Elden Ring was my first From Soft game, let’s start with that caveat. I found it hard, but not punishingly so. Once I got used to the realization that you can’t just run in and swing your sword with abandon, I was able to complete the game 100% fighting every boss and getting every ending. Definitely an enjoyable game and I would recommend giving it a play through.
Short answer, yes.
Longer answer, it's a game of patience and learning patterns. You will die... a lot. If you don't like struggling for an hour, sometimes a few hours, on the same boss, then you probably won't like the game.
It is more forgiving than Dark Souls though.
I love the game. Learning those patterns and finally defeating whatever it is you're fighting is the reward.
The game offers the option to just grind a few levels if bosses or passages are a tad too difficult for you.
It's difficult, bit you can adapt the difficulty to your liking (to an extent).
Yes, but actually no.
The game requires you to react and respond to a variety of attacks with fairly strict timing. It is extremely punishing. You often still take at least some damage or some form of disadvantage if you choose a close but not perfect response.
None of these patterns overlap into perfect checkmate situations though some situations exist that are extremely difficult - they are usually avoidable and require multiple large scale mistakes to get into. The game was designed to be beaten - the devs purposely made every encounter have glaring weaknesses and openings, but they do often require a nuanced understanding of not only the game mechanics but also the physical execution of the strategy.
It's not as difficult as people say it is, but it's harder than the average game that wants you to win.
Games like Skyrim generally aren't very hard. They might show you scary things like a big troll or dragon, but they're mostly paper tigers. You can always pause the game and eat 90 cheese wheels to heal, or save scum, or whatever. On top of that, the default numbers are such that you can probably take a beating before you go down.
Elden Ring, and other fromsoft games, don't generally do that. The big knight with the big axe will probably kill you if he hits you a couple times, and then you go back to the checkpoint to try again.
But there are so many ways to deal with that problem. Just run past the knight. Dodge. Get a big shield and block. Use ranged attacks. Use a spirit ash. Summon a whole other player. Cheese it with poison. Fuck off and come back with more levels/upgrades/trinkets
Players that just repeatedly try one approach over and over and over are going to have a bad time. There's a field boss right after the tutorial. Some people will see it and spend hours fighting it. That shit is pretty hard when you're basically naked, have the minimum amount of healing, and no other tools. Just walk away. It's a really hard game if you insist on playing it in ways that maximize hardness
If it’s your first FromSoft game, yes. It’s hard. FromSoft games are meant to be challenging and punishing… emphasis on the punishing. If you suck, you get punished for sucking.
If this IS NOT your first FromSoft game, it’s not too bad. Tough and tricky like all FromSoft games, but far from the most difficult.
I've not played it but I've watched loads of streamers playing it and they've really struggled with it. Their literal job is being good at this, so that shows it really is hard. I remember one final boss a streamer was stuck for several streams.
If you've played the rest of the franchise, no it's actually the easiest. If you've never played a FromSoftware game before in your life, there's going to be an adjustment period where you find the game very difficult, because it's quite obtuse. It revels in putting a giant wall in your path to push you to explore and find ways to even out your fight. If you're willing to engage ER on it's own terms and really learn the systems, I don't really think there's any bosses along the critical path that I'd characterize as too difficult.
Now, some of the optional content and the DLC? Yeah that shit is hard af, but you are meant to only start tackling it after you've beaten the main plot.
If it is your first Souls-like game, then yes. Otherwise no.
It depends on how you play it. Buff up through grinding is less punishing. Minmaxing requires more skill.
Yes it’s more difficult than most RPG games if you just go in blind. It won’t hold your hand. But it is so much more rewarding than other games too. You will die so much and that’s intended :)
No.
