Follow-up video: ua-cam.com/video/K8PIxOVifNo/v-deo.html The dropdown of this comment will have SPOILERS for the things I talk about during the video, but I keep vague and nameless to not spoil more than necessary. OPEN AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!! 12:54 - Talking about the Death Rite Bird in Charo's Hidden Grave 13:33 - Talking about Jagged Peak 19:55 - Talking about Cerulean Coast 21:06 - Talking about Charo's Hidden Grave 30:03 - Talking about Death Knight 30:08 and 32:36 - Talking about Lamenter (he killed me and I still don't know how lol)
Haven't seen the video but I just killed Lamenter--every clone you let live counts towards the insta-kill, so you just need to be effective at killing them all
I found more cool armor sets and weapons in the gravesite plains/cerulean coast than I expected too. I dont want to spoil anything but i think with some more exploration you might be pleasantly surprised. I dont know how, if your combing the map that you have only found the things you mentioned, but its probably worth looking a bit harder if you want find stuff. i explore for the fun of it, thats always been my favorite thing in elden ring, exploring what seems like an empty lonely world and finding its secrets. that said, when i first got there i had a similar feeling that there was nothing there, but with a bit more exploration i was happily proven wrong. I also understand for people that only want to do like boss fight rushes that the DLC might feel short or too hard, so my opinion is subjective, but I'm not even close to finished and i have spent many hours already enjoying the content in the world.
I do not care if someone likes it or not everyone has their opinion but i am more curious when you constantly repeating that you fight reused boss on ng7+ and you keep feeding 2 hours on him but you dont wanna say which one,so its early you could only get to tree spirit or death bird or a dragon undead..Now how you can die to a boss who dies to 2,3 hits with Holy weapons like all 3 of them ,for two hours ,there is no way you get to ng7+ and you dont know how to counter bird or a dragon something is really off
@@123Woo-u8za month later, you porobaly already know this by now lol. But he is clearly talking about the ancient dragon Sansseax or whatever it is called. That shit was hard for me as well lol. Its not early game content at all, it does absurd damage and its a long fight where you can't just break its posture several times for massive damage, its basically artificial difficult and it makes sense for him to take a long time at it
I did the same at the peak, I thought it was some sort of reward at the end of it. I was wrong but on the plus side, I had fun using the smith spear against the dragon.
I love it when we can criticize the games we love. It's just a shame that people get butt hurt over other people's opinions. I loved everything up until the reveal of the final boss.
Most of the ‘critiques’ have been filled with pretty… bad criticisms. It’s mostly just malding about bosses becauqe they require a more thoughtful playstyle, can’t just roll everything.
@@HowlFromBeyond i can beat them just fine with any build. I will admit int is probably the hardest dlc build though. I was talking about bad players complaining simply cuz they’re bad
@@Stanzbey69I'm just starting Elden Ring and the complaints I have read about the DLC don't seem to be just skill issues. These games aren't even difficult if you know how to play the game. The complaints aren't about difficulty itself. They are about the way the difficulty is designed. Holding a pose for 6 seconds just to swing at your character the speed of light and take out half your health, input reading, tracking you to do a 180 aimbot spin, all just reverse cheese. Fromsoft fans are going to have a bad reputation in the future because the only argument they have is "skill issue" or "git gud."
@@ThisIsMyUA-camAccount1 1. Elden ring is not darksouls 2. Input reading is literally a myth when it comes to actual combat, it’s only ever there when you decide to heal in neutral. It’s a very deliberate punishment for being an idiot and healing right in front of a boss.
Shadow of the Erdtree's bosses were fun and the aesthetic was gorgeous. It's one of the most beautiful art designs I've seen in gaming. However, as I continued riding through each area, I began to question Fromsoft's thought process with the vacant space. Even areas like dungeons and caves just felt like an afterthought with enemy count and variety. Remembrances were mediocre although there were a few good weapons and new spells. The DLC had a very quantity over quality feel for me at times in the end. I loved the map but would have prefered half the size with more to do instead of walking/riding torrent.
"The DLC had a very quantity over quality feel" I found the exact opposite to be true when compared to the base game. It's smaller and has more breathing room because they realised too many samey dungeons doesn't equal a better map. (Assuming that's why they cooled down on the many many dungeons of the basegame)
My only real problem with the DLC is just the vast empty areas with hardly any reason to explore. The Vale and finger areas specifically feel extremely wasted. I know it’s part of a quest line but still feels strange and almost unfinished.
@@matsimurf_5900 thats a delusion u souls veterans tell yourself to sleep better a night, cuz u cant handle elden ring being seen as better by most ppl, ESPECIALLY other game devs that love fromsoft :). bugger off back to the boring hallway shortcut simulator in the old games.
so far havent seen a single area like that? are we playing the same game? the finger areas are literally just a quest area with alot of atmosphere, the only reason it exists was for lore and to finish a certain persons quests. also whats the vale? theres no area called the vale. no part of this dlc is unfinished, thats just nonsense lol.
@flamingmanure I have been having the same thought every time I see one of these comments did they install a mobile game scam thinking it was the dlc or something?
Seeing that cool biome in the distance, being excited to go there and finding out it's completely barren has been like 75% of my experience in this DLC, such a waste.
FINALLY. Its absurd how much people are hyping an overall ok DLC. Lemme help you in the comments a bit. And before you whiny babies start, SPOILER WARNING. The narrative is a mess-the pacing, the lore. Miquella is an absolute disappointment. All the hype, the immersive trailers to enter the Land of Shadows, and then we run around for 10 hours only to eventually kill Miquella with little to no explanation-some cutscene of Miquella monologuing "boohoo I want to be a god"? Stop it. 1. Encounter Design: Some of the enemy encounter designs in the DLC are reminiscent of what people criticized in Lords of the Fallen. There are several points in the DLC where FromSoft has placed enemies in nooks and around corners solely to try to cheese you and/or knock you off a ledge. Has this always been present in Souls games as a means to encourage cautious play? Yes. Have they taken it to a ridiculous extreme this time around? Yes. 2. Character/World Scaling: After playing some of the DLC, I've started to believe that FromSoft began this project without a clear idea of where or when in the game the DLC would fit. There are dozens of confusing points where you might reach the end of a legacy dungeon, face several tricky enemies, open a secret corridor, and find a shiny, only to realize it's a Smithing Somber Stone 1. This is the earliest weapon upgrade available, completely useless at this stage of the game. For example, there's an Ancient Dragon Somber Stone just before Mohg's boss room, which is required to access the DLC. You might enter a mine and find a mix of Smithing Stone 2/3, and enemies drop Smithing Stone 4, all of which is outclassed and easily purchasable for anyone who has reached the Altus Plateau. Essentially, the rewards for overcoming significant DLC challenges are often irrelevant by the time you obtain them. With some enemy designs, it feels like they created a base template that they just multiplied by modifiers later, without significant testing and balancing. (For context, this is how the base game works: enemies have a base template, and area modifiers multiply their stats, scaling difficulty. This scaling is one of the most criticized elements of the main game, as it tends to become excessively challenging by the time you reach the Mountaintops of the Giants.) Player scaling is also confusing. FromSoft clearly worried about players entering with max-level characters and steamrolling the DLC, so they implemented an upgrade system where you must use discoverable key items to boost your absorption and damage in DLC zones. However, this creates a confusing feedback loop for the player. If I struggle to damage enemies, is it my weapon? Should I level up? Or do I lack enough DLC upgrades? If I enter a boss arena and get two-shot with 60 vigor (the softcap) and every defensive talisman I can equip, is something wrong with my setup, or do I simply lack enough DLC upgrades? The system they've implemented makes it difficult to gauge if you're at the expected power level for an area or boss, due to the multiple character upgrade systems now in play. 3. Speaking of bosses, this might be my greatest disappointment. My earlier statement about getting two-shot despite full defensive investment and 2k+ HP is not an exaggeration. These bosses do not mess around. Beyond the damage, their design frustrates me. FromSoft has heavily leaned into bosses that constantly retreat, forcing you to chase them in recent years. There's still plenty of that, but they've also introduced bosses that aggressively rush you and rarely stop attacking. My biggest issue isn't the "difficulty" of such boss designs but rather how it invalidates the tools the game gives you. Find a new weapon with cool combos? Great, you'll hardly use them on bosses like Messmer. The best you can do is get in a single hit before you're rolling away again. Discover a cool new spell or incantation? You'll often get interrupted during the wind-up, and the boss is programmed to dodge the rest of the time. Want to cast a spell or trade a hit while the boss attacks? Bad move-you'll do only a fraction of their health, and they'll immediately retaliate with a full combo. This brings me to the Elden Ring summon system. There's a specific DLC upgrade for summons, along with tools to heal your summons or buff yourself after they die. However, it confirms what's been true in the base game for years: bosses can't handle summons. If you struggle, just bring in your favorite spirit summon and demolish the boss in a single try. This happens because bosses are programmed to be extremely aggressive and never stop attacking, but they can only focus on one enemy at a time. Since they don't attempt to defend themselves, they collapse like a house of cards when faced with more than one enemy. If you prefer to go solo, prepare for a lot of frustration. If you summon help, expect to breeze through the DLC. This isn't good boss design. And don't get me started on reused bosses. I knew I was in for a treat when I encountered two ulcerated tree spirits (among the most reused bosses from the base game) within the first two hours. Two years later and you're still recycling bosses, FromSoft? For shame. 4. Narrative and Lore: The bosses lack personality. Looking back at base Elden Ring, some bosses leave a strong impression before, during, and after the fight. I vividly remember fights like Malekith, where he transitions from decrepit clergyman to death incarnate, or Malenia, gracefully fighting with her prosthesis and transforming into the terrifying rot goddess in phase 2. Even Godrick or Morgott, though easy for me, are memorable due to their dialogue. In this regard, the DLC disappoints. Take Rellana, for example. Supposedly related to Rennala and her cousins, and Messmer's finest swordswoman. What does she get? Nothing. No intro cutscene, no dialogue. She doesn't even acknowledge you when you die. Sure, you might infer her relation to Rennala from her moon attack, and FromSoft prefers subtle storytelling, but some bosses definitely need interaction with the player. Fighting THE MOTHER OF FINGERS with no intro cutscene or dialogue? The only bosses I remember are Messmer, who comes and goes without fanfare-just a nobody despite being a child of Marika-the Lion Dancer, and the final boss, my third gripe with the DLC. To me, this is perhaps the biggest disappointment. This is your first AND LAST expansion for arguably your biggest game, and you choose "prime" Radahn as the final boss? I'm not a lore scholar, but from what I've read, this decision doesn't make much sense. Wouldn't it have been better, for example, to make Godwyn the final boss, given his deep connection to literally everything in the game? Sure, it would require some creative adjustments, but it would have been an original concept and a peek into Godwyn's capabilities. Instead, we get "prime" Radahn, who doesn't say a word to you. Making him the final boss feels like a poor decision, especially since his base game fight is already iconic and intense. He shoots gravity arrows, rains down arrows, hurls meteors, and divebombs like a meteor. "Prime" Radahn has maybe three sword combos and a few sorcery moves. Compare that to characters like Manus in DS1, Orphan of Kos in Bloodborne, or Sister Friede and Gael-arguably From's best boss in DS3. It feels unoriginal, unlike FromSoftware to reuse a boss as the final act of their biggest and final expansion. Also, he takes zero damage, but that's a discussion for another time. The main issue is with the lore. I absorbed all of it, and it left me utterly dissatisfied. At the end, I wonder why I can't join the "villain" when he asks us to. You can choose the Lord of Frenzied Flame ending and destroy the world, but that's going too far? Overall, I don't think it's a good DLC. Also, an in-game cinematic from the gameplay trailer is missing, which would have significant lore implications. It's okay to say it's a good game but has a narrative that's shoved down our throats, with nothing hinting at it in the EXTENSIVE, lore-driven base game. Gameplay is a 7, maybe 8/10, but what dragged it down immensely was the narrative, lore, pacing, and overall confusion, which is a solid 5/10. Combine that with the difficulty for the sake of being difficult, and voilà, you get the rating. For a game so hyped and praised by UA-camrs and streamers, with the base game having such a high rating, such a low score CANNOT simply be dismissed as "u need to git gud".
- The Remembrance - NPC dialogue - Item descriptions That is the culmination of said "lore". I don't need more time to conclude how lazy the writing is. Kindly Miquella and General Radahn, with no foreshadowing in the base game, are simply put, afterthoughts by the devs. Malenia had whispered a prayer in Radahn's ear two years prior; now it was Miquella's promise? How convenient. Miquella wishes to usher in the Age of Compassion while admiring a war-obsessed demigod since childhood, and there's no hint of this in the extensive base game? How convenient. All the lore surrounding Miquella and Radahn, any explanation we may receive, is located SOLELY in the DLC, which is set after the established base game. How convenient. I love FromSoft, played all the Soulsborne games, and adored Elden Ring. I am a fan. This was just not very good; there's no need to get so incredibly defensive over it. I feel like I'm going to repeat myself, but Elden Ring was extremely lore-driven. You can't simply dismiss this. There was clear buildup and foreshadowing for Marika/Radagon in the base game. It's okay. It can be a good game but have a cheap storyline. I'm currently writing a novel, and it would feel super cheap to implement lore in such a lazy format three years later just so the current arc can make sense. All in all, Radahn x Miquella makes no sense without the added and forced shipping the DLC provides during certain questlines and with certain item descriptions. And despite that, the ending is just anticlimactic. Search UA-cam for hour-long analysis videos on Miquella, and we barely get an interaction after we finally face him? A short cutscene of him going "boohoo, I'm going to be a God"? Give me a break... It's lazy and unfinished.
I love elden ring with my life and i voted for it as got, i got deep into the lore and man my disappointment was immeasurable with this dlc, the missed opportunity to have Godwin or the gloam eyed queen as bosses, 2 of the most mysterious and intriguing characters and they were just thrown out the window for a boss that had a perfect conclusion in the base game
100% the lore is what was most disappointing. Everyone defending Radahn coming back keeps talking about how it COulDNt BE GodWyN HeS dEAD yet there a so many ways that From could have gotten around it. We have time distortions in base game or eclipse could have done SOMETHING (anything) that would have been more justified! How did Radans soul get seized by Miquella? How was Mohgs body seized? Like it's just so dumb.
I just had to read the first paragraph to know you’re wrong (About the narrative part) you don’t know why you are facing miquella because you’re just going directly to the final boss, if you do St.Trina quest, which is pretty easy you’ll know why you are doing it, this is probably the simplest narrative fromsoftware has ever done with a souls (below Sekiro) and you can’t comprehend some simple lines that perfectly tells you the story
2 years waiting for this dissapointment really, i have been souls fans since ds1 and i must admit this dlc will never left any memory like other previous games dlcs. No basegame interaction, no NPC awareness, reusing assets, empty barren land, many unfun bosses, and for me the main point of dissapointment is miquella as the center of this dlc. I enjoyed more lore about Marika's and the golden order than whatever miquella is and the final boss is a final straw for me
Same ! Honestly all elden ring is more a miss for me . I'd rather go back to dark souls or sekiro. Even the open world thing is not that interesting for me. And I'm a big fan of ope world.
(Im the last boss i think) Ive enjoyed it the wasted space makes the graces hit harder personally but i understand the complient i do wish they went the sekiro route where you get powered up by beating bosses rather then looking in every minute corner of the map for the power ups. Mesmurr is the best boss easliy hand down.
The part about empty map space and doing the lawnmower pattern made me laugh as that's exactly what I do. What's really cool though is the verticality of the map and scanning your monkey brain to remember where you have been and where you need to go.
I'm at the end basically, 2-3 bosses left before I'm done. Explored the entire map. I usually like difficulty, done ds1 and 3 on sl1 and base elden ring on rl1. But this dlc, not a single boss has been fun fighting, not always because they are "too" hard, but because their combat isn't tailored to the dark souls combat we have available. They are Sekiro bosses without giving us the sekiro parry system. The dance of fightning a boss that I have grown to love is gone. It's not a duel, it's me dodging like a fly for 90% of the fight and getting a sting in after I avoid being swatted by the boss. It doesn't feel epic, it feels like I'm basically a pest who managed to kill the boss with Malaria. Realised I haven't actually been having fun, I have been playing almost out of obligation since as a souls fan I HAVE to play it. Put down the controller and don't know when I'll be back to finish it. Edit: Tried the perfect block = no damage tear with a shield and game became stupidly easy. Blew through boar guy and messmer with extreme ease.
There is a sekiro parry system If you kill the first furnace golem you get a tear that gives you a sekiro like parry (you have to block to parry with the tear)
That's 1 billion percent completely fine my guy, no one should dictate your experience and you should play everything at your own pace, not through commitment or whatever. I recommend Black Flame Protection (requires 30 faith), dragon crest talisman for defence and an armour reaching at least 51 poise and you will find yourself playing on easy mode. I'm an average-ish player and beat mesmer on my second try with 9 scadutree fragments level, I could block his snakes and roll out of all his attacks and was able to learn him and Relanna that previously one shotted me
i feel exactly the same way. I am also quite disappointed with not only the bosses but also the weapons, just not much interesting there sadly, the new weapons? oh yeah there are like 2 or 3 in each class and they arent that enjoyable anyway. It feels like they just wanted a massive map and thought about the bosses and other content afterwards
@@Nova-xm1me I completely agree, the map being half empty is WILD as well. A $40 dlc which I’ve done about 40 hours in is kinda rough. Especially when the base game gave me at LEAST 300 hours
@@MungoofJerry yep exactly, i feel very little replayability with this also, and if you want to run through the dlc on a new build you have to get all the way to mohg anyway so even if the new weapons were cool you cant use half of them. Also about the map being empty, i agree there too like exploring yeah it looks pretty but i cant wait to search everything for smithing stone 4s and wait for it.... cookbooks
i've enjoyed the DLC, it's definitely got some very good parts, but i just dont understand those Fromsoft Stans who refuse to admit that it has flaws, and major ones at that, and they're going as far as calling it the best DLC ever made and it should win game of the year. Some of the flaws in my opinion: 1- Big map, empty map 2- Not enough new weapons, especially for the new types. 3- Way too many cookbooks. 4- Way too many reused enemies. 5- Radahn being the final boss.
