Show us what'cha got!

Man I love what the Erdtree does to just about every environment in thsi game.

I've been playing in big picture mode on my tv, and I had no idea how to take screenshots with the controller. Apparently I need to us the guide button and the right bumper? I'll definitely be taking some screenshots when I get back to it.

@efesell: It's kind of staggering how large and diverse the environment is in this game.

@efesell: I've got horns. Where did you find those antlers?

@rubberbabybuggybumpers: Those big half giant things in the Underground, they have the same antlers and it's a drop from at least the singing ones down there.

@mistersims:That is sooooooooooo DS3-like! I've haven't been to that location yet.

@efesell: Praise the arcane sword! I need to go back down there and explore some more of that part of the map. I liked it a lot but hated being swarmed by the land octopi. That zone's starry sky and night time colors reminds me of the quarry in Control.

I can't resist sharing some screens of Leyndell, Royal Capital. This is possibly my new favorite area in the entirety of From Software's oeuvre, at least in terms of aesthetics.

That includes the music, stunningly beautiful somber strings that evoke both grandeur and loss. There's at least one enemy who you will find on the level playing a stringed instrument, looks like a violin, but will attack you when he sees you. And all I wanted to do was just keep listening to him play.

Visually, it strikes me as what Anor Lando was meant to be but never quite achieved. It's both drop-dead gorgeous and awe-inspiring. I'm going to spoiler tag the screens because this is late-game stuff, you've been warned. Also, I assure you that stills do not do this thing justice.

Just how big is that fossilized dragon? Here I am at the base of his wing on lower-right:

And yes, you can climb it. Because of course you can.

But the dragon, in turn, is dwarfed by the Erdtree:

I mean, with all this in motion, and the music going, it's just... completely epic. I'm still pretty floored by it. No one is better than From Software at creating this kind of scale, making you feel small, and inspiring real awe.

yet people still online say the open world is a waste and not utilized and that it would be better if it was hand crafted but the company was too lazy. Shaking my head. Nothing's good enough.

Absolutely spewing, frothing at the bits

@atheistpreacher: Praise! I haven't gotten to those areas just yet. I've been screwing around in the first 3 zones, plus the subterranean ones, and Deep Root Depths. DRD is some serious bullshit, but it's not a secret area for no reason.

@efesell said:

Yep, that's a cool-looking zone, only got there yesterday.

This is definite story spoilers, but related to my own post in this thread, I avoided heading to this area for a while because I had found out that story progression requires that you burn Leyndell to the ground, and it's just so beautiful that I didn't want to do it.

This shot does remind me of one other thing, though. One level design conceit that I've never been in love with is requiring you to jump down somewhere to progress such that you can't go backwards; it's especially annoying when there are items to get along the way that require you returning to the beginning again just to drop down in a different direction. And, well, Elden Ring sure has an awful lot of that, even more than any of the Souls games, I believe. It's in this area, and in sewer area(s) and tree area(s), all over the place really. Doing some of this is fine, but I think this game goes a little overboard with it IMO. Minor gripe.

@atheistpreacher: Yeah the price of adding a very useful jump button is planting the idea that there should be platforming. The jumping segments are almost universally bad.

I just ignore items that I seem going down placesl like that because I know that it's probably a Rune Arc or something.

Yeah, adding the jump button kind of makes sense for an open world, and I like being able to clamber over stuff, and I like that it gives them new and creative ways to hide secrets. But the actual mechanical feel of the platforming is still bad. Better than in the Souls games that never had a proper jump at all, but that isn't saying much.

There's one painting spot that is a major PITA. It's the one called "Redmane." You gotta go near the minor erdtree and drop down. There is an annoying golem fight down there. It uses arcane magic and you have to hit it on its wrists to do any significant damage. I think I left 250k runes down there since all I wanted to do was get that painting part done. The others I've encountered have been pretty easy.

I did manage to wander into the Volcano Manor. I'm torn between leaving it alone or watching it burn.

@owl_cave: Where is that helm located? I always see a ton of white phantoms wearing it.

@rubberbabybuggybumpers: I think it’s just a general drop from those miserable imp enemies you find inside catacombs.

@efesell: I've killed a ton of those and I don't think I've ever seen a unique drop from them. I suppose my luck is absolute shit. I broke the game so bad with the samurai I cannot play it legitimately. I had to create a new one. I created a battlemage and have had way more fun with it than my cheater offline one.

Yup exactly. I must've gotten lucky cause it dropped in the very first catacomb I explored after only a few hours of playing. Now I'm around 30 hours in and I haven't taken it off since, lol.

@owl_cave: I ended up finding it on a corpse in the Minor Erdtree Catacombs in the north-central part of Caelid. It's on the upper level. The boss in that one is are dual "dogs". One has magic and the other is a repeat of the first one we've all come to love. The reward for killing them is Mad Pumpkin Head Ashes. It's pretty good once it's been upgraded to +4 or more.

What a lovely quest chain this was! I absolutely hated the Lake of Rot but managed to get through it and the boss fight without dying.

This one's name is Magic Mike. Even though I hate the end game, the first half is still a bit of fun. It's even more fun with mods since I don't care for the online stuff.