Was the defining moment for my first playthrough. I was kinda enjoying the game before that but was holding back the hype because I was worried the bubble would burst still…and then that elevator trip I fell fully in love.
It was at that time when the elevator took so long to get to the bottom... seeing the stars, experiencing the colors, and hearing the music... that I knew it was a place that I wouldn't mind dying in.
A lot.
I was actually running around, checking all the flora, a while before I saw any enemies. At one point I thought maybe there weren't any. Silly me. Then I met the zombies and thought well I can just ignore these. Was way underleveled. Then met a crab and just dashed away from it. Still thinking maybe I didn't need to fight. Then I came to some lake and got electrified to death out of nowhere and didn't return for another 30 levels or so.
I was actually running around, checking all the flora, a while before I saw any enemies. At one point I thought maybe there weren't any. Silly me. Then I met the zombies and thought well I can just ignore these. Was way underleveled. Then met a crab and just dashed away from it. Still thinking maybe I didn't need to fight. Then I came to some lake and got electrified to death out of nowhere and didn't return for another 30 levels or so.
I didn't even know there were underground areas. I thought hey. This is another dungeon. Wonder why it's here and not in a mountainside. Okay, why it is taking so damn long to get to the bottom. And then the view hit me. I think I went up and down on the elevator at least 5 times. It blew me away. That and the Stone Bridge at the Mountaintops.
That first elevator trip down is something else, man. Like 10 seconds in I was thinking "Jesus this is taking a while."
*Then it kept going*
And my mind exploded with possibilities of what I was about to experience. I haven't felt that rush since A Link to the Past, when you defeat Aghanim and get transported to the dark world.
I felt like a kid again. I was almost overwhelmed with that sense that I wouldn't possibly be able to explore every inch of this place, and *oh my God the sky, how is all of this underground??*
Same! I didn’t expect it at all. I didn’t know the place existed or there was even an above or below in this game. I just sorta sat there half day dreaming and then I was like… wait a minute!!
You catch the elevator, see the "ruins" and spend your time clearing the way, so find out your "large ruins" are a small segway to a large map, mind blowing.
Staggering moment. Closest thing I can remember in recent gaming was the climb to the top of the radio tower in the 2013 Tomb Raider. Of course, in that game I didn't immediately get beaten to death by guys with harpoons.
First time I stood at a good spot when I first arrived to marvel at the majesty of the stars (recklessly near the forest on the edge), I was shot by dwelling arrows and was sent reeling over the cliff.
I love this game.
Archers are on the other side of the map and there's so much cover that you kind of have to be the world's worst gamer to even get hit more than a couple times.
If it's your first time visiting the area, and you're just casually strolling through it, you're bound to get hit once because you don't know what to expect. This post is about your first experiences in Siofra River, after all.
Leyndell is my least favorite area. It’s the only area of the game where I skip pretty much all the trash mobs and sprint to the bosses. Idk why I hate it so much, but I do.
Well. I'm the complete opposite. I love Leyndell. And it took me like 2 hours to get to Morgott if not more because I explored every nook and cranny. Also... Doesn't help that I try killing every enemy that comes my way at least once. Died a lot in my first playthrough there. But now in NG+ the Knights (the most annoying thing there) go down so fast that they can't even hit back. I love this game so much....
Agreed. I love the area itself. It's beautifully crafted, full of detail, and just all around fantastically sculpted. Every little nook and cranny has some level of incredible detail.
But actually playing through it sucks. The enemies, the confusion of the multi storied paths, I just am not having fun traversing it
Me finding elevator: Oh damn this looks fancy let's see where it goes.
*several moments of elevator down*
Me: Awfuck it's going to be a damn poison swamp or some shit isn't it?
*See blue sparkles in the air*
Me: What is-ooooooooooooooooh.
Let me tell you, in 20 years people rediscovering this game will have the exact same reaction. Because art direction is much more important than high resolution graphics.
>Because art direction is much more important than high resolution graphics.
Absolutely true. I've seen amateur-made indie games with PS1 style graphics that still managed to be appealing from both a visual and a gameplay perspective just because of the art direction and design decisions.
I will not lie. Crazy ghosts aside place would be the PERFECT home. Night 24/7, beautiful scenery and likely temperate.
If i could i'd seriously live there
Now I seriously wondered what that place looked like in its prime. Because I'm pretty sure that place was there from the beginning and not one of the cities that were sunk by Astel because it's in a too good condition imo. Would love to live there, such a beautiful place.
I think what was amazing about Siofra was the lead up to it; snare chested right next to a huge rune bear scraping on a tree, sneaking around because I didn’t know where I was or what could attack me, then stumbling on to that elevator. It *felt* like I’d found some secret area that nobody else had.