Radahn is the part that really pissed me off. It just doesn’t make sense lore wise. The fan base has been waiting 2 years for more Godwyn lore but nah they gave us radahn (who we literally are required to fight before the dlc)
I'm about 75-80% thru the DLC so far, and I'm surprised that more reviews of the DLC haven't been like this video. The numerous flaws really are glaring, and though I personally still think it's a great DLC, I absolutely think it's a step down from the base game, due to the much emptier map (especially the Jagged Peak and Abyssal Woods areas, 2 absolutely gorgeous places that have almost nothing else going for them), the poor structure of the item rewards, the lazy reuse of base game bosses, just with extra follow-up AOE damage, and ugly camera issues with certain bosses. The Furnace Golems are also a neat idea executed poorly due to how extremely simple their enemy pattern is along with how extremely tanky they are, even when using the flame pots on top of the ripostes, resulting in a long, arduous fight that feels like a QTE more than a fight. Playing in NG, I'd say the difficulty is one thing they got almost perfectly right, though (excepting those camera issues). Enemy damage/HP scaling felt about right when I went in around level 130, and Scadutree fragments made the progression feel appropriate as I went deeper into the DLC. The new boss designs and attack patterns also match the best of the best from the base game... mostly. Unfortunately, it also has some of the worst bosses, such as Commander Gaius. I do think Bayle is by far the best dragon boss in the game, and Rellana and Messmer are both up there with Malenia as the best humanoid bosses in the game.
Rellana is my favorite boss in elden ring. Froms biggest sin even bigger than the empty map is not giving Rellana more hype and cutscenes like Messmer and Melania.
My biggest gripe is the NPC questlines. Missed out on cool unique weapons and ashes because I have to talk to NPC #1, then NPC #2, then pickup this item, then talk to NPC 3, and then back to NPC 1 otherwise youll be locked out of all of NPC 4's unique shit. Surely it has to be a bug? The only way to fuck up so hard in the base game is to kill the NPC, it doesnt punish you for exploring (for the most part). Fromsoft surely would want all of the money the invested into voice actors to be enjoyed instead of punishing players for exploring, right?
what...the NPC questlines are literally the best culmination of any fromsoft NPC questlines from any of their games. Which even has a great finale and multiple NPCs interating with each other which isa huge first. That sounds like your fault for not taking some time to explore a little. The NPCs are literally all on your main path.
@@killakev9589 Are you talking about the DLC or base game? I would kind of agree if youre talking about base game. DLC is another story. Exploration is the catalyst for breaking most DLC NPC quests. Also, what do you mean by your first sentence? "these quests are the best culmination of quests". Do you mean that Elden ring has better questlines than other fromsoft games? Because that isnt an argument against my claim that theyre B.S. Like I'm sure theyre enjoyable with a guide, still kinda busted though
I just beat the dlc… Looking back, I remember when I started playing and reading about all the people saying it’s too difficult and whatnot, I used to laugh at them. Now, after beating the dlc, I’m afraid I have to join their side. It’s not that it’s too difficult (it is), it’s just that, it’s… different. In a sad way… Some of the later fights… it just feels like you’re playing a mod, not a fromsoft title…
I'll tell you exactly why: 90% spectacle, 10% well thought out gameplay. The amount of effects, projectiles, AOEs and anime-esque attack chains in this dlc is through the roof. It's not a good thing when there is palpable mechanical disconnect between what bosses do and what you can do in response. Bosses play Sekiro while we play Dark Souls 4. Don't believe me? Ask yourself this: Why they added Sekiro's deflect mechanic (something that should have been in the base game since launch in the same manner as jump was) like an afterthought in the form of a finite buff?
The sadder thing is having comments like this warrants people attacking you as a person instead of you're critique of the game. Lol. Anyway, there's just something from this DLC that's missing. Like what I felt for the other FromSoft DLCs.
@@Roy2Manio it feels very empty despite being so big. The bosses are also simply unfair. Not only do ER bosses in general have infinite stamina, they have ridiculously long combos that are almost frame-positive and spam AoE attacks whilst having moves that allows them to cover the entire arena in a second. They also read your inputs, and some blatantly ignore the "rules" of souls games with stuff like frame 1 hyperarmor and stun immunity during combos
I think the problem is that the new boss design has too much of a focus on being difficult and unlike ds3 where you would be able to dodge most attacks with a certain amount of instinct without memorizing the pattern but now you have to know specifically where to dodge or you'll die extremely quickly. I mean dont get me wrong I still had fun, and the new boss design is more challenging sure, but theyve forgotten much of the fun present in the older games (including base game elden ring)
Came here to make sure I wasn’t crazy. Snapping point was when I went to the “spooky forest” place. Walked around aimlessly. Finally ended up looking it up in the wiki only to learn there’s 3 items of value and 1 POI. It takes up a tenth of the map and offers one shock moment.
I think that whole area was a metaphor to explain how desperately they want to make another bloodborne. But they cannot because of Sony . The feeling of having such a bloodborne type Forrest but it being “hollow” conveys the feeling that they as human beings must feel the frustrations of remaking their favorite game Fromsoft uses video games as a “medium” to express their art. They same way a painter uses a brush, or a manga artist uses a pen I think they wanted us to feel how they feel . Because Miyazaki explained bloodborne is their favorite creation. But they cannot continue the story because of Sony But, I could be full of shit and just rambling
@@bennyblunto973 Or they just got lazy and made a bad game after all these years. Honestly this DLC feels undercooked and hollow with a lot of bad mechanics. Really disappointing for something that took them 2 years.
People and media calling it "the best fromsoft dlc" is kinda insulting considering that ashes of ariandel, the ringed city and the old hunters dlc exist 😂
I decided to do this as spoiler free as possible and just take my time and explore. In typical Fromsoftware fashion I got rewarded by getting locked out of a questline. All because playing blind I defeated a couple bosses out of order.
@@BennyPress Horsent Grandam and later, Thollier and Moore which also effected the Dragon priestess. I almost missed Sir Ansbach because he moved to Shadow keep after I had already cleared it and had no real reason to go back to the area he was in.
@@HowlFromBeyond Ye, they made the questlines way too unnecessarily convoluted. Even when trying to use guides I'm confused whether I've locked myself out of a questline or not. The base game was already messy but the DLC made the NPC questlines even harder to follow.
Good video dude - I disagree on most points haha but found the discussion very interesting. Appreciate your commentary style and earned a sub from me. I hope you find more enjoyment the more you go in!
"Lmao i disagree on nearly everything, and i wont say what i did or didn't like but you spoke in a respectful tone, therefore this massage of my souls game obsessing ego is appreciated" etc most pretentious fanbase jfc.
@@matsimurf_5900 aye listen, the souls community is awful, ill give you that, but most of the content creators, including smough are not. the youtubers and streamers of the souls community have always been amazing and still are, its the fanbase itself that is garbage. dont blame the insufferable fanbase and annoying redditors attitudes on smough, hes one of the good guys.
I loved the dlc but I cant even deny the points in this video. Its very disappointing to see these beautiful areas in the distance excited to explore them only to find a small handful of content in them (sometimes barely any at all.) Cerulean coast especially comes to mind. Counting the fissure as its own self contained area there just isnt a lot to find there. I explored the whole thing twice making sure I hadnt missed anything (cus I was sure I had to have missed something) but nope I had already found it all. Charos hidden grave as well. 2 mini bosses and a gaol. The dlc really picked up the pace with bosses imo but at the cost of certain areas being more empty and lots of exploration rewards not feeling so impactful. I honestly dont know what trade off I prefer.
Notice a lot of people criticizing the vast spaces in this game because they feel like there is nothing to explore. Having put more than 50+ hours into the dlc (finished), I can confidently say that exploration is definitely rewarded. People need to get over the fact that not every waking second of exploration will result in a reward. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I want to talk about openness in video games and open worlds. I don't think that open worlds should, or are even able to utilize every square foot of their map. I think its fun to just walk around or ride torrent through the open areas, which I also understand is not for everyone. If you look at other open world games, the same could be said that there are lots of "underutilized" open area. But I would argue that they are OPEN for a reason. It's not just that they are underutilized. As Berto pointed out, it feels less artificially crafted and more like I'm stumbling upon something very real. This immerses me further into the world. Open areas allow breathing room between intervals of intense combat with bosses or tough enemies. They also give you an opportunity to scan the vistas and absorb the world around. I think of it almost like negative space in art.
@@bensharp4851 I can't make those suggestions without it being a totally different game, but maybe reduce the scale of the open world? Less open spaces, more branching paths and shortcuts. Unlock fast travel late into the game like DS1 did.
@@rosskaske6357 Yeah, if you want to optimize the game for replayability, then it's going to come at a sacrifice. Is that first magical playthrough more valuable than replayability? Unlocking fast travel later is actually a pretty interesting idea. Though, with such a big world that might get tedious. I will say that parts of the game remain replayable on subsequent playthroughs (e.g. legacy dungeons).
Yeah, I get no sense of satisfaction from beating these bosses, I'm just glad the fight over. So, I definitely understand the feeling. It's like they took all of the most complained about parts of the bosses from the base game and turned them up to 11. I also find the leveling system to be terrible. 99% of rpgs do the leveling grind come back thing. I have no idea why many souls fans act like this was some kind of innovation in game design. What they don't do is make you search the whole dang map for specific items just so you can level. I've beaten the base game multiple times. I have no intention to play this dlc past getting the items I want or ever again.
I don't agree about the erdtree fragments, even with them the dlc is tanky and poise boosted (as in the dlc is difficult) but the fact you can just look up a guide and get all the blessings is an alright mechanic, I don't like it overall but it's not offensive to me like most of my issues with this dlc
Having to pick up 50 shards every time you play the DLC is really terrible for the replay factor. I think these fragments are a good incentive to explore the map, but they should serve some other purpose or at least exist in smaller quantities like the upgrades in churches in the base game.
@@wolf388 Wait... they expect you to pick them up every new play through? Okay they need to patch that BULL CRAPP right now because 50? That's a lot!!! First complaint I have heard that's objectively reasonable.
@@soyborne.bornmadeandundone1342it's not literally 50 separate pieces that you pick up. There are several different places where you pick up two at a time.
I am literally falling asleep playing this game. No exaggeration. It's actually grindingly depressing how boring and underdeveloped both ER and this are.
I m 30 hours in and still wait for ONE SINGE MOMENT, wich gives me the feeling that the DLC is actually worth the Money and Time! From Soft realy doesn't try anymore. That's the feeling I get from that Dlc. No wonder if blinded Fanboys keep buy every BS without Questioning it.
The fanboys and masochists have genuinely made me concerned for the future of FromSoft titles. ER just feels like DS 3.5 smeared with artificial difficulty. I also remember being excited to try Sekiro since it earned GOTY but once I saw more gameplay, all the bosses, all the content it has to offer, and snagged it on sale to play it myself…it is so boring compared to the Ninja Gaiden series.
@@moustachio05 no lol. I mentioned my experience with Ninja Gaiden. I’ve also played all of FromSoft’s Souls titles going back to OG Demon’s Souls as well as both Nioh games…I knew I wasn’t supposed to play Sekiro like Dark Souls. I actually don’t have too much of a problem with Sekiro’s difficulty, Sekiro is personally boring and artificially difficult due to FromSoft’s mechanically shallow formula, absurd limitations such as only being able to equip 1 combat art and 1 ninjutsu technique, and ya know…1 weapon. Ain’t much compared to what I can do and use in NG
This DLC couldn't make it any clearer that Miyazaki wants to move on to a new type of game, thats why he prioritized Armored Core over this DLC and released it before the DLC for his companies highest selling game ever.
Having finished it. It’s just overall disappointing. Cool gear and spells. Lore and gameplay though. Not so good. Honestly enjoy the base game way more.
The problem with the bosses isn’t actually bad design like people are saying. The problem is, FSW took the wrong approach. They designed the bosses immaculately, but the problem is that they designed them for players using mimic FSW doesn’t want u to solo these bosses. Solo fighting the dlc bosses is the new challenge run, and that’s very concerning They aren’t making games for solo players anymore. They give you tools like ash summons, and expect u to use them even tho u don’t want to. So you’re essentially going into these boss fights handicapped if you’re solo, facing off with bosses that weren’t designed for you to face unless you bring in ashes. That’s why so many veterans are speaking out about this, only they’re going about it the wrong way. They’re opening themselves up for people to tell them to get gud. The Ringed City and Old Hunters offered bosses that were made to be solo battles, which is why they were hard but still reasonable and fair. These dlc bosses are EXTREMELY unreasonable UNLESS you use mimic. It’s taking skilled players who’ve been around since 2009, over 500 attempts to beat the final boss solo. How the fuck is that reasonable or fair? How is it reasonable if less than 5% of the player base can beat it? It’s not fair, and it’s so unlike FSW to pull this shit
I liked the tower area and the music there. I agree that it seems in areas that they make some amazing maps and then fill them in afterward, with mixed results.
I agree. I love the new weapons and the new areas but I feel like there could have been more. The bosses don’t feel awe worthy because part of me wanted us to fight an outer god but that’s my own fault for having that expectations. But I was really hoping that the exploration would be up to par with the base game but it’s nowhere close to the base game. It’s great but it’s not at that level. An example is the abyss. That whole area feels wasted to me because it’s a decent chunk of the map but ur just running around trying to fight only 1 boss. Imagine if they had a secret tunnel that led you to understanding the lore more and meeting a boss like the outer god of rot or smth.
stfu souls elitists, this game is not immune to criticism, in fact, Elden Ring is the worst souls experience ever made alongside DS2, and this is coming from an avid fromsoft fan.
biggest miss to me so far is the field bosses. theyve made some of the best map design ever seen but couldnt make any unique new fun bosses to go with it? the singular one they made is a tanky gimmick boss with a very boring moveset that gets old by the time you finish killing the first one you find. and of course they decided to reuse that in basically every new area.
Baffling that they took 2 FUCKING YEARS to give us such an empty open world. Not to mention the severe lack of new weapons. We barely got 2-3 per class, and some I believe literally only have 1 weapon Incredibly disappointing if this is their only DLC Dungeons are great and I really like the new weapons though
What frustrates me most is that there are no connections between the Shadow Realm and the Lands Between. There is not an ounce of dialogue from anybody in the Lands Between, and there is no story or quest from Melina (huge missed opportunity). They made an awesome standalone adventure, but to me it’s hardly a DLC. Just Elden Ring 1.5.
Plenty of connections, just nothing in either world reacts to events in the other. The amount of effort put into the DLC though is so much that I have to believe that the lack of connective tissue was an artistic choice rather than a budgetary constraint. I really can't figure out what it would be though.
@@pakee2352 Dialogue and reading, do you know the difference? Stop the strawman, I adore ER, but the DLC is empty and the story feels rushed, so many missed opportunity.
@@pakee2352 Even if you said that, doesn't change the fact that the DLC can't even touch the surface of the base game's plot, the final boss lack of content is the biggest disappointment for me.
Felt like the DLC is good up until the very end. Thats when you start finding the asset recycling bins and the world becomes devoid of content. Also feel like consort radahn is way op even after you learn his moves
After 2 years of base game i overall found the dlc to be refreshing but dissapiointing in a 60/40 split. Each open area feels more thought out, less empty space and more loot, the new dungeons are an improvement overall, the legacy dungeons are as per usual great. New spells and weapons are fun, but maybe too many faith scaling ones. I found the repeat bosses decent, as they only showed up twice and had different movesets. Honestly though the biggest dissapointment was the final boss, ironic seeing how its not an exact repeat but i feel cheated. Personally i was expecting Godwyn. It still feels like there should be alot here that is missing, both in terms of specific equipment and world density, about a second dlcs worth of content.
If you’re using OP weapons and summons and still think it’s too hard it is a skill issue I’m sorry. I wish the bosses were designed better for less OP builds but it doesn’t really matter if a boss has an unfair attack or two with the right gear. Your build is either not as OP as you think or you’re suffering from skill issues.
@@nuh-uhbro765 my issue is the bosses are way too unfair not to mention you have a shitty lock on camera that really doesn’t help and also the bosses do some of the most stupidest shit ever the bosses are designed unfairly there’s some bosses in Elden ring which are balanced well but a lot of bosses are just really unfair and it takes away the fun aspect away from you
I don't really get that "Reused" feel though personally at least, in terms of the story it's Radahn the character yes, but there's the lifeless, scarlet rotted braindead weak Radahn we fought in the base game, and then the opportunity to finally fight Radahn in his peak form (which is often spoke about in lore and generally within the community). They're a crucial part of the story in general but at the very least, at least the second part of the fight gave something special - that was one hell of a set of insane attacks and movements 😂
@JurglenutsGodwyn is dead like dead dead. I love the radahn fight from a lore perspective. It is awesome getting to see the most powerful character at his peak. It was a cool story and they actually foreshadowed it in the dlc which is unique for From. Plus the fight is completely different.
You are talking about Elden ring, the game that has over 180 bosses (120 of them unique). If the final boss is empowered Radahn, its meant to be like that, not just to “reuse” stuff
Good to see there are still sane people out there. The insane amount of praise this is getting is just as insane as the OG. A lot of it is fine, but it's not "setting a new standard".
I would say it's setting a new standard. A new low for Fromsoft. People praise this 6/10 (at most) DLC and that's what we're gonna get next time as well. It's sad to see but because of the amount of bootlickers loving this DLC we might not get another good FS game for a very long time if ever.
