I Finally Get Why Elden Ring Is A Masterpiece 

Warning: this video contains shows spoilers, if you're a 100% new player and dont want any spoilers at all playing blind is recommended. Play Warcraft Rumble For Free: warcraftrumble.onelink.me/7POk/ujjpznvs Subscribe To Second Channel Here: amg.gg/Darthmx #Warcraft_Rumble_Partner

I am not a serious gamer, I spend about an hour each day on Elden Ring, just like riding the horse aimlessly and hit some monsters. However, I never seen a game that can offer insane amount of different approaches, not to mention the breathtaking sceneries and gothic architectures. They deserve all the success.

I just started playing Elden Ring in March. Now I’m clocking in almost 200hrs on this game on my first play. I’m, by no means, a serious gamer. I’m not a skilled gamer. I just started picking up gaming again after not playing at all since PS3. And, this is my first souls game ever. Honestly, I was curious why it’s so damn famous, and why some of my mates couldn’t finish it. So, I bought the game and gave it a try. Like many others, I got my butt whopped and a huge dose of reality check pretty fast 😂. I almost quit actually, but decided to press on and found myself immersed in the game. I explored the maps like I’ve never done before with other games. I don’t know, but it’s like this game flipped a switch inside me. It challenges so much that I wanna beat it. I couldn’t remember the last time I’m trying this hard for a game. It’s truly a masterpiece. PS. I just beat Malenia last night, I almost cried 😂.

I was so hyped to first get this game, then it slapped me in the face, I was so mad. Thought i had just wasted $70. But then I kept playing, got better, learned what I was doing and although I've died a ton, it is in my opinion one of the best games ever made. Visually it's stunning, the exploring, and then the accomplishment you feel when you finally take down that big boss. It's amazing.

One lady beat this game using a DDR dance pad. This game draws the masochists.

I have a platinum trophy for Elden ring and I still watched this video. That’s how epic Elden ring is.

ONE OF US! ONE OF US! ONE OF US! 😂

What a lot of new players fail to understand is that dying is not a punishment, it’s a core mechanic and with how Elden ring is made into an open world, you’re never forced to bash your head into one boss/area. Tree sentinel teaches you from the start to go explore and come back later.

And I would add to this beautiful analysis that no gameplay is wrong. You play the game in whatever way will maximize your fun. This is the point of a game, isn't it?

The best way I've heard Elden Ring described is it's the most rewarding exploration game out there. Because anyyime you hit a wall with a boss fight you can explore dozens of beautiful locations and find cool new items n upgrades and then return to that boss and absolutely smash it to pieces.

The game just consumes you. That’s it. It takes you into another universe in a matter of seconds which you don’t want to be pulled out of.

I actually really like the way you explain how everyone has a different experience with ER. You have such a cool way of thinking things out.

I also think people speak out so much because they are all so passionate about it. You tend to be bold about and speak out when your heart and mind are so invested. And that is all good. I have dozens of playthroughs in my 1540 hours in it, and each time I do things slightly different. Your point about uniqueness is on point.

ER had taught me that, most people weren’t actually ready for an actual open-world game.

Great video, I agree 100%. ER's beauty is that you can do it however you feel. It's a vibe.

The Placidusax bossfight is just chefs kiss ...the visuals , the intro the arena

Elden Ring is a top 5 game of all time for me. The DLC is being praised through the roof too, can't wait 🙌

Wow man that outro was so poetic in a way.

Having watched all the "advice" being given on the live stream, you've found a beautiful way to understand why that was happening and make it a compliment to this excellent game. Bravo

I really agree with all of your takes. What I love about Elden Ring (and Souls games in general) is that it constantly asks you to battle yourself. In other words, it keeps presenting challenges to you and asking you to persevere. I also love the level design. Specifically, there seems to be much more thought put into the design of their open world, especially when compared to other open world games. For example, you might notice a cliff edge illuminated by light. Once you get to that edge, you might see that there is a path to get down. Finally, if you follow that path you might find yourself in a hidden village. It's clear that the devs put an extraordinary amount of thought in how the world was created.

I thought that no RPG could ever top Withcer 3 until I started to play Elden Ring. The immense world, cool looking locations, the countless ways you can develop your character, the choices you can make in this game with quests and the fact you can go basicly anywhere on Torrent and just lose yourself in the Lands Between is just amasing. I love this game.

