Call and Response BSC Roundtable: Haligtree (EDITED)
Added 2023-08-16 14:01:00 +0000 UTCEDIT: Change of plans! The coverage of the Haligree and Elphael ended up being more meaty than initially projected. So we are now planning to do a Roundtable specifically for the Consecrated Snowfield, Haligtree, and Elphael. Please keep your responses tuned to those areas, Malenia/Miquella, Rot, etc. Any responses already submitted about the endings and endgame will be saved for that Roundtable at the end of the season.
Ah, tarnished. You are the most fucked up little man of all. It's time to write in with your responses for the end game areas in Elden Ring. The relevant areas are Consecrated Snowfield and Haligtree. Submit your response as a comment on this post! As always, keep some guidelines in mind.
1. Keep your responses and stories specific to the Consecrated Snowfield and the Haligtree.
2. Please keep your responses brief. Think two short paragraphs, or around 200 words.
3. Specificity is preferred over generalities.
4. We tend to get a lot of responses, so please don't feel bad if we omit your response, or edit it for length.
The deadline is the end of the day, Sunday, September 10th.
Comments
In defense of the concept of the Godfrey, Hoarah Loux fight/wrestling. I think we are roughly the same age so it is likely that our first exposure to professional wrestling was WWF in the 90s. This is not an accurate summation of what wrestling is. I see it as if someone asks if you want to listen to rock music and you say, "No, I'm good. I've heard Kid Rock, and that shit sucks." The story of wrestling is not unlike the story of Elden Ring (in the simplest terms). You have a group of warriors with different motivations, backstories, and fighting styles who all want to be the champion. Then an unlikely contender comes along and squashes their way through competition until there is nothing left but a match against the previous champion to reach the current champion. It is comic book story telling with real life behemoths acting it out. I think thematically the Godfrey fight is extremely well done. When you enter the arena you are faced with the first elden lord. He is regal and even compliments us on how far we have come and how close we have gotten to reaching our goal. I love the juxtaposition of his transition. Almost as if he sees how he has fallen as a brute force from what he is in his current position, and is forced to turn back into the bloodthirsty warrior that earned him Marika's favor and the title of elden lord in the first place. The line, "Now I fight as Hoarah Loux! WARRIOR!" is corny at best, and I think it breaks from the mood of the fight. It definitely could have been delivered in a less hokey way. My point is I think wrestling is fun, Godfrey is a cool character, but the fight sucks. So what am I even arguing for. * I have to amend this. I just had a Godfrey fight where he didn't endlessly chain attacks and spam his leg stomp. It was so much fun, but I wish it hadn't taken 500+ hours of gameplay to get a fun fight out of him.
Kevin Sottek
2023-08-31 23:39:50 +0000 UTCIn the Haligtree episode you guys mention the statue depicting Marika embracing Malenia and Miquella as children. I interpreted the adult in that statue to be Godwyn the Golden. From a physical perspective, all we really know of Godwyn's non mermaid form is that he had long, flowing blonde hair. It's easy to see how he could be mixed up with Marika... but if we reference the Marika statues at her churches, we can see the crown worn is distinctly different. We learn from the ghost at Castle Sol that their attempts to eclipse the sun was directed by Miquella in an effort to re-imbue the soul of a "comrade." The Golden Epitath weapon states: "A sword made to commemorate the death of Godwyn the Golden, first of the demigods to die. Infused with the humble prayer of a young boy; "O brother, lord brother, please die a true death." I think it's safe to say the "young boy" in question is Miquella, and it seems despite having different fathers, they were very close. I wonder if perhaps Miquella and Malenia were looked down upon due to their curses, and Godwyn provided his step-siblings with shelter and care. It's heartwarming to think about, but I wish he had extended the same kindness to his Omen brothers.
Mansoor
2023-08-31 05:30:10 +0000 UTCI always loved the idea of the Cleanrot Knights serving with Malenia in solidarity despite the certainty they would fall to the rot. It definitely gave the feeling of dedication and belief in a cause not usually seen in many of the other "normal" enemies. They stood with Malenia and Miquella because they believed in a better world even if they would never see it.
