First opinions on Elden Ring?
First opinions on Elden Ring?
Throughout my experience with HDR titles, developers provided options to adjust brightness levels on your display. This helps optimize performance across various screens. A basic switch between modes isn’t enough for HDR; the system must understand the limits and capabilities of both the game and the monitor. Without clear communication, visuals often fall short of expectations, especially for high-end displays. Many games are designed with specific peak brightness and white balance settings that aren’t always respected. For instance, content meant for 4,000 or even 10,000 nits can lose detail beyond that threshold, undermining the HDR promise. If a solution exists to soften extreme peaks according to your monitor’s specs, you’ll retain more detail. I’ve noticed some minor stuttering during long sessions, but overall it hasn’t ruined my enjoyment. Your setup choices matter—whether you use OLED or SDR can affect how well HDR renders. If you’re concerned about quality, testing before sharing publicly would be wise.
Provides options beyond simple on/off settings, requiring active gameplay before accessing advanced features. HDR controls appear under the image quality menu near the HDR toggle. It offers brightness, peak brightness, and saturation adjustments. While less flexible than full toggles, it adds more control than a basic switch. A calibration interface similar to standard brightness menus would be helpful. HDR tends to reduce overall color intensity, possibly due to streaming conditions like Steam Link. After about ten hours of play, I expect my perspective to shift. Overall, I enjoy the experience despite some frustrations, particularly with input lag during combat. Exploration remains rewarding, and the world design impresses.
Another problem I face with the Intel setup is that the game tries to use the Rift S for audio. The updated drivers from Nvidia resolved it, but performance drops even more after the update. My 5900x still works fine, so I’ll continue using it. I’m holding off on updating the Nvidia drivers until I try them again, as they didn’t work on the Intel system. I tested without HDR because the game ran best in windowed mode; full screen was needed for it to function properly. I haven’t had any reason to disable it. I don’t mind spoilers in such games since I’m willing to get every possible help.
It was a really frustrating session for me using my PC with a Xeon E3-1231v3 and GTX 1660 Super. Many frames would drop, turning performance into sluggishness, probably because of the CPU under high load. I’m aware that an E3-1231v3 is quite outdated, but it’s hard to believe it slows down as much as a SNES game. Digital Foundry managed to trigger this issue even on an R5-3600. Fortunately, the game runs smoothly on PS5 if you use the PS4 version and enable BC. It handles grass and shadows like medium PC settings and manages 1800p checkerboard rendering without breaking the bank—though it still caps at 60 fps. As for the actual game, I’m enjoying it so far. However, the PC build is just not up to the task, whether the hardware is old or brand new. Digital Foundry also demonstrated significant stuttering on an i9-12900k with RTX 3090 at low settings.
The stuttering that causes delays shows what I anticipated. The 60 fps limit exists because performance is tied to physics and game speed in this engine. If you tried to exceed it, the game would run more smoothly. In short, this engine seems built more for consoles than PCs. The biggest frustration is the absence of ultrawide support. They demonstrated it works with the DS1 remaster, yet it’s missing from DS2, 3, and Elden Ring simply because they don’t see the need. At least Flawless Widescreen offers a workaround, though it requires playing offline and turning off EAC—otherwise you risk getting banned.
I tried the game again and really enjoyed it. Most issues could be resolved using Flawless Widescreen settings—remove FPS cap, enable 21:9, eliminate vignette, etc. The stuttering is almost nonexistent and crashes haven’t occurred yet. After about 10 hours, I defeated around 10 bosses.
I've spent roughly twenty hours over the weekend working through it. More updates coming. Occasionally there are some stutters, but they're infrequent. No crashes detected so far. It's still playable, though it needs a lot of patches. A real challenge. Do you know Durante's contact info? I was impressed by how smoothly the open world functions with the souls system. I really enjoyed exploring and discovering shortcuts around the main area—Limgrave. With solid jumping mechanics and much less fall damage compared to Dark Souls, you can navigate more freely and feel more confident taking risks, especially in ruins and fortifications. That said, I'm a big fan of DS1 and 3, so I'm not giving it full credit. Thanks for the praise on the sun tree!
