This must be the hardest, most infuriating game I have ever played. Elden Ring likes to teach you a lesson, kick you when you think you’re getting good at it, and keep kicking you until you actually get good at it.
More than 200 hours1 of gameplay later, and I have finally completed the game not once, not twice, but three times to achieve the platinum trophy.
Once I warmed up to the initial difficulty curve, I developed a reliable method to use throughout: be timid, over-level, and then bully the heck out of everything.
The weird thing about playing this game is that, even though it’s punishing and I hated it for the first dozen or so hours, I think it has made me a much better gamer. I am better at other games because I’ve steeled myself on this one.
Anyway, it’s over now. I did it. I am the Elden Lord, thrice over.
Footnotes
I wouldn’t normally play a game for this sort of ridiculously extended duration, but in this instance, I was playing most of it alongside my partner, Matt. He enjoyed playing it with me, and I enjoyed him enjoying playing it with me. And then I was too deep in to let the Platinum pass me by. ↩︎