I've been pretty absent from the board for a bit now, and Elden Ring is absolutely the biggest reason why. Holy cow do I love this game. I wouldn't call it perfect, there's performance issues despite decidedly 'last gen' graphics and sound, some glitchiness, some balance issues, and even when everything's working properly it's definitely not for everyone - it's still a Souls game at heart which will put off some Open World fans with it's punishing difficulty spikes, relative lack of friendly npcs, and opaque & circuitous quest design; while some long-time Souls fans will find the open world elements - the item crafting such that 'rewards' often take the form of crafting materials rather than directly useful items or equipment, the long segments of travel and open exploration in between the more tightly designed Souls-like 'legacy dungeon' levels - to be slow and tedious.
But while the game won't be 'for everyone', it's absolutely 'for me'. I've always valued art design far more than graphical fidelity, and the art design here is impeccable. And while there aren't a ton of npcs to talk to in the open world, there is a lot to see and do (and fight and kill), and I appreciate the low-key time riding around & soaking in the world in between high tension souls-like levels & bosses. It's sort of like the calm segments riding your horse on the way to the next epic action set piece in Shadow of the Colossus. And while I'm familiar enough with & decent enough at souls gameplay (I've beaten all the previous souls games, though I admit to relying on co-op more than once), I'm no pro-gamer, so I do appreciate how the open world design provides ample opportunity to go do something else & come back stronger when confronted with a level or boss that's just a bit too hard for me. Even with that, I've still had to fall back on difficulty crutches more than once - from looking up tips online, to asking frinds & strangers for help, to build-tuning with the re-spec option, to making use of overpowered rune arcs & spirit ashes (Godrick's Rune & Mimic Tear has been carrying me through most of the late game), to good old fashioned level grinding. The game may not have 'difficulty settings' as such, and it could certainly have benefited from some extra accessibility options, but there are several 'difficulty release valve' mechanics that provide alternative progression options apart from simply 'getting good'.
The usual thematic and narrative elements are there - a world in decline, trapped by a legacy it can neither restore nor escape from, with the protagonist acting as an outside agent to help the world either restore its past glory or move on from it altogether. But even with the clear similarities, there's a difference in tone. Elden Ring feels less depressed, less despairing, less tragic - & more epic and uplifting. The world is in decline, yes, but the attention is less on the world's corruption and fall and more on your hero's triumph over it. It's a subtle shift in tone that isn't conveyed by the dialog so much as by the art design - the epic vistas, the beautiful sky boxes, the emphasis on vibrant golden light - and especially by the music. Compare the main title themes - Dark Souls 1 & 2 are low key & sombre, Dark Souls 3 turns up the bombast but still has a decidedly tragic feel to it. Bloodborne is tense & spooky, & going back before Dark Souls, Demon's Souls' title theme alternates between softer spooky bits and louder scary bits. Elden Ring's title theme starts off for a moment soft and somber, like DS 1 & 2, and even has a 'pling plong' bit that sounds like a deliberate reference to the suprisingly soft and sad piano theme of DS1's last boss, before exploding into a huge brass and drums & choir theme that sounds more like a big Hollywood movie trailor than any previous souls theme. It's BIG and EPIC, and where dark souls title music wanted you to be sad, and bloodborne & demon's souls wanted you to be scared, Elden Ring's title theme wants you to be hyped and excited. The music is BIG and it wants the player to FEEL big - big enough to face the huge open world and larger than life bosses waiting for them.
I'm nearing the end of my initial semi-blind faith build run, and will absolutely be diving straight back into a ng+ run, this time using guides to ensure I see everything I missed the first time around, in addition to starting a separate character to give intelligence casting a try & co-op with a friend who only just started the game. It'll be a while yet before I'm back into the Mortal Realms, clearly. That said, if I wanted to tie it into the board's actual topic, Elden Ring's world, while more grounded than the Mortal Realms, still has this larger-than-life Mythic Fantasy scope to it, with gods - or at least demi-gods - literally walking the land and taking a direct hand in world events - that puts it closer to Age of Sigmar than to Warhammer Fantasy, and there's aspects of the setting and landscape that could certainly inspire table & terrain projects.
