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Elden Ring - 1st round of Closed Network Test previews

skneogaf

Member
I too played another 3 hours, I'm not a fan of the open world part of elden ring and much prefer how the connected areas feel in the other games.

I think they're semi open world in a way and that's definitely a better fit for me but I am definitely enjoying it and can't wait for the release in February.

My rolling is really off in this game but I'm not sure if it's the awful frame rate on ps5 or maybe the sidestep thing that is supposed to be in the game affecting my rolling away as I'm getting hit way more than any of the others.

I'm also not a fan of some of the buttons and button combinationx you have to do that we're all so used to.

So far I'm still rating bloodborne the best from software game.
 
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Bartski

Gold Member
Is there a time of day requirement for the dragon to appear? He somehow doesn't show up on the swamp for me.

All other bosses I've seen so far down, including Margit.

I didn't know you can explore Stormvale! Not sure how far it goes into the castle but I just got the thunder ash and am finally on a level where battling giants for resources makes sense. Carian glintsword ash rocks!

Got the viking spawn that eats 100FP, hits like a truck. Overall your summons have very little health and it really feels more like a tool for pulling aggro away for a bit. Did some PvP and PvE, I think I love it even more now.

Bartski Bartski yeah remap on the L3 to triangle is key move. No more stupid crouch or dismount at the worst possible time

I'll try it out. Accidental switching from one to two handing seems less of an issue than crouch stopping mid-run and getting hit.

My rolling is really off in this game but I'm not sure if it's the awful frame rate on ps5 or maybe the sidestep thing that is supposed to be in the game but I don't understand it affecting my rolling away as I'm getting hit way more than any of the others.

I actually think iframes on the roll are very generous, similar to parry window. I was expecting sidestep vs roll to be working just like in BB, it's not in the CNT so this must be a mobility upgrade.
 

Fake

Member
Ok, but here's an actual screenshot that I think also proves the point (which was that ER looks average for a PS4 open world game):

1489161344-horizon-zero-dawn-tm-20170310163756.png


(This is the game on PS4)

I know. I have many HZD SS as well. Is a better one.
 

Bartski

Gold Member


Makes perfect sense and fits into earlier theories about the game size. That would also mean the Erdtree is MASSIVE, much bigger than it seems and located in the middle. 🤯🤯🤯
 
Elden Ring is my most anticipated game for next year, but still... did NO ONE learn to avoid getting hyped up by previews done by many of these same outlets after the Cyberpunk fiasco?
 
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Just now? I might be wrong but I think you should have applied long ago, don't think they are still giving out codes.
They just let me apply, and sent me a security code via email, so they didn't shut down the site yet. Kind of odd that they'd leave it open if they already stopped giving out codes. Oh well, looks like I missed out.
 

FrankWza

Member
I'll try it out. Accidental switching from one to two handing seems less of an issue than crouch stopping mid-run and getting hit.
It’s the lesser evil. The long term damage with certain face buttons or needing l3 to jump use action isn’t good.
Shooters used to map l3 to toggle between single burst and auto. I really hope they make it a combo instead. L3 + action or something like that.
 
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Boneless

Member
Never played dark souls
Never played bloodborn
Played Sekiro but felt so so about it due to the lack of RPG

Can't wait for elden ring.
 
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Gaelyon

Gold Member
It only took them 5 games to make the character creation tool look decent lol

ts2wesz9acz71.jpg
Well it's the first time in a Soul's we're not playing an undead, so we don't have to deal with a cadaver face 90% of the time ^^
That also mean no humanity/undead status, no reduced health bar most of the time....
 
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FrankWza

Member
Anyone get the bridge knight on horseback to turn black? When does it happen? Nighttime? I only faced him before I switched l3 and dismounted by accident and got stomped
 

iHaunter

Member
May be a hot take, but this game doesn't deserve a new IP name.

It's literally just Dark Souls but open world. It feels like Dark Souls. Sekiro feels like Sekiro, Bloodborne feels like Bloodborne, Elden Ring feels like Dark Souls 4.
 

