Elden Ring’s messy PC launch brings back bad memories of poor PC ports

techradar.com:

After years of build-up and hype, Elden Ring – the latest game from Dark Soul’s makers FromSoftware – is finally here… and it’s a bit of a mess, quite frankly.

I’ve never played a FromSoftware title before, but I certainly knew their reputation as critically acclaimed atmospheric games that are punishingly difficult. The leadup to the new game’s release certainly grabbed my attention, with brilliant artwork, a change to an open-world layout and collaboration with G.R.R Martian, the author behind the novels that inspired the Game of Thrones TV show.

With the game launching simultaneously on PC and consoles (both new and previous-gen), and coinciding with the launch of the Steam Deck handheld gaming PC, my mind was made up: Elden Ring was going to be the first FromSoftware game I was going to play. The fact that it launched to absolutely glowing reviews certainly helped cement my decision.

Now, after a weekend of playing the game on both my high-end gaming PC (you can read about how well I got Elden Ring to play at 8K) and the Steam Deck (I also talk about how Elden Ring plays on the Steam Deck), my feelings are mixed. The world, lore and design are phenomenal. However, I was also left frustrated, disappointed and even a little bit insulted.

OK, so some of that was due to the game style. Elden Ring, like the Dark Souls games before it, is hard. One of the first enemies I met in the open-world killed me in one shot. Even small packs of ‘lesser’ foes would take me down easily. It was a far cry from some of the games I’m used to, which offer a challenge, but one that gradually ramps up.

The lack of any major guidance about where to go and how to do certain things was also a culture shock (I actually had to look up a guide on how