Ethan Ward
2023-08-29 02:47:49 +0000 UTCUnlike a lot of Elden Ring fans, I really love the Haligtree. One reason was that it explored the (seemingly) genuine bond between Malenia and Miquella. The most prominent instance of this was shown through the statues of Malenia comforting Miquella that are seen throughout the upper Haligtree. It seems to depict the moment Miquella realized he was unable to cure Malenia of her rot. Miquella (in his eyes) failed the one person he cared about most, but Malenia was still there to comfort him no matter what. I can see this moment being the tipping point for Miquella to lose faith in the Golden Order as his Grace given powers were unable to cure his big sister and it was the driving force for him wanting to create a safe haven for the afflicted and forgotten. I do admit it makes me kind of hate the item description for the Bewitching Branch and Miquella's "compulsive powers" and the idea that Miquella is actually a master manipulator forcing people to worship him against their will. I truly hope that isn't the direction the DLC takes. I wish the compulsion bullshit had never been added into the game because it muddies the waters with Miquella in a really weird and uncomfortable way. I prefer the current articulation of the tragedy of the Haligtree, it being a decaying paradise that could have legitimately be a safe haven for everyone, rather than a false kingdom used to prop up a malevolent tyrant who forced everyone involved (including Malenia possibly?) to devote themselves to him.
Ethan Ward
2023-08-29 02:27:04 +0000 UTCI love the Malenia fight. One of the constant complaints I hear about it is people having to change their builds in order to defeat her. And while I understand that, I also think that’s intended. I think Malenia presents challenges that force you to create a more versatile build or give more variety bro the way you use your favorite build. Most builds are built around a gimmick or one two things you do really well that tends to work on most everyone. Malenia takes those builds and eats them for lunch. If you have a shield build that relies on blocking and spamming guard counters, you can use that a little bit against her but relying on it means she just heals herself more. You have to change things up. To me, she’s the ultimate “find holes in your build” boss.
Erik Heard
2023-08-22 18:39:14 +0000 UTCI love the Malenia fight! It's one of the hardest, "fairest" in the game. She staggers and is hella fast, just like Maria, but is not as punishingly unfair as Freide. I've run the game three times through, each with a different playstyle (status, sorcery, and "dragincant") and beaten her every time. But never first try. As I said, she's hard. Each playthrough required developing different sets of tactics and regaining the rhythm lost from the first playthrough (which was honestly just lucky). Delightful! The approach to her, however, is a special hell. Dodging pest threads and chonky halig-knights that are sturdier than every variant that came before, made much rage. And the fortified ballista/erdtree avatar/knights combo was painful for my status/dragincant builds. I never played DS1, but comprehend the "silver knight" dilemma (much less severe in DS3) and feel it applies here.
justainm
2023-08-22 13:16:59 +0000 UTCMy favorite bosses in Froms Soft games have always been “dudes in armor” category or more specifically humanoid characters with which you have a duel. Think Artorias, Looking-Glass Knight, Lady Maria, Iudex Gundyr etc. Unfortunately there are not many of those in Elden Ring, and those that we have are either nigh-universally hated such as Crucible Knights or are my personal Achilles heel such as Bell Bearing Hunters. The only one left is Malenia and I kind of hate it, because there is a really fun duel fight that is hidden under unusually cruel one-two punch of healing upon a hit (even blocked hit) and a second phase that not only keeps this skill but also adds a new moves and scarlet rot attacks which can melt a healthbar of a player. With each consecutive run I get better at Malenia, but I still mostly relly on good old blood and frostbite to defeat her, similarly to how I always beat Elden Beast using pest threads beacause screw it. I think it is generally a problem of the late game boss rush in this game where the final bosses have unusually cruel combinations of elements to them like Malenia’s healing + scarlet rot, Maliketh’s black blade + his mobility, Placidusax’s healthbar + teleportations and AoEs or Radagon + Elden Beast being tied together (another example of a fun boss fight ruined by being tied to a phase two fight). Despite being easier than Sekiro (I never beat Ishiin, and I managed to beat Elden Ring 3 times now), it seems to me that From Soft continues the arms race against itself and I am worried how many more iterations of it can this game format hold before something breaks; either a game or me.