Tbh my only real complaint with the dlc and this applies to the base game as well but it’s the gameplay. The current gameplay we have should’ve ended with DS3 and we should’ve gotten a more polished and updated version of Bloodbornes gameplay. Like they’ve added all these cool weapons that have these really flashy moves but you can’t use most of them against bosses because bosses are just tailored around the roll hit method and this has always been an issue even in dark souls. Bloodborne made the fights feel more like a back and forth rather than just me rolling most of the time for my small window of opportunity and the way they did weapons in Bloodborne is also just flat out better. I’d rather have a small number of quality weapons rather than a large quantity of weapons when it’s more likely that everyone’s just gonna use the best weapons for whatever build they’re going for anyways. I give Elden Ring a lot of leeway because I really do feel like this game was a pretty big experiment for them but I honestly hope the next game does away with this gameplay. I know a lot of people won’t agree or like that for nostalgic reasons but it’s honestly dated and it’s holding SoulsBorne back from being better.
You're so right I'm perfectly fine with bosses being fast and aggressive, but I'd Also like to have the chance to be aggressive The best thing of Sekiro Is that "git gut" doesn't mean sneaking hits between combos or annhilate boss healthbar with spells or stuff but that you can now push back the boss, repel his attacks and keep the pressure on him
Wanna know why? Lots of fanboys don’t even know that FromSoft foolishly decided to develop Sekiro and ER *tandem*. You can tell how we were supposed to get some kind of deflection mechanic, probably similar to Lords of the Fallen (which is a breath of fresh air btw: we can seamlessly deflect, roll, and dash in that game). They didn’t have enough time and as much as fanboys hate to see it…ER is undercooked. It deserved to be more than just DS 3.5, we should’ve experienced the ultimate culmination of everything for this project.
@@Ale-dd3ek Honestly Sekiro is the only game I haven’t played yet out of all the Fromsoft games but I heard that Lies of P had a similar deflect system to Sekiro and if that’s what a combination of Bloodeborn/Sekiro gameplay looks like then that would be amazing for the next game.
@@christopheryanez I completely agree like I agree with people that it’s a good game but if I’m being completely honest, I just don’t understand how it’s become this masterpiece and one of the best games of all time for so many people unless they’re new to the franchise. The story is really no different from any other Fromsoft game, the gameplay is no different from DS3, and the demon souls remake has considerably better graphics than ER. Again the games amazing but it kind of killed the game for me when I saw that it was essentially dark souls 3.5. Now if I compare that to Lies of P which is the best Soulslike game imo for multiple reasons but for me the most important thing was its gameplay. Obviously not everything was perfect but that combination of Bloodborne gameplay with the Sekiro deflect made you feel extremely powerful when you learned the bosses. I could say more but that game damn near did everything right for me. All I’m hoping is that the next SoulsBorne game is a true improvement in every metric cause if it’s the same gameplay as DS3 again, I’m going to be seriously questioning if I want to even play it.
I just finished the dlc and I am very disappointed as well. I hoped the dlc would add some content to the base game. Nothing major, maybe some lore stuff an extra mission or two. But from what I can tell, it's completely separate. No one seems to acknowledge the realm of shadow exists. It all really feels like an afterthought. It's pretty unfortunate
So far you are the First/ only one I found who actually isn't a blinded Fanboy, and can actually speak openly about the things you do and do not like and why that is. Wich is kinda sad in itself but I m happy I found your video. Thank ya
I appreciate it haha, I'm sure more people have talked about it by now, I don't really get Elden Ring on my feed so idk, but it's partly why I decided to make that video after the first weekend and even though I wasn't done yet, just wanted to get my thoughts out, that kinda surprised me I had them
There was so much potential for the remembrance, yet like less than half of them are just useless. They upped the difficulty with bosses and enemies, but somehow made the items worse. It is inexcusable that the light of miquella for example is just shit
I havent been a fan of the exploration in the DLC. A lot of finding nothing. I remember finding an area and being excited only to ne greeted by repeat bosses from the base game and dlc. I dont mind repeat bosses but it does get annoying when so many get repeated. The bosses have been hit or miss. The Hippo and Dancing Lion were kind of terrible. Rellana was cool
I think fromsoft is running out of ideas because a lot of the bosses ideas just feel the same. A lot of them just gain AOE or some magical abilities. It gets boring after a while.
Rellana seems like a joke . "Uh she is Rennala sister.. uhh.. called Rellana! And she uses magic swords instead of a magic staff." Also Rellana is basically a faceless boss with no cutscene, lines and previous lore. REMEMBERANCE BOSS.
I’ve platinumed 4 souls games including Elden Ring. Here’s my opinion: “Either die a ton, or use an OP build and make the fight a cakewalk,” is a statement that definitely summarizes ER’s late game. The DLC suffers from the same problem, only on a larger scale. Unfortunately, many people are still on the hype train, and don’t see the main issue with ER. They’re basically like mindless clones, having the same arguments and writing the same types of sh*t. They feel like cult members more than anything at this point. The future of souls games seem to be just bosses with DMC and anime movesets with tons of damage and people either trying to “git gud” by wasting hours on the game, or using OP equipment and just deleting the bosses.
@@mairon4903 Or... We just disagree with you. The only valid criticism is lag, empty areas, difficulty hasn't been an issue in any playthrough. The bosses are peak, though Radahn is a bit overtuned. That's really it for the valid criticism, rest is just attention seeking.
@@exquisitedoomlapointe185 Fromsoft proved that they can still make amazing bosses that are very fast but doesn’t feel like bullshit with Messmer and Midra. But my speculation is that they will continue make bosses like Bayle and Consort Radahn more and more in the future just to prove that they can make extremely difficult bosses that have visually stunning movesets but hollow and uncared for in the inside. The DLC really is more ER with possibly better art design. If they don’t solve the problem that I mentioned in my previous comment, the problem that started with Elden Ring’s late game, we’re going to see a lot of promised consorts flying around in future souls games. BTW I don’t get what you mean by attention seeking. There could be some people that are just trying to get wievs by being overtly negative and over the top aggressive, but I think most people that didn’t really like the DLC are just concerned for the future of Souls. Also most of these people have been a fan of souls games for years, so they probably don’t want to see their fav company produce any bad games, which they thankfully haven’t done yet.
@@mairon4903 your complaint falls into valid territory. I personally loved midra, but i get what you're saying. That being said, if we get the tools to figjht a consort-like fight then i have no problem but that's a different point altogether. What i'm not a fan of is arguments like "we get no rewards!" when we get massive rune drops or new gear and spells but people choose to not improve/change their character then wonder why they feel unrewarded.
If this was a 1 year later DLC, i would be fine with it, but I've expected more from a 2 year development, especially since the story/lore was there already(per Miyazaki). The DLC felt very empty in a lot of locations(Abyssal Woods, Ruins of Ruah, Finger Ruins) and i can understand why they are that way, but it just doesnt feel good exploring these big locations for 2-3 items. Jagged Peak was fine because it was mostly a straight path. The bosses were good, but the final boss needs some adjustments in second phase, the performance sucks and there is so much visual clutter that many times I couldn't even see what was happening. The character itself is fine, i really dont have a problem with that. My biggest problem(i know it sounds pitty) are those damn Wicker Men. Do they really thought those enemies were fun or challenging? Dont even get me started on the armoured ones with their bullshit fireball spam, i died to those things more than any bosses from the DLC.
Ds3 glazers need to remember that ashes was almost half the price of this dlc on launch.. it had one and half bosses in total and 2 areas only a few weapons and like 3 new enemy’s people were saying “just buy it for the boss” yet they are saying this is the worst dlc they made and not worth the price yet it has wayy more content
Yeah, that was by far the worst DLC and had no reason to be separated from The Ringed City. I mean it isn't bad if you play it as a complete package with the rest of the game, but by itself as a product was the worst. I remember when i played it on release and was saying "Thats really all? Am i so blind to miss an entire area that for sure has to be here?".
It was even LESS tbh, think it was $10? But yeah hard agree, people just think dlc automatically has to be good despite the price, but i hope this makes it clear it shouldn't be taken for granted anymore
@@BertoPlease it was not it was 15 the exact same price as ringed city on launch.. you could get in a pack later for 25 which is good value but ashes on its own is a joke
the weapons are cool but beyond that many parts of the game are a disappointment and the amount of filler items makes me not want to look for items anymore
Man the fact we got so little weapons is baffling. Especially when you consider the vast majority of their weapons use the same moveset as other weapons of the same type. All they had to do was copypaste existing weapons and make a new model for most of these, then add a unique heavy attack and call it a day...
and most of the weapons completely broke PVP on release, are just powercreeped versions of older weapons or are just overshadowed and no one cares. It's really quite disappointing.
@bofa722 So little weapons? Did you collect all of them? Idk if you played past souls games game but...have you ever looked at your enemies weapons and see the weapons they're using? All imma say is not every weapon can be looted from the ground...Thats the problem with this "filler content and empty world" argument. Not in good faith.
Yeah, putting thin beast bones in a place where you're gonna get ganked by a normal soldier that does four times the regular damage of a soldier from the base game just doesn't feel funny anymore
@@stefmoneythebigfella7156 sorry I should've been clearer. I meant there are barely new weapons belonging to the new weapon archetypes. Only 1-3 for most except perfume bottles which are literally just a different color and stats
I guess youd call this a spoiler? The ds3 reuse was just dumb and from soft needs to scrap that completely because its incredibly lazy. Some of the bosses i fought were similar while one was a carbon copy. Plus the fact balance changes are already happening shows the biggest problem this game has always had, its not properly play tested. I gurantee they design the boss go "yep thats hard" and full send. The problem is WHY theyre hard. Sekiro really was their peak in terms of fair difficulty and they have just backslid since then.
I'm interested in you doing a video like this for each area, especially cause I thought of as Graveplain as pretty decent, personally, but was a lot more critical of the following areas, and wouldn't mind seeing how it was for you - having your perspective on this, even if I don't fully agree, helped put things a lil more into a different perspective!
The point is, after seeing every single corner of the base game map, knowing very well how much of it does not matter in the slightest, I have to be convinced to go around this world doing random stuff. Just saying "there is an item out there that makes the game easier" does not cut it, in fact it's worse, because I know I will have to gather this stuff all over again if I want to replay this game. It's actually sad that so much effort was put into making generic open world stuff, when areas like Shadow Keep are actually peak good old dark souls dungeons and where the game actually shines.
its actually sad how delusional souls veterans want more generic hallway and shortcut simulators liek the pathetically boring old souls games rather than the most immersive combination of both :) the game shines in the open world just as much, and shadows level design objectively is laughably better than ds1, and thats just the open world level design.
@@flamingmanure Nothing is immersive about Elden Ring, lole. Also, what? Is Shadow Keep generically boring to you too? The game doesn't shine in the open world just as much, I assure you the open field with nothing but a cookbook and a reused dragon boss fight is not something I'd take over even Iron Keep.
I personally love the open world aspect but was expecting more from the legacy dungeons. Midra’s Manse is a good example of a legacy dungeon with a lot of potential but is very small and underwhelming. I wish they applied the same care that they did with Shadow Keep to the rest of the dungeons.
I love Dark Souls but, ngl I only got into the dark souls hype with the original dark souls 2. I love everything with FromSoftware but I'll admit they are starting to lose me. With elden ring, they are really starting to lose me. I felt like Elden Ring was being way too vague and had way less equipment options than it shoud have. Ive always felt like Elden Ringneeds way more items for INT or FAI or strength or dex than it has. I feel like its lore is just too vague.
I could appreciate the size of the map a lot more if the loot was in obvious locations instead of having it spread across the entire map as if they expect you to comb through every inch of it even though it’s mostly empty. I like the scale of Elden Ring, the areas feel like fully fledged locations and traversing them is scenic and impressive, but the fact that the content seems stretched across the whole map makes it tiring to explore. I don’t need loot around every corner just for 90% of it to be worthless shit, just let the visuals motivate people to explore and put less loot but make it matter. Same for bosses, I’d rather have half as many bosses but make them worthwhile than fight buffed up basic enemies or npcs as bosses.
That not entirely true, I can't say anything really for people who don't know but it's really just 2 buffed moves and an entirely new moveset. I get what you mean though.
@@luciferyeet5524 Yeah I know it’s a fully new boss, it’s mainly the fact it’s extremely lazy Especially when all trailers and art focus on…. Whatever their name was
@@YOURteacher_100 yea I wasn't expecting for a fight like that to ever make it into Elden ring, seemed too lazy to make that the final boss as well but oh well I had fun.
@@Elden-Bear Well someone never heard of spoilers, and yes it’s literally just a reused boss From what I seen, loads of the bosses are entirely copied from other souls bosses
The exploration in the open world is so absrudly boring and unrewarding I constantly find myself hoping that they accidentally released an unfinished version of the DLC... wtf was Miyazaki thinking. This is like everything the Souls formula is not supposed to be.
I found the exploration much more engaging than the base game. Ofc it's hard to replicate the feel of early game leveling and upgrading weapons but I fully expected that.
@@denberz711Putting words in their mouth? Though, I'm also curious what they were disappointed by. I personally don't like half the bosses (not new ones) and game being much shorter than I expected. I was overhyped but that's a me issue
@@Verbmo For me, the bosses make the most difference and Mesmer and last few curscene bosses are S tier (aesthetically) in my opinion and beat Orphan of Kos but not Lady Maria so I still like SotE more than Old Hunters but Bloodborne is just more fun to play
This dlc feels like a competition to create the most annoying enemies possible. There's the pyromancers that NEVER stop attacking, multiple enemies that spin 5-10 times before they stop, serpent dudes with the undodgeable purple spell that stuns you followed up by them teleporting to you and grabbing you while you're stunned, every area has a dragon with more health than fire giant. Where's the fun? The only boss I really enjoyed was Golden Hippo because he's like a normal dark souls boss that doesn't take 10 hours to learn.
Im at the final boss, I was getting burnt out of this game so im probably not going to finish it. However during that journey through the land of shadow it felt empty. There was really no reward besides scadutree fragments which are 100% necessary to stand a chance in this dlc. I loved Elden Ring's map and exploration, but dang SOTE is just not it imo.
@@fatal3044 Hello, just thought I would jump in here to say that this was just my opinion, if you don't agree with it that's fine SOTE is just not my cup of tea. I also said that I was burnt out of the game, and was probably not going to finish it because of that, not that I don't have the ability to finish it. Good day to you. 😊
The amount of people gaslighting themselves saying it's the best DLC ever it's astonishing. Award of copy pasting including bosses. Paid 40 bucks to horse around just to find 10 cookbooks, smithing stones, and talismans with the most useless effects. Wish I could refund.
All people praising this dlc and Elden Ring are people who elden ring is their first souls. They don’t know what makes up a good exploration and boss fight. Game is breathtakingly gorgeous but not fun to explore or fight the bosses.
My biggest complaint is how annoying the map is to traverse. I spend more time lost trying to figure out where the fuck I need to go, than actually fighting anything. I shouldn't have to google shit on how to get to a fucking map fragment or get to a certain section of the map.
yea because certain areas can only be accessed through VERY specific linear paths, if u cannot find these specific gateways to new areas you will never be able to go there, thus forcing ppl to google it after getting tired searching.
@@miketatum9321 it just sucks that its taking people actual HOURS to find the top left map fragment since the ONLY way there is a super specific path that you can only get to with another secret path
I treated the double dragon fight as a gimmick fight, allowing me to do some real actual horse archery with status effects as the lesser dragon tanked for me. Similarily with the Ghostflame Dragon in Scadu Altus, though that one's more annoying because of the greatbow knights switching aggro to you.
Fromsoftware are clearly running out of ideas when it comes to these games. A boss in this DLC is literally just Orphan of Kos on a horse in Midir's arena😐
Finished ER 11 times but I still rate it the worst Fromsoftware game out of all. I'll give them another chance for the next game and I'm still convinced Open World was too much to fill it with quality.
@@m.h.4907 open world was excellent that is why they sold 30 40 million copies and won every single award,only mountain of the giants looks like a bit empty or rot lake ,everything else is packed with content.What game you played 11 times when you type that
@@BertoPlease The lore of elden ring carries the game for me, so re-skins and re-use of enemies make sense to me. Like you can google "why is this enemy here" and you can find a lore accurate reason for it. That's how I think of every enemy. Re-skins usually add to the lore of the characters. For me at least.
This entire game is so split on people who like it, the main people who seem to like it come from zero souls background, they have nothing to compare it to. But people who have played past souls games hate it, but the truth is I don't think most people playing elden ring right now are souls players, they are people who just got into this game. I know tons of my friends who have never touched a single souls game. Who play elden ring so damn much, i'm talking 5-6 of my friends here. never touched a single fromsoft game, love elden ring. Then they go and play a souls game and call it clunky and boring.
"Their biggest" and their lowest quality, is not worth the asking price to be honest, 10-15 bucks at most for the amount of content offered. I'm so pissed they decided to go with only one DLC, and I don't know who the hell gives the scores for these things, but they surely have no clue what they are talking about, and just gave the "outstanding" score without consideration of anything just because it's FromSoft and the base game was actually good.
Bruh 😂 are you a ds3 glazer? Ashes was $15 on release for one level with two areas and one boss.. yet you call this lowest quality and only worth 10-15 what a clown comment
Keep in mind these reviewers are not souls gamers. They are reviewers. They have not a single clue of what makes souls combat unique, fair, and rewarding. They just see big anime fights and go "yep, GOTY for Mikey Zaki once again". 10/10 There wasn't even a fucking poison swamp ffs 😂
@@bofa722 we don’t need another poison swamp bruh.. half of ringed city was swamp nothingness the areas look cool but most of the level design is not anything special and and think about how many swamps were in ds3 in total besides the bosses and a few areas ds3 is a slog it is 100% carried by bosses
Feels rushed, unfinished, first time I felt the series got sloppy like American aaa, I've beat them all. 6 outta 10 at best not worth the price, but extra content to one of the best games ever is ok.