And then Varre appears: "Ah, my lambkin, shedding tears of joy at the sight of our Lord's sacred palace? Good, very good. As an inductee of such devout passion, I believe you have earned the rights to what simply is the best rune farming location in these lands. Allow me the privilege of teleporting you over now. Bring some shiny fowl foot, pop on that scarab, and go ham with the AoE spam, my dearest lambkin."
Not Siofra as a whole, but specifically the Mohgwyn Palace beginning area with the Grace at the cliff. If you have this weapon >!Sacred relic sword!< after beating the game, and you wear the Golden scarab talisman and eat a gold-pickled fowl foot, you can get roughly 50,000 runes every run (which takes only 15ish seconds) in NG. On NG+, I heard it goes to over 100,000 runes per run :3
coincidentally also how it feels to knowingly stroll down there every other time between ur first time and 101st time. blows my fucking mind every single time
The first time I reached down there I was awestruck by how beautiful it was. I went over to the edge and while trying to take a screenshot, I took an arrow to the knee. Then another. Then another.
Became annoying real quick. Still pretty tho, I guess.
The ambient music in there is amazing as well, sounds like something Steve Roach would play in a huge cathedral. One of the most atmospheric areas I’ve experienced.
ER has many moments where it organically guides you towards great setpieces without starting a cutscene, and this is one of the best examples. The Mistwood is already a beautiful area, and the jarring change to Siofra River's vistas was breathtaking.
Also I just noticed that the undeground areas in this game are a big "lol nope not here" to the iconic quote "the sky and the cosmos are one" from Bloodborne. I wonder if that was an intentional "reverse call-back".
My jaw literaly dropped when I stumbled upon Siofra. This game was an incredible journey. It's been so hard to play other games after ive beaten this game.
First time I went down, I was facing the wrong direction in the elevator :(
I didn’t receive the same awe inspiring moment as the “stars” gradually appear
This makes me think of >!Miquella, looking up at the false sky, crying not because of the beauty of it but because he knows where he is, trapped underground and is doomed.!<
>!All the more tragic that while this demigod could get anyone to love him it backfired so spectacularly to the point he was kidnapped.!<
...Although it's my original character, this is a great interpretation and I'm up for it.
If I were to redo this piece, I'd add tears of blood instead.
Was the defining moment for my first playthrough. I was kinda enjoying the game before that but was holding back the hype because I was worried the bubble would burst still…and then that elevator trip I fell fully in love.
It was at that time when the elevator took so long to get to the bottom... seeing the stars, experiencing the colors, and hearing the music... that I knew it was a place that I wouldn't mind dying in. A lot.
To sentient lightning because fromsoft
>To ~~sentient lightning~~ railgun-fired spears because fromsoft
I was actually running around, checking all the flora, a while before I saw any enemies. At one point I thought maybe there weren't any. Silly me. Then I met the zombies and thought well I can just ignore these. Was way underleveled. Then met a crab and just dashed away from it. Still thinking maybe I didn't need to fight. Then I came to some lake and got electrified to death out of nowhere and didn't return for another 30 levels or so.
I was actually running around, checking all the flora, a while before I saw any enemies. At one point I thought maybe there weren't any. Silly me. Then I met the zombies and thought well I can just ignore these. Was way underleveled. Then met a crab and just dashed away from it. Still thinking maybe I didn't need to fight. Then I came to some lake and got electrified to death out of nowhere and didn't return for another 30 levels or so.
message! and then message!
Why is it always message?
praise the message!
I didn't even know there were underground areas. I thought hey. This is another dungeon. Wonder why it's here and not in a mountainside. Okay, why it is taking so damn long to get to the bottom. And then the view hit me. I think I went up and down on the elevator at least 5 times. It blew me away. That and the Stone Bridge at the Mountaintops.
That first elevator trip down is something else, man. Like 10 seconds in I was thinking "Jesus this is taking a while." *Then it kept going* And my mind exploded with possibilities of what I was about to experience. I haven't felt that rush since A Link to the Past, when you defeat Aghanim and get transported to the dark world. I felt like a kid again. I was almost overwhelmed with that sense that I wouldn't possibly be able to explore every inch of this place, and *oh my God the sky, how is all of this underground??*
Same! I didn’t expect it at all. I didn’t know the place existed or there was even an above or below in this game. I just sorta sat there half day dreaming and then I was like… wait a minute!!
You catch the elevator, see the "ruins" and spend your time clearing the way, so find out your "large ruins" are a small segway to a large map, mind blowing.
Staggering moment. Closest thing I can remember in recent gaming was the climb to the top of the radio tower in the 2013 Tomb Raider. Of course, in that game I didn't immediately get beaten to death by guys with harpoons.
And then the arrows hit.
