Saturday, April 2, 2022

Elden Ring: A Dissection of Difficulty

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As an avid FROM SOFTWARE fan I will dissect Elden Ring's types of difficulty to help others understand the concept of failure and success from the mind of Hidetaka Miyazaki. Also discuss the concept of accessibility options. Introduction to Suffering Suffering If you are reading this it's because you are a fellow sufferer, like me. We are no strangers to this concept. Elden Ring will take that idea to the virtual world. Prepare yourself and be ready and open to gaining new skills. Becoming Patient If you have issues with patience then Elden Ring won't let you progress until you have at least a grasp of the concept. There will be times in which your patience will be tried. It will be up to you to make the decision to press forward or come back another time. And hopefully, never give up. The Rage Regardless of your lack of or over abundance of patience, you will rage. I will do it, you will too. It is inevitable. But what matters is what you will do about after the storm has calmed. After your rage, collect your thoughts, create a new strategy and try again later. You can do it Remember that this is just a video game! And there will be no designed enemy or other thing that is purposely impossible to overcome. You will do it. You can do it! And there is no shame in asking for help! It is human to do so! The Joy Hopefully the world, music, and overcoming your suffering will lead to it's full opposite. JOY! No words can express the joy felt when finally overcoming that boss/enemy/etc. We play FROM SOFTWARE games not because we want to suffer. But because when we overcome that suffering we feel immense joy! So with these ideas in mind, let's begin. Difficulty in Randomness The first covered concept in Elden Ring's difficulty is the idea of random occurrences. This has evolved from the early Demon Souls all the way to Dark Souls and now Elden Ring. The idea of implementing something random happening during combat wasn't really strong until Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. In the previous FROM SOFTWARE titles (DS to DSII), the aggression of enemies seemed to be determined by closest enemy. The other more developed type of aggression that is much more present in Elden Ring than any other FROM SOFTWARE title is damage. The reason these two have to do with any sort of randomness expected from the enemy is that unlike the Dark Souls counterparts, Elden Rings aggression enemy AI seems more complicated. You can expect in Dark Souls III, when playing with co-op partners, that if you are the target of an attack from an enemy, the enemy will follow through with the attack until it's finished. In Elden Ring, this is not so. Many of the attacks of enemies can be completely redirected to another person mid-attack. Hence, having a pretense that you are safe from an attack just because the enemy is not attacking you directly. In order to prepare yourself for random attacks that are not obviously incoming you will need to develop strong observational skills and reflexes/response. Proximity Aggression There is a chance that even though an enemy is attacking someone else that if you are in closer proximity to that enemy it may take the wind-up part of the attack to redirect it at you. Be on guard and take time to observe and commit to memory the enemies attacks so you can be ready in case this occurs. Damage Aggression Similarly to proximity, dealing damage to an enemy regardless of distance can completely change the enemies aggression to the attacker. This will occur more often to magic dealing users whose typical high-risk high-reward play style may seal their doom from afar. Be prepared to respond to a shift of aggression every time you attack. Future Aggression A update which seems to be only present in Elden Ring is an enemies ability to be aware that they are about to be attacked. As a magic class, I find myself becoming the target of a charged mid-swing attack by a boss while I am within the process of summoning a spell or holding for a heavy hit with my weapon. This can be hardly avoided unless you have a way to cancel the skill or are just far enough away that the mid-change in attack hardly matters. Keen observation of the enemies abilities is a sure way to line up a chance to get a hit in without also trading blows. TL;DR The aggression algorithm will be constantly be shifting from line of sight aggression, proximity aggression, and damage aggression. Take head to observe and respond quickly to enemies so that when these random shifts in aggression occur you are ready to react quickly! Difficulty of Self In any installment of Dark Souls, by the time you reached the end of the game you had a firm grasp of what was a good weapon and what is no longer a good weapon. Near the end of it all there where a good handle of weapons that you had to rely on to expect a smooth ending to it all. Needless to say, it's possible that you can pick up a rock in the same titles and with enough will and eternal patience, you could beat the game with said rock. However in Elden Ring, the fact that you can customize your play style around weapon arts you can essentially take that rock places it never knew it could. Each enemy in the game is unique. No two enemies (besides a clone of the same enemy) will behave the same. In this manner, your play style and the way you eloquently execute enemies may not always work out as it may have done so, simply because using a specific weapon, or utilizing a tactic that seems to always work for you just happens to get yourself killed. This happens more with those high-risk high-reward play-styles. I'm talking specifically parrying and using anything that makes you take more damage when charging an attack or summoning a spell. Kudos the the person who wants to parry every move, every time. Personally, I can't do that. Hopefully you will understand this in time when you come across an enemy, and through observation, realize that they are going to be extremely difficult to kill based on the way you play vs someone