To me it’s the sense of exploration / sense of scale / hidden dungeons and mystery. The environments are massive and when you’re in an area and zoom out- you realize that monument etc far in the distance is just a nearby spec on overall map is really amazing sense of being in another world

Love to see you get sponsored content my man.

I'm in the same camp as you where I didn't understand the hype, but picked it up last week and holy moly I can't put it down.

This was a really good run down, as soon as I saw this I knew it would be though as you're always really honest while staying respectful with reviews, I'm really glad you enjoyed the game

I love that the end of the game is one of the first things you can see when you walk out of the tutorial dungeon.

Long time souls player here. This culture has been around a while. It started from Demon Souls and grew with DS1, and kept going till Elden Ring. It's definitely not because the game is large. There are plenty of large games out there that don't have this culture, take RDD for example or Skyrim. Now maybe this is part of RPGs, but I think it's somewhat unique to the souls community. The souls community culture is inherited from Demon Souls, and cemented over the other DS games. Elden Ring inherits this try-hard mentality culture, despite being a game that is much more open to the average player than the earlier games. Funny enough, I think the hardcore / old-school souls players have moved past this mentality, but it has permeated itself now in the general player base.

This game has been on my must play list since release. Really need to start playing it.

The 'gatekeeping/backseating' is also legacy advice from souls veterans. There has always been a lot of merit in the struggle of a bossfight, and in learning their moves and overcoming them. Missile magic oft removed the need to learn enemy attack patterns. Elden Ring mitigated that somewhat in balancing bosses to rush you down and have more ranged moves, magic parries, etc. Elden Ring created a new predicament when it comes to retaining that achievement, because you can roam away and massively over level, only to return to what would have been a magical experience of a bossfight, only to one shot it.

Happy you came back to play this game. So many people got frustrated and wrote it off when it first released. Due to the marketing it reached way further than any other fromsoft game and as a result a lot of people played it without really having a good idea how these types of games work as far as difficulty and the reward of exploration. It's a fantastic game that is very rewarding as you become a better player and strengthen your character. By the end of the game you can have essentially leveled yourself to boss-level strength which is very appropriate.

you make a really good point about the back seating / gatekeeping. good vid

I LOVE seeing videos like this, because it's exactly how I feel. The game is super hard but hard in the right way, the feeling of accomplishment when you FINALLY beat that boss is something most games I've played don't come near. I love exploring and getting lost in games.

Elden Ring is one of the only games where I had go through a whole training arc in order to fully understand the game mechanics and how I wanted to build my character.

Truly appreciated this video, there is so much to enjoy. I personally decided I was going to beat the first first first boss (cutscene one), 12 hours later and several new characters created later (gotta make a new character every time you die) I killed it at 8:57 in the morning, still remember the time stamp lol! Amazing video, sending lots of positive vibes.

You are absolutely correct. I owned Elden Ring since release but i never got far and was somewhat disappointed, because i enjoyed the linear gamers like Dark Souls and such so i was kinda asking the game to tell me what to do, but of course its not going to answer you. 3 years later, today, i changed my approach into clearing area by area, kinda like i would do in World of Warcraft. I take one grace (campsite) and then go left and right and every house i could make out on the map. Every structure on the map has some kind of gem hidden, a dungeon and/or a boss. This approach made me really explore the world and gave me some kind of quest and direction (dont leave before you checked every corner). This helped a lot. I now played the main game twice and the DLC once and have a hard time playing anything else, because it indeed is such a great game. however, I will take a break now and play something less challanging, like AC Valhalla. I need a change of pace. Spent 3 weeks and 100+ hours in the lands between, grinding every day. I seen enough, yet still not everything. :)

whats so wild is I don't recall this level of "you're doing it wrong" in the prior souls games.

Absolutely awesome video, glad youre enjoying the game Darth

Very well put. Great breakdown of it all

This man wastes no time just getting to the point. Damn, I love this channel.

Welcome brother 😊

Loved this video! Such a good take on the game and its community.