Mateusz Swietoslawski
2023-08-22 09:01:42 +0000 UTCIt’s a bit crazy to think that we’re finally here at the Haligtree, thanks for sticking with it for all these weeks. That, of course, brings us to Malenia, and her difficulty. I’m the type of person who mostly adores the tough bosses you’ve previously covered in other games, like Gael or Isshin, but Malenia crosses over into “too difficult” territory for me personally. I enjoy her fight, but (without getting too technical), just feel like her difficulty was amped up at the expense of being a more enjoyable fight. It makes me slightly concerned for the difficulty of the DLC bosses. Frequently FromSoft ramps up the challenge, but Malenia already feels over-tuned as is. I’m optimistic that they won’t try and one-up her fight with an even harder boss, mainly because of the mixed feedback on her fight. I absolutely can’t wait to find out if that’s the case, please FromSoft grant us DLC
Lucas West
2023-08-22 01:59:18 +0000 UTCI had a similar glitch happen when my CPU cooling system broke, made the Capital hard enough, I can’t imagine the endgame
Lucas West
2023-08-22 00:14:58 +0000 UTCHi y’all, I made the rather questionable decision of playing Elden Ring on a ten year old Intel pentium overclocked to 4 times the base speed. This decision allowed me to play the game on my very old computer, but came at one terrible cost: every enemy in the game except for bosses was invisible. As a result of this, I had to manually “scan” each area with lock-on to see what enemies were ahead of me. To connect this to the areas at hand: when I reached the liturgical town, I was *very* well prepared for the threat of invisible enemies, although the inability to lock on to the assassins still made the area somewhat difficult. I can’t imagine what it would’ve been like if I hadn’t spent the past 80 hours playing the game as I had, but for me at least, the liturgical tow was just another area. Anyway, thanks for a great show and rest in peace to my processor; I fear that forcing it to run Elden Ring may have killed it at last.
Micah Shannon
2023-08-21 03:59:06 +0000 UTCIt's amazing what different folks find difficult/easy in these games. Case in point: two bosses you discuss in your 2nd Consecrated Snowfield episode. The Death Rite Bird in the Snowfield = one of the hardest bosses in the game for me. You guys refer to it as "just a guy", but it is a more difficult bird than the one on Mountaintops because you can't summon! I barely beat the Mountaintops Death Rite Bird with a +10 Latenna summon; I still haven't beat the Snowfield Bird. Meanwhile, Theodorix is the easiest 180,000 runes in the game for me. Kole made it sound like a little bit of a challenge, having to deal with crabs on the ground, etc, but if you find yourself a nice cliff to fire arrows/spells, it's easy peazy(some might say cheesy).
Matthew Bennett
2023-08-20 22:42:41 +0000 UTCA humble request to any artists out there: Miquella engaging Malenia in a fairly one-sided philosophical conversation while careening downhill in a wagon, Calvin & Hobbes style. I will pay anything. In regards to Millicent: There's a method of grafting specific to buds, where a choice bud is cut away and grafted onto rootstock. It seems apt that Gowry might want to graft Millicent onto the most available sacred tree in order to secure the full potential of her blooming (blegh), even though the Haligtree is dying, which might indicate desperation, but it's also rotting, which might make it more sacred to the rot faith. I liked Millicent; she was stubborn and proud. Entering the Haligtree, with the horns of the oracles, is one of the most stunning moments in the game. It's interesting that they might be heralding Malenia. Scarlet earth spreads into Limgrave beyond Caelid's burning wall; when the world itself thinks it's inevitable, there's no need for a Tarnished to usher in an age of rot.
Goldie
2023-08-20 03:04:38 +0000 UTCI would have liked to have had a meaningful trek to the top of the Haligtree before working my way down into Elphael rather than teleporting up there. Trapped chests, kidnappers from bloodborne, and to some extent the meditation emote for archdragon peak in DS3 all feel like interesting contexts around the use of teleportation, but the teleportation to Faram Azula and to the Haligtree feel like a cheap shortcut that asks too much of the player to suspend disbelief insofar that the rules of this universe allow. PS: I don’t know what it is about the vibe of the Haligtree canopy but it unlocked something in my brain that brought up the song “Stickerbush Symphony” from the bramble level in Donkey Kong Country 2. Hadn’t heard the song in decades and all of a sudden it was playing in my head. Kinda strange tidbit I thought I would share
Coty Davis
2023-08-19 09:59:42 +0000 UTCSomething I found unique to my experience fighting Malenia vs any other Fromsoft boss is that her first phase felt significantly harder for me than her second. At this point I’ve beaten her multiple times across several save files, new game cycles and builds, and every time my success in this fight seems to come down to how frequently she uses—or doesn’t use—Waterfowl Dance, which she seems much more fond of in the first phase with her smaller moveset. Compared to the first, the second phase actually feels like quite the break in comparison, and while visually breathtaking, was much more manageable for me in many ways.