I'm 36 hours into Elden Ring and it's truly amazing in every aspect. The only downside I notice is occasional drops in frames while exploring the open world. But they're fixing it, and it's improving quickly. What stands out most is the incredible diversity of enemies and bosses. There are countless types, each with unique abilities. The variety of gear, spells, and more is mind-blowing. This is especially surprising given how different it feels compared to God of War, which has only about 10-15 enemy variations and repeats the same troll boss multiple times. Even the animations for key moments, like Kratos defeating a troll, are nearly identical across all encounters. It's astonishing how a game meant for close combat can feel so limited in its options when contrasted with Elden Ring, which isn't even a major AAA title.
I'm halfway through 40 hours and have experienced three crashes so far. Fortunately, flawless widescreen allows the game to maintain a smooth frame rate and correct aspect ratio without any drawbacks (except for needing offline play). This highlights that I didn’t prioritize enhancing the PC experience. My performance is around 70-90 fps depending on my region. I still enjoy the game, though it isn’t perfect—technical hiccups are part of it. There are a few aspects I don’t appreciate: weapons and outfits appear extremely scarce compared to other Dark Souls titles. The upgrade routes for weapons are lengthy. These factors make it nearly impossible to explore many weapon options meaningfully, especially later in the game when powerful items become available. Upgrading early would be ideal, but at 98 hours I haven’t found even one type of weapon I like.
This also complicates the early-game progression. Trying new weapons is tough because you can’t fully test them until you upgrade. It’s best to stick to what works. I’m still level 98 and have only managed a single weapon of any kind so far (like just one katana, since it’s an INT class). This makes the starting class much harder—after about ten hours I still lack a complete set. It’s disappointing because the build from scratch feels rewarding. I usually tackle most dungeons thoroughly and gather as much loot as possible, so looting is rare for me.
Another issue is the armor’s damage reduction. Even with full vigor and heavy gear, I consistently take 2-3 hits per enemy or boss. It feels like some bosses are unfairly tougher than others in this game. While previous Souls games were challenging, I don’t think this one is much more so. I find certain boss fights particularly frustrating—like the Fallingstar Beast in Sellia Crystal Tunnel. Every attack covers most of the area, moves are erratic, and damage is overwhelming. The Grown form was easier because I’d memorized its patterns from countless attempts.
Valiant Gargoyles’ OP poison mist in phase 2 is especially tough; it covers large zones, forces a 2-on-1 fight with little healing time, and the weapon’s hitbox is inconsistent. Even with strong stats, I’m often caught off guard by its spread and potency. Bosses like this feel more punishing than in earlier entries, though some are surprisingly manageable for me. It seems I either get stuck trying for hours or breeze through quickly on my first try. If you’re curious about these tough fights, they definitely stand out.
This feels quite odd. At level 80 you've got a wide variety of weapons and gear at your disposal. You've gathered numerous unique katanas, ten distinct armor sets, and even found loot from mobs or purchased items from merchants. I'm playing as Wretched, which made acquiring equipment smooth. The first camp near Stormveil castle is standard—meeting the firekeeper, picking up horses that drop armor, a shield, swords, and a greatsword chest. It seems safe to follow this route.
Armor feels similar to DS3, which I'm used to after going through that game extensively. Weapons are upgradeable up to +25, though I've only reached +24 so far. The developers likely increased the max to reflect the game's length compared to Bloodborne or Dark Souls 3. Currently at 45 hours with a +16 weapon, I still have unexplored areas and tougher zones to tackle, so more upgrades would be helpful for the next 20-30 hours. Switching weapons is becoming harder, but this has always been the case in Souls games.
Most bosses seem well-designed and balanced, though I dislike the sheer number of them, which can disrupt gameplay and obscure what's happening. The camera often stutters during fights, making it hard to track the enemy. This was a recurring issue in the Souls series, contributing to my aversion toward the Midir fight despite its visual appeal.
Bosses generally deal solid damage, thanks to their powerful attacks. In Nioh 2, they compensate with ample stamina and frequent health recovery, plus the ability to die multiple times without losing progress. Health remains strong—around 40 HP per point added—so the game seems optimized for endurance rather than raw damage. I'm still testing if this is intentional, but it feels fair overall.