I think with this DLC they focused more on the quality over quantity aspect with the exception of some reuse bosses (ulc tree, tree sent, dragons although at this point they are just annoying enemies). Every main boss I faced has been amazing in design, gameplay (well few nitpicks: radahn double slash is bad, gaius charge sucks, metyr big beam attack bad) and ost and the map is absolutely gorgeous. Weapons/armor/NPC's all cool and fun HOWEVER my main criticism lies in the emptiness of the map. Getting a map that reveals a huge chunk of the world only for it to just be vast and plain nothing was always dissapointing and felt like a time waste. Like cerulean coast/charo grave was so underwhelming, you fight another deathrite bird and another mausoleom.. thats it for like 20-25% of the map. Same with abyssal woods, just big nothing, at all, like a cookbook and an invasion for that entire area, obv there is midra cool fight and all but what about the rest? The two finger ruins empty quest thing that sure, leads to cool boss cool area but really? nothing else there it covers such a huge chunk. Hinterland, mostly empty, another fallingstar beast and two tree sentinels and incantation. World is gorgeous atleast which makes it more bearable however size could've been shrunk. The legacy dungeons were great anyways.
Yeah, most of your critiques are fair, but the one about the map seems odd. The "empty" space in the DLC is actually quite full of encounters and items. Now the items themselves are crap, but they are there. The problem is the lack of meaningful loot, as it makes it feel even emptier than it is.
The ending is so bad! Very disappointing after all the years we’re waiting! That’s the problem when Bandai comes into it .. from soft should do it alone
Lore is the same that was written 5 years ago,they did not butchered anything..Last boss was known to them before they even make dlc and they already said that no changes are made to GRRM writing that dlc already existed but was to big to make in first place..GRRM is the one who made Radahn comeback and Miquella part to kill Mohg and use him as vessel for Radahn soul not Fromsoft..Why type something you dont have idea what you saying
@@mattguxxxtt9629 the did not butcher Miquella's lore, instead they revealed the true Miquella. FromSoft said that this part of the story hd already been written before the main game, they just held back to reveal it in the dlc. Additionally there is a reason for why you fight Radahn and it's explained by Ansbach very descriptively. The more you think about the ending and Miquella's character in the dlc the more it makes sense in the grand scheme of things. To give some examples: it gives and explanation as to why the battle of Aeonea took place or it explains what it means when Miquella "compels affection", why Miriel says that when a vow is broken there are lasting consequences. And in the end, Miquella's motivation is the exact same, to bring an age of compassion, they just show what means he used to achieve his goal and what an era of compassion means in Miquella's eyes. In my opinion every plot-twist in the dlc, not Miquella's alone, was crafted masterfully and really recontextualised how I thought of the game's lore.
Oh good a fellow NGplus7 DLC first timer. We can relate to each other haha. YEAH THEY HIT HARD RIGHT?!?!! I'm level 713 and even in nice armor they can two hit kill me haha. And I'm talking about the standard run of the mill messmer soldier... So get used to this being the norm. Everything hurts you twice as much as before basically haha. Just keep that rule in mind. 1... First thing I learned was my current build is azz for this place lol. Double slender swords in each hand is quite useless for this place lolz. 2... Then I learned about the shadow blessings. Gotta get them to make the game feel fair lol 3... After renalla you get access to soooo much more content. No more staring at the same dead yellow lookin fields lolz. Hinterlands are beautiful omfg! No I'm serious when you see the hinterlands you will think to yourself, this is the prettiest place I have ever seen in my life. Endless hills of sunshine and flower hills! I just beat the dlc last night. It was truly amazing! But yeah lol I was not feeling it at first. Even the best gear by a long shot is found fairly mid/late game in this dlc. Had to adapt to Myazakis new world of bull crapp that kills you all the time. After a few days of getting into the swing of things though, I can say that I love this DLC! Even if they copy and pasted some areas and bosses. Which does suck I agree, but luckily it's not to a degree that makes me want to stop playing : )
Dude this is so true, i remember finding the undergroud tunnel area with the insect people and feeling like "is that it?". Also remember feeling bumbed out when i saw two reused golden hippo's near the waterfall area.
can you make another video after you finish the whole dlc and give your final thoughts? i actually agree with alot if not all your points. i got the feeling after finishing the 1st area but was copium id change my mind after i finish the dlc. i did. & i gave in. the end especially left a SOUR taste in my throat 😭
@@mattguxxxtt9629 Shit is honestly such an over hyped DLC. It was fun but lazily done. It did not feel like Elden Ring. It felt like a barren museum game almost made by Ubisoft.
@@NeakTheMeak they didn't just reuse him. No, they did something much worse They gave us PRIME Radahn. Then for his second phase decided to do Lorian and Lothian 2.0 instead of giving us his full power. As soon as I saw that my hype deflated to the abyss with Messmer's serpent...
The legacy dungeons are disappointing. All of them besides Shadowkeep are too short. A few sites of grace and a boss is all you’ll get with them, they are the size of medium dungeons like Caria Manor from the base game. One of then is even smaller being less then 10 minutes long. Compare the dungeons to base game Elden Ring which has dungeons that are absolutely massive and awe inspiring, surprising you with hidden areas tucked away in them. Providing an hour minimum of content. Some of them like Haligtree or Farum are three times the size, that’s how small some of these legacy dungeons in the dlc are.
i feel rip off an under leveled even with the new gear and high-level I still cant beat melania or tackle the sec boss of the DLC or even that ghost in the catacombs they messed up some how in this DLC an I'm glad its the last DLC cause elden ring sucks now I'm going back to fps with a RPG mechanics an loot boxes there's no way I,ll complete this elden ring DLC if me an 3 people cant beat melania than you know miasucky fucked up
My biggest problem is how a lot of bosses don’t give you a chance to use summons. For a lot of bosses, as soon as you walk through the fog wall, the boss is right on top of you. You will need to find room in between the relentless onslaught of attacks to use your summon and if that is a mimic, there’s a good chance that the boss will smack and one shot you while your health is low. The DLC is HARD and it’s supposed to be, but Fromsoft gave us summons to make the challenge easier and it’s almost like Fromsoft forgot that because a lot of the bosses in this DLC aren’t summon friendly. Hippo, Hog Rider, and the last boss (avoiding spoiling the names) are the worst that this and it almost is required to use a summon for the last boss.
@@savary5050 I don’t even use them because I suck. I’ve played every souls game multiple times but in Elden Ring I find the game is more enjoyable with summons. The issue is that they are there to make the game easier, but the boss’s in this DLC don’t allow you to summon,
ok... I disagree with most of this video, like I think you criticising the "rewards for exploring" when you are literally combing the map, you seem to be expecting something useful to your specific build every two steps which is a little ridiculous. The rewards for exploration and thorough exploration at that (not what you're doing which is a little excessive and frankly disturbing) far exceeds most other open world games, expecting more than what this DLC offers in terms of exploration comes across as a little entitled quite frankly. HOWEVER, it is refreshing to see a different perspective that isn't just from software fans absolutely glazing this game and getting mad when people criticise things such as it's difficulty. I think the difficulty is kind of stupid in this DLC half the time I can't tell what the boss is doing because it's attack completely blocks my screen, the hitboxes are weird and the attacks do too much damage, NOT TO MENTION they have not changed the thing where u want to heal torrent and it asks you if "you are sure you want tor revive torrent", obviously I'm sure I'm the one clicking this shit. ANYWAYS... yeah the difficult feels artificial due to the excessive blinding attacks of bosses that require luck since u cant see the mf sometimes. Also the fucking mother of fingers feels like the elden beast before they added torrent. The mf just runs away way too much it's frustrating.
My character was nearly level 300, it's not a "build" at that point, I could've used whatever I wanted and found almost on the spot, but you're kinda right that I would've liked to see more gear in general, since it'd be fun to add to other builds. I do appreciate that you can hear me out though, definitely can't say that for everyone lmao
I refunded it after a few hours. Reskinned enemies and uninspired bosses. More anime armors and weapons. The DLC added absolutely nothing that I liked. Maybe 2 armors and 2 bosses looked cool after I looked them up. Fromsoft is officially creatively bankrupt.
I'm loving the dlc but I find the items a bit disappointing There is cool stuff but most of the time I find smithing stones that I can just buy at the roundtable hold I was also afraid that the scadutree fragments Would turn the exploration into an Ubisoft fetch quest so I think that the patch that made the early blessing level better could help keeping the exploration organic and not a "home work list"
I am glad someone else is also not just sucking at the teet of Miyazaki with this DLC. I'm so tired of seeing the 10/10 and 11 or higher out of 10 scores for this DLC. It's a joke. People literally aren't even trying to interact with the game genuinely anymore. It's simply hard = good and good = hard. Because the DLC is really hard, it must be perfect. Nevermind how empty some of the areas are, nevermind how little INT/Sorceries got (showing further favoritism to FTH/Incantations), nevermind that INT/FTH is still basically unspported, nevermind the re-use of base game bosses and enemies that we've spent the last 2 years fighting, nevermind the lack of of any actual QoL improvements that modders have added since release, nevermind the modern game features like DLSS, and nevermind the continued and new performance problems of the DLC. All of this is before actually discussing the topic of how difficult these bosses are and how we've simply gone too far for its sake, From is too afraid to take a step back, and the cultish fanbase has tied their egos and self-worth so closely to their ability to beat these games with arbitrary difficulty modifers that they are unable to respond to any criticisms with anything other than "git gud".
The enemy reuse is the most egregious in my opinion. They had 2+ years for this DLC and there are still so many reused/reskinned enemies and mini bosses. I feel like they spent most of their time and budget on building the beautiful map but then forgot to actually fill it with interesting things.
@@rokudodamaza yeah, happened the same with the base game, Malenia is treated like a masterpiece when she is an over the top hard boss for the sake of being hard
@@QwertyUiop-bs2zr In that specific case, it was just Malenia and not the whole game and even then, 90% of players who complained only did so because of the waterfowl dance that will one shot them. I wish I coulda fought the tougher version before she was patched
@@rokudodamaza there were still many bosses that had crazy combos that had you 30 seconds not doing anything other than dodge though. Idk I just didn’t enjoy the game as much as the others, it was really empty, bosses weren’t great and they were repeated. And the world just felt like a copy of dark souls but changing names
What I would like from FS next is to make another game with similar structure to demons souls, just separate maps with intricate level design and interesting enemy encounters allover the map! that, or just DkS1 interconnected map but with some metroidvania elements to unlock new maps or shortcuts! I think that would be added value to the exploration element of these games.
He's talking about the first area of the dlc, he's only talking about the first area in the whole video, he made that clear? How is vertically better, as in I don't know what it means, there's no underground section (so far) in my run. What part did he lie about?
Anotherrr thing to address, some of eldens souls systems feel like there from pre 2000, why is muliplayer still so annoying, no restrictions would be amazing...full armor sets thrown at you, a map that doesn't really line up at all, quest lines and dialog so confusing you either find by complete mistake or not at all, emotes to open paths...poorly balanced soul areas (always a milk spot in everygame) I hope the future is bright but they need to get off this bethesda like comfortability😮
Agreed. Personally for me the biggest instigator is the horseshit casting system. Why do I have to hit d-pad 8 times to get to the spell I want instead of binding it to something like L1 + □ or L2 + ○ Christ. And they wanna make an open world magic game after this 😂
Yeah messmer had me smiling despite being destroyed by him. Which lets me know that the difficulty isn’t what i have an issue with. Some bosses are just.. lame
Messmer is the only boss that doesn't have constant AOE spam on every single attack or annoying and unnatural-looking delays to trip up the player. Him and the sunflower are the only bosses in the DLC that I think live up to ds3's boss quality. Still nowhere near the level of ringed city bosses though.
@@BotBoy-un3pz How Midir from ringed city is better then Bayle i wanna know or how Demon prince or that garbage npc spawn boss is better then Rellana ,Messmer,Midra,like what eyes sight you have when Midir is better boss then Bayle only top tier is Geal everything else is nothing special
i fifnished the dlc, it is their worst dlc yet. i still cant believe this is it and that this was going to be TWO dlcs, i feel like there HAS to be more content coming.
Follow-up video: ua-cam.com/video/K8PIxOVifNo/v-deo.html
The dropdown of this comment will have SPOILERS for the things I talk about during the video, but I keep vague and nameless to not spoil more than necessary. OPEN AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!
12:54 - Talking about the Death Rite Bird in Charo's Hidden Grave
13:33 - Talking about Jagged Peak
19:55 - Talking about Cerulean Coast
21:06 - Talking about Charo's Hidden Grave
30:03 - Talking about Death Knight
30:08 and 32:36 - Talking about Lamenter (he killed me and I still don't know how lol)
Haven't seen the video but I just killed Lamenter--every clone you let live counts towards the insta-kill, so you just need to be effective at killing them all
I found more cool armor sets and weapons in the gravesite plains/cerulean coast than I expected too. I dont want to spoil anything but i think with some more exploration you might be pleasantly surprised.
I dont know how, if your combing the map that you have only found the things you mentioned, but its probably worth looking a bit harder if you want find stuff. i explore for the fun of it, thats always been my favorite thing in elden ring, exploring what seems like an empty lonely world and finding its secrets.
that said, when i first got there i had a similar feeling that there was nothing there, but with a bit more exploration i was happily proven wrong.
I also understand for people that only want to do like boss fight rushes that the DLC might feel short or too hard, so my opinion is subjective, but I'm not even close to finished and i have spent many hours already enjoying the content in the world.
I do not care if someone likes it or not everyone has their opinion but i am more curious when you constantly repeating that you fight reused boss on ng7+ and you keep feeding 2 hours on him but you dont wanna say which one,so its early you could only get to tree spirit or death bird or a dragon undead..Now how you can die to a boss who dies to 2,3 hits with Holy weapons like all 3 of them ,for two hours ,there is no way you get to ng7+ and you dont know how to counter bird or a dragon something is really off
Wait did you finish the DLC?
@@123Woo-u8za month later, you porobaly already know this by now lol. But he is clearly talking about the ancient dragon Sansseax or whatever it is called. That shit was hard for me as well lol. Its not early game content at all, it does absurd damage and its a long fight where you can't just break its posture several times for massive damage, its basically artificial difficult and it makes sense for him to take a long time at it
Damn you actually fought the reused bosses, when i first entered the peak area i just thought fuck this and ran past everything
Yeeeaah, and I often wish I hadnt 🥲
I did the same at the peak, I thought it was some sort of reward at the end of it. I was wrong but on the plus side, I had fun using the smith spear against the dragon.
🤣💖
why is it always mushroom?
I love it when we can criticize the games we love. It's just a shame that people get butt hurt over other people's opinions. I loved everything up until the reveal of the final boss.
Most of the ‘critiques’ have been filled with pretty… bad criticisms. It’s mostly just malding about bosses becauqe they require a more thoughtful playstyle, can’t just roll everything.
@@Stanzbey69You don't have to have a thoughtful build. A good tower shield + talisman still trivializes alot of dlc bosses.
@@HowlFromBeyond i can beat them just fine with any build. I will admit int is probably the hardest dlc build though. I was talking about bad players complaining simply cuz they’re bad
@@Stanzbey69I'm just starting Elden Ring and the complaints I have read about the DLC don't seem to be just skill issues. These games aren't even difficult if you know how to play the game. The complaints aren't about difficulty itself. They are about the way the difficulty is designed. Holding a pose for 6 seconds just to swing at your character the speed of light and take out half your health, input reading, tracking you to do a 180 aimbot spin, all just reverse cheese. Fromsoft fans are going to have a bad reputation in the future because the only argument they have is "skill issue" or "git gud."
@@ThisIsMyUA-camAccount1 1. Elden ring is not darksouls 2. Input reading is literally a myth when it comes to actual combat, it’s only ever there when you decide to heal in neutral. It’s a very deliberate punishment for being an idiot and healing right in front of a boss.
Shadow of the Erdtree's bosses were fun and the aesthetic was gorgeous. It's one of the most beautiful art designs I've seen in gaming. However, as I continued riding through each area, I began to question Fromsoft's thought process with the vacant space. Even areas like dungeons and caves just felt like an afterthought with enemy count and variety. Remembrances were mediocre although there were a few good weapons and new spells. The DLC had a very quantity over quality feel for me at times in the end. I loved the map but would have prefered half the size with more to do instead of walking/riding torrent.
"The DLC had a very quantity over quality feel"
I found the exact opposite to be true when compared to the base game.
It's smaller and has more breathing room because they realised too many samey dungeons doesn't equal a better map. (Assuming that's why they cooled down on the many many dungeons of the basegame)
My only real problem with the DLC is just the vast empty areas with hardly any reason to explore. The Vale and finger areas specifically feel extremely wasted. I know it’s part of a quest line but still feels strange and almost unfinished.
Same as the base game. From don't know how to balance open world games, they just stretch their normal formula much thinner.
@@matsimurf_5900Nah the base game is packed with stuff. Random NPCs, Medium Dungeons, Villages, random small dungeons.
@@matsimurf_5900 thats a delusion u souls veterans tell yourself to sleep better a night, cuz u cant handle elden ring being seen as better by most ppl, ESPECIALLY other game devs that love fromsoft :).
bugger off back to the boring hallway shortcut simulator in the old games.
so far havent seen a single area like that? are we playing the same game? the finger areas are literally just a quest area with alot of atmosphere, the only reason it exists was for lore and to finish a certain persons quests. also whats the vale? theres no area called the vale.
no part of this dlc is unfinished, thats just nonsense lol.
@flamingmanure I have been having the same thought every time I see one of these comments did they install a mobile game scam thinking it was the dlc or something?