FrankWza

Member
Wow that was another tremendous session. There so much. This game world is enormous. Found another spot near the river that lead to the catacombs. I thought I couldn’t access it because of the wall they have up. Saw some hanging bodies by the bridge and took the dragon area route. 2 NPCs and more story and another boss fight. It’s crazy.
 
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jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
Just got done playing again, 9 hours on file now.

Level 38. Killed the dragon. Killed all the optional bosses. Spent about an hour roaming around the map literally killing everything without resting. Grinded on giants for a while (got it to where I can kill them in 9 hits on horseback lol) so I think I'm pretty OP for the demo now.

If this is 1/12th of the full game, I could see it taking quite a while to complete to 100%.
 

FrankWza

Member
yep I think that's the night patrol. Met him once and got wrecked.
I got him by the way. If you take him down and don’t finish him he respawns a horse. Didn’t give me many runes either. I had to switch back to original l3 when I was underground because the dismount happens way more than crouch for me.
I really really hope they fix this before launch.
If this is 1/12th of the full game, I could see it taking quite a while to complete to 100%.
70-100+ hours depending on skill? Or more?
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
I got him by the way. If you take him down and don’t finish him he respawns a horse. Didn’t give me many runes either. I had to switch back to original l3 when I was underground because the dismount happens way more than crouch for me.
I really really hope they fix this before launch.

70-100+ hours depending on skill? Or more?
If this is really 1/12th of the map, I could see it taking 100 hours to explore everywhere. Could probably be done in a lot less than that overall, considering in 9 hours of exploring and grinding just this opening area I was nearly level 40 and all of my equipment was maxed. Presumably enemies would get more difficult as the game progresses, which would give you more runes and let you progress faster. So I suppose it just depends how much you want to take your time and explore things. 70 hours is a pretty safe bet though if you're being thorough.
 

Joho79

Member
So I did my first 3 hours on series x. I thought it looked really good. The armor on myself and enemies looked nice and crisp.
Definitely framedrops here and there but over all a good experience.
The gameplay though. I’m ready for February!
 

Bartski

Gold Member
Getting to the dragon "chapel" was really something maybe this is a teaser of a covenant?

Got the staff and the seal, I put all points from the session into Int and Faith and I'm finally using magic first time, it's truly spectacular and changes everything. Incantations are crazy powerful. I'm definitely making a dex / magic hybrid in the full game, there is just so much gameplay there to miss when going full melee.

I hope they're not done balancing tho... Some ashes of war are a bit too much. Is it so you get the thunder ash on the sword when you start with the bloody wolf from the get-go? No wonder people say it's easy. This one is iso crazy OP it trivialized all remaining boss fights I've used it on to the point I almost felt bad about it. They need to make it cost more FP at least, I hope so.

Another thing - Stormvale is amazing, that path through the main gate is just excellent for testing spells against larger mobs, can't wait to see what's behind these 3 walled-off dead ends in the full game.

I watched this just now thinking I've seen cleared out the map - turns out I missed one cave with what might be the coolest weapon in the beta! So that's the plan for tomorrow, getting all remaining spells and just fucking around, farming shards to upgrade some weapons and off we go PvP and PvE for the finals.

Not missing a minute of this thing till the very end.
 
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skneogaf

Member
After 9 hours I couldn't find anything else to do or kill, I even killed the npc characters!

The special sword you get, upgraded, plus lots of strength upgrades and vitality made it very easy to explore.

The jelly fish were strange and the dragon unlocks were great.

I kind of wish there wasn't a network test if I'm honest as I would have preferred to go in completely blind in to the full game.

Really enjoyed it and am excited for my premium collectors edition on steam and my 3090 will run this like a dream!

Oh and the graphics are amazing you just have to take in everything that is happening on screen!
 
