Downward Thrust: Elden Ring, a year later.

[Old Gamer]

Video by YouTube channel Downward Thrust.

This video was published by an Elden Ring fan that has played it for well over 100 hours. After the hype died down, he takes a critical look at its design flaws by initiating a second playthough.

tldw; beneath its façade of revolutionary From departure lies a pretty standard Soulsborne gameplay loop padded by open spaces that can for the most part be skipped entirely, if one knows where to find the best loot. There is an amount of mandatory dungeons and bosses that combined, could have been used for another linear Soulsborne game, but the open world design actually seems to be at odds with the best aspects the previous games thrived on. There is value to be had in "Sandbox Souls" for sure, but the trade off is that the challenge just isn't quite up there.

 

[Gediminas]

Video by YouTube channel Downward Thrust.

This video was published by an Elden Ring fan that has played it for well over 100 hours. After the hype died down, he takes a critical look at its design flaws by initiating a second playthough.

tldw; beneath its façade of revolutionary From departure lies a pretty standard Soulsborne gameplay loop padded by open spaces that can for the most part be skipped entirely, if one knows where to find the best loot. There is an amount of mandatory dungeons and bosses that combined, could have been used for another linear Soulsborne game, but the open world design actually seems to be at odds with the best aspects the previous games thrived on. There is value to be had in "Sandbox Souls" for sure, but the trade off is that the challenge just isn't quite up there.

later game is not even open world, it is strictly not even semi open, it is linear.
i said this from the beginning, i didn't need to wait whole year to see the flaws.
me too, over 100h, done 99,99%.

 

[Nym]

Is it still good, yes

 

[Swift_Star]

Video by YouTube channel Downward Thrust.

This video was published by an Elden Ring fan that has played it for well over 100 hours. After the hype died down, he takes a critical look at its design flaws by initiating a second playthough.

tldw; beneath its façade of revolutionary From departure lies a pretty standard Soulsborne gameplay loop padded by open spaces that can for the most part be skipped entirely, if one knows where to find the best loot. There is an amount of mandatory dungeons and bosses that combined, could have been used for another linear Soulsborne game, but the open world design actually seems to be at odds with the best aspects the previous games thrived on. There is value to be had in "Sandbox Souls" for sure, but the trade off is that the challenge just isn't quite up there.

I'll be playing it again one day but with a guide to make an OP build. There's no way in hell I'm playing it without knowing where to find the best gear and how to optimally distribute attribute points.

 

[Explosive Zombie]

I've been waiting for an over long bad YouTube video to make the same bad arguments I've been hearing for a year now

 

[Thief1987]

Decent 7/10 game, same as a year ago. Souls template become incredibly thin and uninspired, addition of worthless openworld only made things worse. Weakest game in their "souls" line-up.