Brennan Ackermon
2023-08-19 06:02:43 +0000 UTCSeparately: feedback to Gary's point about Late-Game fatigue. A mental block I have with a lot of RPGs is why am I bothering to level up when all the enemies are getting stronger at the same pace? I like the ability to over-level my Pokémon and stomp a few guys - especially when one or two actually tough bosses are sprinkled in to keep it interesting. For me, final third Dark Souls 1 was perfect. I could breeze past most enemies while still encountering challenging bosses.
Luke Summerhayes, visionary host of the excellent Game Game Show podcast
2023-08-18 05:39:08 +0000 UTCI really liked Malenia as a boss fight. Im not a Let Me Solo Her level player, but I never summon players or NPCs, I just go in with a big sword and a mimic tear and have fun. I think I had one factor which helped me enjoy the battle more than most players, though; I worked my way to Placidusax, Malenia and the final boss all at once, meaning that just when the game became too hard for a lot of players, I could continue to enjoy the Elden Ring feeling of "too hard? Do something else!" Bashing my head against three different bosses was an entirely different feeling to endlessly bashing my head against one.
Luke Summerhayes, visionary host of the excellent Game Game Show podcast
2023-08-18 05:34:43 +0000 UTCThe Haligtree is my favorite area in the game from a lore standpoint. The game offers many possible alternatives for the order of the Erdtree, but none feel as impressive as Elphael and the Haligtree. Arriving in the area atop the massive branches surrounded by oracle envoys conveyed the magnitude of Miquella's ambitions perfectly. Progressing through the area and seeing what begins as a massive structure of gorgeous architecture slowly become corrupted and sickly as you move closer to the center felt so evocative. If Miquella had not been kidnapped by Mohg would the Haligtree have continued to grow stronger? On the more mechanical side, the Haligtree feels extremely punishing in a slightly strange way. The previous legacy dungeon was difficult, but it wasn't "hallway with what feels like an unending amount of revenants" or "erdtree avatar with a veritable army of tier 2 knights" difficult. I wish there was another required legacy dungeon after Farum Azula, either a more robust level for the ash covered Lyndell similar to the second trip through Frozen Eleum Loyce, or a level set inside the Erdtree. I feel like this would provide a much needed break from the boss rush the game turns into after Farum Azula, as well as a smother bridge between the gulf of difficulty between Farum Azula and the Haligtree. I actually really like Malenia since the patch made her waterfowl dance less punishing, and she is a candidate for my favorite boss in the whole game. I find her fight anime-esque in a far cooler and less grating manner than that of Hoarah Loux, mostly because Malenia's bloom doesn't feel like a massive joke. Hoarah Loux is a hilarious fight solely because of how out of left field the tonal shift is, and as hysterical as the pro-wrestler (who doesn't have a cat) turned Elden Lord (who likes his cat) turned pro-wrestler (who hates his cat) is, the fight doesn't contain any truly satisfying elements beyond the novelty it provides. On another note, Elden Beast can suck my Ass. I normally enjoy multiple phase bosses, but Radagon is such a punishing fight and following it up with an entirely different monster with an entirely new moveset in a brand new arena feels to me way more unbalanced than any other multi phase bosses Fromsoft has done. I still don't understand why Fromsoft can't decide on wether each phase should have its own health bar. Beast Clergyman / Maliketh just has one healthbar, as does Fire Giant, whereas Radagon and Elden Beast have two separate health bars. I suppose they are trying to tie lore into the mechanics of the boss, as Radagon is a different entity than Elden Beast, but Fromsoft has never been consistent with this. Malenia, Sister Friede, Rykkard, and Rennala all have multiple health bars, while Godfrey, Gael, Fire Giant, and Maliketh all have just one. It feels like it's supposed to be an interaction between the lore and the gameplay, but for some bosses it feels like they sacrifice lore in order to add a mechanic or gimmick to the fight that isn't wholly satisfying. Apologies for the long response, but I am sure you guys will extract the better points from my ramblings. Love everything you do and appreciate the work you put into it!
