Awesome / Elden Ring

As per wiki rules, Spoilers Off. You Have Been Warned!

A Tarnished vs The Lands Between’s welcoming party.

FROM Software's track record of excellently done games goes unbroken with Elden Ring, and as has been the way with the other Soulsborne games, this one is jampacked with awesome content.

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The Game

• The original reveal trailer gets a retroactive one that only makes sense after beating the game, because it reveals exactly what happened to the Elden Ring and who shattered it right in the opening seconds of the trailer. Without the benefit of context it just looked like interesting visual imagery, but after playing the game and gaining the understanding that we are watching Radagon and Marika fight back and forth to repair or shatter the Elden Ring, one can't help but appreciate the sheer chutzpah that FromSoftware had to put an endgame level spoiler and the fulcrum upon which the game's entire story and setting teeters into the literal first thing anyone would ever see of the game!
  • That trailer also gives us some insight into, of all things, Radagon's personality. The last shot is him kneeling before the anvil that Marika broke the Elden Ring against, slumped in seeming despair at his inability to repair the damage his other self caused while their shared body breaks apart. Given that by the time we encounter the second Elden Lord he is nothing more than a puppet for the Elden Beast that doesn't even speak, having a glimmer of his personality shown in this trailer will likely fuel theorizing for quite some time.
• The amazingly animated story-trailer contains the much talked about battle between Radahn and Malenia, and it's awesome. What could have been an Offscreen Moment of Awesome is fully rendered, and it's a glorious clash between two strong warriors. Even moreso, this battle showcases the honor and integrity of both fighters: Radahn allows Malenia to gather her prosthesis so she can fight to the fullest, and Malenia allows Radahn the full use of his gravity magic. This was a pure duel to see who was the best: Neither of them would dare cheat.
• The opening segment begs a mention. Veteran Souls-fans likely found themselves in awe when they first set foot out into the open fields of The Lands Between. Unlike the Souls games...this is not a beautiful but still dying world barely sustaining itself; this is a land still teeming with life, broad and enormous with beautiful locales to visit, secrets to explore, and the feeling it gives is breathtakingly grand.
  • In retrospect, a second playthrough inspires a new feeling even. Previous games had you trying to decide the fate of a dying world...but here, the Tarnished is setting out to save that vibrant world, a task that is VERY possible in half the endings to various extents. For once, you truly get to feel like an adventuring hero questing across the land instead of some nobody who gets the horrid decision of how the world and life may end (even though you can be an asshole and screw life over too with the wrong choices...).
• The Tarnished is probably one of, if not the most impressive and badass protagonist in all Soulsborne games to date. You get to strike down beasts like a malicious king having melded body parts onto himself, various Elden Lords including the very first, a dreaded dual sword wielding archdragon, and the embodiment of order itself!
• Even if she is considered by some an easy boss considering her status, the second phase of Rennala's battle is beautiful. You're fighting a sorceress at the height of her power on what appears to be an endless lake/sea against the backdrop of a full moon hanging in the night sky. It is simply gorgeous.
• The battle against General Radahn is one of the game's most spectacular boss fights. The fight against one of the mightiest Demigods in the Lands Between will require the player to constantly be summoning forth up to about six fellow warriors while dodging the General's arrows, actually gigantic spears he's plucking off his back and firing at you with devastating accuracy. And once you reach him, he will promptly begin to attack you with a barrage of fierce moves with unexpected skill and devastating power, likely decimating your fellow Tarnished if his powerful Gravity Master powers don't do them in first. All of it in an enormous area where he's free to move to his liking, and where you are permitted to use Torrent to match him in mounted combat.
  • After you and your cohorts lower his health enough, Radahn will prepare what looks like another attack, before jumping off the battlefield. The music cuts out and the time slowly passes to night, giving you a moment of reprieve to collect yourself. Not long after, the ground starts glowing and you look into the sky, only to see Radahn barreling in from orbit, crashing onto the battlefield like a meteor to start his second phase!
  • Radahn's lore also shows how crazy yet awesome the good general was in his prime. Having learned gravity magic to continue riding his lanky steed Leonard, Radahn was a mighty warrior who after the Shattering stalemated fellow demigoddess Malenia in battle, herself a powerful warrior, until she was forced to unleash the Scarlet Rot in a bid to finally defeat him. While struck by it to the point where he was driven insane, Radahn did not give up, and even decades after the battle, he continues to be a fierce warrior in spite of his earlier wounds and the rot coursing through his body. He was also still consciously holding the falling stars from reaching the Lands Between. Furthermore, his Badass Army is still loyal enough to him that they organized the Radahn Festival to gather you and the other Tarnished and give him a glorious and merciful death.