Loved this, particularly that final take

I appreciate the recognition of the "youre ruining it for yourself" advice coming from a positive place even if its annoying. You only get to play the game for the first time once, and tho the message may be clumsy, people are just trying to make that first playthru as good as possible. Buy and large, dropping the mage staff and ditching the shield in favour of learning boss movesets and fighting against the instinct to give up is what a lotta people enjoy the most. I know i feel the best when i scrape thru by the skin of my teeth, and winning via summons, ashes or over leveling earns me very little satisfaction most of the time. Exploration and perseverance is more important than skill in that regard. Im a vet of the souls series, and all vets chase that first-playthru feeling once the content runs out. The only way to get close is playing randomizers, or watching someone experience the same thing we did. Sure, some people forget its not them playing, or that some people get the same feeling we did from an entirely different playstyle, but at its core the intent is usually well-meaning, even if its unwanted. Still, its important to find your own personal niche of max enjoyment and allow yourself to settle into it. The important thing is to believe in yourself to work thru the game despite its difficulty. I personally believe its finding your personal fav type of weapon, ditching the magic and shield, and rumbling man to man with the bosses with nothing but your roll between you and death. Its a taxing, but fantastic relief if you can persevere beyond the frustration. Its like if i saw someone buy monster hunter world, look at the vet gear to fast track vets to the dlc, only to use that and not understand why people love that game's gear grind cuz the first equipment they had invalidated the need to pay attention to it. Sure its there, but there is a semi intended path that lets you interact with the games systems. But its not for everyone, and recognizing that is just as important. Use whatever feels best. You only get one first playthru after all!

Fantastic review. I hope you keep playing it.

Always love your take on things, Darth. Thanks for a AAA+ review on my favorite game.

I’ve got 4 of your elden ring vods to get through and I’m looking forward to it!

i am not a fan of the soulslike genre but with how much attention elden ring got i have been thinking about buying the game so so many times over the past years looking for videos explaining whether this is a game for someone who does not particularly enjoy the soulsike part of the game, your video is the first that actually makes me consider buying the game, you really sold me on what makes it a good game and i think this might be enough to get me over the soulslike-dislike :D

my first play through i kept thinking surely i cant get to that castle but a few hours later i would be looking down at where i was from said castle

Great analysis, Never thought about how ppls exp is different...that blows my mind...makes sense why its the greatest ever😮

Yo the ending on this video is amazing!

I 100% agree about the idea of some games being good if you "let yourself get into it." There are few games that can really pull you in if you're not giving it a fair shot, especially if you're shitting on it, or actively trying not to give it a chance because you want to hate it. I think in general people need to approach games with an open mind. And I think a lot of the reason people feel like games aren't as good as they used to be is because they have sunk cost in other games, and don't want to give new titles in old genres a fair shake. That or they still believe in AAA studios that have zero devs who worked on the games they loved as kids.

Really love the fact you mention the Self Appointed who feel compelled to override your right to choose to play the game how you want, telling you ( by implication ) that you suck and that they know how it should be done. ER is fabulous precisely because everyone can enjoy it in their own way. You paid for the game, it’s your choice and your journey. Do your thing, Fellow Tarnished!

Live your stuff DM, my wife and I watched you play the whole game

A pleasant surprise that you've changed your mind, I've only seen your first ER stream and assumed the game just didn't click with you. I'll be there to watch you play Shadow of the Erdtree, probably for the second stream though once I'm further ahead haha

Holy, thought I had playback speed set to 2.0 when the vid started 😂 Love the video though good stuff!

I love this welcome bro ! Ppl go at your own pace try to not look up cheese instead explore

The level of immersion available in this game is second to none. The story is incredible. And early on, the story can appear nonexistent. But if you'll commit to exploring the world, reading the item descriptions, and listening to the npc characters (which will involve multiple procs), you will find yourself hooked. You'll be watching lore videos on RU-vid, and possibly even videos for other FromSoftware games, which has turned into an occupation for people because the demand for them is insane. I geek out of things like this. I geek out on other games too. The Dark Souls series, Bloodborne, Sekiro, the Elder Scrolls series, Lies Of P, Blasphemous, Nioh, ect. are all incredible. And I'm really looking foward to the return of ncaa football also. Which is a different kind of immersion. But Elden Ring is by itself at the top when it comes to story and lore immersion.

Best part about the freedom thr game gives you us that no one build is going to be the "best" for a certain area. Running through the Haligtree with a Faith Build let's me 2-3 shot the Ulcerated Tree Spirit, but a Haligtree Knight walks up with a shield and suddenly my Giant's Flame is being tanked. It's wild.

I platinumed this on PS5 and am now doing the same on PC - I love that this video exists. I am watching it just hoping that new people watch it and get drawn in. Here is hoping this means a playthrough of all the Souls Series in the future! For everyone else - if you are stuck at a boss - use a Furlcalling Remedy and look for summon signs (outside of the fog wall/door)- lots of people leave them near boss rooms and are just waiting to help - it does mean you can't have a spirit summon though - for better or worse ha-ha.

