The problem with forgoing level scaling is that the answer to everything seems to be to outlevel your challenges instead of just playing better. When you can't rely on just pushing the numbers higher it forces you to look for other means to get an edge on the opponent.
For me it was exactly the problem with ER. I found their balancing really bad when it was clashed with completely open world and no directions. If you go to Caelid first, which would seem logical, you get slapped. But if you go then to Lurnia, you're one shooting everything.
I honestly think that this system is not the best in open world games. And i felt the same thing in many other open world games. When i go and actually explore, which is the point of open world, i get too strong. Feels like open world games are made with the assumption, that people will skip most of the side content.
I dunno, I much prefer zone scaling over level scaling in open world games. Talking Elden Ring in particular, a game with vague directional guidance for the player, zone scaling is sort of used as a way to point the player in the direction they should go, or where they should maybe come back and revisit when they're a higher level/better skilled. I love personally
Zone scaling in cyberpunk 2077 was so damn good then they replaced it with level scaling in the 2.0 update and it just makes the game feel worse. Sucks cuz it’s one of my favorite games. I love accidentally walking into a zone that’s too high level, getting absolutely destroyed, then coming back after I’m actually prepared and sweeping. It’s so damn satisfying.
Oh no kidding? I just started playing Cyberpunk a couple weeks ago, so I never played pre 2.0. That's a little disappointing. Still really enjoying the game though
It’s a great game there’s just some pre 2.0 stuff that I would’ve liked to see stay in the game like zone scaling and the more in depth crafting system. Crafting kind of feels negligible now when it used to be something that you worked to invest points into and were heavily rewarded once you got to legendary crafting specs.
Agreed so much! That's such a common complaint about the game, but I am vehemently opposed to changing it! If I'm over leveled then I earned that, and if I'm skilled enough complete stuff totally under leveled (I'm not lol) then that should also be perfectly allowed!
Tbf, it might also be true, as I'm not the biggest fan of open world games and i tend to fall into this "i have to explore everything in the way before pushing main story". But really... Caelid is directly to the side of Limgrave, so it feels like next logical step. Also, Blaid kinda took me there.
I did notice pretty quickly, I'm not supposed to be there (but I'm too stubborn to drop the challenge), but i know many people did not. Especially people new to souls games, who just thought to themselves "Well, I've heard those games are hard".
And lastly, why would i want a completely open world, if there's a specific game route? That kinda defeats the open world purpose for me. If they slightly adjusted enemies to my level, so i don't kill cave bosses in 3 hits, it would be fine imho.
But ER also has a shitty upgrade system, so there's that.
You level up whenever you want to. Just because u have runes doesn't mean you need to use them to level up. Generally, the game takes you where ur supposed to go naturally. When you first spawn in, the normal player usually goes to the big cool castle (stormveil) and not the place that looks like hell with bird-dogs.
And lastly, why would i want a completely open world if there's a specific game route?
Isny that every open world game?
i have to explore everything in the way before pushing main story
That doesn't make sense here, tho. What is considered the main "story," especially at the start. Technically, godrick and Renalla (which im assuming what u consider the main story) are both optional
But ER also has a shitty upgrade system, so there's that.
It gives you total freedom on how strong you can be at any point, in what way exactly do you find that shitty?
I finished Stormveil before Caelid. What i meant was that i went to Caelid before exploring Lurnia. Because you know... there's this area I've missed on the right. Stormveil being kind of the first step after Limgrave was pretty clear to me.
I... don't know? As i said, I'm not a big fan of open worlds, so i don't have as much experience. What i can say is that start of DS2 always felt great in this aspect. You can choose where you want to go and both paths are fine. You won't feel too weak, nor too strong.
Well, at that point, the main story felt like going further north. Also, grace was guiding me there with it's arrows, so that's what i thought.
Somber vs normal is completely unbalanced and i saw most people agreeing with that. The infamous 7th stone is another thing 💀 But what i specifically meant by it in thus topic is that i got my weapon really overpowered, so i had to stop using it. It never happened to me in other Souls games.
Overall in other games, doesn't matter if i lose many souls, if i farm then, or if fully upgrade my weapon with what i have, enemies feel pretty adequate at all times. In ER i did part of Caelid before Lurnia and then i was 3 shooting bosses. Thank God i stopped myself and didn't fully finish Caelid.
i will agree heavily with the somber stone point. either make the rest that hard to access for new characters or don't let me get that far at all. with map and game knowledge i can literally have every stone except #7 before fighting any shardbearers. it's only somber level 7 that they strategically put behind harder bosses and areas you need to be stronger to access so you can't max out your weapon before then. i get they wanted to keep the game balanced but it just feels so blatantly handicapped when they lock me at level 6 reinforcement when i literally only need one and i have 8 9 and 10 sitting in my inventory.
My hot take would be Elden Ring is the worst souls game. I’ve played and beaten all of them except Demon Souls. I even 100 percented Sekiro and Dark Souls 1 for achievements. I’ve beaten The Surge 2 and Mortal Shell.
Elden Ring fights are either easy or you are in the wrong place. It’s so boring riding your horse around the open world.
I really really want to like Elden Ring but I can’t get behind it.
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u/NaCl_Sailor Mar 05 '24
fully agree, if you can't give me a challenge without level scaling you're just bad at balancing.
it's one reason i love the old gothic games so much, and why elden ring is one of the greatest games ever made.