The true essence of a Soulslike game is its difficulty.Elden Ringhas evolved beyond the earlier titles that created the genre. There’s a reason why Elden Ring keeps topping ‘Best Games Of The Last Century’ lists and why it’s a solid pick for any player.
If you are dipping your toes in this game and its genre, it’s sensible to play around the tutorial area and read the handy tips that come up during loading screens. The more complex games become, the more we find ourselves genuinely reading the text between adventuring and our 121st boss run. Even so, some are far more useful than others, so pay attention.
8Basic Controls
Push The Button
If you’re playing Elden Ring, then this is likely not your first Soulslike game. Even if it is, you’re going to do what most, if not all, of us do as soon as we get control of our character: Press buttons.
Souslike games almost always spawn you in a relaxed,mostly safe areawhere you’re able to run around and see what you can do. The first notes and points of interest are usually highlighted, indicating what the buttons do. As such, these tips are redundant at best, and patronizing at worst.
7Communication
Can You Hear Me?
Despite the size of the Soulslike and, by extension, Elden Ring community, its primary purpose is for people to come together and share their experiences. A staple of Soulslike games is being able to see phantoms of other players' activities so that you can get some clues aboutwhere to goor avoid their grisly fate.
These are joined by messages made of pre-approved words and phrases that leak across various versions of the game to offer warnings or encouragement. Although it’s fun to play around with these tools, they’re not integral to the gameplay, so unless you’re an aspiring digital tagger, you may ignore these tips.
6Multiplayer Features
Time For Team-Up
Another element of FromSoftware’s mainline titles is how it handles co-op and online play, which has received mixed reception. On the one hand, you’re able to call on your friends and vice versa to help them through difficult stretches of the game. On the other hand, only the host makes progress, while the guest gets to tag along.
Not to mention that random goofs jumping into your world to add chaos to an already difficult situation are not necessarily appreciated. You’ll need certain items and conditions to use the multiplayer features properly. Still, you don’t need to be reminded of them repeatedly, especially if you don’t have any reliable co-op buddies.
5Enemy And Creature Notes
Dissect And Destroy
When playing through Elden Ring, you’ll meet a mix of humanoid and creature enemies. Regardless of whether you’ve seen them before, you can usually figure out what they’re all about after a few moments in their presence and subsequently getting killed by them. The best way to learn about an enemy is to fight them, observe their actions, andtest out different tactics.
However, that can be time-consuming and tedious, so sometimes we’d like a clue about what we’re dealing with and what we can do about it. The enemy tips are few and far between, but that’s what makes them very valuable when it comes to learning about particularly tough encounters or those with valuable loot.
4Navigation
Where Do I Go?
What understandably got everyone so hyped about playing Elden Ring was the fact that it was a Soulslike FromSoftware game with open-world elements. Their other titles are known for not spelling things out in terms of where to go and what to do, and nowsuch a worldhas expanded dramatically.
Thankfully, the designers above provided multiple ways of getting around, making this fantasy world feel substantial in its tone and atmosphere. As such, a world so vast can be intimidating, so it can be easy to get lost and confused. That’s why loading screens that offer some guidance can be very helpful in getting you back on the right track, or at least, a track.
3Using Items
Stock Up And Roll Out
If you’re like many other Soulslike players, you forget that you have items most of the time. All you need is something to whack things and something to prevent you from dying, right? Well, as FromSoftware has grown and learned, their games have changed so that you’re more likely to read the item descriptions and dare to dream and use them.
Elden Ring is no different, with an extensive catalog of items ranging from mundane to generous. From tools to medicine, the loading screen tips will pop up with blurbs about some of the more valuable items, how to use them, and evenwhere you can find some. Even in Elden Ring, farming is a viable tactic.
2Status Effects
I Don’t Feel So Good
As if erratic giant enemies that jump like spiders and slice through the air like mantises aren’t enough, some of them can cause status effects. It’s hard enough to keep your health in the first place, but now you have to worry about status effects that make doing that harder or even worse.
Some of them are self-explanatory, like Burn and Poison with enemies that very clearly have those things to share, but in the heat of the fight, you can easily lose your composure. The more you learn about status effects from the loading screens, the less scared of them you’ll be. They serve as a friendly reminder to stay alert, keep certain items on hand, and consider swapping out your gear periodically.
1Combat Tips
You Fight Good
This should be at the top because both experts and newbies need to be reminded of the combat. There’s nothing worse than getting a good session of hits, getting a boss into the single digits, only to get too confident, so the boss gets a cheap shot in to break your stride and crush your dreams. Elden Ring combat is reminiscent of its predecessors, combining bothfree-form fighting and dueling.
Depending on the enemy, you need to be prepared to adapt by practicing guarding, deflecting, evading, and breaking stances. Poise is one of the most defining stats in the series, and you’ll quickly learn why from the loading screens, as well as just how to hone your combat technique so that you can try again, better, stronger, and wiser.