Seeing that cool biome in the distance, being excited to go there and finding out it's completely barren has been like 75% of my experience in this DLC, such a waste.
soo in short ure trash at exploration and finding things? since all regions have alot of stuff to do.
@@flamingmanure what is there to do in charo's graveyard thats not the same damn repetitive bosses
@@flamingmanurefromsoftware scrub 😂
@@flamingmanure most intelligent Elden Ring shill response
Repetitive bosses😂
FINALLY. Its absurd how much people are hyping an overall ok DLC. Lemme help you in the comments a bit.
And before you whiny babies start, SPOILER WARNING.
The narrative is a mess-the pacing, the lore. Miquella is an absolute disappointment. All the hype, the immersive trailers to enter the Land of Shadows, and then we run around for 10 hours only to eventually kill Miquella with little to no explanation-some cutscene of Miquella monologuing "boohoo I want to be a god"? Stop it.
1. Encounter Design: Some of the enemy encounter designs in the DLC are reminiscent of what people criticized in Lords of the Fallen. There are several points in the DLC where FromSoft has placed enemies in nooks and around corners solely to try to cheese you and/or knock you off a ledge. Has this always been present in Souls games as a means to encourage cautious play? Yes. Have they taken it to a ridiculous extreme this time around? Yes.
2. Character/World Scaling: After playing some of the DLC, I've started to believe that FromSoft began this project without a clear idea of where or when in the game the DLC would fit. There are dozens of confusing points where you might reach the end of a legacy dungeon, face several tricky enemies, open a secret corridor, and find a shiny, only to realize it's a Smithing Somber Stone 1. This is the earliest weapon upgrade available, completely useless at this stage of the game. For example, there's an Ancient Dragon Somber Stone just before Mohg's boss room, which is required to access the DLC. You might enter a mine and find a mix of Smithing Stone 2/3, and enemies drop Smithing Stone 4, all of which is outclassed and easily purchasable for anyone who has reached the Altus Plateau. Essentially, the rewards for overcoming significant DLC challenges are often irrelevant by the time you obtain them. With some enemy designs, it feels like they created a base template that they just multiplied by modifiers later, without significant testing and balancing. (For context, this is how the base game works: enemies have a base template, and area modifiers multiply their stats, scaling difficulty. This scaling is one of the most criticized elements of the main game, as it tends to become excessively challenging by the time you reach the Mountaintops of the Giants.)
Player scaling is also confusing. FromSoft clearly worried about players entering with max-level characters and steamrolling the DLC, so they implemented an upgrade system where you must use discoverable key items to boost your absorption and damage in DLC zones. However, this creates a confusing feedback loop for the player. If I struggle to damage enemies, is it my weapon? Should I level up? Or do I lack enough DLC upgrades? If I enter a boss arena and get two-shot with 60 vigor (the softcap) and every defensive talisman I can equip, is something wrong with my setup, or do I simply lack enough DLC upgrades? The system they've implemented makes it difficult to gauge if you're at the expected power level for an area or boss, due to the multiple character upgrade systems now in play.
3. Speaking of bosses, this might be my greatest disappointment. My earlier statement about getting two-shot despite full defensive investment and 2k+ HP is not an exaggeration. These bosses do not mess around. Beyond the damage, their design frustrates me. FromSoft has heavily leaned into bosses that constantly retreat, forcing you to chase them in recent years. There's still plenty of that, but they've also introduced bosses that aggressively rush you and rarely stop attacking. My biggest issue isn't the "difficulty" of such boss designs but rather how it invalidates the tools the game gives you. Find a new weapon with cool combos? Great, you'll hardly use them on bosses like Messmer. The best you can do is get in a single hit before you're rolling away again. Discover a cool new spell or incantation? You'll often get interrupted during the wind-up, and the boss is programmed to dodge the rest of the time. Want to cast a spell or trade a hit while the boss attacks? Bad move-you'll do only a fraction of their health, and they'll immediately retaliate with a full combo.
This brings me to the Elden Ring summon system. There's a specific DLC upgrade for summons, along with tools to heal your summons or buff yourself after they die. However, it confirms what's been true in the base game for years: bosses can't handle summons. If you struggle, just bring in your favorite spirit summon and demolish the boss in a single try. This happens because bosses are programmed to be extremely aggressive and never stop attacking, but they can only focus on one enemy at a time. Since they don't attempt to defend themselves, they collapse like a house of cards when faced with more than one enemy. If you prefer to go solo, prepare for a lot of frustration. If you summon help, expect to breeze through the DLC. This isn't good boss design.
And don't get me started on reused bosses. I knew I was in for a treat when I encountered two ulcerated tree spirits (among the most reused bosses from the base game) within the first two hours. Two years later and you're still recycling bosses, FromSoft? For shame.
4. Narrative and Lore:
The bosses lack personality. Looking back at base Elden Ring, some bosses leave a strong impression before, during, and after the fight. I vividly remember fights like Malekith, where he transitions from decrepit clergyman to death incarnate, or Malenia, gracefully fighting with her prosthesis and transforming into the terrifying rot goddess in phase 2. Even Godrick or Morgott, though easy for me, are memorable due to their dialogue. In this regard, the DLC disappoints. Take Rellana, for example. Supposedly related to Rennala and her cousins, and Messmer's finest swordswoman. What does she get? Nothing. No intro cutscene, no dialogue. She doesn't even acknowledge you when you die. Sure, you might infer her relation to Rennala from her moon attack, and FromSoft prefers subtle storytelling, but some bosses definitely need interaction with the player. Fighting THE MOTHER OF FINGERS with no intro cutscene or dialogue? The only bosses I remember are Messmer, who comes and goes without fanfare-just a nobody despite being a child of Marika-the Lion Dancer, and the final boss, my third gripe with the DLC.
To me, this is perhaps the biggest disappointment. This is your first AND LAST expansion for arguably your biggest game, and you choose "prime" Radahn as the final boss? I'm not a lore scholar, but from what I've read, this decision doesn't make much sense. Wouldn't it have been better, for example, to make Godwyn the final boss, given his deep connection to literally everything in the game? Sure, it would require some creative adjustments, but it would have been an original concept and a peek into Godwyn's capabilities. Instead, we get "prime" Radahn, who doesn't say a word to you. Making him the final boss feels like a poor decision, especially since his base game fight is already iconic and intense. He shoots gravity arrows, rains down arrows, hurls meteors, and divebombs like a meteor. "Prime" Radahn has maybe three sword combos and a few sorcery moves. Compare that to characters like Manus in DS1, Orphan of Kos in Bloodborne, or Sister Friede and Gael-arguably From's best boss in DS3. It feels unoriginal, unlike FromSoftware to reuse a boss as the final act of their biggest and final expansion. Also, he takes zero damage, but that's a discussion for another time.
The main issue is with the lore. I absorbed all of it, and it left me utterly dissatisfied. At the end, I wonder why I can't join the "villain" when he asks us to. You can choose the Lord of Frenzied Flame ending and destroy the world, but that's going too far? Overall, I don't think it's a good DLC. Also, an in-game cinematic from the gameplay trailer is missing, which would have significant lore implications.
It's okay to say it's a good game but has a narrative that's shoved down our throats, with nothing hinting at it in the EXTENSIVE, lore-driven base game.
Gameplay is a 7, maybe 8/10, but what dragged it down immensely was the narrative, lore, pacing, and overall confusion, which is a solid 5/10. Combine that with the difficulty for the sake of being difficult, and voilà, you get the rating. For a game so hyped and praised by UA-camrs and streamers, with the base game having such a high rating, such a low score CANNOT simply be dismissed as "u need to git gud".
- The Remembrance
- NPC dialogue
- Item descriptions
That is the culmination of said "lore". I don't need more time to conclude how lazy the writing is. Kindly Miquella and General Radahn, with no foreshadowing in the base game, are simply put, afterthoughts by the devs. Malenia had whispered a prayer in Radahn's ear two years prior; now it was Miquella's promise? How convenient. Miquella wishes to usher in the Age of Compassion while admiring a war-obsessed demigod since childhood, and there's no hint of this in the extensive base game? How convenient. All the lore surrounding Miquella and Radahn, any explanation we may receive, is located SOLELY in the DLC, which is set after the established base game. How convenient.
I love FromSoft, played all the Soulsborne games, and adored Elden Ring. I am a fan. This was just not very good; there's no need to get so incredibly defensive over it.
I feel like I'm going to repeat myself, but Elden Ring was extremely lore-driven. You can't simply dismiss this. There was clear buildup and foreshadowing for Marika/Radagon in the base game.
It's okay. It can be a good game but have a cheap storyline. I'm currently writing a novel, and it would feel super cheap to implement lore in such a lazy format three years later just so the current arc can make sense. All in all, Radahn x Miquella makes no sense without the added and forced shipping the DLC provides during certain questlines and with certain item descriptions.
And despite that, the ending is just anticlimactic. Search UA-cam for hour-long analysis videos on Miquella, and we barely get an interaction after we finally face him? A short cutscene of him going "boohoo, I'm going to be a God"? Give me a break... It's lazy and unfinished.
And they took 2 and a half years for an unbalanced mess,but somehow it has "ThE HiGhESt ExpANsIoN ScOrE" from the ""critics"" now
I love elden ring with my life and i voted for it as got, i got deep into the lore and man my disappointment was immeasurable with this dlc, the missed opportunity to have Godwin or the gloam eyed queen as bosses, 2 of the most mysterious and intriguing characters and they were just thrown out the window for a boss that had a perfect conclusion in the base game
100% the lore is what was most disappointing. Everyone defending Radahn coming back keeps talking about how it COulDNt BE GodWyN HeS dEAD yet there a so many ways that From could have gotten around it. We have time distortions in base game or eclipse could have done SOMETHING (anything) that would have been more justified!
How did Radans soul get seized by Miquella? How was Mohgs body seized? Like it's just so dumb.
I just had to read the first paragraph to know you’re wrong (About the narrative part) you don’t know why you are facing miquella because you’re just going directly to the final boss, if you do St.Trina quest, which is pretty easy you’ll know why you are doing it, this is probably the simplest narrative fromsoftware has ever done with a souls (below Sekiro) and you can’t comprehend some simple lines that perfectly tells you the story
2 years waiting for this dissapointment really, i have been souls fans since ds1 and i must admit this dlc will never left any memory like other previous games dlcs. No basegame interaction, no NPC awareness, reusing assets, empty barren land, many unfun bosses, and for me the main point of dissapointment is miquella as the center of this dlc. I enjoyed more lore about Marika's and the golden order than whatever miquella is and the final boss is a final straw for me
Idk the DLC is missing something.. I was so excited and id be lying if i said i wasn’t disappointed
it's like they didn't learn anything from the base game.
Made me miss old hunters and ringed city.
Same !
Honestly all elden ring is more a miss for me . I'd rather go back to dark souls or sekiro.
Even the open world thing is not that interesting for me. And I'm a big fan of ope world.
Yeah, it's missing a soul.
(Im the last boss i think) Ive enjoyed it the wasted space makes the graces hit harder personally but i understand the complient i do wish they went the sekiro route where you get powered up by beating bosses rather then looking in every minute corner of the map for the power ups. Mesmurr is the best boss easliy hand down.
The part about empty map space and doing the lawnmower pattern made me laugh as that's exactly what I do. What's really cool though is the verticality of the map and scanning your monkey brain to remember where you have been and where you need to go.
I'm at the end basically, 2-3 bosses left before I'm done. Explored the entire map. I usually like difficulty, done ds1 and 3 on sl1 and base elden ring on rl1. But this dlc, not a single boss has been fun fighting, not always because they are "too" hard, but because their combat isn't tailored to the dark souls combat we have available. They are Sekiro bosses without giving us the sekiro parry system.
The dance of fightning a boss that I have grown to love is gone. It's not a duel, it's me dodging like a fly for 90% of the fight and getting a sting in after I avoid being swatted by the boss. It doesn't feel epic, it feels like I'm basically a pest who managed to kill the boss with Malaria.
Realised I haven't actually been having fun, I have been playing almost out of obligation since as a souls fan I HAVE to play it. Put down the controller and don't know when I'll be back to finish it.
Edit: Tried the perfect block = no damage tear with a shield and game became stupidly easy. Blew through boar guy and messmer with extreme ease.
There is a sekiro parry system
If you kill the first furnace golem you get a tear that gives you a sekiro like parry (you have to block to parry with the tear)
That's 1 billion percent completely fine my guy, no one should dictate your experience and you should play everything at your own pace, not through commitment or whatever. I recommend Black Flame Protection (requires 30 faith), dragon crest talisman for defence and an armour reaching at least 51 poise and you will find yourself playing on easy mode. I'm an average-ish player and beat mesmer on my second try with 9 scadutree fragments level, I could block his snakes and roll out of all his attacks and was able to learn him and Relanna that previously one shotted me
i feel exactly the same way. I am also quite disappointed with not only the bosses but also the weapons, just not much interesting there sadly, the new weapons? oh yeah there are like 2 or 3 in each class and they arent that enjoyable anyway. It feels like they just wanted a massive map and thought about the bosses and other content afterwards
@@Nova-xm1me I completely agree, the map being half empty is WILD as well. A $40 dlc which I’ve done about 40 hours in is kinda rough. Especially when the base game gave me at LEAST 300 hours
@@MungoofJerry yep exactly, i feel very little replayability with this also, and if you want to run through the dlc on a new build you have to get all the way to mohg anyway so even if the new weapons were cool you cant use half of them.
Also about the map being empty, i agree there too like exploring yeah it looks pretty but i cant wait to search everything for smithing stone 4s and wait for it.... cookbooks
i've enjoyed the DLC, it's definitely got some very good parts, but i just dont understand those Fromsoft Stans who refuse to admit that it has flaws, and major ones at that, and they're going as far as calling it the best DLC ever made and it should win game of the year.
Some of the flaws in my opinion:
1- Big map, empty map
2- Not enough new weapons, especially for the new types.
3- Way too many cookbooks.
4- Way too many reused enemies.
5- Radahn being the final boss.
Radahn is the part that really pissed me off. It just doesn’t make sense lore wise. The fan base has been waiting 2 years for more Godwyn lore but nah they gave us radahn (who we literally are required to fight before the dlc)
There's literally no ending, no end credits. 2 years for a whole nothing burger. Also , fuck the final boss fight, unfun , cheap dogshit
its a dlc not elden ring 2 stop crying
@@veryrare432hz lmao you're the only one here crying
agree with you, feel dissapointed but hey at least the world building is 10/10, and the lore about marika and the shaman
@MrHammerofdoom wait yall deadass hating bruh ? damn
Agreed, dlc is a snoozefest 😂💀
I'm about 75-80% thru the DLC so far, and I'm surprised that more reviews of the DLC haven't been like this video. The numerous flaws really are glaring, and though I personally still think it's a great DLC, I absolutely think it's a step down from the base game, due to the much emptier map (especially the Jagged Peak and Abyssal Woods areas, 2 absolutely gorgeous places that have almost nothing else going for them), the poor structure of the item rewards, the lazy reuse of base game bosses, just with extra follow-up AOE damage, and ugly camera issues with certain bosses. The Furnace Golems are also a neat idea executed poorly due to how extremely simple their enemy pattern is along with how extremely tanky they are, even when using the flame pots on top of the ripostes, resulting in a long, arduous fight that feels like a QTE more than a fight.
Playing in NG, I'd say the difficulty is one thing they got almost perfectly right, though (excepting those camera issues). Enemy damage/HP scaling felt about right when I went in around level 130, and Scadutree fragments made the progression feel appropriate as I went deeper into the DLC. The new boss designs and attack patterns also match the best of the best from the base game... mostly. Unfortunately, it also has some of the worst bosses, such as Commander Gaius. I do think Bayle is by far the best dragon boss in the game, and Rellana and Messmer are both up there with Malenia as the best humanoid bosses in the game.
Rellana is my favorite boss in elden ring. Froms biggest sin even bigger than the empty map is not giving Rellana more hype and cutscenes like Messmer and Melania.
My biggest gripe is the NPC questlines. Missed out on cool unique weapons and ashes because I have to talk to NPC #1, then NPC #2, then pickup this item, then talk to NPC 3, and then back to NPC 1 otherwise youll be locked out of all of NPC 4's unique shit. Surely it has to be a bug? The only way to fuck up so hard in the base game is to kill the NPC, it doesnt punish you for exploring (for the most part). Fromsoft surely would want all of the money the invested into voice actors to be enjoyed instead of punishing players for exploring, right?
what...the NPC questlines are literally the best culmination of any fromsoft NPC questlines from any of their games. Which even has a great finale and multiple NPCs interating with each other which isa huge first. That sounds like your fault for not taking some time to explore a little. The NPCs are literally all on your main path.
@@killakev9589 Are you talking about the DLC or base game? I would kind of agree if youre talking about base game. DLC is another story. Exploration is the catalyst for breaking most DLC NPC quests.
Also, what do you mean by your first sentence? "these quests are the best culmination of quests". Do you mean that Elden ring has better questlines than other fromsoft games? Because that isnt an argument against my claim that theyre B.S. Like I'm sure theyre enjoyable with a guide, still kinda busted though
I just beat the dlc… Looking back, I remember when I started playing and reading about all the people saying it’s too difficult and whatnot, I used to laugh at them. Now, after beating the dlc, I’m afraid I have to join their side. It’s not that it’s too difficult (it is), it’s just that, it’s… different. In a sad way…
Some of the later fights… it just feels like you’re playing a mod, not a fromsoft title…
I'll tell you exactly why:
90% spectacle, 10% well thought out gameplay.
The amount of effects, projectiles, AOEs and anime-esque attack chains in this dlc is through the roof. It's not a good thing when there is palpable mechanical disconnect between what bosses do and what you can do in response.
Bosses play Sekiro while we play Dark Souls 4. Don't believe me? Ask yourself this: Why they added Sekiro's deflect mechanic (something that should have been in the base game since launch in the same manner as jump was) like an afterthought in the form of a finite buff?
