Shadow Of The Erdtree – has it gone too far? (Bandai Namco)
The Friday letters page is not surprised smartphone owners don’t want to pay full-price for games, as one reader tries to imagine an Elden Ring movie.
To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk
Ring out
I’ve just completed Shadow Of The Erdtree and to be honest I have mixed feelings. There’s definitely a lot to it, so I’d say that value for money is not an issue, but I can’t say I particularly enjoyed it, especially the second half. It feels a lot more haphazard than Elden Ring, where one minute things are surprisingly easy and then the next they’re impossibly difficult, for no obvious reason.
For me, the bosses are also a disappointment. Too many of them act completely unpredictably and while you probably could learn all their moves and tells it would take forever and I just lost the will after the 50th death from one of them suddenly reversing direction in midair (I’m trying to avoid spoilers). So I just called in some cooperators and got them to do it for me.
I’ve also kind of had enough of the endless castle dungeons and especially the catacombs, which just seem to be made up of the same parts of levels as the main game. I’d rather just not have these, if they’re going to be so repetitive. I feel like the game has got too bloated and too unfair with the DLC and I’m not sure I’d even say it’s worth playing for ordinary fans. Better to keep your good memories of the original I’d say.
Symas
Transcending history and the world
Interesting to hear about what happened to Soulcalibur, even if the unexciting answer is office politics. To me, it still feels like the series peaked with the second one and it’s never known what to do with itself since. I’d say its fairly obvious though: make sure the story mode is top notch (weirdly they never seem to prioritise this anymore), make sure it doesn’t play like Tekken, and make sure Link is playable in the Nintendo version.
As a weapons-based fighter Soulcalibur should feel really unique but the last one didn’t. It just felt cheap and half-hearted. They’ve also got to lean into the cheese. The intro for Soul Blade is still the best thing ever and yet they’ve never done anything like it again. I’ve not much faith they ever will either.
Grant
Pure cinema
I could see an Elden Ring movie working in terms of they could get someone to create something with a similar look and feel but as to what it would be about… I can’t see how they could get across the same story. Or rather the problem is there is no story. There’s lots and lots (and lots) of lore but the plot is: Tarnished kills all the demigods. That’s literally it. He never talks to them, and they don’t really talk to him, everything is just action.
I think Elden Ring …read more
Source:: Metro
