Losing at Elden Ring is good for the soul – Reader's Feature

By the time you read this Shadow Of The Erdtree will be out, the DLC expansion for Elden Ring that has been two years in the making. It’s already become the highest rated DLC of all-time, so I think it’s safe to say that it’s going to be up to the same high standards as usual for FromSoftware. In fact, I hope I’m enjoying it right now, as you read this, which is a bit of an odd thing to write.

Whenever FromSoftware release something new you always see the same discussions coming around, complaining that they make their games too hard and that they should have difficulty levels or some other way to simplify them.

I have always been dead set against this for multiple reasons, the first being that it’s From’s game and they can make it however they want. If we want to accept that games are art you can’t go around demanding it be changed to meet your needs. It is the way it is on purpose and if it’s something you can’t appreciate or connect with then find something else, that is up your street.

The more practical reason, as Miyazaki-san has tried to explain many times, is that if he makes it easy then the whole game is ruined. If you run around Elden Ring cutting down enemies with ease, then there is no game. Its difficulty is a key part of the game and trying to remove it is like trying to take the guns out of Call Of Duty.

Some people complain that they aren’t very good at games and so they’re prevented from enjoying it, as if playing Elden Ring was some kind of inalienable human right.

The problem with people complaining about From games is that they get so obsessed over the game’s reputation that when they finally play it they give up almost instantly, just because that seems to confirm what they’ve heard about it being impossibly difficult. But it’s really not.

Look online and you can see heartwarming stories about everyone from old grannies to disabled people beating the games. Not to mention the people that end up beating it with a Guitar Hero controller or a dance mat or whatever. All you need is dedication and resolve, to try again and again, to work out attack patterns and the new strategies, and to explore and find items to equip your character better.

Do that, and level up sensibly, and the game never becomes easy but it certainly becomes manageable. And those bosses? Call in some co-operators and they’re the easiest part of the game. You’ve heard how difficult Malenia is? Just call in three human players to help you and you can literally stand at the back and do nothing, while she gets beaten down within minutes.

Elden Ring and other From games is a test of character. If you’re looking for instant thrills it has nothing to offer you and you should’ve known that before ever playing it. Elden Ring rewards patience, tenacity, and careful consideration. Personally, I think these are excellent qualities for a game and embracing them is what makes it so satisfying.

As so many people try to force the world to revolve around them, being beaten and denied by a From game is good for the soul and the ego. Or at least that’s what I believe. The challenge is the game and to try to take that away not only destroys the experience but implies some very negative things about you as a person.

Everyone starts a From game thinking they can’t beat it, the fact that they then prove to themselves that they can is the whole point of the experience. Trying to undermine the challenge, especially when there’s in-built ways to make it easier if you really want, is madness.

If I am playing Shadow Of The Erdtree right now I hope I’m getting absolutely dominated by the enemies. And then hopefully I’ll figure out a way to beat them and then when they fall it’ll be all the more satisfying because of how difficult it was.

By reader Aston Marley