I reallllly hope we don't have to finish the story to jump into the DLC. After an almost 200 hour first playthrough I thought "oh man I want to do this again!" I got a quarter way through NG+ and put the game down and didn't get around to finishing it.

I loved Elden ring as a concept, I think it was an extremely interesting twist on the formula. However for replayability I feel like it suffered heavily. The vast open world takes a long time to get through (mainly if you're really trying to beeline directly from point A to B.) And if you need specific items or materials I feel like having to replay the various tombs /mini dungeons would be more chore like than fun.

I only came to this realization after playing demon souls and bloodborne for the first time recently. There's very little filler a person would need to go through when replaying those older fromsoft titles. I'm so torn though because I really liked exploring in Elden Ring.

Sorry for the novel lol

[–] SuperSynthia 8 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I’m gonna guess here, but I bet the DLC will be after an endgame boss in an optional area. Quickest way to access it (and potentially get demolished) is to do the PVP storyline. Vague I know but I don’t want to spoil too much for anyone going blind

[–] Crystal_Shards64 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Ohhhh after seeing the trailer I bet you any money you're right. I guess the one nice thing is that area also is good for farming exp. So if you are needing to access it quick it might not be so bad...

[–] SuperSynthia 3 points 9 months ago

I’m doing my 3rd character run for the dlc and I plan to rush to it. We had the same idea on quick level ups :)

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I totally agree about Bloodborne (and Dark Souls) being much more 'closed in.' I feel like Elden Ring's map should be 40% smaller as most of these open areas are completely pointless. There are typically zero items other than the environmental materials or random animals outside of central areas like buildings/towns/boss areas. Why even create all this extra space if there's no need to go there (which you only find out after wasting your time looking around)?

I think my favorite map layout has been the original Dark Souls. There are numerous paths leading out from the Firelink Shrine meaning you can still explore without all the pointless fluff.