I went back toDark Souls 2recently after pouring hundreds of hours intoElden Ringthanks toShadow of the Erdtree, and it felt like I was playing in slow motion. Everything moves like a snail in comparison to the open world epic, and there are so many bruisers with enormous hit boxes that it was unbelievably easy to just… walk out of the way.
Elden Ring often gets a bad rap as the ‘easiest’ FromSoftware game, but I’m not sure that reputation holds up. Outside ofSekiroandBloodborne, it’s the fastest paced soulslike in its library, surpassing even Dark Souls 3. That places a huge emphasis on dodging and timing your attacks, whereas in past games, holding up a shield would get you through most encounters just fine.
The Smelter Demon boss was the bane of my 14-year-old existence. The gauntlet to reach him was littered with Alonne Knights capable of killing you in two to three hits, while archers fired arrows the size of spears from the rafters that could easily knock you into a pool of lava. Once you’d actually reached the fog wall, you’d walk into a cramped arena with an enormous hulk of a warrior holding a flaming sword, damaging you if you got too close while also shredding your health to pieces with each hit.
That gauntlet isn’t nearly as tough after having played Elden Ring. You can group them all together, slowly back up, stick a movie on while they swing their swords in unison, and then launch a heavy sweeping attack to take them all out. As for the boss fight, I used to struggle so much so that I had to beg a friend to basically do it for me. After Elden Ring? It was a walk in the slightly burned down park. I felt like Neo in the Matrix, every move grinding to a halt as I quickly got out of the way and snuck a few swings of my greatsword in.
The same applies to the first Dark Souls. Even Ornstein & Smough felt slow compared to Elden Ring’s bosses.
I understand why Elden Ring has earned that reputation. The open world makes it far more approachable as, when you’re stuck, you’re able to just go exploring and find something easier to fight. The game even teaches you this with Margit at the end of the yellow brick grace road. If you follow that main path and attempt to play the game in a linear fashion, you’ll struggle, finding yourself inevitably underleveled with gear that doesn’t hold a candle to his big, walloping hammer.
Elden Ring wants you to go and pick off the little guys. But then you run up against Malenia, Dragonlord Placidusax, Radahn, Mohg, Mariketh, and so many other bosses that are leagues ahead of anything in Dark Souls. Just compare the Asylum Demon and Champion Gundyr to Elden Ring’s ‘first’ boss —the Tree Sentinel. If there was ever a learning curve, it was trying to contend with that tank without Torrent the second you crawled out of your grave.
Of course, playing Shadow of the Erdtree only takes this point even further. Arguably FromSoftware’s hardest DLC yet, going back toanygame before it feels easy.
Its ingrained fast pace pushes you to master the combat against unrelenting fights who punish every failure, whereas Dark Souls was more forgiving with its slower, more methodical movement. You could take your time to study each attack, rather than having to react at such a rapid pace. Going back after the fact just highlights how much easier Dark Souls is, because Elden Ring has conditioned us to master FromSoftware’s signature combat in a much faster environment. Slowing down even an inch makes everything feel that much more manageable.