Loved that final remark. Very cool point of view.

Bloodborne will always be my favorite From game, but ER is a masterpiece. Just downloaded the DLC cause work has been insane since summers here. I'm glad this game opened the door to a whole new fanbase.

So glad that you finally played this game again and came to the conclusion you did.

Best Mimic strat, talisman/staff in main hand and a greatshield in the offhand. Load it up with heavy attacks and healing and the fight is over.

Another category of "Ways to tailor the game to your enjoyment" is the mods that are available. I have a badass rig I play on, with a 49" super ultrawide monitor. I found the Flawless Widescreen mod and immediately needed it, and it has completely elevated my experience and level of immersion in the game. Another, I personally hate the "drop your runes when you die" mechanic, so I downloaded a mod that turns that off. I also have a mod that skips the watermarks when you load the game up to make it load faster. Lastly I have one that unlocks the FPS so those of us with better machines can enjoy 200+ FPS if we want to, which is great for me because low FPS gives me a headache especially with an ultrawide monitor. But even outside of those "smaller" mods, there are some that completely change the game in drastic ways, daresay even expanding upon the level of content within it.

i swear to god once you replay this game and you follow the questlines better and dont miss some steps its crazy how much emotion they get out of you, for me it was diallos's quest, which i have never ever even seen in my first playthroughs.

'Bout to start the DLC playthrough today. So excited!

Great time to finally like it! Just in time for the DLC! I’m so excited!!!

One of the best ways to use the Mimic, if you are fast enough is to wear the talisman that makes you draw aggro, summon the Mimic and quickly unequip it. Your Micmic will still have it on as it's equipment is whatever you're wearing when you summon it. That way it'll keep the aggro on itself and you can either lazer beam the heck out of a boss from a distance of just attack it from the back depending on your playstyle. (edit for speeling mistokes)

welcome man I hope you stay for a while

Best explanation of its appeal I’ve heard. Thank you!

Thanks for making this video, DM

Well said. Elden Ring is definitely my favorite game because each time I have played it.. it has been a different experience. I was thorough on my first play through, but on my 2nd I still found stuff I missed on my 1st and so on.

Good take. This game surely is a gem. Played it through on launch with broken wep and mimic tear. Before DLC i got it on PC and did a new playthrough without summons and no OP weapon, and i had a blast. I had a whole different experiance. I didnt kill bosses in the same order, i didnt explore areas in the same order. It was unique. Now going through the fantastic DLC. its so good. I’ll be playing ER for years to come.

The coop mod of this game made it so much fun to play with friends on a second play through. Some of th3 most fun ive has playing a from software game

Bloodborne was my very first FromSoft game... there was so much hype with it... after 2 hours I gave up and thought it was garbage, had no idea what I was doing and was insanely hard. A year later I went back to it and suddenly things started making sense.. and I started to understand why it was so loved. I can imagine many of the latest newcomers had that same experience with Elden Ring. I've since played all FS games.. and now even solo'ing all bosses in Elden Ring.

Good summary or review of the game! I was new to soul's games when i bought Elden Ring and got so mad that i quit the game for a few months and so did around 10 of my buddies. I gave it a second chance to learn how to play properly and now it's one of my favorite games I've ever played... I'm sharing this video with the dudes who didn't give it a second chance!

This game reminded me of why I got into gaming, world design, exploration, fantasy, magic, secrets, upgrades, builds and immersion. 100% recommended.

the tiny helmets on the lionel chest piece will never get old. similarly, the giant heads look just as funny. the expansion has one that is just ridiculous and i love it

I knew I didn't like open world games before the release and that had me "Play the game" wrong once it did as well. I basicly hopped my horse and skipped everything untill I was forced off of it at Lucaria Academy, no idea I had skipped Stormveil castle. Exactly as DM says, because I didn't let myself get immersed and even consider it as a castle when I ran past it. I'm now finishing my playthrough and would agree it's the best game ever, even if I don't like open world. What i fell in love with originally was their fenomenal vertical level design, especially DS1, but you still get that experience many times over in Elden Ring, Volcano manor, Haligtree, Leyndell and I especially liked Crumbling Farum Azula. Game just has so much to offer, excited to play the DLC as I'm finally finishing up the base game.