The sadder thing is having comments like this warrants people attacking you as a person instead of you're critique of the game. Lol.
Anyway, there's just something from this DLC that's missing. Like what I felt for the other FromSoft DLCs.
@@Roy2Manio it feels very empty despite being so big. The bosses are also simply unfair. Not only do ER bosses in general have infinite stamina, they have ridiculously long combos that are almost frame-positive and spam AoE attacks whilst having moves that allows them to cover the entire arena in a second. They also read your inputs, and some blatantly ignore the "rules" of souls games with stuff like frame 1 hyperarmor and stun immunity during combos
I think the problem is that the new boss design has too much of a focus on being difficult and unlike ds3 where you would be able to dodge most attacks with a certain amount of instinct without memorizing the pattern but now you have to know specifically where to dodge or you'll die extremely quickly. I mean dont get me wrong I still had fun, and the new boss design is more challenging sure, but theyve forgotten much of the fun present in the older games (including base game elden ring)
all bosses feel the same and require the same thing from you, no variety anymore
Came here to make sure I wasn’t crazy. Snapping point was when I went to the “spooky forest” place. Walked around aimlessly. Finally ended up looking it up in the wiki only to learn there’s 3 items of value and 1 POI. It takes up a tenth of the map and offers one shock moment.
Was that the stretch between Bony village and Shadow Keep? Large area of wood and just wolves for enemies and a gimmick whickerman?
@@HowlFromBeyond madness area but if they are that easy to mix up, the problem speaks for itself
I think that whole area was a metaphor to explain how desperately they want to make another bloodborne. But they cannot because of Sony .
The feeling of having such a bloodborne type Forrest but it being “hollow” conveys the feeling that they as human beings must feel the frustrations of remaking their favorite game
Fromsoft uses video games as a “medium” to express their art. They same way a painter uses a brush, or a manga artist uses a pen
I think they wanted us to feel how they feel . Because Miyazaki explained bloodborne is their favorite creation. But they cannot continue the story because of Sony
But, I could be full of shit and just rambling
@@bennyblunto973 Or they just got lazy and made a bad game after all these years. Honestly this DLC feels undercooked and hollow with a lot of bad mechanics. Really disappointing for something that took them 2 years.
@@102ndsmirnov7 A software house that literally released a 50+hours DLC for you Is lazy? Please....
People and media calling it "the best fromsoft dlc" is kinda insulting considering that ashes of ariandel, the ringed city and the old hunters dlc exist 😂
@tyrodin_ They were all good, but they weren't near the same size. If Belurat Tower had replaced the Ringed City it would have blown our minds.
They haven't played it my dude
@SquashRockthey probably haven’t played it to be honest ashes only good boss was sister friede
How do people like Ashes of Ariandel so much? Its really small with a one really good boss and another garbage one
@@pope4510damn you newbies to this games are wild for saying these things lol 😂
I decided to do this as spoiler free as possible and just take my time and explore. In typical Fromsoftware fashion I got rewarded by getting locked out of a questline. All because playing blind I defeated a couple bosses out of order.
Same. though that is to be fully expected with Michael "girl feet and poison swamps" Zaki
What quesline
@@BennyPress Horsent Grandam and later, Thollier and Moore which also effected the Dragon priestess. I almost missed Sir Ansbach because he moved to Shadow keep after I had already cleared it and had no real reason to go back to the area he was in.
@@HowlFromBeyond Ye, they made the questlines way too unnecessarily convoluted. Even when trying to use guides I'm confused whether I've locked myself out of a questline or not. The base game was already messy but the DLC made the NPC questlines even harder to follow.
The DLC is litterally just coporate shlock. Very pretty but once you look past all the decorations it's just bland and poorly tuned.
Good video dude - I disagree on most points haha but found the discussion very interesting.
Appreciate your commentary style and earned a sub from me.
I hope you find more enjoyment the more you go in!
When will you make a lore video for the dlc
Damn I didn't expect you here! I'm hyped for the lore! That's the thing I loved most about the DLC
"Lmao i disagree on nearly everything, and i wont say what i did or didn't like but you spoke in a respectful tone, therefore this massage of my souls game obsessing ego is appreciated" etc
most pretentious fanbase jfc.
@@matsimurf_5900 are you alright my guy?
@@matsimurf_5900 aye listen, the souls community is awful, ill give you that, but most of the content creators, including smough are not. the youtubers and streamers of the souls community have always been amazing and still are, its the fanbase itself that is garbage. dont blame the insufferable fanbase and annoying redditors attitudes on smough, hes one of the good guys.
I loved the dlc but I cant even deny the points in this video. Its very disappointing to see these beautiful areas in the distance excited to explore them only to find a small handful of content in them (sometimes barely any at all.) Cerulean coast especially comes to mind. Counting the fissure as its own self contained area there just isnt a lot to find there. I explored the whole thing twice making sure I hadnt missed anything (cus I was sure I had to have missed something) but nope I had already found it all. Charos hidden grave as well. 2 mini bosses and a gaol. The dlc really picked up the pace with bosses imo but at the cost of certain areas being more empty and lots of exploration rewards not feeling so impactful. I honestly dont know what trade off I prefer.
Notice a lot of people criticizing the vast spaces in this game because they feel like there is nothing to explore. Having put more than 50+ hours into the dlc (finished), I can confidently say that exploration is definitely rewarded. People need to get over the fact that not every waking second of exploration will result in a reward. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I want to talk about openness in video games and open worlds. I don't think that open worlds should, or are even able to utilize every square foot of their map. I think its fun to just walk around or ride torrent through the open areas, which I also understand is not for everyone. If you look at other open world games, the same could be said that there are lots of "underutilized" open area. But I would argue that they are OPEN for a reason. It's not just that they are underutilized. As Berto pointed out, it feels less artificially crafted and more like I'm stumbling upon something very real. This immerses me further into the world. Open areas allow breathing room between intervals of intense combat with bosses or tough enemies. They also give you an opportunity to scan the vistas and absorb the world around. I think of it almost like negative space in art.
Riding torrent around is fun the first time you explore each area. It's absolute garbage for replayability.
@@rosskaske6357 How would you suggest they make it more replayable?
@@bensharp4851 I can't make those suggestions without it being a totally different game, but maybe reduce the scale of the open world? Less open spaces, more branching paths and shortcuts. Unlock fast travel late into the game like DS1 did.
@@rosskaske6357 Yeah, if you want to optimize the game for replayability, then it's going to come at a sacrifice. Is that first magical playthrough more valuable than replayability? Unlocking fast travel later is actually a pretty interesting idea. Though, with such a big world that might get tedious. I will say that parts of the game remain replayable on subsequent playthroughs (e.g. legacy dungeons).
Yeah, I get no sense of satisfaction from beating these bosses, I'm just glad the fight over. So, I definitely understand the feeling. It's like they took all of the most complained about parts of the bosses from the base game and turned them up to 11. I also find the leveling system to be terrible. 99% of rpgs do the leveling grind come back thing. I have no idea why many souls fans act like this was some kind of innovation in game design. What they don't do is make you search the whole dang map for specific items just so you can level. I've beaten the base game multiple times. I have no intention to play this dlc past getting the items I want or ever again.
I don't agree about the erdtree fragments, even with them the dlc is tanky and poise boosted (as in the dlc is difficult) but the fact you can just look up a guide and get all the blessings is an alright mechanic, I don't like it overall but it's not offensive to me like most of my issues with this dlc
Having to pick up 50 shards every time you play the DLC is really terrible for the replay factor. I think these fragments are a good incentive to explore the map, but they should serve some other purpose or at least exist in smaller quantities like the upgrades in churches in the base game.
@@wolf388 Good point, reminds me of spirit bugs that you have to collect on each hunt, because of which I stopped playing Monster Hunter Rise
@@wolf388 Wait... they expect you to pick them up every new play through? Okay they need to patch that BULL CRAPP right now because 50? That's a lot!!! First complaint I have heard that's objectively reasonable.
@@soyborne.bornmadeandundone1342it's not literally 50 separate pieces that you pick up. There are several different places where you pick up two at a time.
I 100%d it earlier today just to try and get my moneys worth, but it was shockingly bad. Like genuinely an incredibly boring experience
I am literally falling asleep playing this game. No exaggeration. It's actually grindingly depressing how boring and underdeveloped both ER and this are.
@@matsimurf_5900 crazy boring compared to the dark souls games and Sekiro and Bloodborne isn't it
@@matsimurf_5900 Wait so if you didn't enjoy ER why'd you get the DLC? xd I'm literally seeing you in all these replies acting like a baby.
I m 30 hours in and still wait for ONE SINGE MOMENT, wich gives me the feeling that the DLC is actually worth the Money and Time!
From Soft realy doesn't try anymore. That's the feeling I get from that Dlc.
No wonder if blinded Fanboys keep buy every BS without Questioning it.
The fanboys and masochists have genuinely made me concerned for the future of FromSoft titles. ER just feels like DS 3.5 smeared with artificial difficulty. I also remember being excited to try Sekiro since it earned GOTY but once I saw more gameplay, all the bosses, all the content it has to offer, and snagged it on sale to play it myself…it is so boring compared to the Ninja Gaiden series.
@@christopheryanez i agreed with you until Sekiro you probably tried to play it like a typical souls like
@@moustachio05 no lol. I mentioned my experience with Ninja Gaiden. I’ve also played all of FromSoft’s Souls titles going back to OG Demon’s Souls as well as both Nioh games…I knew I wasn’t supposed to play Sekiro like Dark Souls. I actually don’t have too much of a problem with Sekiro’s difficulty, Sekiro is personally boring and artificially difficult due to FromSoft’s mechanically shallow formula, absurd limitations such as only being able to equip 1 combat art and 1 ninjutsu technique, and ya know…1 weapon. Ain’t much compared to what I can do and use in NG
Don't ask questions. Just consume product and move on to the next product.
This DLC couldn't make it any clearer that Miyazaki wants to move on to a new type of game, thats why he prioritized Armored Core over this DLC and released it before the DLC for his companies highest selling game ever.
elden ring dlc was like a burger not seasoned you eat it but could be more tasty
😂
Yeah the atmosphere was very cool at the beginning but it is quickly becoming a bit of a slog.
Having finished it.
It’s just overall disappointing. Cool gear and spells.
Lore and gameplay though. Not so good.
Honestly enjoy the base game way more.
The problem with the bosses isn’t actually bad design like people are saying. The problem is, FSW took the wrong approach. They designed the bosses immaculately, but the problem is that they designed them for players using mimic
FSW doesn’t want u to solo these bosses. Solo fighting the dlc bosses is the new challenge run, and that’s very concerning
They aren’t making games for solo players anymore. They give you tools like ash summons, and expect u to use them even tho u don’t want to. So you’re essentially going into these boss fights handicapped if you’re solo, facing off with bosses that weren’t designed for you to face unless you bring in ashes.
That’s why so many veterans are speaking out about this, only they’re going about it the wrong way. They’re opening themselves up for people to tell them to get gud.
The Ringed City and Old Hunters offered bosses that were made to be solo battles, which is why they were hard but still reasonable and fair. These dlc bosses are EXTREMELY unreasonable UNLESS you use mimic. It’s taking skilled players who’ve been around since 2009, over 500 attempts to beat the final boss solo. How the fuck is that reasonable or fair? How is it reasonable if less than 5% of the player base can beat it? It’s not fair, and it’s so unlike FSW to pull this shit
I liked the tower area and the music there. I agree that it seems in areas that they make some amazing maps and then fill them in afterward, with mixed results.
I agree. I love the new weapons and the new areas but I feel like there could have been more. The bosses don’t feel awe worthy because part of me wanted us to fight an outer god but that’s my own fault for having that expectations. But I was really hoping that the exploration would be up to par with the base game but it’s nowhere close to the base game. It’s great but it’s not at that level. An example is the abyss. That whole area feels wasted to me because it’s a decent chunk of the map but ur just running around trying to fight only 1 boss. Imagine if they had a secret tunnel that led you to understanding the lore more and meeting a boss like the outer god of rot or smth.
stfu souls elitists, this game is not immune to criticism, in fact, Elden Ring is the worst souls experience ever made alongside DS2, and this is coming from an avid fromsoft fan.
biggest miss to me so far is the field bosses. theyve made some of the best map design ever seen but couldnt make any unique new fun bosses to go with it? the singular one they made is a tanky gimmick boss with a very boring moveset that gets old by the time you finish killing the first one you find. and of course they decided to reuse that in basically every new area.
Baffling that they took 2 FUCKING YEARS to give us such an empty open world. Not to mention the severe lack of new weapons. We barely got 2-3 per class, and some I believe literally only have 1 weapon
Incredibly disappointing if this is their only DLC
Dungeons are great and I really like the new weapons though
@@bofa722 Is there not like 100+ new weapons? I agree some weapon classes definitely should have gotten more than others though.
There's also Red Bear and... 3000 types of dragons that all feel the same.
@@OH-uh4pc 100+ new weapons with only like 20 of the new weapon classes, though.
@@OH-uh4pcAh yes, a straightsword but it looks different. Definitely new.
What frustrates me most is that there are no connections between the Shadow Realm and the Lands Between. There is not an ounce of dialogue from anybody in the Lands Between, and there is no story or quest from Melina (huge missed opportunity). They made an awesome standalone adventure, but to me it’s hardly a DLC. Just Elden Ring 1.5.
Did you even bother reading any item descriptions or visiting locations like the pillar? There are plenty of connections.
Plenty of connections, just nothing in either world reacts to events in the other. The amount of effort put into the DLC though is so much that I have to believe that the lack of connective tissue was an artistic choice rather than a budgetary constraint. I really can't figure out what it would be though.
@@pakee2352 Dialogue and reading, do you know the difference? Stop the strawman, I adore ER, but the DLC is empty and the story feels rushed, so many missed opportunity.
@@PutraRhm So? ER story was barely done with dialogue even in the main game. 90% of what we know is from items.
@@pakee2352 Even if you said that, doesn't change the fact that the DLC can't even touch the surface of the base game's plot, the final boss lack of content is the biggest disappointment for me.
Felt like the DLC is good up until the very end. Thats when you start finding the asset recycling bins and the world becomes devoid of content. Also feel like consort radahn is way op even after you learn his moves
After 2 years of base game i overall found the dlc to be refreshing but dissapiointing in a 60/40 split.
Each open area feels more thought out, less empty space and more loot, the new dungeons are an improvement overall, the legacy dungeons are as per usual great.
New spells and weapons are fun, but maybe too many faith scaling ones.
I found the repeat bosses decent, as they only showed up twice and had different movesets.
Honestly though the biggest dissapointment was the final boss, ironic seeing how its not an exact repeat but i feel cheated.
Personally i was expecting Godwyn.
It still feels like there should be alot here that is missing, both in terms of specific equipment and world density, about a second dlcs worth of content.
One thing I hate about Elden ring is that even if you use op weapons magic and summons people always say dumb shit like skill issue
If you’re using OP weapons and summons and still think it’s too hard it is a skill issue I’m sorry. I wish the bosses were designed better for less OP builds but it doesn’t really matter if a boss has an unfair attack or two with the right gear. Your build is either not as OP as you think or you’re suffering from skill issues.
@@nuh-uhbro765 my issue is the bosses are way too unfair not to mention you have a shitty lock on camera that really doesn’t help and also the bosses do some of the most stupidest shit ever the bosses are designed unfairly there’s some bosses in Elden ring which are balanced well but a lot of bosses are just really unfair and it takes away the fun aspect away from you
Most disappointing thing was the reused Radahn 😂 wasted potential on a good ass boss
I don't really get that "Reused" feel though personally at least, in terms of the story it's Radahn the character yes, but there's the lifeless, scarlet rotted braindead weak Radahn we fought in the base game, and then the opportunity to finally fight Radahn in his peak form (which is often spoke about in lore and generally within the community). They're a crucial part of the story in general but at the very least, at least the second part of the fight gave something special - that was one hell of a set of insane attacks and movements 😂
@Jurglenuts didnt we fight peak malenia before? i agree with godwyn though
@JurglenutsGodwyn is dead like dead dead. I love the radahn fight from a lore perspective. It is awesome getting to see the most powerful character at his peak. It was a cool story and they actually foreshadowed it in the dlc which is unique for From. Plus the fight is completely different.
Reused??? It's called character development. Are you dense?
You are talking about Elden ring, the game that has over 180 bosses (120 of them unique). If the final boss is empowered Radahn, its meant to be like that, not just to “reuse” stuff
Good to see there are still sane people out there. The insane amount of praise this is getting is just as insane as the OG. A lot of it is fine, but it's not "setting a new standard".
I would say it's setting a new standard. A new low for Fromsoft. People praise this 6/10 (at most) DLC and that's what we're gonna get next time as well.
It's sad to see but because of the amount of bootlickers loving this DLC we might not get another good FS game for a very long time if ever.
If this is “setting the new standard” then I’m scared for fromsoft future(not really)
@@102ndsmirnov7damn fromsoft was one of the last good game companies… we cooked
Tbh my only real complaint with the dlc and this applies to the base game as well but it’s the gameplay. The current gameplay we have should’ve ended with DS3 and we should’ve gotten a more polished and updated version of Bloodbornes gameplay. Like they’ve added all these cool weapons that have these really flashy moves but you can’t use most of them against bosses because bosses are just tailored around the roll hit method and this has always been an issue even in dark souls. Bloodborne made the fights feel more like a back and forth rather than just me rolling most of the time for my small window of opportunity and the way they did weapons in Bloodborne is also just flat out better. I’d rather have a small number of quality weapons rather than a large quantity of weapons when it’s more likely that everyone’s just gonna use the best weapons for whatever build they’re going for anyways. I give Elden Ring a lot of leeway because I really do feel like this game was a pretty big experiment for them but I honestly hope the next game does away with this gameplay. I know a lot of people won’t agree or like that for nostalgic reasons but it’s honestly dated and it’s holding SoulsBorne back from being better.