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Wooxsvan

Member
Iv watch tons of this game the last week and im starting to get nervous that when i get hands on it, its going to feel too much like Dark Souls 3. I quit playing DS3 after about the 5 boss because rolling felt so slow/clunky/awful. I loved bloodborne because of the feel and quickness of step-dodging. See gif below. It feels amazing... If anyone on here can speak to the feel in Elden Ring's Network test. Is it closer to bloodborne than darksouls 3?


giphy-downsized-large.gif
 

skneogaf

Member
Iv watch tons of this game the last week and im starting to get nervous that when i get hands on it, its going to feel too much like Dark Souls 3. I quit playing DS3 after about the 5 boss because rolling felt so slow/clunky/awful. I loved bloodborne because of the feel and quickness of step-dodging. See gif below. It feels amazing... If anyone on here can speak to the feel in Elden Ring's Network test. Is it closer to bloodborne than darksouls 3?


giphy-downsized-large.gif

Its obviously closer to dark souls, it feels exactly like dark souls 3 which doesn't feel the way you described if you chose to play with 29.9% equipment load and a suitable quick weapon.

I understand your gripe I really do as I rate bloodborne as the very best from software game but elden ring isn't bloodborne or even feels like bloodborne unless you use Ludwig's Holy Blade & the Loch shield and you don't do any dodging, then maybe then yes.

The side step that is supposed to be in elden from what I saw in the trailer I was unable to get to work so unless it's an unlock then it isn't the bloodborne way of dodging.
 

Wooxsvan

Member
Its obviously closer to dark souls, it feels exactly like dark souls 3 which doesn't feel the way you described if you chose to play with 29.9% equipment load and a suitable quick weapon.

I understand your gripe I really do as I rate bloodborne as the very best from software game but elden ring isn't bloodborne or even feels like bloodborne unless you use Ludwig's Holy Blade & the Loch shield and you don't do any dodging, then maybe then yes.

The side step that is supposed to be in elden from what I saw in the trailer I was unable to get to work so unless it's an unlock then it isn't the bloodborne way of dodging.
thx for your insight. the roll in the network test seems slightly faster atleast from what i remember ds3 being.
 

YoungEmperor96

Neo Member
Sekiro and Bloodborne didn't feel like Dark Souls. Which is the point I made.
Sekiro yes but Bloodborne is totally Souls game. Literally same game design, pacing, only change roll to quickstep ( and worse healing system). Hey weapon also very copy Dark souls. Hunter Axe is DS Axe+Harberd. I'm playing Elden and except for the tutorial area, the feel of game very different if compared to Dark souls. If you say Elden ring is not worthy of new ip then bloodborne is not worth it either.
 
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TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
I barely had the chance to play. How's the open world? I thibk that from the little I played it's the thing I liked the least.
 

FrankWza

Member
Sekiro and Bloodborne didn't feel like Dark Souls. Which is the point I made.
I know. They had completely different settings than souls is what I meant. That’s why I said the story might separate itself but it was bound to be similar because they both take place in medieval fantasy world and are made by the same company. I was kind of agreeing with you on the feel but I think open world and horseback combat do enough to change it. Those are both pretty big differences.
 

skneogaf

Member
I only had chance to jump on for 10 minutes this time and I remembered to use torrent to jump up over something I'd been trying to jump over on foot.

Lots of secrets to be had there really is so my recommendation is to definitely play through solo without reading any secrets on here.

Use help on new game plus is how I'll be doing it.
 
I played 2 Tests right now and iam Done with that Game.. Iam a Big Fan of Sekiro but this one is not for me....
The whole Game feels to slow for me...
And the Open World mhhh it's nice but it's feel very alone in on this Map...
I hope someday ls From Software will bring a Sekiro 2...🤷‍♂️
 

Bartski

Gold Member
Dragonscale blade katana +3 is the best weapon in the test IMO. Too bad I discovered it after killing all the bosses but I had some awesome PvP and PvE today with it.

Have you guys seen the double spring from the beach all the way to the back to the starting point chapel? I want more of this.

I expect plenty of mobility upgrades for the tarnished like the sidestep. A magic double jump perhaps?
 
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