Haha...amazing piece of art my tarnished friend🎉

That’s the beauty of Elden ring. We all have a different experience, play style, favorite weapons, spells/incantations etc. There is no right or wrong way to play this.

Alot of streamers have been playing this game lately and tbh you've been making me want to try it out again 😂😅

Thx you. I quit after about 10 hours. Too fast, too much stimulation, ended up feeling like a second Job. I returned to my "meditation" of dark souls one, which I play around 10 minutes a day. Darksouls one's overall map is of three brain and cental nervous system of a human. Its the central core of a human being. If you zoom all the way out in eldon ring it's a map of a "severed finger". Compared to ds1 this is the most superficial game (ie the central nervous system vs one of our fingers). In eldon ring we are racing around like an invading virus, fighting white blood cells in a person's finger. Pretty superficial. Your video and calm presentation style rekindled my interest in the game. Thx you

Another really cool thing that came to me while watching this. With all the different backseat tarnished giving you a piece of their journey with every suggestion it is each and every one of them wanting you to succeed at this game. Gamers are seriously some of the best people I know.

Godskin duo isn’t a bs fight. They’re both weak to sleep. Knock one out and focus on the other.

10:20 absolutely things you cannot do or ppl will get mad: summons, bleed build, jump attacks, shields, magic, broken faith weapons, strenght one shot builds, be too high level, be too low level, dying too much, struggling too much(more than they did), not struggling enough, not dying enough (less than they did). things that are left and noone will get mad at you about: ????

beautiful video man, v well said

The last part of the video is so true! As someone who's been playing these games for almost 15 years now. And it's the same thing for the "Git Gud" comment. Alot of people see it as a negative or diss but it's just the same thing but shortened. Person 1: ""Git Gud!" Person 2: "but how?" Person 1: "I don't know anyway you'd like" Seems not helpful at all but is actually the best advice without going into specifics.

It's like a very dark and deadly Alice in Wonderland with swords and stuff. It's not bog-standard fantasy, there's so many strange and mind-warping and awe-inspiring things it's really something special

Very well said. It is all about freedom, exploring, and wonder.

Despite everyone saying that magic is easy mode, a good sword with a ranged ash of war like storm blade or vacuum slice can easily out dps any spell. Get a quality ultra greatsword, get str and dex to 50, add storm blade, use it point blank to get the skill and the sword to hit at the same time. Easy 3k damage for 10fp with 1s cast time, no need for a charge and without the use of any talismans. Then you add shard of Alexander and you do even more damage. Any spell that does decent damage has over 3s charged cast time and more than double the fp cost. And if you want it to be as effective as the above ash of war, you need Radagon's icon to speed it up, Craven school mass to get some more damage, Magic scorpion charm for more damage but you lose defense, magic damage flask... and in most boss fights, the boss will not give you the time to fully charge it so you do about 60% of the damage of storm blade for your 25-30fp.

So you finally get it, that's great!

It’s the small things for me…like being able to put your stuff where u want. Like I for instance put my horse on triangle ⬆️ on d pad. That feels natural to me, others put theirs on the regular square inventory and that feels natural to them. Stuff like that gets me hype.

I enjoyed your review on no rest for wicked subbed! I know all about fromsoft games I explore that’s the way I play all my games but I got burnt out a couple of bosses from the end of the OG game but I always find myself going back to Bloodborne and demons .

Crazy is this is one of the ONLY single player games I have actually beat lol. I typically don't beat games. It was an amazing journey and i'm excited for the DLC!

Another great lesson the Tree Sentinel is meant to teach, is that you do not need to, and in fact often shouldn't, just go fight everything you meet head on and expect to survive. Running away is perfectly valid if you don't feel prepared.

I love your sentiment at the end of the video. You definitely hit the nail on the head with the million different things statement. Nobody played this game the same, so yea a lot of people will hate rivers of blood from when it ruined pvp for some. Some people will tell you that you should have started with the astrologist if you want a magic build. I prefer wretched

Solid review!

Some of my friends were playing it when it first launched. I thought i wouldn't like a game where I am always dying. I started playing the game around 2 weeks ago. I am absolutely in love with this game.

I love the Tree Sentinel, for me is one of the best ways a game can teach you "This is out of your league, get stronger and come here later", so you immediately learn that you don't need to kill everything on your way, you can just leave it there and come back later stronger and more prepared.