Jinx
2023-08-18 03:05:32 +0000 UTCThanks for the update gang; can’t wait to chime in about the Haligtree! ☝️🤍
Juli Reed
2023-08-17 01:53:29 +0000 UTCComing from the left field with … you guessed it, a Berserk reference! A lot of Miquella’s physical and personal descriptions are close to how Griffith is described during his band of the hawk days. Described as male but also described as non-binary coded, looking impossibly young, compelling affection… Of course, the stories of Miquella and Malenia and their afflictions are on a different tangent to Griffith’s, but it’s fascinating how Miquella’s dreams manifest similar to Griffith’s “Kingdom”: The Haligtree is similar to Falconia, a kingdom for the true bringer of salvation, a haven for all the monsters and beings cast aside by the “divine” and civilization. It’s not a one-to-one story parallel, maybe a “borrowing of themes and vibes”. We know there is another half to Griffith’s story, in how he evolves into Femto, having realized his dream by bringing absolute doom and tragedy to his loved ones, while Miquella has no such direct sinister motives described. But by the way! Miquella is in a damn cocoon? Maybe could digivolve into Femto? Food for thought. Anyway, we don’t know if From wants to land on anything villainous in the DLC with Miquella, and maybe it is more interesting if they’re a true force for good doing something meaningful, subverting the Griffith parallels. Either way; as an item description says: beware “the most fearsome Empyrean of all”!
Mystic Referee
2023-08-17 00:46:24 +0000 UTCThe more I think about the Haligtree, the more I think Miquella was not very smart. It was a cool area on its own, with all the weird baroque gold and interesting encounters, the ecology of it is really bizarre in a game where most big dungeons feel practical. Letting all things flourish whether graceful or malign was a dumb idea that only a demigod could have. Miquella is just the dril tweet about there being zero difference between good and bad things you moron. Can you imagine being an albinauric thats crawled from liurnia through a swamp infested with lobsters, up a giant cliff, used a secret plate to do the dark souls 2 lift thing, gone through a blizzard and finally found a teleporter that couldve been at the start, and then you find out there's scarlet rot everywhere. It's no wonder there's no haligtree ending because this is a nonsense alternative to the golden order where its basically the same but with weird monsters hanging out.
Cal Wilks
2023-08-17 00:14:14 +0000 UTCThe Halig tree is possibly my favorite area of the game, second to liurnia maybe. I deeply associate this area with Miquela for obvious reasons. For me it’s a tragedy we don’t learn more about this charismatic little twink and their duality as St. Trina particularly because it leaves just enough room for recalcitrant fans with a binary ideas of gender to imply they are not ther same figure despite both canon and cut content strongly signifying the two entities are one in the same. if Miquela were confirmed to be st. Trina, this may be the first character in a fromsoft game who ostensibly wasn’t cis, with a gender modality that could be read as trans, non binary, and/or gender fluid. Given that trans folks make up a larger section of fromsoft fans it’s past due that we can see ourselves represented. I also have a critique of that representation if we got it confirmed. A dangerous myth about trans people that anti trans extremists put out into the world is to associate gender variance of any kind with duplicity, deception, manipulation, and malevolent deceit. Given how much of the text about miquella is devoted to building an image of them up as a highly charismatic and manipulative figure, this would play into that dangerous media trope as gender variant people as deceptive and malevolent. Sort of a damned if we do and damned if we don’t scenario, with many red flags either way.
