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When I played Eldon's Circle of Law the other day, I really fell in love with the game, as if I had finally accepted the guidance of the Golden Tree. Although I have long known that this is a wonderful game, and just watching my friends play it makes me particularly excited, for me, it has always been a game that only dares to look at it from a distance. But after thinking about it for a long time, I decided to download it and try it for myself.
However, my level was really limited, and (unsurprisingly) I was stuck. Due to my misinterpretation of the game's structure, I mistook a boss in an underground graveyard for an important main line boss, and I didn't know how long I had been fighting with it. My play is really getting better, but it's not enough. After dozens of round-trips with a crazy cat statue boss, I vented my frustration with my poor fighting (mostly the inability to stabilize with bounce backs).
After that, netizens gave me a lot of good advice! Finally, my friend texted me and asked me where the card was, and after talking to him for a while, I suddenly realized: I didn't have to call this boss! It's just a roadside boss, completely capable of fighting or not. He also told me that as soon as the third blessing arrived, a young lady would visit and then I could upgrade. Relieved, I walked out of the cemetery and stumbled to find the third blessing. In this way, I unlocked the ability to upgrade, got a horse, and embarked on a pleasant journey.
I never went back to that place.
After 8 hours of playing, I've fallen in love with the game. What is my secret? I look at this game the way I look at The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wilderness – a platform jumping game! A super-large, almost immersive simulation game (I'll explain later) platform jumping game, I can freely ride, jump, roll and explore in this crazy world. I don't need to fight at all (at least not all the time) to get to different locations to be successful!
Even though Eldon's Ring of Law isn't a platform-jumping game on the surface, it's open enough to have fun on your own, and for me, that's the key recipe for immersive simulation games. It's a FromSoftware title, yes, but I don't fight at all. skill? My skill is not in combat, but in how to skillfully dodge and evade every enemy, how to efficiently manage energy and Torett's two-stage jump, and to wander around like a medieval horse jetpack at the junction.
Thanks to the Loon I found along the way (cemeteries are often available), I was able to upgrade and pick up materials as if I were a picker. Everything can be sold for Luen, and if I give most of the battle to my friends and I can pass it by picking flowers, I don't have to think about it, I will definitely do it.
This may sound like the "wrong way to play". After all, the biggest charm of the Soul series is to continuously improve myself (just my personal understanding, I passed "Bloodborne Curse", "Dark Souls 3" also played two-thirds, and also watched dozens of hours of express and special conditions express video, not a thorough cloud player), enjoy the satisfaction of constantly testing yourself in high-difficult battles and constantly getting stronger. I often hear people compare soul games to climbing steep cliffs.
I fully understand the charm, but my life is full of challenges, and I don't have the patience to become a soul player with precise operation (and maybe even a barely qualified soul player).
But you know what I'm good at? Run charts and jumps! I love 3D platform jumping games, and Eldon's Ring of Law has a vast open world full of potential jumping platforms, and as I race around, looking for map fragments and blessings, scavenging for items to sell for Loone, both buildings and monsters can be seen as interesting obstacles waiting for me to jump up and down.
▲The windmill takes a souvenir photo
And that's just the upgrade-related aspect. The most interesting part for me is actually exploring this crazy, gorgeous and eerie world. I was amazed by the diversity of the map, and the way things are arranged has been carefully designed and full of new possibilities (there are always little things hinting at me in the distance, there are new areas, and new adventures). It's so much fun to think about how to explore and wander around without angering the Natives — I haven't even acquired any stealth spells yet (according to my colleague Steven, incognito spells exist in the game, so I'm looking forward to the day I discover it, when I'll be able to use Eldon's Ring as a stealth platform jumping game!). ）
This is not to say that I am completely out of battle, just yesterday I defeated an old man standing on a boat and saw for the first time the "ENEMY FELLED" (Tibia's call ship, a simple little boss who can be defeated with my little skill). It was my superb strategy to defeat him—I rode on horseback and rushed toward him, slashed a few times, and ran away before he could attack with sprinklers.
But to be honest, so many battles are enough for me. Is there any way I can play through the enemy and main bosses (presumably with the help of friends and summons) and let me play the rest as "Souls of Super Mario"? Or after I've found more elements to defeat an enemy without going head-to-head (such as Steven told me today that poison is particularly useful), can I think of this game as a "Predator Soul" or a "Soul of Shame"? If I could do that, the game would be basically perfect for me.
I really appreciate that FromSoftware has built such an open and flexible game. I can enjoy myself in it, rather than trying to be a person I am not, as I did in the first two Soul series I played. I was able to get through Blood curse because it was good enough and unusual enough that it kept me going. And "Eldon's Ring of Law" has more excitement than it does, and it doesn't have to suffer so much.
Translation: Stark Young
Edit: Tony