elses. i.e. a dex bleed build that can't get next to a dodging enemy, but a magic dealer can just cast something and snipe it from afar. TL;DR Your play style may not be the solution to success. And you'll have to make the choice to either: change the way you play, tough it out and prove it can be done, or bring in someone and rely on their technical prowess you lack to finish the enemy off. Difficulty of Bosses Whether you were just strolling in the open world or you stepped through a fog wall, there are a few things that I can offer for you to find success when confronting Elden Rings true tests of strength and trial. A side note. If anything, MSQ bosses are designed to be a test of strength, are usually made up of a few phases, and are a display of the most difficult side of the game. My personal belief to these are that you are meant to come out bloody, triumphant, and exhausted, feeling like you're standing on a pile of corpses at the end of a massive battle. As such: a list of things that I do to eventually get to that point: Observation. Something from Sekiro I learned is that each boss has a set of attack moves that when memorized CAN be dodged, parried or approached in some way. Sekiro taught me that you don't have to bum rush bosses. YOU CAN just chill, let them attack you for a while to see what they do before you decide to completely open yourself up to be hit. This has really helped me to kill a boss more than anything else honestly. Know your enemy before engaging. Your Strengths. Every boss is designed for you to reach and beat at a certain point in your journey. That's not to say at level one you can go try to beat the final boss, just be ready to be there for a few years before you beat them. You have a particular set of skills and strengths. Try not to squander your skills, weapon, weapon arts, and prowess in whatever you feel you are good at in bashing your head against a wall that is the boss. Their Weaknesses. All enemies have weaknesses to certain elements that you can exploit and this can be understood by observation as well. If a boss is super exposed, gooey, or just running a loincloth, there is good chance they may be weak to fire. If the the enemy is super slow but every hit from your sword is doing next to no damage, it's possible that are extremely weak to magic. You will never be completely limited in defeating a boss a very specific way (unlike Sekiro where you're only option is sword). You can approach a boss in anyway and utilizing the items and crafting system (which is amazing btw) you can choose to struggle on a 20 minute boss fight, OR throw some magic on your sword that makes the fight 5 minutes. Experiment. And on a side note, if you eventually know for sure you can kill the boss, and know it will take you 20 minutes to do so and enjoy every minute along the way, go for it. I am not saying that killing the boss in 5 hits is the way to go. You do you. Come back later. The way-point system and map was a god send. You have no idea how many bosses I've approached (like 7 at this point) where I say: "no way can I do this right now". I slap a way point on the map and come back later. This helps to get fresh views and level up some before approaching the nearly impossible task. TL;DR Observe the bosses attacks. Commit the movements and attacks to memory. Utilize those memories for opening to attack in the style you choose. When the sting of defeat is too much to bear, leave and come back another time. Return more powerful than when you first met! Difficulty of Invasions AI vs Human Controlled Scenarios There isn't much to say when it comes to fighting AI enemies versus human. Invasions can be more infuriating and frustrating that any Elden Ring experience simply because you know there is another human out there trying to ruin your day. The only difference between the two is that the AI is predictable and human controlled attacks are not. However, it is important to note that it is difficult for invaders to switch who they are attacking mid attack. Being able to switch targets on the fly is a sign they are good at invading and will be a tough challenge. Approach these enemies like you would an AI boss. Read the previous help and hints for bosses and apply everything to these fights. Frustrating as invasions can be, I recommend you use these moments as a learning experience and to see what other people are using and doing. You may see some cool things and observe some pretty sick game play. Praise the Elden Ring you don't get invaded naturally out of the blue. However, sad to the day that you will be invaded by those once you bring in a friend. Since there is no in-game chat or way to communicate with your human adversary, there have been established ways of communicating an invaders intentions. There are essentially 2.5 types of invaders you may come across. These communications were long going since the beginning days of invasions in Dark Souls 1 all the way to now. Use the following as a general guide. In any decision you make when you become invaded, remember that this is your world, not theirs, do as you please to those who show up unannounced and unwelcome. TL;DR Human interaction and attacking is much more random than AI enemies. Observe how they attack you and look for opening. Even if invasions are frustrating, use the moment to learn something. Further understanding of invasion and how they work can be read below. Invasion Culture The Duelist These invaders will approach you openly and obviously, and will most likely bow to you in honor as a means of challenging the person bowed to in a duel. It's expected to bow back as a term of acceptance and generally if this occurs then cooperator parties generally are not supposed to intervene in the fight by any means. You are also expected to each chug all your healing before fighting to show that you will honor a fight-to-the-death or just not drink any. If you choose to keep your heals then it's a 1:1 drinking of heals. If you heal, they can heal too. I personally enjoy these types of people and almost always agree to an honorable fight because they are