The game's everywhere, I'm sure nobody needs my recommendation to be aware of it, or to know if it's something you'll want to try, but for what it's worth I definitely think it's worth a look.
But while the game won't be 'for everyone', it's absolutely 'for me'. I've always valued art design far more than graphical fidelity, and the art design here is impeccable. And while there aren't a ton of npcs to talk to in the open world, there is a lot to see and do (and fight and kill), and I appreciate the low-key time riding around & soaking in the world in between high tension souls-like levels & bosses. It's sort of like the calm segments riding your horse on the way to the next epic action set piece in Shadow of the Colossus. And while I'm familiar enough with & decent enough at souls gameplay (I've beaten all the previous souls games, though I admit to relying on co-op more than once), I'm no pro-gamer, so I do appreciate how the open world design provides ample opportunity to go do something else & come back stronger when confronted with a level or boss that's just a bit too hard for me. Even with that, I've still had to fall back on difficulty crutches more than once - from looking up tips online, to asking frinds & strangers for help, to build-tuning with the re-spec option, to making use of overpowered rune arcs & spirit ashes (Godrick's Rune & Mimic Tear has been carrying me through most of the late game), to good old fashioned level grinding. The game may not have 'difficulty settings' as such, and it could certainly have benefited from some extra accessibility options, but there are several 'difficulty release valve' mechanics that provide alternative progression options apart from simply 'getting good'.
The usual thematic and narrative elements are there - a world in decline, trapped by a legacy it can neither restore nor escape from, with the protagonist acting as an outside agent to help the world either restore its past glory or move on from it altogether. But even with the clear similarities, there's a difference in tone. Elden Ring feels less depressed, less despairing, less tragic - & more epic and uplifting. The world is in decline, yes, but the attention is less on the world's corruption and fall and more on your hero's triumph over it. It's a subtle shift in tone that isn't conveyed by the dialog so much as by the art design - the epic vistas, the beautiful sky boxes, the emphasis on vibrant golden light - and especially by the music. Compare the main title themes - Dark Souls 1 & 2 are low key & sombre, Dark Souls 3 turns up the bombast but still has a decidedly tragic feel to it. Bloodborne is tense & spooky, & going back before Dark Souls, Demon's Souls' title theme alternates between softer spooky bits and louder scary bits. Elden Ring's title theme starts off for a moment soft and somber, like DS 1 & 2, and even has a 'pling plong' bit that sounds like a deliberate reference to the suprisingly soft and sad piano theme of DS1's last boss, before exploding into a huge brass and drums & choir theme that sounds more like a big Hollywood movie trailor than any previous souls theme. It's BIG and EPIC, and where dark souls title music wanted you to be sad, and bloodborne & demon's souls wanted you to be scared, Elden Ring's title theme wants you to be hyped and excited. The music is BIG and it wants the player to FEEL big - big enough to face the huge open world and larger than life bosses waiting for them.
I'm nearing the end of my initial semi-blind faith build run, and will absolutely be diving straight back into a ng+ run, this time using guides to ensure I see everything I missed the first time around, in addition to starting a separate character to give intelligence casting a try & co-op with a friend who only just started the game. It'll be a while yet before I'm back into the Mortal Realms, clearly. That said, if I wanted to tie it into the board's actual topic, Elden Ring's world, while more grounded than the Mortal Realms, still has this larger-than-life Mythic Fantasy scope to it, with gods - or at least demi-gods - literally walking the land and taking a direct hand in world events - that puts it closer to Age of Sigmar than to Warhammer Fantasy, and there's aspects of the setting and landscape that could certainly inspire table & terrain projects.
The game's everywhere, I'm sure nobody needs my recommendation to be aware of it, or to know if it's something you'll want to try, but for what it's worth I definitely think it's worth a look.
As I'm getting older I like my games to not torture me!
I didn't realise that Elden Ring had a co-op mode...but then I don't have anyone to pair with so it's a moot point!