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best co op game ever made

This is very obviously the worst DLC modern FromSoftware has ever put out. Keep in mind, both Dark Souls 3 DLCs were 15$, and, whether you love them or hate them, each one gave you more content than this does. This feels like it should have been a free update, there's really a bare minimum of new content.

utter filth

I'm glad they are willing to experiment and try new things, but this isn't the direction I would like to see them head in the future.

undoubtedly the worst game fromsoft has made since demons souls, but still much better than most other games on the market.

I think people have forgotten just how important Dark Souls is ever since Elden Ring has overshadowed it. Nobody had ever played anything like Dark Souls before. It literally changed the gaming landscape in the way something like Castlevania or Mario 64 changed it - no game made after this will not be in some way impacted by it, that is how important it is. Demon's Souls came out before this, yes, but it wasn't nearly as popular as this game was and was still very prototypical. Sure, the controls are janky and the gameplay is crude and convoluted, but that is all part of it's charm and what made it such a special, unique experience. Dark Souls boasts some of, if not the best level design of any game ever made, and the lore and storytelling was state of the art and would spawn so many theories, so many stupid video essays that it is completely unfathomable. Boss fights in modern gaming? Forget all about that if not for Dark Souls popularizing it. It is a shame that FromSoft was obviously rushed towards the end of the game where the quality drops off, but for the majority of the game it is truly something incredible that will never be replicated again. Seriously, if you have not played any of From Software's games, start here. I know just starting at Elden Ring is very tempting, but I wholeheartedly think starting from the beginning and building up will give you a truly unique experience that you will hopefully treasure forever. Highly recommend, changed my life and how I view games forever.

This DLC - rather, it's more like what you'd call an expansion for older games - improves nearly every single thing from the base game. Enemies and bosses, while still pretty crazy compared to past entries, are more inspired and interesting to fight. There are a few bosses that are questionable, but this time the vast majority are good. The final boss in particular was incredibly difficult and felt like a true test of my sanity, definitely the hardest final boss in the modern FromSoft catalog. The world is much more colorful and varied, and some of the areas actually did give me a feeling of "there's no way this can keep going, right?" (unlike Siofra from base game which, if you've ever traveled to ash lake in DkS, wasn't really all that awesome). Compared to the base game, the open world in SotE was crafted in a much more compact and thoughtful manner, and it actually contains important and useful items when you explore around. Base ER's open world was mostly shallow and pointless, so I was so pleasantly surprised to actually see them improve upon this issue. I do still wonder if there was a better path forward than to implement a power-up collectathon, but it was still positive overall.

SotE also has a pretty involved story line unlike the rest of the SoulsBorne games, and the NPCs you will meet and their arcs are all intriguing. In my opinion, the payoff of this story at the end of the DLC was amazing and actually solidified my positive opinion of the whole thing. This is 100% worth paying attention to and doing as it is hard to soft lock yourself out of the quests and it will vastly improve your experience with the DLC.

Sorry to say, but when you drop DLC this good in 2024 it deserves to compete for GOTY with the rest of the year's slop.

One of the worst games I have ever played. Even in 2013, there were far better games on the market than this piece of trash.

its okay but extremely overrated. if you've been online for more than 2 years you've played this game 50 other times, its very repetitive and the fun wears off after a while once you and your friends realize its always the same thing over and over again.

The PC port runs horribly on many peoples' rigs regardless of specs. This is to be expected from FromSoft, but remains inexcusable. Its also locked at 60FPS in 2022 (though you might be constantly dropping to 20). So take that into consideration before you play. However, there are many more issues than just the lackluster performance.

When the hype from the rabid fanbase dies out, I believe you will see many people compare this game unfavorably to Dark Souls 2 (and no, DS2 is not the underrated masterpiece that video essayists like to pretend it is, at least not SOTFS) and it may even dethrone it as the black sheep of the series. Elden Ring really does feel like the worst design philosophies of DS2/3 mixed together into a dubious little stew. The open world adds nothing to the game and feels very last gen. Honestly, what does this game do that Skyrim hasn't already done in 2011? They even have the same copypasted dungeons like Skyrim. So innovative! It doesn't even look that good, its just the same stuff as DS3, so if you enjoy staring at gray and yellow dust and ash for 100 hours then you'll love traveling around the open world. But I guess there's a generic golden tree in the distance or whatever that you can write your silly little "gorgeous view ahead" messages about.

Many bosses are copypastas that you have seen many times before, and not just the optional minibosses like fanboys will lie to you about - you MUST fight copy pasted bosses to progress the main story. Aside from that, they even reuse big plot bosses in their little skyrim dungeons all over the map, which was really disappointing. Malenia is probably the worst boss FromSoft has ever released and makes me wonder if the game was ever even playtested to begin with. Late game bosses feel like they belong in Destiny 2 with how much damage they sponge to the point where it is questionable how viable non-bleed/magic builds are late game. It is a shame because sometimes the game does truly shine with the classic "Legacy Dungeons" or whatever they call them, like Raya Lucaria Academy for example was quite fun.

Back are the overly-complex, obscure quests that From is famous for. This worked fine in the previous games, however - with the size and complexity of the world this time around it becomes an even bigger issue since there are so many things you need to keep track of and the lack of even a simple journal or log makes it difficult to keep track of what the 30 NPCs have all told you to do. And even if you do remember, good luck finding out where they want you to go or what to do in the massive world map. But yea, alt+tabbing to look them up on Google is sooo much more immersive than having a quest log! (Also, about not wanting quest markers - you aren't funny or being brave with your 'hot take'. The game itself literally HAS quest markers sometimes so you look like an idiot who hasn't even played the game complaining about them.)

EDIT: After finishing the game, I will say that I did enjoy the final few bosses, and the turn the game took in theme especially with the final fight. However, I wish the game had embraced this weird, more unique style earlier on because it really feels samey up to this point.

TLDR: FromSoft has drank their own kool aid and made the game artificially difficult for difficulty's sake alone rather than designing something fun and rewarding first. Also, the open world is not good actually and doesn't add anything to the overall experience.