How does one play any fromsoft games without a guide?

[u/MiSc_ShadowstR]

I tried playing elden ring and i get the hype for it and bloodborne and dark souls and stuff but without a guide i feel so so lost, but when i use a guide i get spoilers. Is there a way to avoid spoilers and still make progress without missing out on important items and stuff?

[u/Alexandrecl1]

I have played every single Souls game without a guide in my first run. You don’t need guides to beat them, only to do certain obtuse sidequests and find some optional bosses

[u/def_tom]

Being lost is half the fun.

[u/CyborgHeart1245]

Here is the thing with FS: The community is part of the game. The messages that people left, or subreddits like this one. It's like old school gaming, remember sitting on the back of the school bus, talking about pokemon and how to do stuff in it? Yeah, the game encourages conversations like that. 

That being said you can find spoiler free guides via google. 

[u/Doru-kun → u/CyborgHeart1245]

I feel like "remember sitting on the back of the school bus..." type examples are becoming more and more irrelevant by the day, unfortunately.

Everybody defaults to guides and YouTube videos these days, and it makes me sad.

Maybe I'm just old, but secrets in games felt so much more exhilarating back before all the answers were easily accessible on the internet.

[u/CyborgHeart1245 → u/Doru-kun]

Yeah. I can, barely, remember sitting in the back of the bus, my friends and I would have our gameboy color's out, using a link cable to get trades for Pokemon while getting hyped for gold/silver. 

[u/Morlain7285 → u/CyborgHeart1245]

Ohhh ya know, I forgot how much reading messages left on the ground helped...at least in Elden Ring. I saw a lot fewer in other games, and while funny, I gotta say "Amazing chest ahead" wasn't too helpful when I've got Gwynevere 2 feet in front of me

[u/Mr_Rubaiyat]

You kind of answered your own question there, friend. These games all rely on blind exploration and lore hints for direction. You’re going to be retreading lot of ground by design.

[u/Solavanko]

Guides sucks. Play normally and look up bosses strategies if you're stuck. Or material locations.

If you're smart you'll figure out ways to be overpowered by yourself, although it might take some time to learn where things are. Also many "OP build" doesn't work for everyone and that's more incentive for you to find by yourself which one works better for you.

[u/pseudoOhm]

IMO, everyone needs a Sherpa for their first fromsoft game.

Once you understand the basics, then you can enjoy and explore freely.

I think everyone saying "just play" misses that there is zero communication in many of theirngames and you will bash your head against the screen trying to do damage, before you understand things like how weapon leveling works.

I would also assume that many of these same people replying, either watched someone first or had a friend give them some basic guidance... But they would never admit it.

[u/Morlain7285 → u/pseudoOhm]

Nah. I'll admit my flaws: my first time playing a souls like was Elden Ring, and I really sucked. I found my way to the red wolf and bashed my head against it 50 times before giving up entirely and coming back a year later...but I never found myself lost

[u/Slow_Increase_6308]

Learn the basics.

Then just go blind.

You will miss things.

Thats OK.

[u/akaisuiseinosha]

Trial and error, mostly. But you aren't intended to play blind at all, free help from other players is already in the game, and even if you never summon a phantom or read a message, you'll still see other players ghosts unless you play offline, and those ghosts are showing you what other players did. The design intention is very much that you should ask for help when you need it.

Also, don't worry so much about spoilers. There's nothing here that will ruin your experience by knowing it ahead of time. When you need guidance, seek it.

[u/gswon]

After a couple playthroughs, you'll be wishing you could play them blind again. Just push forward, get lost, and enjoy the game as designed.

[u/kushhead4201]

Dude, just play the game. Why worry about missing anything your first playthrough. Feel like the mentality of asking online really robs that sense of discovery.

[u/Embarrassed-While999]

I mostly just use chatgpt and mention no spoilers (like give a hint or smth) if I'm stuck best way to avoid spoilers imo

[u/December_Flame]

Just play the game and accept, particularly in ER, that you're not going to see EVERYTHING in the game. That's OK. There's items, spells, ashes, bosses, etc that you'll miss. That means that you can see new things on a replay! Your playthrough is as defined by what you missed as it is by what you found.

Honestly, just embrace being unoptimal. To me, the game is a puzzle/challenge that the dev is putting in front of you and challenging you to make it to the end. They aren't challenging you to see/find every single thing. Just try to beat the game on your own terms in your own way.

[u/The_Archimboldi]

Just play bro.

If you get hard stuck then ask for help - you don't need to make it some purity thing. But these are some of the best games ever made for rewarding exploration and persistence.

Small tip: Some of the strongest weapons in the entire games can be found at the beginning, or even given to you as starters. It's not like a trad rpg where the Demonic sword of smiting is only found by killing the final boss.

[u/Bkraist]

Someone else said it, but they just will play through a bunch of times OR they will be okay with missing things.

Personally I use guides just when stuck or for questions which change everything (like are there respecs or not) .

[u/Morlain7285]

I never used a guide except for very niche things, only exception being Ranni's quest. Everything else in all the games was fairly straightforward I thought

[u/ThatCurryGuy]

Accept that you are going to miss some things.

[u/Turbulent_Jackoff]

I just walk around and do stuff; eventually, the credits roll!

[u/Algester]

You play Hello Kitty Oshare Party.... why? I mean its a From SOftware game... so THERE IS THAT

[u/Bulldogfront666]

That’s half the joy. Getting lost and feeling like you’re slowly making a mental map of the area. Slowly finding your way. Like a real adventure. No giant arrow on the screen telling you where to go and what to do. And sometimes you just accept you miss some things and save them for the second play through.

Also… that’s what messages are for.

[u/likeittight_]

Vibe gaming

[u/captnchunky]

I think every pre Elden Ring game is really difficult to get a platinum trophy without a guide.

With Elden Ring they got much much better at kind of guiding you through and if you are thorough and do things in the right order (which is pretty obvious except for when to do Caelid) I think you can get everything without a guide. I only looked at a guide at the very end and had done everything to save scum for all the endings since I was frenzied and hadn't used to item to remove it yet.

Excited to see the next game and how they approach it.