interesting to fight and you know they aren't just here to mess you up. If you chug heals and they don't or you bow and they don't bow back then there is no duel and all means of execution are on the board. The ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ These people are here to kill you, kill your family, kill your dog, your cat, pee on all your food, and dance on your grave as they are being dragged to hell. They use any tactic and any means to kill you. Their behavior is to typically drag you away from safety and towards danger, using open world enemies and even bosses to whittle you down. They almost always open up their presence to you by being immediately hostile. They will run away when they know the odds are against them and have no issue staying in your world until you are healingless, defenseless, and alone. These are also typically the most dangerous invaders, as in most cases, these people have spent every waking hour perfecting and mastering parrying and may openly let you attack them so that they can parry you and instantly kill you. There are no rules here, only death. Oh, and make sure you use the 'Point Down' Gesture on their corpse, as they leave, as a sign of your dominance on their disrespect to you These are also the majority of people complaining in forums against FROM SOFTWARE about how non-invaders are force quiting the game to avoid confrontation. With so many new players this has been an issue and there isn't a resolution to this currently. Invasions are natural and aren't nearly as terrible as it has been in Dark Souls. See the Accessibility Theory page below for more on this. The Friendly Cooperator who just likes the color red These people hop in and typically don't do anything, may help you find things and expose weaknesses and even help you through your journey like a typical cooperator. I think it's funny when these people show up, as rare as it is. These people also typically backstab me after everything is said and done in the end so don't think they won't do it. Just stay cautious. Addressing Accessibility Options This OR That? There has been a call to FROM SOFTWARE in forums to address the concern of difficulty in their games. The widespread use of a "souls-like" game has become extremely popular ever since their first Dark Souls game and even more so since Dark Souls III and now Elden Ring. Millions of people are getting into the experience of a truly challenging video game and test certain mental abilities like learning patience in oneself and in others. People are asking FROM SOFTWARE to add accessibility options to assist new players and others in making the game maybe/possibly not easier, but less difficult. Similar requests were applied to Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice when it released. There is only one issue and reason in which this may never occur that I am aware of. Elden Ring is at once both an online game and not an online game. The Issue of Online Progress of Elden Ring is defined by your ability to slay enemies and use runes from them to level up. Simply put, implementing accessibility options and using the easily obtained, subsequent runes, to make your character stronger would completely shatter the online cooperative and invasion aspect of the game. The ONLY way that I think this could be addressed is via two possible ways. Intense Scaling Optimization The idea behind this is that when you create a character you will have to opt in to an unchangeable setting that will allow for an easier Elden Ring Experience - taking in all of the story and impressive graphics, music, and gameplay that has been put into this - with the exception your character is branded as an Accessibility Opt-in character and you will be hard core scaled down when using any online service. This scaling algorithm would need to be applied when you summon cooperators to assist you and if you use a taunters tongue to accept invaders to come to you. This would temporarily make a switch from a character with opt-in accessibility to a "normal" Elden Ring experience while online. Complete Online Ostracism A more rough but simple idea to addressing accessibility would be to ostracize a character from receiving any online services. You would become a god, no one could kill you and the need for scaling or the issue of being too overpowered to quickly would be negated. Conclusion Of the two options, I believe right off the bat people would be more inclined to scaling optimization over online ostracizing. This discussion is not new to FROM SOFTWARE titles. And anything like this being accomplished would not come for a long time. FROM SOFTWARE hasn't ever addressed this concern before but if it is ever going to happen it might as well be now. I imagine if the community makes enough noise about it to bully FROM SOFTWARE to add an accessibility option it won't happen until all planned DLCs and updates and fixes are finished. This would not become a priority change to be made to the game. (And personally, I like the challenge so I wouldn't be numbered at the picket line). Side-Note: The one game I've played with an "easy mode" enabled was Hades and personally the only argument from my point of view is that, whether Elden Ring or Hades: making the game incredibly easy to progress in would immediately lose the flair of overcoming challenges. A "souls-like" game is what it is because of how difficult it is. Take away that difficultly and it just becomes something more akin to Skyrim (an opinion). It feels so good to finally defeat an enemy you have been seeking to defeat for so long. And, if anything, Elden Ring offers so many ways to overcome the challenges you will face that with enough time and patience you may find that accessibility options are not entirely needed. You just need to spend some time farming runes, leveling up and preparing the right equipment for the job. Doing this will make the game all the more... "easier", I promise. Everything has it's opposite; we cannot experience exquisite joy without also having first experienced exquisite pain.


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