Dani Murano-Kinney
2023-08-16 21:52:07 +0000 UTCI said two, but it ended up being four. I’m so sorry. I have a lot to say on the end game. I feel like I’m the only person in the world hates Radagon both as a character and boss and likes the Elden beast. As a faith build the elden beast was a total pushover. Just beast rock and pest strings and you got this fight in the bag. I think it soundtrack is one of the best the prom has ever done. The almost African like chords used by the choir are putting amazing effect and I get serious Princess Mononoke vibes from design of the boss itself. This golden alien whale diving in and out of this golden essence just really did it for me I was not expecting it at all and the rule of cool worked for me in this instance.
Mateus Silva
2023-08-16 21:47:36 +0000 UTCHorah Loux, let’s talk about this guy. When Nepheli Loux said in Liurnia that this was a waking horror made by men and she had seen it before in her infancy, I always took her to be a Child of conquest. Born from it, within it. I always took this to me that she resented part of her warrior life. And then she says that now she is a woman grown and can do something about. Then refers to herself as a Nepheli Loux, warrior. This immediately made me hate Godfrey/Horah. So when we see him and he is expressing sadness over Morgott, I was curious about the depths of his emotions, and whether or not the omens being taken away was something he had control over, or if that was all Marika or the greater will’s decision. The GRRM addition of complex family dynamics is a serious boon to the franchise. And it’s something they started playing with in Sekiro to me. I was happy with the death and happy with Serosh, I think he’s cool. And I think the notion of men being tamed by a beast, shows a nature being more malleable as opposed to humanity’s cruelty? I don’t entirely hate what they’re doing here. It’s tangled and messy but that’s elden ring.txt But the wrestling? Lame. I liked the scream I just think the scene/tone could’ve used another pass over or two. Reframing the 'Warrior' in the sentence as juxtaposition to Nepheli would've made it work for me, I think.
Mateus Silva
2023-08-16 21:43:52 +0000 UTCThe Haligtree. My personal favorite area in the game. Here’s something neat idk if I’ve heard you guys mention but the Cleanrot Knights in Japanese are known as Noblerot Knights and there’s a process involving fungus and wine called noble rot wine, which calls for intentionally rotting the grapes, and I think these knights do something similarly where they willingly imbibe in the rot, for power, worship, or solidarity I’m not quite sure. But anyways back to the level, it’s the most Elven place we’ve seen From do up until now. The bones and blueprints of this place as an ideology and sanctuary are beautiful and wonderful and I’ll never forgive Mohg for taking it all away. For ruining the potential. A feeling Malenia would surely relate to if she knew Mohg had taken Miquella. Speaking on Malenia we’re at my second favorite boss of the whole game, her character is one of dedication, perseverance, and strength. In defiance of who she is. What she was born with. I almost get the sense that her rot ostracized her away from the bulk of her family. She didn’t receive formal military, faith, or sorcery training she found a master in someone who was blind and should by all accounts he her enemy. Someone outside her family. I get the sense that Radagon and Marika had favorites. Her design, stature, and story all help portray one of the most iconic(?) larger than life, yet tragic characters we’ve seen from From yet. Plus Scarlet Rot? I’m always down for new elemental forces in fiction like that. How bad ass is Super Poison?
Mateus Silva
2023-08-16 21:32:11 +0000 UTCSo ima make two focused responses, feel free to combine, cut, edit! The consecrated snowfields… as someone who’s most recent life arc has taken place in the pnw, I got to experience my first snowfall of my adult life and I went on a trek. Being lost in the snow with every light amplified and every noise dampened was a surreal experience. And the snowfields capture that sensation perfectly. As dangerous as it is it always makes me feel at peace when I’m walking through it, especially in the sections where it’s still snowing but you can actually see more. I do wish, since there’s a night and day cycle, that there was a measly two fuckin hours where the whole thing is visible. As far as snow areas go, it’s great and all it needs now is a bitchin’ ice soundtrack. *frost man from mega man 8 will do*
Mateus Silva
2023-08-16 21:23:06 +0000 UTCThose endings... I didn't expect more, but I can hope. It's even more of a let down because Elden Ring is so much longer than their other games. Like the other games, every ending is basically just: "You did what you were trying to do!". Whether you actually understood what you were trying to do before the ending is a whole other thing, especially on the first playthrough. I know the journey is more important and all that, but I wish they'd give a bit more with these endings.
