![]() If you're in the same boat, I highly recommend a boss rush approach to new game plus. Elden Ring is something else, and I'm gonna wring every last drop out of it. I've had a ton of fun applying my experiences to new game plus, even though I'm super over-leveled for most of the content, so the prospect of doing the same with a fresh character is tantalizing.Īt the end of the day, I'm still just inventing reasons to keep playing Elden Ring, but the fact that I'm motivated to do so speaks to how engrossing FromSoftware's magnum opus truly is. ![]() In my experience, absolutely smurfing a new character is some of the most fun you can have in a Souls game, and I'm willing to bet that'll be true of Elden Ring as well. As we've established, I can't help myself, so naturally I also can't wait to make a new Tarnished. These are the questions that keep me up at night. What would you do differently? How can you get as strong as possible as quickly as you can? Which weapons or spells would you rush to get? Would you use ol' reliable or an all-new build? What bosses are you comfortable fighting under-leveled? Which NPC questlines would you prioritize? What ending would you choose? The third side, I reckon, is when you make a new character after beating the game and mucking about in new game plus. No pressure, no necessities, just a way to test myself and an excuse to spend more time in FromSoftware's madhouse. Obviously I played the game to have fun to begin with, but now it feels like I'm just doing stuff for fun, you know? It's a highlight reel of my own making. That said, I can more firmly grasp my own agency on new game plus, and it's empowering in a way few games are, precisely because Elden Ring is such a behemoth challenge. What I wouldn't give to experience it for the first time all over again. I was a bundle of caution propelled by curiosity, a tiny little thing adrift in an impossible world of improbable detail. The immense scale of the world overwhelmed me and I got totally caught up in FromSoftware's current. I saw the first on my initial playthrough, which will always be the sweetest. I'm increasingly convinced that there are three sides to Elden Ring. But there was something else too, and as I get deeper into new game plus, I'm starting to realize what. I knew I could do better against a few bosses, especially Malenia and the true final boss (though Malenia arguably is the true final boss), and I'm looking forward to fighting them again… sort of. I got the ending I wanted and killed all the bosses I knew of, but something was still nagging at me. Great, now do it againĮven after 104 hours, I somehow felt that I wasn't really finished with Elden Ring. ![]() The same is true for The Lands Between on new game plus: my map key is what happened at these places, not just what they look like. When me and my friends throw out suggestions for where to go next in a game of Warzone, we inevitably wind up talking about what happened the last time we went to that place – the chaotic shootouts, the close calls, the clutch revives. Oddly enough, this actually reminds me of battle royale games. There's a jump pad there that sent me and Torrent soaring right into the abyss. ![]() This dungeon has the ambush crabs that smashed me into atoms. That's where I barely scraped by with zero flasks until I lucked into a new Site of Grace. Every marker has a memory that shapes my perception of that place. When I look at the complete map, I see much more than bosses and items to cherry-pick for my second run. What was so hard about this? How did I ever get caught by that? What was I so afraid of? Little realizations wash over me every time I curb-stomp a boss that gave me hell, and the confidence boost is electrifying.Įven among the storied Soulsborne series, my time with Elden Ring new game+ stands out because its massive open world is such a memorable story generator. It's amazing what a bit of hindsight and experience can do for your outlook on a game. It's not just about being a higher level with stronger weapons on new game plus, though that definitely helps if you want to five-hit Margit. It's like exercise the stuff that feels impossible now becomes a warm-up later on. It's hard to overstate the thrill of trivializing boss fights and dungeons that kicked your ass before. It's hugely gratifying to learn a game inside and out and then apply that knowledge to subsequent playthroughs, and that goes double for punishing games like FromSoftware's action-RPGs. (Image credit: FromSoftware / Bandi Namco)
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