The buzz around Elden Ring shows no signs of dying down any time soon. FromSoftware’s latest game is an absolute hit, shipping more than 12 million copies already, the best launch for the company to date.
It’s been a week full of discoveries. Illusory walls with huge health bars, George R.R. Martin easter eggs, boss cheeses, and, unfortunately, some toxic backseat gamers. If you’ve been too busy playing to know what’s been going on in the wider community, we’ve got you covered.
A Big Week For Starscourge Radahn
Elden Ring received its 1.03 patch which fixed some bugged NPC quests, added NPC map markers, nerfed some fan favourite weapons and abilities, fixed the previously broken Arcane scaling, and made Radahn considerably easier.
Many of us are now wearing our ‘I beat pre-nerf Radahn’ badges with smug pride, but some players have still found a way to cheese him. Simply run up a cliff, and the gravity magic specialist will ironically simply die.
In other boss news, over 70 percent of Elden Ring players have now beaten one of the game’s first bosses, Margit, The Fell Omen. “Ohh people beat the first boss, big deal.” Yes, actually. Margit is a tough boss designed to get players to go and explore rather than just clearing the main story, so he’s intentionally a lot harder than most first bosses in a soulsborne game.
Speedrunning And Streamer Harassment
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The speedruns for Elden Ring are now below 30 minutes, a lightning-fast pace for such a huge game. The current world record is Distortion2’s 28:15, but the new patch may be putting an end to this route due to the Hoarfrost Stomp ash of war being nerfed.
Unfortunately, it’s not all good news in the community. Twitch vtuber Zentreya had to put their Twitter account on private and stop doing Elden Ring runs after backseat gamers criticising their playstyle turned into full-on harassment. FromSoftware purists who think there’s only one way to beat the game and harass everyone who dares to play differently are one of the worst aspects of the community.
Mods Mods Mods
People playing Elden Ring on PC are able to benefit from creative and fun mods. The most controversial one this week is the easy mode mod which causes players to deal more damage, enemies to deal less, and also drop ten times as many runes as normal.
Also, we’ve got the long-awaited Thomas the Tank Engine mod which replaces the Tree Sentinel’s horse with the titular locomotive. Not quite Skyrim’s dragon Thomas the Tank Engine mod, but it’s a start.
Finally, there’s a neat one that pits Starscourge Radahn against Malenia, Blade of Miquella - told you it was a big week for him. These two face off in the game’s trailer, set long before the events of the game itself. Here, they fight to a standstill, neither emerging the clear victor, but that all changes now. It’s a rematch for the ages.
Easter Eggs, Strange Walls, And Hackers
Unfortunately, although fun mods are cool, PC players also need to deal with unscrupulous ne’er-do-wells. Hackers have found a way to cause infinite death loops in Elden Ring on PC. To be safe, play in offline mode until FromSoftware finds a fix.
Now onto the fun stuff. Fans have noticed that the demi-gods in the game all have writer George R. R. Martin’s initials, as each of their names begins with G, R, or M. If you’re going to write the lore for one of the biggest games in recent memory, may as well leave a nod to yourself in there.
And, last but not least, several walls have been found throughout The Lands Between that have 9999 hit points, meaning unlike other illusory walls which fade after one hit, these can take over 50 to break through. This is probably a bug and not an intended feature, but it’s got players pretty scared they’ve missed some cool secrets.
Still No Statement From FromSoftware About Working Conditions
Unfortunately, despite the massive success of Elden Ring, troubling reports have emerged that FromSoftware has some archaic working conditions, including forcing women to leave their jobs if they need to take time off for maternity leave. This is a big blight on the studio, and the workers deserve better.