Played it for 75 hours, now Im done though. I hope I will get into Elden ring, I loved Bloodborne, and liked Demons souls remake and Dark souls 3. Will start it soon.
I'm really immersed and into Deep rock galactic right now aswell. Best ps plus title since Rocket League and Fall Guys. I wish people talked about it in the same way. Sure it has a great community though.
Yeah yeah, have a good day, xoxo
Amazon Prime making God of War is amazing and perfect, it should feel like a mix of Vikings and American Gods but with a budget akin to the new Lord of the Rings show they are doing. It would be fucking insane and extremely good as a spectacle.
I am sensing god of war Ragnarok is making a last of us 2 kind of jump in narrative and gameplay. This would be GoTY if they do it
Last of us 2 also had a major jump in production value as well though, graphics, gameplay mechanics, sound, music…it’s hard for other games to compete with that leap
I hope GOW comes out this year I feel like with forspoken being delayed maybe that will be ps big title for xmas
Gran Turismo 7
Love that Jon Watts really came into his own in the industry and landed Spiderman.
Not sure how many people know, but Watts and friends actually had a sketch comedy YT channel more than a decade ago. The channel is called WaverlyFlams and most of the vids are still up if you want to see some of Watts' roots!
We don't need BOTW 2 soon anymore, if you want that play Elden Ring. BOTW 2 needs time to learn from Elden Ring.
I don't like this concept of "favorite game vs best game" you've played. I think they are both the same thing. When people say "this is my favorite game but I think this is the best game", I just cringe. If you really believed that one game is better than the other, then you will prefer it over the other game in question. Also, regarding the concept of critically/objectively reviewing games, that is also nonsense since all reviews are by definition subjective. Every single statement you make on a game is and will always be subjective as there is no "magical formula" to judge games. The only thing that you can state objectively about a game is that games' performance. Sorry for the long post.
Will this go down as the greatest year in gaming history?
ELDEN RING game of the year2022 !
How can you play so much of Elden Ring and don't see the Copy and Paste elements? Every mine, most of the optional dungeons are basically the same. Optional bosses get copied everytime. I fought the same one 4th time in different colored outfits. Damn, they even copy from other Souls games with design and moveset. It's so weird how blind people are praising this game.
They are willing to lie to drive an agenda
Not weird when you think what’s at stake for them
Great!
Yes.
Elden Ring is most likely going to be my personal GOTY when all is said and done, but it could have some serious competition. Providing they come out this year, God of War and BOTW2 are bound to be very strong contenders. There's also Starfield, which we know almost nothing about, but it could be a big surprise (Bethesda games have their shortcomings, but we still talk about Skyrim over a decade later). Hell, maybe we all get blindsided by Hogwarts Legacy? If all those games release, Elden Ring might not have it so easy, even though it'll likely get my vote.
Elden ring over god of war nooo chance!!
@@julianlouis1 it will win goty over GoW imo
I just have one question….who tf would play Kratos? Who is that ripped and able to act? Dwayne Johnson? Honestly confused how they are going to do that.
As far as PS5, especially with how much Forbidden West improves Zero Dawn, I don't see how GoW2 can overtake it for me (less room to grow from GoW 2018). Elden Ring is fine if you like Souls, but the slow tedious combat, copious amounts of bs, and bare bones narrative is not for me.
Everything you said about Elden Ring is just completely false. The combat is fast and extremely well executed, the game doesn't hold your hand, both gameplay wise and also narratively. I love Horizon, but From Soft lore is superior to Horizon's story and most others games' story because of how incredible the world building and character lore is.
@@FirmlyGrasp_IT its his opinion
@@FirmlyGrasp_IT the combat is fast for the bosses 😂
Nice
Elden Ring isn't GOTY it's the GOAT
As someone who’s a fan but not a fan boy for all the Souls game. Could someone please explain to me what makes Elden Ring this incredible masterpiece?? I’ve enjoyed and beaten every one of these games, but it’s still just another Dark Souls to me, but open world. It’ll always be top of the line in Lore, Enemy, World and Sound Design. But, the gameplay is still all the same sh*t from 2011. At least in SEKIRO they added ledge climbing which was considered NEW. While everyone was going YEAAAA! I was going WTF?? Anyways I could go on an on but I’ll leave it there. Still enjoying the game a ton, but Game Of The Year 10/10 Masterpiece?..I’m gonna have to disagree. 8/10 🤷🏻♂️. Love Ya Guys - Drew
I would argue that a game doesn't *need* to be groundbreaking in order to be a masterpiece. It just needs to excel in almost everything it chooses to do.
Completely agree, good game but this is all very strange
@@RoaringTide which it does not
Hot Take: Forbidden West is miles better than Elden Ring. Its only competition should be Sifu, because FromSoftware games get a review bump in the same way a premier brand bumps their price just because of the logo.
Sifu my game of the year so far
I love Elden Ring and I guarantee it will be my game of the year.
