I recently fought and beat what's got to be my favorite boss in the game so far. Ancestor Spirit. Not a difficult fight by any means, but just super cool. And the lead up area is fantastic.
Elden Ring
- Thread starter Mikey the Moblin
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Here's some parallels I'm seeing and I've only found the time to do the first two and a half areas (Limgrave, Weeping Peninsula, and Liurnia)...
There's a minor dungeon that's a lot like the Forest Temple from Ocarina. It has creepy crawling giant grabby hands, wolves in overgrown abandoned courtyards, and a Phantom Ganon esque final boss.
Supposedly a comet is going to fall kind of like Majora. I read this mild spoiler trying to find out why I couldn't go to a cool area I could only see from a distance underground.
Limgrave/Stormveil reminds me of Hyrule Field/Hyrule Castle/Kokiri Forest/Ordona Province
Liurnia of the Lakes reminds me of Zora's River/Zora's Domain/Lake Hylia
I've already been transported to a Fire Temple - esque place called Volcano Manor...
I've made my way through some mines, kind of like the mines of Death Mountain and Dodongo's Cavern, and even fought a Wyrm boss there that reminded me of the boss from that legendary Zelda dungeon.
There's a minor dungeon that's a lot like the Forest Temple from Ocarina. It has creepy crawling giant grabby hands, wolves in overgrown abandoned courtyards, and a Phantom Ganon esque final boss.
Supposedly a comet is going to fall kind of like Majora. I read this mild spoiler trying to find out why I couldn't go to a cool area I could only see from a distance underground.
Limgrave/Stormveil reminds me of Hyrule Field/Hyrule Castle/Kokiri Forest/Ordona Province
Liurnia of the Lakes reminds me of Zora's River/Zora's Domain/Lake Hylia
I've already been transported to a Fire Temple - esque place called Volcano Manor...
I've made my way through some mines, kind of like the mines of Death Mountain and Dodongo's Cavern, and even fought a Wyrm boss there that reminded me of the boss from that legendary Zelda dungeon.
I love the voice acting for this game. There's a good range of dialects too rather than just RP English, there are quite a few northern characters, I've heard multiple Welsh accents in there. Godrick is the only Westcountry accent I have heard so far but it adds uniqueness to the character.
Not really. In England the northern accent here is more associated with being working class but not rural, for farmers and people who live in the country the stereotype is the westcountry accent which is why Godricks voice was quite surprising to me, he sounds like an evil farmer or pirate which is probably deliberate because he is not taken seriously by the other demigods and lords are typically portrayed with a recieved pronunciation accent.
Playing Elden Ring has me appreciating more the open world bandit camps and environmental dungeons of Breath of the Wild. I was disappointed in them at the time as of course an old school Zelda fan I wanted dungeons but I see now there's a lot of clever design in them like in Elden Ring.
That said, the minor NPC quests in BOTW still are so bland compared to older Zelda games and to Elden Ring.
I want to give one example from a minor not important at all (you can miss entirely) npc in the wilds of Elden Ring.
eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com
look how much gameplay there is there with that one side npc quest and how tragic it is like something from OoT or Majora's Mask almost.
compared to..
and I really just "threw a dart" at the BOTW minor (not important to main quest or any important side quests) NPC list of BOTW (I've read most of them in my spare time and they are all equally trivial and bland) and found this character..
Just like so many of the other random NPCs you'll come across in BOTW this one is just roaming around aimlessly nothing really important going on in their life, doesn't really matter that the world is on the verge of catastrophe, nothing even really important in their personal life. So boring that all they can find to talk to you about is the weather. The freaking weather. If I wanted to talk about the weather in real life I'd go to some old folks home or sit on a front porch with an elderly person, but in a video game you want some excitement... if they aren't boring you with that then it's a fetch quest for something trivial not something life saving, purpose redeeming like the Elden Ring quest linked above.
That said, the minor NPC quests in BOTW still are so bland compared to older Zelda games and to Elden Ring.
I want to give one example from a minor not important at all (you can miss entirely) npc in the wilds of Elden Ring.