• After defeating the Draconic Tree Sentinel guarding the entrance to Leyndell, the Royal Capital, your arrive at a vantage point that gives you a great good view of the whole city. Of note is the petrified corpse of an ancient dragon far in the distance, and it's not just scenery — you'll have to climb the dragon statue for the path that leads to the area boss! You'll also notice that the dragon's holding an enormous spear, and if you find a way to climb on that, you can gain that spear as a legendary weapon for yourself!
• The moment you finally meet Morgott and realize that he is none other than Margit, the Fell Omen is an amazing reveal that contextualize why he can seemingly materialize out of thin air and why you can face him again in Leyndell after you seemingly killed him. And then, as he denounced his siblings as traitors, his cane cracked before it breaks, revealing a sword underneath, and the real battle against the King of Leyndell, the Grace-Given, finally begins.
  Morgott: Have it writ it upon thy meagre grave: "Felled by King Morgott! Last of All Kings!"
• Getting your first glimpse of Crumbling Farum Azula from a Four Belfries teleporter. You're dropped off on a ruin — like those scattered across the world — but floating far outside the game world, with an enormous tornado on the horizon ahead. After a few seconds the storm breaks apart, revealing the majestic ruins of a floating mausoleum circled by flocks of white dragons.
• The fight against Dragonlord Placidusax in Crumbling Farum Azula is a spectacular take on the typical dragon boss encounter. Finding him is no easy feat, as he's optional and pretty well hidden. Once the Tarnished reaches him, however, they are greeted by a gorgeous arena with golden-grey light shining down on it. In the sky hangs the sleeping dragon, like a massive floating effigy, only waking up as you approach it. The dragon itself has a moveset that means business, including blades of lighting that extend from its actual claws to rend you with, a lightning glaive that acts like an electric nuclear blast so powerful that it halts the soundtrack, and eventually the two heads channel their inner Midir by sweeping the arena with lasers. Its most spectacular move, however, comes when it flies up and transforms into a thundercloud that travels before Placidusax emerges from it, charging the Tarnished at breakneck speed with lightning blades extended. He's likely not the toughest boss you'll have faced at this point, with most of his moves having generous tells, but certainly one of the coolest.
• An unexpected moment from an unexpected character: Enia initially seems to be nothing more than a Satellite Character revolving around the Two Fingers and functions as an extension of them as a character. However, once the Fingers abandon the Tarnished under the guise of "communing" with the Greater Will, Enia quickly figures out what the hell is going on and chooses to help you burn the Erdtree, giving you all the information she can to help you become Elden Lord. Even as she does this, she concedes that she's performing blasphemy and doesn't give a damn.
  Enia: The forbidden shadow, plucked from the Golden Order upon its creation... Unleashing the rune now would be unthinkable... The Fingers would never permit it. Nor would the Greater Will. But here we are... The Fingers, dormant, severing our link to the Greater Will. The realm, and all life, in ruins. Impossible events transpire, beyond the ken of the Fingers. Who is to say that the cardinal sin must be cardinal forever? Go on. Finish the job. Take the course you deem most worthy.
• The Climax Boss, when not tragic, is an epic showdown between yourself and Godfrey. He marks a first for the series where he can attack unarmed, unleashing wrestling moves like a powerbomb unto the Tarnished.
  • Unlike the other bosses, who treat the Tarnished with disgust and look down on them, Godfrey speaks to the Tarnished in a respectful tone. He recognizes the accomplishments you made and sees you as worthy of his respect as both Elden Lord Godfrey and as the Warrior Hoarah Loux.
  • The Reveal that Godfrey is in fact Hoarah Loux needs more elaboration because of how amazing it is. As you progressed through the game, you realize that he is the only Tarnished mentioned in the opening that has yet to make an appearance in the game, which is strange as he must be important somehow. When Godfrey killed Sherosh and revealed himself as Hoarah Loux, suddenly everything makes sense; it's been mentioned that Godfrey has Sherosh act as a limiter to his strength and bloodlust to rule more like a King, and a crucial fact that many players might forget is that Godfrey is the first Tarnished. Seeing the opening cutscene again even reveals that there is a lion corpse next to him, showing how this amazing reveal has been foreshadowed since the beginning of the game.
  • During the introduction cutscene to the fight against Godfrey, there's a trail of grace coming from him — and this time, pointing directly at you.
• The Final Boss fights of the game against Radagon and the Elden Beast deserve mentions for both the spectacle of both fights, as well as the haunting beauty of them despite the fact that you're fighting for your life and the right to become Elden Lord in both of them.