That said, the conversation about Horizon and God of War re-using animations is kind of silly. The Souls games have so much re-used stuff in every game. The fucking opening door animation has been there since Demon's Souls. Tons of the enemies are just reskins. The dogs are in every game with different textures. The Asylum Demon from Dark Souls has been in pretty much every game since with minor adjustments to the model.
Has it already been decided? Probably, but some unknown game could blindside everyone.
By them, yes! You would think a PlayStation podcast would be championing our exclusives and actually be positive they could better the past games and not in March say nothing PlayStation will offer will be better than a copy and paste game that launched with terrible performance and has not improved since. Don’t trust the media when they lie in your face
I never thought I'd love a game more then Bloodborne, but damn. I'm 98 hours into elden ring, still haven't beat it yet and I'm level 205. I love looking up stuff and being more well versed in the systems and world itself. Always summon! You should never feel like you have to do it solo unless it's something you want to prove to yourself.
ANDDDDDDD QUE STATE OF PLAY ANNOUNCEMENT
Why does nobody correct blessing when he pronounces so many things incorrectly?
Given how long blessing rambles on without actually saying anything interesting - I assume that they tune him out
I have no clue what you’re talking about but many words have multiple acceptable pronunciations.
@@Gameonysus funny how on other kinda funny podcasts if Nick or Tim pronounce something incorrectly it’s called out and make a joke out of it. The pronunciations from blessing on certain words seems like he’s doing it on purpose. It’s only for certain words.
i love elden ring but i do wish they could have evolved the game play or fighting style.
all u do is hit roll hit roll hit roll
this fk have become so dam boring i hope with next game they do something new with fighting style then roll hit roll hit
I would say Wheel of Time was very controversial with the source material nerds and just as a watcher of the show I felt like it was way to rushed with too much missing info to watch without supported reading of reddit, Twitter, and random articles.
I started reading the series because I liked the first couple episodes of the show. I finished the first book before the last episode… I now hate the show lmao 🤣 maybe I’m just a nerd, but they went so far off from what the source material is, they should’ve just made their own IP, they’re already halfway there lol
I liked the show and haven't read the books at all, didn't feel like I was missing information. Not everything has to be revealed in an info dump.
The show sucks compared to the books
i honestly thought blessing got fired and hired to be on Bel Air to play Carlton...damn
Elden Ring is by far the best game of all time. If it doesn't win every goty I'll be shocked.
At this point it's extremely tough to imagine anything beating elden ring. I don't think any of sony's upcoming games will be better but I could see botw 2 winning overall goty.
I’m confused because they copy and pasted the souls games into an open world, I like it and most of the souls games but honestly just because they hype a game up and say it’s a 97 and the best thing ever you don’t have to take it as fact. If this is the best we can get for the rest of the year i would be shocked and disappointed
@@FILTHYGEARSMUSIC have you played it? That's a terrible description of all the work that went into elden ring
Andy should have been on this one. His perspective would have been a great add to the convo
Andy’s the man but he would be extremely bias about it
@@vibezworldwide i didn’t realize Andy worked for fromsoft or Bandai Namco
@@teamramrod27 just how he critiqued other recent games for their problems but brushed off the issues Elden Ring had
@@vibezworldwide art is not defined by the sum of its parts. I’m going to assume you’re talking about Horizon? They’re very different kinds of games and one appeals to people like me an Andy more than the other one while it sounds the opposite is true for you. We already have your side of the conversation here with Janet and Greg. Bless is more in the middle to me
@@teamramrod27 I got Elden Ring as current Goty. That said, my issue is a lot of outlets criticize other games as being “more of a same” & technical issues but don’t keep the same energy when it came to Elden Ring.
Why blessing got to be so annoying. So cringe
Just don't watch then Samuel
@@kdiamond12 I didn’t diamond. I commented and bailed. I went and watched some sacred symbols content! 👍🏻
Janet "bad take" Garcia lol not even 10 minutes in and she's wrong about batmans runtime and calls God of war a ps3 era game due to the "collection" being released on it, yikes it's not even that bad but she's so Gung Ho about it you cannot ignore how wrong those statements were
I never said God of War was a PS3 game. I asked if it was PS2 or PS3 and then said okay yeah. The collection was PS3. I think you’re just Gung Ho about not liking me.
We actually still believing GOW has a chance to come out this year? I doubt it.
@@paulsmith9192 maybe something new gets announced for a fall game. They already had Horizon but mey e they want to go all out 2023 with the VR, GOW, Spiderman
@@JTsavage7577 Pretty confident. Many developers at SantaMonica and Jason Schreier have mentioned that GoW:R will be released this year. The game doesn't need a long marketing cycle.
A SoP 3-4 months before release and some marketing a month before release should do it. The game will be super popular anyway
with Elden ring being so broken, its automatically cut from best game of the year.
Elden Ring took the worst part of open-world games, the meaningless/pointless side-quest and made it it's whole game.