You're so right
I'm perfectly fine with bosses being fast and aggressive, but I'd Also like to have the chance to be aggressive
The best thing of Sekiro Is that "git gut" doesn't mean sneaking hits between combos or annhilate boss healthbar with spells or stuff but that you can now push back the boss, repel his attacks and keep the pressure on him
Wanna know why? Lots of fanboys don’t even know that FromSoft foolishly decided to develop Sekiro and ER *tandem*. You can tell how we were supposed to get some kind of deflection mechanic, probably similar to Lords of the Fallen (which is a breath of fresh air btw: we can seamlessly deflect, roll, and dash in that game).
They didn’t have enough time and as much as fanboys hate to see it…ER is undercooked. It deserved to be more than just DS 3.5, we should’ve experienced the ultimate culmination of everything for this project.
@@Ale-dd3ek Honestly Sekiro is the only game I haven’t played yet out of all the Fromsoft games but I heard that Lies of P had a similar deflect system to Sekiro and if that’s what a combination of Bloodeborn/Sekiro gameplay looks like then that would be amazing for the next game.
@@christopheryanez I completely agree like I agree with people that it’s a good game but if I’m being completely honest, I just don’t understand how it’s become this masterpiece and one of the best games of all time for so many people unless they’re new to the franchise. The story is really no different from any other Fromsoft game, the gameplay is no different from DS3, and the demon souls remake has considerably better graphics than ER. Again the games amazing but it kind of killed the game for me when I saw that it was essentially dark souls 3.5. Now if I compare that to Lies of P which is the best Soulslike game imo for multiple reasons but for me the most important thing was its gameplay. Obviously not everything was perfect but that combination of Bloodborne gameplay with the Sekiro deflect made you feel extremely powerful when you learned the bosses. I could say more but that game damn near did everything right for me. All I’m hoping is that the next SoulsBorne game is a true improvement in every metric cause if it’s the same gameplay as DS3 again, I’m going to be seriously questioning if I want to even play it.
@@nameless3200bro you need to play Sekiro you're missing out its imo fromsofts best game alongside Bloodborne
I am baffled they reused main game bosses for the DLC. What were they even doing for those two years?
also some areas feel like they aren't finished
@@Snork3njoyer yeap you're right. fanboys eating up whatever slop miyazaki serves are ruining everything
Making Armored Core and eating hot chip
I actually really agree with your points. I think shadow of the erdtree is a wild miss in quite a lot of ways
I just finished the dlc and I am very disappointed as well. I hoped the dlc would add some content to the base game. Nothing major, maybe some lore stuff an extra mission or two. But from what I can tell, it's completely separate. No one seems to acknowledge the realm of shadow exists. It all really feels like an afterthought. It's pretty unfortunate
They said that ever since they announced the dlc.. it’s funny how people still cry about this
So far you are the First/ only one I found who actually isn't a blinded Fanboy, and can actually speak openly about the things you do and do not like and why that is.
Wich is kinda sad in itself but I m happy I found your video.
Thank ya
I appreciate it haha, I'm sure more people have talked about it by now, I don't really get Elden Ring on my feed so idk, but it's partly why I decided to make that video after the first weekend and even though I wasn't done yet, just wanted to get my thoughts out, that kinda surprised me I had them
Blinded fanboy? Shut up
Honestly the best critique of it. No shot, the comparisons to dark souls 3 and how you highlighted how limgrave ACTUALLY HAD ITEMS. VALID review man
Tyty
Did you play the dlc it definitely has items
shhh @@fatal3044
There was so much potential for the remembrance, yet like less than half of them are just useless. They upped the difficulty with bosses and enemies, but somehow made the items worse. It is inexcusable that the light of miquella for example is just shit
I havent been a fan of the exploration in the DLC. A lot of finding nothing. I remember finding an area and being excited only to ne greeted by repeat bosses from the base game and dlc. I dont mind repeat bosses but it does get annoying when so many get repeated. The bosses have been hit or miss. The Hippo and Dancing Lion were kind of terrible. Rellana was cool
I think fromsoft is running out of ideas because a lot of the bosses ideas just feel the same. A lot of them just gain AOE or some magical abilities. It gets boring after a while.
Rellana seems like a joke . "Uh she is Rennala sister.. uhh.. called Rellana! And she uses magic swords instead of a magic staff." Also Rellana is basically a faceless boss with no cutscene, lines and previous lore. REMEMBERANCE BOSS.
The thing with this DLC is that it isn’t bad, nor is it a step up, it’s just more Elden Ring.
In a sense yes, but you pay an extra $40 for it, so they still gotta justify it in some way. I would rather just replay the base game at this point
I’ve platinumed 4 souls games including Elden Ring. Here’s my opinion:
“Either die a ton, or use an OP build and make the fight a cakewalk,” is a statement that definitely summarizes ER’s late game. The DLC suffers from the same problem, only on a larger scale.
Unfortunately, many people are still on the hype train, and don’t see the main issue with ER. They’re basically like mindless clones, having the same arguments and writing the same types of sh*t. They feel like cult members more than anything at this point. The future of souls games seem to be just bosses with DMC and anime movesets with tons of damage and people either trying to “git gud” by wasting hours on the game, or using OP equipment and just deleting the bosses.
@@mairon4903 Or... We just disagree with you. The only valid criticism is lag, empty areas, difficulty hasn't been an issue in any playthrough. The bosses are peak, though Radahn is a bit overtuned. That's really it for the valid criticism, rest is just attention seeking.
@@exquisitedoomlapointe185 Fromsoft proved that they can still make amazing bosses that are very fast but doesn’t feel like bullshit with Messmer and Midra. But my speculation is that they will continue make bosses like Bayle and Consort Radahn more and more in the future just to prove that they can make extremely difficult bosses that have visually stunning movesets but hollow and uncared for in the inside. The DLC really is more ER with possibly better art design. If they don’t solve the problem that I mentioned in my previous comment, the problem that started with Elden Ring’s late game, we’re going to see a lot of promised consorts flying around in future souls games.
BTW I don’t get what you mean by attention seeking. There could be some people that are just trying to get wievs by being overtly negative and over the top aggressive, but I think most people that didn’t really like the DLC are just concerned for the future of Souls. Also most of these people have been a fan of souls games for years, so they probably don’t want to see their fav company produce any bad games, which they thankfully haven’t done yet.
@@mairon4903 your complaint falls into valid territory. I personally loved midra, but i get what you're saying.
That being said, if we get the tools to figjht a consort-like fight then i have no problem but that's a different point altogether.
What i'm not a fan of is arguments like "we get no rewards!" when we get massive rune drops or new gear and spells but people choose to not improve/change their character then wonder why they feel unrewarded.
If this was a 1 year later DLC, i would be fine with it, but I've expected more from a 2 year development, especially since the story/lore was there already(per Miyazaki).
The DLC felt very empty in a lot of locations(Abyssal Woods, Ruins of Ruah, Finger Ruins) and i can understand why they are that way, but it just doesnt feel good exploring these big locations for 2-3 items. Jagged Peak was fine because it was mostly a straight path.
The bosses were good, but the final boss needs some adjustments in second phase, the performance sucks and there is so much visual clutter that many times I couldn't even see what was happening. The character itself is fine, i really dont have a problem with that.
My biggest problem(i know it sounds pitty) are those damn Wicker Men. Do they really thought those enemies were fun or challenging? Dont even get me started on the armoured ones with their bullshit fireball spam, i died to those things more than any bosses from the DLC.
I guess them working on armored core 6 did take a lot time they could have used for the dlc
@@lordofcinder8884They have different teams working on different games. AC6 and SOTE were developed in tandem.
Ds3 glazers need to remember that ashes was almost half the price of this dlc on launch.. it had one and half bosses in total and 2 areas only a few weapons and like 3 new enemy’s people were saying “just buy it for the boss” yet they are saying this is the worst dlc they made and not worth the price yet it has wayy more content
b/c they are sub 70s. easy to ignore and laff at
@@SM-nz9ff sub 70’s? What do you mean
Yeah, that was by far the worst DLC and had no reason to be separated from The Ringed City. I mean it isn't bad if you play it as a complete package with the rest of the game, but by itself as a product was the worst. I remember when i played it on release and was saying "Thats really all? Am i so blind to miss an entire area that for sure has to be here?".
It was even LESS tbh, think it was $10? But yeah hard agree, people just think dlc automatically has to be good despite the price, but i hope this makes it clear it shouldn't be taken for granted anymore
@@BertoPlease it was not it was 15 the exact same price as ringed city on launch.. you could get in a pack later for 25 which is good value but ashes on its own is a joke
the weapons are cool but beyond that many parts of the game are a disappointment and the amount of filler items makes me not want to look for items anymore
Man the fact we got so little weapons is baffling. Especially when you consider the vast majority of their weapons use the same moveset as other weapons of the same type.
All they had to do was copypaste existing weapons and make a new model for most of these, then add a unique heavy attack and call it a day...
and most of the weapons completely broke PVP on release, are just powercreeped versions of older weapons or are just overshadowed and no one cares. It's really quite disappointing.
@bofa722 So little weapons? Did you collect all of them? Idk if you played past souls games game but...have you ever looked at your enemies weapons and see the weapons they're using? All imma say is not every weapon can be looted from the ground...Thats the problem with this "filler content and empty world" argument. Not in good faith.
Yeah, putting thin beast bones in a place where you're gonna get ganked by a normal soldier that does four times the regular damage of a soldier from the base game just doesn't feel funny anymore
@@stefmoneythebigfella7156 sorry I should've been clearer. I meant there are barely new weapons belonging to the new weapon archetypes. Only 1-3 for most except perfume bottles which are literally just a different color and stats
I guess youd call this a spoiler?
The ds3 reuse was just dumb and from soft needs to scrap that completely because its incredibly lazy. Some of the bosses i fought were similar while one was a carbon copy. Plus the fact balance changes are already happening shows the biggest problem this game has always had, its not properly play tested. I gurantee they design the boss go "yep thats hard" and full send. The problem is WHY theyre hard. Sekiro really was their peak in terms of fair difficulty and they have just backslid since then.
I'm interested in you doing a video like this for each area, especially cause I thought of as Graveplain as pretty decent, personally, but was a lot more critical of the following areas, and wouldn't mind seeing how it was for you - having your perspective on this, even if I don't fully agree, helped put things a lil more into a different perspective!
The point is, after seeing every single corner of the base game map, knowing very well how much of it does not matter in the slightest, I have to be convinced to go around this world doing random stuff. Just saying "there is an item out there that makes the game easier" does not cut it, in fact it's worse, because I know I will have to gather this stuff all over again if I want to replay this game. It's actually sad that so much effort was put into making generic open world stuff, when areas like Shadow Keep are actually peak good old dark souls dungeons and where the game actually shines.
its actually sad how delusional souls veterans want more generic hallway and shortcut simulators liek the pathetically boring old souls games rather than the most immersive combination of both :)
the game shines in the open world just as much, and shadows level design objectively is laughably better than ds1, and thats just the open world level design.
@@flamingmanureyou fanboys are genuinely hollowed and will glaze up anything with Miyazaki’s name. Raise your standards dude
@@flamingmanure DS1 has the best world design in Fromsoft's history. You are just a brainlet so you wouldn't understand that. You think big = good.
@@flamingmanure Nothing is immersive about Elden Ring, lole. Also, what? Is Shadow Keep generically boring to you too? The game doesn't shine in the open world just as much, I assure you the open field with nothing but a cookbook and a reused dragon boss fight is not something I'd take over even Iron Keep.
I personally love the open world aspect but was expecting more from the legacy dungeons. Midra’s Manse is a good example of a legacy dungeon with a lot of potential but is very small and underwhelming. I wish they applied the same care that they did with Shadow Keep to the rest of the dungeons.
17:37 funny how the monster there just change direction mid air, insane tracking
It didn't
that's just how the attack looks.
the more im playing the dlc, the more i want to go back an play dark souls 3 again
I think dlc is the only thing keeping me playing Elden ring, the main game so SO BORING in comparison
I had this exact same feeling
Ds3 is garbage
@@FEAST4 why, sir
@@Dayndawn01 stop the cap
Name 1 good thing about ds3 🤭
I love Dark Souls but, ngl I only got into the dark souls hype with the original dark souls 2. I love everything with FromSoftware but I'll admit they are starting to lose me. With elden ring, they are really starting to lose me. I felt like Elden Ring was being way too vague and had way less equipment options than it shoud have. Ive always felt like Elden Ringneeds way more items for INT or FAI or strength or dex than it has. I feel like its lore is just too vague.
Its supposed to be vague
The original ER is fine, the vague one is the DLC.
@@PutraRhm it jus came out but im sure in 1 year its gonna as clear as slightly murky water
I could appreciate the size of the map a lot more if the loot was in obvious locations instead of having it spread across the entire map as if they expect you to comb through every inch of it even though it’s mostly empty. I like the scale of Elden Ring, the areas feel like fully fledged locations and traversing them is scenic and impressive, but the fact that the content seems stretched across the whole map makes it tiring to explore. I don’t need loot around every corner just for 90% of it to be worthless shit, just let the visuals motivate people to explore and put less loot but make it matter. Same for bosses, I’d rather have half as many bosses but make them worthwhile than fight buffed up basic enemies or npcs as bosses.
To say it in the least spoiler way possible
The final boss of the DLC, is a reused boss
That not entirely true, I can't say anything really for people who don't know but it's really just 2 buffed moves and an entirely new moveset. I get what you mean though.
@@luciferyeet5524 Yeah I know it’s a fully new boss, it’s mainly the fact it’s extremely lazy
Especially when all trailers and art focus on…. Whatever their name was
Its an entirely new boss. Its not even radahn himself there. Lmaoooo
@@YOURteacher_100 yea I wasn't expecting for a fight like that to ever make it into Elden ring, seemed too lazy to make that the final boss as well but oh well I had fun.
@@Elden-Bear Well someone never heard of spoilers, and yes it’s literally just a reused boss
From what I seen, loads of the bosses are entirely copied from other souls bosses
The exploration in the open world is so absrudly boring and unrewarding I constantly find myself hoping that they accidentally released an unfinished version of the DLC... wtf was Miyazaki thinking. This is like everything the Souls formula is not supposed to be.
"Absurdly boring" this is it. I groan with the tedium😂
First time I wanted a non open world, agreed
I found the exploration much more engaging than the base game. Ofc it's hard to replicate the feel of early game leveling and upgrading weapons but I fully expected that.
@@piotr78nah I think he was referring to like cerulean coast or the finger areas which had like no unique bosses or cool levels.
@@Sephirothkingdom782 that whole place is a cool level man
I was really disappointed too. I've beaten it
how r u upset about it bro huh
@@denberz711Putting words in their mouth? Though, I'm also curious what they were disappointed by. I personally don't like half the bosses (not new ones) and game being much shorter than I expected. I was overhyped but that's a me issue
@@rokudodamazaYeah it was very overhyped imo i still think old hunters dlc is on top
@@Verbmo not even close lmao.
@@Verbmo For me, the bosses make the most difference and Mesmer and last few curscene bosses are S tier (aesthetically) in my opinion and beat Orphan of Kos but not Lady Maria so I still like SotE more than Old Hunters but Bloodborne is just more fun to play
Dlc single handedly assassinated pvp.
It was the coup de grace to the diarrhea that was pvp before already
This dlc feels like a competition to create the most annoying enemies possible.
There's the pyromancers that NEVER stop attacking, multiple enemies that spin 5-10 times before they stop, serpent dudes with the undodgeable purple spell that stuns you followed up by them teleporting to you and grabbing you while you're stunned, every area has a dragon with more health than fire giant.
Where's the fun?
The only boss I really enjoyed was Golden Hippo because he's like a normal dark souls boss that doesn't take 10 hours to learn.
Oh really? I thought those are Dark Souls standard
@@shutup1037 Lol. Kinda true but it's on a whole different level here.
@@beri4138 dunno. I thought it's something just I expect. Bullshit boss, wonky hitboxes. Not even as bad as people claim it to be
For me the lore was the most disappointing. There was so much they could have done with the story. It just felt rushed and packed into one thing
Im at the final boss, I was getting burnt out of this game so im probably not going to finish it. However during that journey through the land of shadow it felt empty. There was really no reward besides scadutree fragments which are 100% necessary to stand a chance in this dlc.
I loved Elden Ring's map and exploration, but dang SOTE is just not it imo.
Wrong
Sote is it and you couldn’t even beat it LMFAO get good
@@fatal3044 Hello, just thought I would jump in here to say that this was just my opinion, if you don't agree with it that's fine SOTE is just not my cup of tea. I also said that I was burnt out of the game, and was probably not going to finish it because of that, not that I don't have the ability to finish it.
Good day to you. 😊
The amount of people gaslighting themselves saying it's the best DLC ever it's astonishing. Award of copy pasting including bosses. Paid 40 bucks to horse around just to find 10 cookbooks, smithing stones, and talismans with the most useless effects. Wish I could refund.
All people praising this dlc and Elden Ring are people who elden ring is their first souls. They don’t know what makes up a good exploration and boss fight. Game is breathtakingly gorgeous but not fun to explore or fight the bosses.
@@meqdadfnEverything is subjective tho. You have no authority to decide what is good exploration or what makes a good boss.
@@debater452 you are one of them 😂
Or maybe they just like the dlc?
Or it's actually a good dlc and you're butthurt. 😂😂😂
My biggest complaint is how annoying the map is to traverse. I spend more time lost trying to figure out where the fuck I need to go, than actually fighting anything. I shouldn't have to google shit on how to get to a fucking map fragment or get to a certain section of the map.
That’s not a negative for most people. I personally love navigating the map a whole lot more than the base game for the exact reasons you listed.