  • As Marika’s body rises again as Radagon and hefts their hammer into the air, the main theme of the game kicks in. It is both grandiose and hopeful, hammering home that this is it. This is the end of your journey. Every battle in the Lands Between from the pitiful Soldier of Godrick to the duel with Hoarah Loux has led to this fight. You want the ending you’ve worked so hard to get? Come and take it!
  • Radagon fights with a level of serene calmness and brutal savagery that absolutely befits a being of his stature, smashing you flat with Marika's hammer after gently gliding into the air with it or walking calmly before lunging forward to slam you into the ground and pulverize your face. The fact that he says nothing to you at all, and never lets out a cry of pain or roar of rage even as he dies, truly impresses onto the Tarnished just how far beneath Radagon you are... or how utterly inhuman being the Elden Lord has made him.
  • The Elden Beast is a terrific creature to behold, in that it inspires true terror to gaze upon what is quite literally the embodiment of the natural order of the world itself. You have to fight and kill a living Abstract Apotheosis, one that can casually remold Radagon into a sword for it to use and summon what is quite possibly a miniature star to harry you. Every Chosen Undead, Bearer of the Curse, Unkindled, Demon Slayer, and Good Hunter has metaphorically fought against the established order of their worlds in the course of their quest. The Tarnished had to physically battle the very foundations of their world and its established order to be crowned as Elden Lord.
  • Upon slaying the Elden Beast, these two unforgettable words pop up on the screen in place of the usual text, serving to underline the monumental awesomeness of the feat that the Tarnished had just accomplished.
    GOD SLAIN
  • Remember that Hewg's been hard at work striving to make a weapon that can slay a god. Thanks to you, he's accomplished that goal, even though his mind has deteriorated to the point that he can't remember he even had a goal to begin with.
  • Part of Gideon's Despair Event Horizon and the reason why he fights you was his belief that no man can kill a God...and then you proceed to do just that, proving the supposed "All-Knowing" wrong.
• Cleanrot Knight Finlay. For starters, she fought in the battle alongside the other Cleanrot Knights after Malenia unleashed Scarlet Rot, against Radahn. Not only she survived whereas her fellow Cleanrot Knights were slaughtered, afterwards she carried the unconscious Malenia from Caelid, through Limgrave, to Liurnia, across Altus Plateau, all the way back to the Haligtree, fighting off everything who came after her, all alone. This occurred when an ongoing war was raging in all of the aforementioned regions; even the game itself calls it "an unimaginable feat of heroism".
• Managing to reach the underground palace of Mohg, Lord of Blood and overcoming his boss battle is a well-earned moment of catharsis both in-universe and out. For the player, it's an atmospheric and climactic fight against a quite-challenging boss, that gives you 400,000 runes for completing it. But for people who've been paying attention to the lore, it is an immensely satisfying comeuppance for the closest thing Elden Ring has to a Hate Sink, as you avenge his cult's massacres of the Albinaurics and his imprisonment/possible rape of Miquella, ending one of the most monstrous beings in the Lands Between once and for all.
  • Mohg spends the first half of his fight slowly saying an incantation before using a ritual which deals unblockable and undodgeable bleed damage to you and also heals him significantly... unless the Tarnished has the Purifying Crystal Tear, at which point it deals Scratch Damage and doesn't stun you out of your attacks. It still heals him just as much, but you can use that window to get in a great many attacks which will at least mitigate his healing somewhat. If you're running a bleed build yourself, which he happens to ironically be weak to, it's highly likely you will kill him outright during this.
• In order to burn the thorns blocking the way to the Elden Ring, the Tarnished has to use the Flame of Ruin to burn them. Except, instead of just burning the thorns, the entire Erdtree catches fire. It survives. In most endings, it can be seen standing good as new after the fires die out. The only ending in which it actually dies instead of just being slightly damaged by the flames is the Lord of Frenzied Flame ending, in which the entire world burns down around it.
• Frustrating as it can be, the first battle with Preceptor Miriam in the Carian Study Hall has a great set up. Miriam will keep teleporting out of the way to shoot you with her giant magic bow, dodging between the shots and goons is pretty intense until you finally reach the top floor where you can get the drop on her from the rafters. To show how good her glintstone magic is, Miriam can teleport out of being stunlocked and be taking aim at the next spot right after. This woman is tasked to remain between you and Ranni's actual body, and by the Greater Will, does she defend it. To top it off, underneath her mask is an old, wizened lady. Never Mess with Granny indeed.
  • A sorcery user with Loretta’s Greatbow (which Miriam is also using) doesn’t need to close in on her because they can fight her at range. Which turns the fight into a magic greatbow Sniper Duel with you and Miriam trying to get off shots at each other first (if you have Azur’s Glintstone Staff and/or the Radagon Icon, you’ll usually be able to attack faster than her). Further elaboration is not required to illustrate how awesome that is.