I am so glad that FROM SOFTWARE stuck to the philosophy of creating a game that is old-style challenging and about figuring things out on your own. Elden ring is a typical dark souls game with an element of an open world but at its core, it is still about the sense of discovery and challenging gameplay. There are a lot of people who want the handholding element of it in the disguise statement of it not being accessible, Just accept some of the games are not for you in this case and move on. The expectation that the game should serve everyone is just unnecessary and in that sense FROM GAMES will always be niche. :)
I actually think elden ring does a great job at accomodating players who want a challenge and those who don't. So much of the difficult content seems optional and after exploring and levelling I find a lot of the main bosses haven't been that tough. The ability to summon spirits helps a lot and you can always summon real players too. It's so easy to escape enemies on horseback in the open world also.
That said there are tons of optional areas I've explored which offer a good deal of challenge.
I cannot, for the life of me, understand the insane praise for Elden Ring or FromSoftware games in general. They are so clunky and janky. Graphics from 2007, terrible animations, horrible UI, non existant story and slow, boring combat. There are plenty of open world games where you can go off the beaten path and discover cool stuff. This is not revolutionary. Plenty of games let you stop a boss fight or quest and come back when you're leveled up. I literally just did that exact thing in Horizon. This is not groundbreaking. I'm glad people like it but it's not a 97, it's not a 10/10, it's not a masterpiece, it's not one of the greatest games ever made. It's a mediocre game with a very loud, very die-hard fanbase.
lol
You can break every game down to dumb simple arguments like that to fit your narrative, you very clearly haven’t played Elden ring and it seems like it’s not the type of game for you which is fine
But just because you don’t like it doesn’t objectively make it a mediocre game you weirdo
"Terrible animations" really demonstrates that you haven't played these games. FromSoft's enemy animations are insane.
I'd recommend picking it up at some point so you can see for yourself. Elden ring offers something extremely different from horizon. If you just want nice visuals then there are prettier games sure but if you value gameplay, exploration and strong art design then there's a lot to love.
@@reed1645 "If you value gameplay"
I think you've found the main issue.
Janet opened that can of whoop ass without being confrontational about it.
If you’re a fromsoftware person Elden Ring is GOTY. If you’re not into that niche it’s a clunky combat game with good art direction that’s just bad with game design.
That's far from reality. The number I've seen who didn't like From Software previous games, not liking a lot what they saw of Elden Ring, saying the game waw clunky, with bad graphics, that is basically dark souls and then played it and said it was one of the best adventure games they ever played.
@@lahunica2726 There’s always room for a lot of opinions, but the public acrimony that’s spilled out into forums, review videos and podcasts isn’t a temporary apparition…there’s a lot of bias going on with the reviews/public discussions and a lot of people bought the game expecting something different. Now those people are feeling like they got duped, but don’t want to fess up and say they don’t like the game because there are all these defensive people now gatekeeping…which is also starting to be more openly questioned.
I’m a fromsoftware fan, but I would never rate ER above HFW because the game can get obnoxiously annoying and most people aren’t going just accept that making ER a game that’s not for everybody.
@@Imhotep397 the same happens with every from software game that appeals to people at first because of the setting and art direction and then they discover the challenging gameplay and either quit or embrace it. From Software has always been transparent towards difficulty in their games and 100% of game journalists talk about their games being difficult and even overwhelmingly difficult, which caused a lot of people to not play the games. Nothing new under the sun here.
@@lahunica2726 Ultimately, transparent category scored and averaged reviews would eliminate a lot of bias and deliver more information more people could trust rather than constantly getting caught in a quagmire of always having to analyze the person making the analysis.
@@Imhotep397 of course and if you do it, you'd see the average user review (except the review bombing) compliments the game a lot, doesn't mean it doesn't have problems but overhaul the feedback is positive.
Janet called Forza Horizon a “niche” game so…
Dont know how this conversation of Horizon vs Elden ring is relevant when those games are soooo different, the only thing they can be compared on is being open world. Elden ring is amazing but 90% of the package is the same as previous games. Horizon on a technical, cutscene, graphics is far superior. This is just Fan boy talk trying to bash Horizon. Both games are great.
Because they use every situation to belittle PlayStation and are trying to use this whole episode to say Sony is finished for the year, nothing to see! Nothing will beat Elden ring! They want us to live in a world where that’s the best we are getting all year and it’s okay. I’m not fooled
Whether you can turn all that clutter on the screen off in Assassin's Creed is irrelevant. I think the point of the image is that the Devs dumping on Elden Ring seem to think that's what a "good" HUD looks like.
I'd also argue that turning those elements off might even be detrimental, because those games weren't built from the ground up to accommodate players having no HUD. Elden Ring was built with the knowledge that players won't have explicit directions, so things like item descriptions and NPC dialogue can be written to account for that, and the game is not setup as a "checklist" style game in the first place. Whereas, I doubt games like Assassin's Creed have reasonable alternative means to get shit done without markers and quest logs.
Elden ring has way more problems than a hud
“Elden ring is niche”
I have never laughed harder. What a HOT take