A reader explains the five things he hopes From Software will improve in Elden Ring 2, including the lock-on and the weird ankle fetish.
In normal life, it is always good to be as encouraging as possible when someone does something good. But put it on too thick and let it go to their head, and it could be worse than saying nothing at all. I’m afraid this happens too often to movie and game makers, who are all too quick to believe their own hype. Naughty Dog, in particular, seems to have disappeared from their own PR department and I wouldn’t like that to happen to FromSoftware.
I’ve enjoyed all of their games and Elden Ring, but it’s not flawless. In fact, it has enough flaws that I’d say it was probably only their third or fourth best game. It’s clearly the game of the year, but that’s not hard with so little competition, and it’s clearly going to get a sequel because it’s been the greatest thing ever.
I hope From is analyzing what they did and didn’t do well, but since what worked is so obvious I want to focus on what didn’t work, not to be smart and mean on the internet, but to encourage them address these issues and not fall for their own hype.
5. Weapon Upgrades
Elden Ring has the most amazing collection of weapons I’ve ever seen in a game of this type. Not only are there multiple different categories, but many of the individual weapons have different special attacks and abilities that make them completely different, even from something with similar stats. But Elden Ring has the opposite problem from Zelda: Breath Of The Wild, in that it’s nearly impossible to use them all. In fact, it’s impossible to use just a handful of them, in a serious way.
The weapon upgrade system relies on forging stones that are hard to find and the best need ultra-rare stones of which there are only a finite number in play. So you might find a great sword or whip late in the game, but all it does is tickle enemies unless you upgrade it multiple times right away. This leads to you having an arsenal of dozens and dozens of weapons and yet you can only use up to five of them.
A sequel should address this, and I’d say the most obvious way was to let you remove the bricks. That sounds a bit too friendly, and not the usual From style, so maybe this can destroy the old weapon, or leave it in a state where it needs to be repaired from a negative state. There must be something they can do or else all these awesome weapons will be lost.
4. Lock
One of the mantras of a From game is that it is firm but fair. Yes, it’s hard, but if you die, it’s always your fault, not the game’s. Except there’s one time that isn’t true and that’s when using the camera lock. Now, 80% of the time it’s fine but it’s not more reliable than that and if it messes up at a difficult moment and you get dead then gamepads will hit walls.
There are generally two things that make it trip, the first is the auto-lock in a crowd. It somehow always manages to pick the least suitable enemy and you spend precious seconds changing to the right one. I’m guessing this is because it’s very literal and just picks the one closest to the center of the screen without making any effort to be sensible about it and not pick someone 20 feet away.
Perhaps you could say it was still your fault, but the worst is when the enemy is brazenly there, right in front of you, but obscured by a bit of scenery, and instead of locking the game, decides no one is there and default to the other using R3 instead and reset the camera behind you. I can’t say how many times I died from it when I did.
Okay, maybe the center of the screen was technically on a doorway when I pressed the stick down, but the enemy is there! The fact that it works so well the rest of the time means that you never expect a problem and so when it happens, you’re going to go crazy.
3. Better Platforming
This issue has already been addressed by a Previous Reader’s Feature and I agree with everything they said. While it’s functional, the platforming feels extremely glitchy, even if it really isn’t. This is mainly due to a lack of animations, so it’s always hard to tell how safe you are on a ledge or what a safe distance is to jump. The game also desperately needs cloak and ideally some sort of climbing mechanism. My tough level 250 warrior must not be stopped by a knee high wall.
2. No more ankle attacks
From are rightfully known for their boss fights, but there is one flaw that many of them have in common and that is… feet. And ankles. I’m tired of fighting gigantic, awesome looking bosses only to shred the whole battle at their ankles. Enough with the ankle biting already! These battles are often still fun, but they’re silly once you start thinking about them and not nearly as cinematic to watch as they are exciting to play.
From really needs to come up with a new way to deal with boss characters that are much bigger than you, where you’re not just trying to chop off their toes. Even with their awesome dragons (of which you see a bit too much, as they all behave the same) the best tactic is to run behind their wings and chop at their ankles. It just seems cowardly, apart from everything…
1. The Repetition
I wouldn’t say Elden Ring was blown up, not like Assassin’s Creed is, but it certainly has a cut-and-paste problem with bosses and environments. There are many different castles in the game, but they all basically look the same. Even small shacks all look the same, as do caves and dungeons. There are really only a handful of different search areas in the game which is a real shame as I would have much preferred a smaller but more distinctive world.
The other very obvious issue is how often bosses are repeated, even the ones hyped as unique, like Godrick and Astel. These are totally unnecessary, as they only water down the experience and make it even harder to reconcile what’s going on with the game’s intentionally vague narrative. The definitely worse thing though is the Lesser Ulcerated Tree Spirit, if I never have to see or fight one again it will be too soon!
By reader Frido
The reader’s position does not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
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