That’s a good thing for me. My favorite part of the game has been exploring and trying to figure out how to get to certain areas.
yea because certain areas can only be accessed through VERY specific linear paths, if u cannot find these specific gateways to new areas you will never be able to go there, thus forcing ppl to google it after getting tired searching.
@@mattguxxxtt9629 mfw when the secret area is a secret:
@@miketatum9321 it just sucks that its taking people actual HOURS to find the top left map fragment since the ONLY way there is a super specific path that you can only get to with another secret path
I treated the double dragon fight as a gimmick fight, allowing me to do some real actual horse archery with status effects as the lesser dragon tanked for me.
Similarily with the Ghostflame Dragon in Scadu Altus, though that one's more annoying because of the greatbow knights switching aggro to you.
Fromsoftware are clearly running out of ideas when it comes to these games.
A boss in this DLC is literally just Orphan of Kos on a horse in Midir's arena😐
Finished ER 11 times but I still rate it the worst Fromsoftware game out of all. I'll give them another chance for the next game and I'm still convinced Open World was too much to fill it with quality.
the boss is inspired by the Nuckelavee from scotland myth but ok i guess UY7fj....
@@m.h.4907 open world was excellent that is why they sold 30 40 million copies and won every single award,only mountain of the giants looks like a bit empty or rot lake ,everything else is packed with content.What game you played 11 times when you type that
1 boss is Pontyff Sullivan
@@tibz7634 and its a good fight
I've played through the DLC 3 times so far and each time I've loved it.
Im happy you have, wish i could say the same 🫡
@@BertoPlease The lore of elden ring carries the game for me, so re-skins and re-use of enemies make sense to me. Like you can google "why is this enemy here" and you can find a lore accurate reason for it.
That's how I think of every enemy. Re-skins usually add to the lore of the characters. For me at least.
For what it’s worth I haven’t even watched 2 minutes yet, but I respect you and your opinion and am interested in what good or bad you have to say
Jk dis shit ass 😭
This entire game is so split on people who like it, the main people who seem to like it come from zero souls background, they have nothing to compare it to. But people who have played past souls games hate it, but the truth is I don't think most people playing elden ring right now are souls players, they are people who just got into this game. I know tons of my friends who have never touched a single souls game. Who play elden ring so damn much, i'm talking 5-6 of my friends here. never touched a single fromsoft game, love elden ring. Then they go and play a souls game and call it clunky and boring.
"Their biggest" and their lowest quality, is not worth the asking price to be honest, 10-15 bucks at most for the amount of content offered. I'm so pissed they decided to go with only one DLC, and I don't know who the hell gives the scores for these things, but they surely have no clue what they are talking about, and just gave the "outstanding" score without consideration of anything just because it's FromSoft and the base game was actually good.
Bruh 😂 are you a ds3 glazer? Ashes was $15 on release for one level with two areas and one boss.. yet you call this lowest quality and only worth 10-15 what a clown comment
Keep in mind these reviewers are not souls gamers. They are reviewers. They have not a single clue of what makes souls combat unique, fair, and rewarding.
They just see big anime fights and go "yep, GOTY for Mikey Zaki once again". 10/10
There wasn't even a fucking poison swamp ffs 😂
@@bofa722 we don’t need another poison swamp bruh.. half of ringed city was swamp nothingness the areas look cool but most of the level design is not anything special and and think about how many swamps were in ds3 in total besides the bosses and a few areas ds3 is a slog it is 100% carried by bosses
@@Jbswe
Nah the swamp areas in ds3 were fun because unlike lake of rot they werent 20 football fields long.
@@ddmacc nah the swamps take up literally 1/3 of ds3 if you think about it there’s like 6 swamps in that game with the dlc what a joke
Feels rushed, unfinished, first time I felt the series got sloppy like American aaa, I've beat them all. 6 outta 10 at best not worth the price, but extra content to one of the best games ever is ok.
I think with this DLC they focused more on the quality over quantity aspect with the exception of some reuse bosses (ulc tree, tree sent, dragons although at this point they are just annoying enemies). Every main boss I faced has been amazing in design, gameplay (well few nitpicks: radahn double slash is bad, gaius charge sucks, metyr big beam attack bad) and ost and the map is absolutely gorgeous. Weapons/armor/NPC's all cool and fun HOWEVER my main criticism lies in the emptiness of the map. Getting a map that reveals a huge chunk of the world only for it to just be vast and plain nothing was always dissapointing and felt like a time waste. Like cerulean coast/charo grave was so underwhelming, you fight another deathrite bird and another mausoleom.. thats it for like 20-25% of the map. Same with abyssal woods, just big nothing, at all, like a cookbook and an invasion for that entire area, obv there is midra cool fight and all but what about the rest? The two finger ruins empty quest thing that sure, leads to cool boss cool area but really? nothing else there it covers such a huge chunk. Hinterland, mostly empty, another fallingstar beast and two tree sentinels and incantation. World is gorgeous atleast which makes it more bearable however size could've been shrunk. The legacy dungeons were great anyways.
Yeah, most of your critiques are fair, but the one about the map seems odd.
The "empty" space in the DLC is actually quite full of encounters and items.
Now the items themselves are crap, but they are there. The problem is the lack of meaningful loot, as it makes it feel even emptier than it is.
The ending is so bad! Very disappointing after all the years we’re waiting! That’s the problem when Bandai comes into it .. from soft should do it alone
no miquella fight instead we fight radahn again for some reason 🤣 they also completly butchered miquella lore that George r Martin created.
Lore is the same that was written 5 years ago,they did not butchered anything..Last boss was known to them before they even make dlc and they already said that no changes are made to GRRM writing that dlc already existed but was to big to make in first place..GRRM is the one who made Radahn comeback and Miquella part to kill Mohg and use him as vessel for Radahn soul not Fromsoft..Why type something you dont have idea what you saying
@@mattguxxxtt9629 the did not butcher Miquella's lore, instead they revealed the true Miquella. FromSoft said that this part of the story hd already been written before the main game, they just held back to reveal it in the dlc. Additionally there is a reason for why you fight Radahn and it's explained by Ansbach very descriptively. The more you think about the ending and Miquella's character in the dlc the more it makes sense in the grand scheme of things.
To give some examples: it gives and explanation as to why the battle of Aeonea took place or it explains what it means when Miquella "compels affection", why Miriel says that when a vow is broken there are lasting consequences.
And in the end, Miquella's motivation is the exact same, to bring an age of compassion, they just show what means he used to achieve his goal and what an era of compassion means in Miquella's eyes. In my opinion every plot-twist in the dlc, not Miquella's alone, was crafted masterfully and really recontextualised how I thought of the game's lore.
@@chrisdepountis3430 No.
the dlc was over priced trash
Womp womp
Oh good a fellow NGplus7 DLC first timer. We can relate to each other haha. YEAH THEY HIT HARD RIGHT?!?!! I'm level 713 and even in nice armor they can two hit kill me haha. And I'm talking about the standard run of the mill messmer soldier... So get used to this being the norm. Everything hurts you twice as much as before basically haha. Just keep that rule in mind.
1... First thing I learned was my current build is azz for this place lol. Double slender swords in each hand is quite useless for this place lolz.
2... Then I learned about the shadow blessings. Gotta get them to make the game feel fair lol
3... After renalla you get access to soooo much more content. No more staring at the same dead yellow lookin fields lolz. Hinterlands are beautiful omfg!
No I'm serious when you see the hinterlands you will think to yourself, this is the prettiest place I have ever seen in my life. Endless hills of sunshine and flower hills!
I just beat the dlc last night. It was truly amazing! But yeah lol I was not feeling it at first. Even the best gear by a long shot is found fairly mid/late game in this dlc. Had to adapt to Myazakis new world of bull crapp that kills you all the time. After a few days of getting into the swing of things though, I can say that I love this DLC! Even if they copy and pasted some areas and bosses. Which does suck I agree, but luckily it's not to a degree that makes me want to stop playing : )
I just beat the dlc on my 150 build on new game +5 if I didn’t have my tear ash I don’t know if could of gotten through some of the bosses
Dude this is so true, i remember finding the undergroud tunnel area with the insect people and feeling like "is that it?". Also remember feeling bumbed out when i saw two reused golden hippo's near the waterfall area.
LOL Miyazaki's girlfriends already leaving dislikes without even watching the video
can you make another video after you finish the whole dlc and give your final thoughts?
i actually agree with alot if not all your points. i got the feeling after finishing the 1st area but was copium id change my mind after i finish the dlc. i did. & i gave in. the end especially left a SOUR taste in my throat 😭
The ending was a HUGE fucking disappointment. The fact that they reused Radahn was beyond lazy and absolutely baffling.
@@NeakTheMeak
even the ending cutscene was underwhelming. they also ruined miquella lore
@@mattguxxxtt9629 Shit is honestly such an over hyped DLC. It was fun but lazily done. It did not feel like Elden Ring. It felt like a barren museum game almost made by Ubisoft.
@@NeakTheMeak they didn't just reuse him. No, they did something much worse
They gave us PRIME Radahn. Then for his second phase decided to do Lorian and Lothian 2.0 instead of giving us his full power. As soon as I saw that my hype deflated to the abyss with Messmer's serpent...
it's coming o7
The legacy dungeons are disappointing. All of them besides Shadowkeep are too short. A few sites of grace and a boss is all you’ll get with them, they are the size of medium dungeons like Caria Manor from the base game. One of then is even smaller being less then 10 minutes long.
Compare the dungeons to base game Elden Ring which has dungeons that are absolutely massive and awe inspiring, surprising you with hidden areas tucked away in them. Providing an hour minimum of content. Some of them like Haligtree or Farum are three times the size, that’s how small some of these legacy dungeons in the dlc are.
i feel rip off an under leveled even with the new gear and high-level I still cant beat melania or tackle the sec boss of the DLC or even that ghost in the catacombs they messed up some how in this DLC an I'm glad its the last DLC cause elden ring sucks now I'm going back to fps with a RPG mechanics an loot boxes there's no way I,ll complete this elden ring DLC if me an 3 people cant beat melania than you know miasucky fucked up
let's boot up some MW2 bruh
Bro can’t even beat malenia 💀💀💀
My biggest problem is how a lot of bosses don’t give you a chance to use summons. For a lot of bosses, as soon as you walk through the fog wall, the boss is right on top of you. You will need to find room in between the relentless onslaught of attacks to use your summon and if that is a mimic, there’s a good chance that the boss will smack and one shot you while your health is low. The DLC is HARD and it’s supposed to be, but Fromsoft gave us summons to make the challenge easier and it’s almost like Fromsoft forgot that because a lot of the bosses in this DLC aren’t summon friendly. Hippo, Hog Rider, and the last boss (avoiding spoiling the names) are the worst that this and it almost is required to use a summon for the last boss.
get gud?
I hate to be the guy but git gud
@@savary5050 I don’t even use them because I suck. I’ve played every souls game multiple times but in Elden Ring I find the game is more enjoyable with summons. The issue is that they are there to make the game easier, but the boss’s in this DLC don’t allow you to summon,
@@spongegobler3449 How about waiting for an opening instead of just running trough and spamming mimic tear?
Get good then. Try to dodge a damn combo for a change. Then you have enough time to get a summon in.
ok... I disagree with most of this video, like I think you criticising the "rewards for exploring" when you are literally combing the map, you seem to be expecting something useful to your specific build every two steps which is a little ridiculous. The rewards for exploration and thorough exploration at that (not what you're doing which is a little excessive and frankly disturbing) far exceeds most other open world games, expecting more than what this DLC offers in terms of exploration comes across as a little entitled quite frankly.
HOWEVER, it is refreshing to see a different perspective that isn't just from software fans absolutely glazing this game and getting mad when people criticise things such as it's difficulty. I think the difficulty is kind of stupid in this DLC half the time I can't tell what the boss is doing because it's attack completely blocks my screen, the hitboxes are weird and the attacks do too much damage, NOT TO MENTION they have not changed the thing where u want to heal torrent and it asks you if "you are sure you want tor revive torrent", obviously I'm sure I'm the one clicking this shit. ANYWAYS... yeah the difficult feels artificial due to the excessive blinding attacks of bosses that require luck since u cant see the mf sometimes.
Also the fucking mother of fingers feels like the elden beast before they added torrent. The mf just runs away way too much it's frustrating.
My character was nearly level 300, it's not a "build" at that point, I could've used whatever I wanted and found almost on the spot, but you're kinda right that I would've liked to see more gear in general, since it'd be fun to add to other builds. I do appreciate that you can hear me out though, definitely can't say that for everyone lmao
I refunded it after a few hours. Reskinned enemies and uninspired bosses. More anime armors and weapons. The DLC added absolutely nothing that I liked. Maybe 2 armors and 2 bosses looked cool after I looked them up. Fromsoft is officially creatively bankrupt.
Womp womp
Womp womp
nonsense click bait attention 304 video
fromsoft dickrider comment 864
I'm loving the dlc but I find the items a bit disappointing
There is cool stuff but most of the time I find smithing stones that I can just buy at the roundtable hold
I was also afraid that the scadutree fragments Would turn the exploration into an Ubisoft fetch quest so I think that the patch that made the early blessing level better could help keeping the exploration organic and not a "home work list"
The dlc still spamming Ulcerated Tree Spirits and generic dragons is the worst offender...
I am glad someone else is also not just sucking at the teet of Miyazaki with this DLC. I'm so tired of seeing the 10/10 and 11 or higher out of 10 scores for this DLC. It's a joke. People literally aren't even trying to interact with the game genuinely anymore. It's simply hard = good and good = hard. Because the DLC is really hard, it must be perfect. Nevermind how empty some of the areas are, nevermind how little INT/Sorceries got (showing further favoritism to FTH/Incantations), nevermind that INT/FTH is still basically unspported, nevermind the re-use of base game bosses and enemies that we've spent the last 2 years fighting, nevermind the lack of of any actual QoL improvements that modders have added since release, nevermind the modern game features like DLSS, and nevermind the continued and new performance problems of the DLC. All of this is before actually discussing the topic of how difficult these bosses are and how we've simply gone too far for its sake, From is too afraid to take a step back, and the cultish fanbase has tied their egos and self-worth so closely to their ability to beat these games with arbitrary difficulty modifers that they are unable to respond to any criticisms with anything other than "git gud".
The enemy reuse is the most egregious in my opinion. They had 2+ years for this DLC and there are still so many reused/reskinned enemies and mini bosses. I feel like they spent most of their time and budget on building the beautiful map but then forgot to actually fill it with interesting things.
The issues of the dlc don't even matter because criticism is justmet with the them yapping git gud git gud like some cursed lunatics
@@rokudodamaza yeah, happened the same with the base game, Malenia is treated like a masterpiece when she is an over the top hard boss for the sake of being hard
@@QwertyUiop-bs2zr In that specific case, it was just Malenia and not the whole game and even then, 90% of players who complained only did so because of the waterfowl dance that will one shot them. I wish I coulda fought the tougher version before she was patched
@@rokudodamaza there were still many bosses that had crazy combos that had you 30 seconds not doing anything other than dodge though. Idk I just didn’t enjoy the game as much as the others, it was really empty, bosses weren’t great and they were repeated. And the world just felt like a copy of dark souls but changing names
I really enjoyed watching this video. You can tell its by someone who cares about the souls game series
🤗
What I would like from FS next is to make another game with similar structure to demons souls, just separate maps with intricate level design and interesting enemy encounters allover the map!
that, or just DkS1 interconnected map but with some metroidvania elements to unlock new maps or shortcuts! I think that would be added value to the exploration element of these games.
I would cry from every orifice in my body if this happens (positive)
It’s 3x the size of Limgrave…. At least. Make it make sense. The vertically is better than the base game too. Like breh? You’re just lying! 😢😢😢💔
You're in denial.
100% agreed.
He's talking about the first area of the dlc, he's only talking about the first area in the whole video, he made that clear? How is vertically better, as in I don't know what it means, there's no underground section (so far) in my run. What part did he lie about?
@@doubledeputyd4242 Who's denial of what? The commenter that dlc is small or big?
@@EldenLord. Maybe you can tell me what he meant be better vertically than base game then?
Anotherrr thing to address, some of eldens souls systems feel like there from pre 2000, why is muliplayer still so annoying, no restrictions would be amazing...full armor sets thrown at you, a map that doesn't really line up at all, quest lines and dialog so confusing you either find by complete mistake or not at all, emotes to open paths...poorly balanced soul areas (always a milk spot in everygame) I hope the future is bright but they need to get off this bethesda like comfortability😮
I am kind of far in, haven't foud a questline same with elden ring, they copletely allude me. I will have to wiki them.
Agreed. Personally for me the biggest instigator is the horseshit casting system. Why do I have to hit d-pad 8 times to get to the spell I want instead of binding it to something like L1 + □ or L2 + ○
Christ. And they wanna make an open world magic game after this 😂
for me the only FUN boss is messmer.
Yeah messmer had me smiling despite being destroyed by him. Which lets me know that the difficulty isn’t what i have an issue with. Some bosses are just.. lame
Messmer is the only boss that doesn't have constant AOE spam on every single attack or annoying and unnatural-looking delays to trip up the player. Him and the sunflower are the only bosses in the DLC that I think live up to ds3's boss quality. Still nowhere near the level of ringed city bosses though.
I really like him and Midra, they both feel more like classic soulsborne bosses
The only boss I genuinely don't like is the hippo.
@@BotBoy-un3pz How Midir from ringed city is better then Bayle i wanna know or how Demon prince or that garbage npc spawn boss is better then Rellana ,Messmer,Midra,like what eyes sight you have when Midir is better boss then Bayle only top tier is Geal everything else is nothing special
i fifnished the dlc, it is their worst dlc yet. i still cant believe this is it and that this was going to be TWO dlcs, i feel like there HAS to be more content coming.