Millicent | Elden Ring Wiki
Elden Ring Millicent NPC Guide: Where to find Millicent, related quests, services, drops and tips and tricks.
eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com
look how much gameplay there is there with that one side npc quest and how tragic it is like something from OoT or Majora's Mask almost.
compared to..
and I really just "threw a dart" at the BOTW minor (not important to main quest or any important side quests) NPC list of BOTW (I've read most of them in my spare time and they are all equally trivial and bland) and found this character..
Just like so many of the other random NPCs you'll come across in BOTW this one is just roaming around aimlessly nothing really important going on in their life, doesn't really matter that the world is on the verge of catastrophe, nothing even really important in their personal life. So boring that all they can find to talk to you about is the weather. The freaking weather. If I wanted to talk about the weather in real life I'd go to some old folks home or sit on a front porch with an elderly person, but in a video game you want some excitement... if they aren't boring you with that then it's a fetch quest for something trivial not something life saving, purpose redeeming like the Elden Ring quest linked above.
Mikey the Moblin
sushi is a suspicious hello
Can't wait till we stop comparing every open world game to botw and compare it to elden ring instead
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I mean, Elden Ring is really not that great compared to it, so…nah. BotW is superior in traversal, level design, soundtrack, exploration, progression, I might even argue story if neither were so bland with their plots.
Having more interesting sidequests is one thing, but it doesn’t help much if you have no idea where most NPCs will be next or whether they’ll be dead because you missed some incredibly arbitrary and obtuse moment…or whether that’s even what is meant to happen at times. Compare that to getting all the memories in BotW and how it encourages going out and finding those places based on your knowledge of the land, and has a set and satisfying conclusion, I think that’s far better.
Might not be many like that, but I get the feeling Nintendo did not really want to take too much focus from just looking around the world for stuff and put too much time into NPCs. But even then, I feel like there are many pretty decent ones that have their own charm. Maybe not with grimdark dreary overly violent tales to tell, but that has never been their style to begin with. Majora’s Mask has been the closest, but still not quite. Implying Ocarina has any sidequests worth a damn, now that’s just absurd lol
Having more interesting sidequests is one thing, but it doesn’t help much if you have no idea where most NPCs will be next or whether they’ll be dead because you missed some incredibly arbitrary and obtuse moment…or whether that’s even what is meant to happen at times. Compare that to getting all the memories in BotW and how it encourages going out and finding those places based on your knowledge of the land, and has a set and satisfying conclusion, I think that’s far better.
Might not be many like that, but I get the feeling Nintendo did not really want to take too much focus from just looking around the world for stuff and put too much time into NPCs. But even then, I feel like there are many pretty decent ones that have their own charm. Maybe not with grimdark dreary overly violent tales to tell, but that has never been their style to begin with. Majora’s Mask has been the closest, but still not quite. Implying Ocarina has any sidequests worth a damn, now that’s just absurd lol
Mikey the Moblin
sushi is a suspicious hello
Traversal- botw has a massive emphasis on vertical travel that quickly becomes tedious without a specific item for bypassing vertical travel entirely so no
Also stamina wheel lol
Level design- what? Botw doesn't even HAVE levels! You're trolling!
Soundtrack- sure whatever I acknowledge the botw soundtrack is good
Exploration- this one is more subjective but objectively elden ring has more content with which to reward exploration so you can't really compare a concept as blanket as "exploration" without specifying why either game excels at it
Progression- another thing botw has hardly any of
Story- I've found the elden ring story so far incredibly tantalizing and I feel really close to making some huge discoveries. I bet even bowsette plus ultra would agree that the elden ring story, as derivative as it is, still leads to more engagement than botw could ever dream of
It's easy to criticize elden Ring for its flaws but saying botw is better is Not It fam
Also stamina wheel lol
Level design- what? Botw doesn't even HAVE levels! You're trolling!
Soundtrack- sure whatever I acknowledge the botw soundtrack is good
Exploration- this one is more subjective but objectively elden ring has more content with which to reward exploration so you can't really compare a concept as blanket as "exploration" without specifying why either game excels at it
Progression- another thing botw has hardly any of
Story- I've found the elden ring story so far incredibly tantalizing and I feel really close to making some huge discoveries. I bet even bowsette plus ultra would agree that the elden ring story, as derivative as it is, still leads to more engagement than botw could ever dream of
It's easy to criticize elden Ring for its flaws but saying botw is better is Not It fam
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Elden Ring uses its huge cliffs to block off entire areas in what is supposed to be an open world game. After being able to scale most any cliff in BotW, anything else is simply regression. Never mind ER’s incredibly inconsistent fall damage and wonky horse platforming making any cliff side a headache.
Most if ERs side content is simply not worth doing. I won’t claim BotW was perfect, but there was far, far more variety in puzzles you’d come across at the very least, never mind more ways to take out enemies due to the dynamic physics and weather systems, and you’d always get something of at least a little value. ER on the other hand has the same copy pasted dungeons and bosses and enemies, and much of the rewards won’t be useful at all for specific builds. You’re actually better off just b-lining to the next major story boss than wasting time doing anything else,especially considering leveling really makes little difference in damage reduction.
The story…basically Dark Souls with different terminology lol
Most if ERs side content is simply not worth doing. I won’t claim BotW was perfect, but there was far, far more variety in puzzles you’d come across at the very least, never mind more ways to take out enemies due to the dynamic physics and weather systems, and you’d always get something of at least a little value. ER on the other hand has the same copy pasted dungeons and bosses and enemies, and much of the rewards won’t be useful at all for specific builds. You’re actually better off just b-lining to the next major story boss than wasting time doing anything else,especially considering leveling really makes little difference in damage reduction.
The story…basically Dark Souls with different terminology lol
Didn't miss climbing at all in Elden Ring. A double jumping horse is perfectly adequate and the fact you must traverse the terrain in a particular way ensures you actually see the sights rather than just looking at cliff faces all the time.
Honestly I find Elden Ring is better than BoTW in almost every way and not being the sort of person who enjoys attaching octobaloons to tree stumps, having my swords explode whilst I kill enemies and destroying my shield riding down a hill on it, there is little to endear me to BoTW over ER. BoTWs lore is shoddy and Elden Rings lore is masterfully crafted. I'm engrossed in it.
The only negatives I would say so far with Elden Ring for me are the catacombs being quite samey in appearance (I know they are optional but if you want the gloveworts they are the place to go) and the fact there is no quest log. With multiple side quests and characters Majora's Mask had the bombers notebook and that was a small world, but ER is so vast that it's hard to keep track of people and I look stuff up on the internet as a result. In DS the world was more closed off so you were bound to run into characters again to do their quests but in ER this is not the case and it's easy to miss a lot of stuff.
Honestly I find Elden Ring is better than BoTW in almost every way and not being the sort of person who enjoys attaching octobaloons to tree stumps, having my swords explode whilst I kill enemies and destroying my shield riding down a hill on it, there is little to endear me to BoTW over ER. BoTWs lore is shoddy and Elden Rings lore is masterfully crafted. I'm engrossed in it.
The only negatives I would say so far with Elden Ring for me are the catacombs being quite samey in appearance (I know they are optional but if you want the gloveworts they are the place to go) and the fact there is no quest log. With multiple side quests and characters Majora's Mask had the bombers notebook and that was a small world, but ER is so vast that it's hard to keep track of people and I look stuff up on the internet as a result. In DS the world was more closed off so you were bound to run into characters again to do their quests but in ER this is not the case and it's easy to miss a lot of stuff.
Mikey the Moblin
sushi is a suspicious hello
Yes they did indeed. It is more helpful than nothing but still there is no way to track what quests you are doing for them which I find would be even better. If you forget you have to look online which is not necessarily the best when there could be an in game alternative.
I've not really taken issue with the difficulty of the game I think it's designed in a way where its challenging but there is always the option to head elsewhere and level up which I usually do when I have attempted a boss too many times.
Mikey the Moblin
sushi is a suspicious hello
which ties into the open world
in normal dark souls games you have access to a handful of areas at a time, at most, and you're pretty much always close to or at the strength you need to be for the area
it's kind of bullcrap that the game leads you immediately to margit when most people have no chance of beating him that early on