Games I’ve been Playing - Elden Ring, Fallout 3, and Breath of the Wild

It’s been a while since I put together my last post about what I’ve been playing, but I have definitely not been idle in the intervening months. Here’s what I’ve been up to! ¹

Table of Contents

• Elden Ring (Buy Elden Ring)
• Fallout 3 (Buy Fallout 3)
• Breath of the Wild (Buy Breath of the Wild)

Elden Ring

I beat Elden Ring a month or so back, brute-forcing my way through the game with heavy armor and a greatsword. It’s a massive game, and I feel like I’ve only just scratched the surface even after the many many hours I put into that run. I restarted almost immediately, playing as a mage and experimenting with glintstone sorceries. But in all honesty, I’m a bit burnt out on the game. As many discovered after an initial burst of enjoyment, the game really starts to drag after the fight with Morgott and I, like many others, was struck by an overwhelming sense of “really, there’s more?” right about the time Crumbling Farum Azula popped up.

Blurry screenshots!

All of that said, I really enjoyed my time with Elden Ring. It was a real challenge, but I’m happy I played it. The world and the characters have intriguing depths and the moment-to-moment gameplay is tense and exciting. I just think the open world (and especially the addition of your trusty steed Torrent) breaks the tight pacing that does so much for the earlier Souls games. When most enemy groups can simply be avoided, it’s often hard to tell how the game wants the player to approach situations.

Torrent’s the most overpowered item in Elden Ring

Fallout 3

Playing on the Steam Deck! I first experienced Fallout 3 at a friend’s house, watching him explore DC’s irradiated subways on an XBox 360. Playing the game on the Deck is a wholly different experience, and I’m enjoying it quite a bit. As a platform, the Deck promotes a certain kind of focus that I find incredibly compelling; multi-tasking isn’t really possible, so the game takes center stage.

When I play games on PC, it’s not unusual for me to have a podcast running in the background, or even a long YouTube video running on a second monitor. Playing on the Deck locks me in and focuses my attention.

I’ve spent a lot of time sneaking through DC’s metro system

I’m also having a good time with Fallout 3 itself! Much like my exploration of Oblivion last year, Fallout 3 feels like a clear first step toward the kind of multi-leveled, densely packed urban chaos we see in Fallout 4’s Boston. The metro system’s prominence feels more like a concession to technical limitations than anything else, with piles of rubble blocking progress along surface streets.

Tonally, the game’s dialogue choices place the player at a remove from the game’s world. You’re encouraged to mess with the world and its characters, causing problems and drama wherever you go. You can, of course, avoid these options, but the game itself will essentially taunt you for being a good-two-shoes. It’s a game that, despite the depth of its dialogue system and its world, wants you to engage with it as a game; to exert your will upon the world and its inhabitants in whatever way seems most entertaining.

Tenpenny Tower’s residents are in for a shake-up

Anyways, I’ll likely have a longer write-up on Fallout 3 at some point in the future. I’m still fairly early in the game, and I’ve yet to tackle any of the DLC. More to come here.

Breath of the Wild

I have no screenshots for this one; I’ll add some in the future if I can figure out how to get screenshots off the Switch

Breath of the Wild is my first Zelda game and I’m honestly not sure how I feel about it. I’m partly playing it for my wife, so she can see the story without needing to play the game herself. But I think I might have played too many open-world games. I can see the game’s strength and the excellence of its execution in every mechanic; the game gives me so many tools I sometimes can’t tell if a cheesed a puzzle or completed it as intended, and the world design itself is both nuanced and beautiful.

But I think I’ve climbed too many towers. I think I climbed too many towers by the time I beat Far Cry 3, and I’d definitely climbed too many towers by the time I beat Assassin’s Creed 3. I’ve filled in more than my fair share of maps and I just don’t know that I’m that into it these days. Skyrim’s old promise of “if you see a mountain you can climb it” feels more like obligation than exploration. And knowing that each new heart means finding and completing four shrines makes me feel like I’m completing checklist items.

I think I might just not be cut out for these kinds of games right now. I’m going to beat the game and give it a fair shake, but I’m definitely flagging and I have been from the start.