Mike M
2023-08-16 19:44:30 +0000 UTCI knew about the Haligtree from the internet chatter. The muscle memory I'd developed from years of Souls games screamed at me to find and chip away at Malenia until I'd finally done The Boss To End All Bosses. But I'd just played through a huge open world experience and couldn't really be arsed. So I nodded and smiled and pushed through to the endgame. Does this mean I am no longer an enthusiast? Do you think that if the Haligtree wasn't so adjacent to the endgame it might have been a more appealing set of traps and tribulations?
Adam Littlefield
2023-08-16 16:00:11 +0000 UTCIs this for the areas mentioned in the first part, or for Subterranean Shunning Grounds etc.?
Juli Reed
2023-08-16 15:39:01 +0000 UTCYeah, that's exactly it. It's too much tonal whiplash for me.
Duckfeed.tv
2023-08-16 15:32:38 +0000 UTCI am always shocked at the love Elden Ring players seem to have for the Godfrey/Hoarah Loux fight. All those top 10 lists you see have this right up there. Maybe it is just the feeds I follow, but I feel as though I am in the minority of despising Hoarah Loux which is totally fine (although I know Gary and Kole are on my side here :)) This is certainly no hate to anyone who thinks otherwise. It’s a game. Like what you like! But this fight felt so cheap to me. The Godfrey portion is fine. But phase 2 being a Dragonball Z or Mortal Kombat type of nonsense fight completely took me out of it. The first time I got smacked into the air for some finishing move out of super smash bros I think I actually audibly groaned. Mechanics aside, it just felt so beneath Fromsoft. Was it supposed to be humorous? Because it was so goofy and out of place that chuckling would be a natural response. The fact they thought this would be some incredible reveal did not land for me one bit. Instead, it was jarring. The lore connections are not great either. Am I supposed to think Godfrey was earning his reputation on the battlefield by suplexing opposing infantry? I much would’ve preferred just a more enraged Godfrey with the axe and a few new moves or perhaps Serosh joins the fight after seeing Godfrey injured. Idk anything but that…
Tyler
2023-08-16 15:21:19 +0000 UTCIn my first playthrough of Elden Ring I did most of the game without using the Spirit Summon System, with the exception of Tiche for the final boss, but that changed on my second playthrough. I wanted to see how all these goofy looking guys fought the other goofy looking guys and tried to see which one would be my favorite. Surprisingly Latenna ended up being the most fun to use since it turned the game from "How do I beat this guy?" to "Where do I put Latenna so she doesn't get absolutely destroyed by this guy?" and man did that add so much enjoyment. So come to my surprise when I get to the Mountaintops of the Giants and closer to Castle Sol when Latenna calls out in a ghostly whisper to head there and get the other half of the medallion. Then later on once reaching the Consecrated Snowfields she speaks again telling me to head towards a church near the Liturgical Town. I was just thinking about how neat that From was actually giving a bit of guidance for this strange quest and that Latenna could actually still speak and observe your progress in the world as a summon. I then replayed the game again with a different build later on to be disappointed that the dialogue didn't trigger this time around. Apparently according to the Wiki the 1.06 patch broke that scripting so it doesn't trigger anymore. All in all, I just wanted to give the real hero of my second run her proper due because she really is such a fun summon to use.
The Cult Classic
2023-08-16 15:19:16 +0000 UTCYup
Duckfeed.tv
2023-08-16 15:17:26 +0000 UTCWill this be the last chance to comment on Elden Ring? I have a comment I've been saving for the end because it doesn't relate to any particular area.
Toby
2023-08-16 14:22:12 +0000 UTCOne thing that I don’t think gets discussed very often is what actually IS the Elden Ring? Why is it so coveted and powerful? The game makes it explicit that the Elden Ring is comprised of runes. Runes are letters and language. The Greater Will gives these words power. So it is quite literally the word of God. However it’s not just a religious text. When the rune of death was taken out of the Elden Ring, destined death was removed from the world. These words of power shape reality. The word of God creates the physics which makes this world operate. When we repair the Elden Ring with a rune from another outer power, the very world changes. These aren’t just the 10 Commandments, they are laws of nature; carved into reality when spoken by beings beyond mortal understanding.
Matt DiTomaso
2023-08-16 14:21:57 +0000 UTC