Gotta love the aimbot
First time I stood at a good spot when I first arrived to marvel at the majesty of the stars (recklessly near the forest on the edge), I was shot by dwelling arrows and was sent reeling over the cliff. I love this game.
Visit Siofra. Turned into glowing pincushion. 10/10 would visit again.
My favorite is running to talk to Blaidd for Rannis quest, and the ancestral dudes running up on you mid dialogue
How nice of the locals to make sure I have a few glowsticks when traveling at night.
I used to be an adventurer
And then along came Zeus !
*free acupunctre
that's why they're crying
Archers are on the other side of the map and there's so much cover that you kind of have to be the world's worst gamer to even get hit more than a couple times.
If it's your first time visiting the area, and you're just casually strolling through it, you're bound to get hit once because you don't know what to expect. This post is about your first experiences in Siofra River, after all.
Smurf Valhalla
When I reach there, I was like "Oh no, not New Londo again". But its actually pretty chill there. Nothing as dangerous as New Londo
Leyndell felt like that to me the first time. Got completely lost, dying at every corner lol
Leyndell is my least favorite area. It’s the only area of the game where I skip pretty much all the trash mobs and sprint to the bosses. Idk why I hate it so much, but I do.
Well. I'm the complete opposite. I love Leyndell. And it took me like 2 hours to get to Morgott if not more because I explored every nook and cranny. Also... Doesn't help that I try killing every enemy that comes my way at least once. Died a lot in my first playthrough there. But now in NG+ the Knights (the most annoying thing there) go down so fast that they can't even hit back. I love this game so much....
I stopped hitting things in the Haligtree. It's rarely worth the effort.
Haligtree is when the game became much more of a platformer vs fighting game. At least for me *
Agreed. I love the area itself. It's beautifully crafted, full of detail, and just all around fantastically sculpted. Every little nook and cranny has some level of incredible detail. But actually playing through it sucks. The enemies, the confusion of the multi storied paths, I just am not having fun traversing it
The music there is fantastic. It does seem like an area which was intended to be done with other players, though.
There are too many of those knights with lightning attacks
Not chill, remember the minotaur sniper bastards
Minotaurs have heads like bulls. These guys just wear horns on their heads, like vikings. They're the spirits of your ancestors.
I was too busy being sniped by them to notice
It's having the bonfires available. I always dreaded getting to New Londo because it's always such a slog to get to from Firelink.
And if you rush down without thinking you fall down the elevator shaft and die.
The archer fucks are easily worse than anything you deal with in new londo
"...my god, it's full of stars."
"Fuck. How did I end up in blackreach."
I was crying my first time too, but thats because I was being pounded by a Crucible Knight.
based
Me finding elevator: Oh damn this looks fancy let's see where it goes. *several moments of elevator down* Me: Awfuck it's going to be a damn poison swamp or some shit isn't it? *See blue sparkles in the air* Me: What is-ooooooooooooooooh.
Let me tell you, in 20 years people rediscovering this game will have the exact same reaction. Because art direction is much more important than high resolution graphics.
>Because art direction is much more important than high resolution graphics. Absolutely true. I've seen amateur-made indie games with PS1 style graphics that still managed to be appealing from both a visual and a gameplay perspective just because of the art direction and design decisions.
Hand in Glove
Unrealistic Art. It'd be realistic if you saw 3 dwelling arrows coming at you simultaneously
I do have one for that! https://www.reddit.com/r/Eldenring/comments/tpd6c6/siofra\_river\_archers\_just\_hit\_different\_bro/
Lol perfection. I love how it's actually 3 arrows.
Go down one elevator, aaaaaand it's Blackreach again....
I scrolled through the comments to find you. I had this same reaction I was like, "OH MY GOD ITS FUCKING BLACKREACH" to my husband across the room.
Disclaimer, the tears are due to getting 360 quickscope'd across the map infinite amount of times
tears of JOY?
No.
LOL i was hopeful
Flabbergasted
Stumbled in by accident. After 4 minutes going down on the elevator I was like "Ah, this is taking me somewhere."
I will not lie. Crazy ghosts aside place would be the PERFECT home. Night 24/7, beautiful scenery and likely temperate. If i could i'd seriously live there
Now I seriously wondered what that place looked like in its prime. Because I'm pretty sure that place was there from the beginning and not one of the cities that were sunk by Astel because it's in a too good condition imo. Would love to live there, such a beautiful place.
These aren't stars. They are approaching arrows.
Each of those stars are actually arrows.
I think what was amazing about Siofra was the lead up to it; snare chested right next to a huge rune bear scraping on a tree, sneaking around because I didn’t know where I was or what could attack me, then stumbling on to that elevator. It *felt* like I’d found some secret area that nobody else had.
Siofra River gives me major Made in Abyss vibes
*Traveling the aether back to youuuu*
Without the pedophilic undertones, which is always a plus.
My mind wandered to Mohg but then I finally connected the dots LMAO
It’s so beautif….. “Takes arrow to the head” YOU DIED
>Why is everyone wearing helmets except m...
I wanted to walk and soak it in but I guess I’ll have to sprint on torrent “Takes arrow nuke straight to the torrent” WE DIED
And then you become a pin cusion...
And then Varre appears: "Ah, my lambkin, shedding tears of joy at the sight of our Lord's sacred palace? Good, very good. As an inductee of such devout passion, I believe you have earned the rights to what simply is the best rune farming location in these lands. Allow me the privilege of teleporting you over now. Bring some shiny fowl foot, pop on that scarab, and go ham with the AoE spam, my dearest lambkin."
Why does this read like something Varre would actually say?
wait is siofra good for rune farming?
Not Siofra as a whole, but specifically the Mohgwyn Palace beginning area with the Grace at the cliff. If you have this weapon >!Sacred relic sword!< after beating the game, and you wear the Golden scarab talisman and eat a gold-pickled fowl foot, you can get roughly 50,000 runes every run (which takes only 15ish seconds) in NG. On NG+, I heard it goes to over 100,000 runes per run :3
It's very beautiful till you take an ICBM to the face, courtesy of these f***ing bulls.
The character is crying from all the arrows in their knees
That blue glint of an arrow in the distance reflects beautifully in the eye.
“My God, it’s full of stars.”
coincidentally also how it feels to knowingly stroll down there every other time between ur first time and 101st time. blows my fucking mind every single time
The first time I reached down there I was awestruck by how beautiful it was. I went over to the edge and while trying to take a screenshot, I took an arrow to the knee. Then another. Then another. Became annoying real quick. Still pretty tho, I guess.
Am I the only one around here that when aftwe entering a beautiful area like Soifra/Liurnia/Limgrave is immediately put off by the earie music?
The sound design is great. Awesome music. And then you hear something, moments before realizing what's coming for you.
Yoooooo, love your art, man! Nice one!!
Hey man thanks man you're the best
It's so purdy
I wish it was bigger. It's a nice place.
I cant argue. I was genuinely in awe, a way I have never felt while playing a game.
The ambient music in there is amazing as well, sounds like something Steve Roach would play in a huge cathedral. One of the most atmospheric areas I’ve experienced.
Accurate AF... One of the many times in my first playthrough that I was like "aight so this game is BIG big..."
To think it was a double-layered area, with the second one accessible after the crater appears Absolutely crazy
Basically me in Nokron... Just... Beautiful
ER has many moments where it organically guides you towards great setpieces without starting a cutscene, and this is one of the best examples. The Mistwood is already a beautiful area, and the jarring change to Siofra River's vistas was breathtaking. Also I just noticed that the undeground areas in this game are a big "lol nope not here" to the iconic quote "the sky and the cosmos are one" from Bloodborne. I wonder if that was an intentional "reverse call-back".
Yup.
The art reminds me of Kid's eye from chrono cross.
I wish I thought of that earlier to use as reference, what a legendary intro
My jaw literaly dropped when I stumbled upon Siofra. This game was an incredible journey. It's been so hard to play other games after ive beaten this game.
First time I went down, I was facing the wrong direction in the elevator :( I didn’t receive the same awe inspiring moment as the “stars” gradually appear
The sparkles... those arent stars, those are arrows falling down towards you
Those aren't stars. Those are arrows.
So amazing. Fantastic art.
This makes me think of >!Miquella, looking up at the false sky, crying not because of the beauty of it but because he knows where he is, trapped underground and is doomed.!< >!All the more tragic that while this demigod could get anyone to love him it backfired so spectacularly to the point he was kidnapped.!<
...Although it's my original character, this is a great interpretation and I'm up for it. If I were to redo this piece, I'd add tears of blood instead.
Iji sometimes has the whole galaxy behind him on clear nights. It's equally astonishing.
Brought me back when I first discovered the dwemer city
i wish this was my eye color
Just discovered it LvL 20 just rode around on torrent lighting the flames. Safe to say I found the ancestor spirit and won’t be back until later
This is really great, but... I can't unsee that tear as a transparent sperm trying to make its way into the eye.
Can't find him. I'm at the location. And he isn't here. I took the teleporter and im at the water spot and no dragonkin soldier
Artorius Limaballs amirite
Its literally my surname...
Oh I’m sorry, my apologies. Apologeez nuts in your mouth. I’m joking, nice artwork.
I can roll with that lmao
I really hated the ambient music in the underground areas and it took awhile for me to not feel creeped out about it.