Elden Ring and FromSoftware are horribly overrated Readers FeatureGameCentralPublished February 8, 2025 9:00am Dark Souls 3 it can be frustrating (Bandai Namco)A reader reacts to recent speculation about Bloodborne and FromSoftwares next game and wishes he could enjoy the games as others do.I like to think of myself as a live and let live kind of guy. Theres lots of games and movies I dont like, that everyone else seems to, and vice versa, but I am perfectly capable of accepting that as personal preference. But for some reason I cannot seem to get over my deep-seated hatred of everything FromSoftware does.Well hatred is a strong word. Frustration is probably more accurate. I havent had to think about them much recently but in the last few weeks theres been a lot of talk about Bloodborne getting a remaster and what else From might be making next.I can tell you what theyll be making next with a high degree of accuracy: needlessly frustrating games with no story, sky high difficulty, a terrible interface, bad animation, and janky combat. Whats most annoying though is that I want to love them and I just cant.I first tried Dark Souls when it become famous and Id heard a lot about it being a super challenging game that was a fight back against bland press X to win style games that were all the rage at the time, from companies like EA and Activision. It looked like exactly my sort of thing in terms of a dark fantasy, with cool medieval designs and monsters.Then I played it and it seemed kind of amateurish? I distinctly remember trying to get a feel for the controls and being very unimpressed by the animation and movement, and particularly the weedy little jump. It seemed more like an animation glitch than a proper move and yet its actually very important in some areas.What annoys me about this is that it hasnt really changed at all in later games. Not only these problems but the bad camera, the fiddly menu interface (which is even worse because it doesnt pause the game), and the combat which is mostly based on hitting someone once or twice, retreating and waiting to do it again and again.I thought it was just me, but I watched YouTube videos to see more skilled players and their defeat of most bosses still seemed to be based on cheesing their way past and basically breaking the game to beat them, rather than having a stand-up fight.Ive never seen any good argument for why it needs to be this difficult. Trial and error and rote learning is not you being more skilled. You dont git gud you just try and memorise everything and follow the pattern like clockwork.What really gets me though is the story, which you have literally no chance of understanding if you dont consult the wikis and YouTube documentaries.I actually had more fun watching them than playing the games, as listening to them piece together the clues was very impressive and then they admit its still mostly guesswork. Theres no real answer for who you are what youre doing in any of their games and thats just no something I can go along with.Like I said, I have tried to enjoy these games. Ive played Dark Souls 1 and 2, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring, and I cant see that theyve improved on the formula in any significant way.What also irritates me is that despite everyone trying to copy them nobody ever tries to better them. Theres no purposefully easier Dark Souls or one with really fluid combat or platforming, theres just literally clones that only try to copy and never improve anything.More TrendingI find it very frustrating and I know its going to be even worse when they announce their next game and Im tempted, and disappointed, by that as well.By reader MiniMax Bloodborne may be making a comeback (Sony Interactive Entertainment)The readers features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. Just contact us at gamecentral@metro.co.uk or use our Submit Stuff page and you wont need to send an email.GameCentralSign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy