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The RPS Advent Calendar 2022, December 23rdThe big one
The big one
Behind today’s RPS Advent Calendar door is a game that was only just beaten into second place. Luckily, after said beating it can just pop back to life at the last Site Of Grace it visited and then dive back into the fray again.
Fight a monster with too many limbs in epic RPGElden Ring!
12 Elden Ring Tips And Tricks To Help You Easily Conquer The First 10 HoursLiam’s beginners tips for Elden Ring are actually beginner friendly, and very usefulWatch on YouTube
12 Elden Ring Tips And Tricks To Help You Easily Conquer The First 10 Hours
Ollie:After my first session playingElden Ring, I felt as though the Souls formula had always been heading towards this particular point. FromSoftware’s first foray into trulyopen world gameshas, rather unfortunately, tarnished (heh) my opinion of just about every other open world experience.
In practice, the goal doesn’t matter. The beauty of Elden Ring is the freedom to just explore and get into trouble. The map, wonderfully bereft of icons and map markers, steadily unfolds over time. Each new map fragment you find in the world expands the map’s borders so that you’re never quite sure if you’ve seen everything. Make no mistake: The world of The Lands Between is postiively gigantic. And everything you can see, you’ll eventually reach.
As with all FromSoft games, Elden Ring is immensely challenging, and even the lowliest footman can dispatch you with woeful ease if you’re not careful. The game also has a rather twisted sense of humour, and likes to play tricks on you. Some advice for any new player:maybedon’t open that underground chest in the Dragon-Burnt Ruins. It contains a teleporter trap that transports you to a challenging late-game area, and resets your spawn there so you can’t escape without fighting your way out.
It’s that kind of playfulness which makes The Lands Between such a joy to explore. Set off in any direction, and you truly don’t know what you’ll find. The game will always manage to surprise you in some way. Sometimes in very big ways. This is meant to be a key selling point of pretty much all open world games, but no other game manages it quite like Elden Ring does.
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / FromSoftware Inc, Bandai Namco Entertainment
Liam:As far as I’m concerned, LimgraveisElden Ring. I’ve progressed very slightly past the game’s starting zone but like, I didn’t care for all the wizard shit? So I just hopped back to Limgrave as soon as I could. Limgrave is Elden Ring in minature. Everything the game has to offer is right there, tucked away in seaside cliffs and behind crumbling walls. A large dribbly rat boy? Check. Stoic knight with a spear? Check. Weird guy with terrible posture and a sinister laugh? Check, check, check. I may not have gotten very far with Elden Ring, but Limgrave alone is a game in itself. A pretty good one. When it isn’t stomping on my head with its minging troll feet or whatever.
Alice0:Elden Ring bleeds magic as it continues on for far too long, but luckily it has a whole lot of magic to safely lose.
Ed:Alice O’s thoughts sit closest to mine. Elden Ring is a special thing but oh my god is it an exhausting thing. Still, the density and scope of its open world is something to behold. I mean, it made a seemingly innocuous elevator ride one of the highlights of my year, so I can’t complain too much.
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/FromSoftware/Bandai Namco Entertainment
Hayden:I’ve had two very different experiences with Elden Ring. My first was a sprawling 300 hour venture, in which I smacked every wall and examined each corner of the map to find new secrets. Such is the way of guidestown. But Elden Ring made that experience far more fun that it has ever been (and likely ever will be). Despite having never played the mainDark Soulsseries, Elden Ring has taught me that FromSoft are all about those juicy secrets hidden behind a series of three secret walls.
These playthroughs were completely different, with the first embracing its freedom of exploration and the second treating it like a brutal boss gauntlet. Despite those differences, though, both experiences felt entirely valid, like they were the true purpose of Elden Ring’s design. No matter how I chose to play, it managed to exceed my expectations. Perhaps most importantly, it still somehow leaves me wanting more.
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Bandai Namco
Months have passed since I last got properly lost in the Lands Between, but it’s now morphed into something of a comfort game. If I have a spare couple of hours, I’ll load it up with a new Wretch and dart through Limgrave to quickly challengeMargit, like heading to the pub with an old pal for a quick catch up. I show them my cool new sword, and they smack me with a cane. Very normal friend things. It’s become cosy, a warm way to pass a dark evening while snuggled up in a blanket with hot chocolate. Or maybe I just have Stockholm syndrome.
Alice Bee:I ran up against the wall that is Elden Ring a few times - I got on pretty well withDark Souls 3, but my favourite of the FromSoft games isBloodborne, and in comparison to those dark, cramped tunnels and streets, Elden Ring is prohibitively open. But I think I’ve turned a corner with it, because a pal told me to just get on my horse and run past stuff that seemed too difficult. Thus, when I splashed down to get a look at a lake and a big fuck-off dragon appeared out of nowhere, I promptly cheesed it in another direction. I have felt more free to explore and try things. I ran into the main boss fella, the king with all the extra arms and that, couldn’t beat him, and went off to do some exploring in stead. No bother.
