I Love Being Humiliated By Elden Ring

thegamer.com:

I am not good at Souls games. I managed to stumble my way through Dark Souls 3, but anything that's a gentle stroll around the block for a series veteran is like climbing Everest for me. Still, I love them, and I couldn't resist punishing myself with Elden Ring—despite having increasingly diminished patience for games where you have to die repeatedly to succeed. I was struggling at first, but last night I finally made some progress. Well, my version of progress.

While exploring Limgrave on horseback, I found the entrance to some catacombs—one of the game's many mini dungeons. I almost didn't go in, thinking there would be nothing but misery down there. But then I remembered that I was actually supposed to be playing the game, not just running around the overworld avoiding enemies. I steeled myself, held my shield firmly in front of me, and descended into the gloom, bracing for frustration.

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It was fine. I killed a few stone goblins, dodged some flame traps, and killed the dungeon boss—a weird fire-spewing, sword-wielding cat—with only a handful of deaths. Player messages were a big help, warning me of ambushes and dangers lurking in the shadows ahead. I was also able to dredge up buried memories of Dark Souls 3 and second-guess FromSoft's designers a couple of times. Of course they'd throw an enemy at me there. Very predictable, guys.

Forgetting that this was an easy, entry-level dungeon in the game's starting area, I was suddenly filled with bravado. Elden Ring ain't shit! I got through those catacombs without breaking a sweat. This game's gonna be a breeze. Is that the best you've got, Miyazaki? I left the catacombs high on the victory, and returned to Merchant Kalé to spend