    • You fight her in both the normal and the inverted version of the Carian Study Hall. While this is most likely for game purposes, since you can invert the Study Hall without ever setting foot into it (itself a moment of Awesome for the elderly Preceptor for managing to face herself in a building turning upside-down and get to a safe spot just fine), what makes this awesome is the fact that if you do fight her in the normal version, she manages to come Back from the Dead to keep repelling you. Even better is a fact of Gameplay and Story Integration: If, for some reason, you put off going through Stormveil until after beating Morgott, you'll not have to fight his Margit guise. The elderly, Carian Preceptor manages a feat even the Demigods cannot accomplish and cheat death itself. And she isn't a Tarnished. Never Mess with Granny, indeed!
• In the War-Dead Catacombs, the first thing you see is endlessly-respawning spectres of Redmane soldiers and Cleanrot Knights clashing in an all-out brawl. As long as you don't draw their attention, you can comfortably sit back and watch the carnage, reaping the runes off fallen combatants.
• Turning the Dung Eater into a puppet. You can make that bastard feel fear for once as he gets what he deserves, and you have a new puppet warrior that is useful, and you save an innocent woman from another asshole while still reaping his rewards.
• It's entirely offscreen, but credit must be given to Mohg for the genuinely impressive feat of kidnapping Miquella. This implies getting past everyone in the Haligtree, potentially past Malenia if she was there, and then escaped with a hostage in tow without anyone able to stop him.
• Rykard is one of the game's more loathsome individuals, but he has at least one shining moment in the game's backstory. He was a conspirator in the Night of the Black Knives, alongside Ranni. His role? To duel Maliketh, The Black Blade should he discover the plot. Whether out of loyalty or ambition, Rykard seemingly accepted this near-suicidal responsibility.
• Fighting and beating Malenia. The woman who only had to use her full power against Radahn and was never defeated, she is relentless and never stops attacking. And then, once you beat her, she blooms and uses her full power as a Goddess of Rot, becoming even more fearsome. You can still win, doing what Radahn couldn't, and earn her respect. And you will feel like a badass. And best of all? With the rewards you get, you can undo the influence of the Three Fingers and avoid destroying the world. You just fought the best the Scarlet Rot and Frenzied Flame threw at you, and you won.
  • Malenia's cutscenes deserve some special mention for how magnificently understated they are. You enter Malenia's boss arena with a good look at Miquella's empty cocoon in the roots... and then pan down to the comparatively tiny lady unconscious at its side. She slowly gets up and gets ready to fight, with the camera focusing quite prominently on her prosthetic limbs. Then she bares her sword with an ominous warning, and you're reminded that yes, this is the World's Best Warrior, and she's about to do to you what she did to Radahn in the game's opening.
• Miquella of the Haligtree was truly amazing. Despite being stuck in the body of a small child, he was the undisputed ruler of his own sub-kingdom and refuge, with his beloved sister content to be his bodyguard, he commanded the respect and love of thousands around The Lands Between and most impressive of all, created Unalloyed Gold. The only substance in the known universe that has the ability to remove the meddling of the Outer Gods themselves. He uses it to treat Malenia's ever increasing Scarlet Rot poisoning with powerful prosthetics and metal wrappings and even creates a Needle that can dispel the Frenzied Flame.
• Thops, for all the talk of being a "bluntstone", unable to learn even basic magic, once given a proper chance shows how capable he really is. Thops's Barrier's description goes out of its way to note that for all its simplicity and its creator's supposed lack of intellect, it would be such a fundamentally transformative work of arcana that Raya Lucaria would found an entire conspectus of magical scholarship based on it in the ages to come.
• The endings deserve special mention:
  • The Age of Fracture. This is the default ending if the player doesn't complete the side quests for the other endings and simply beats the main storyline. After obtaining Destined Death and slaying the evil Elden Beast who was trapping the Lands Between in a Forever War rather than end the already decayed Golden Order, the Tarnished begins their own age. They finally claim the Elden Ring, possibly restoring Queen Marika, and the Flame of Ruin is extinguished, leaving the Erdtree battered but very much alive. The land is still a Scarlet Rot infested wreck and the Erdtree's color changes from gold to silver, implying a loss of some of its power. But the Tarnished completed their goal and has brought hope back to the world. The last shot of the game is the Tarnished sitting in their throne at the base of the Erdtree, finally able to rest after a long and difficult journey.
  • The Age of Order. In one fell swoop, you hold the former gods responsible for all the suffering they have wrought, and you make a new world of order with Goldmask's Rune, making it so that even the fickle nature of the Gods cannot interfere with the Lands Between. All they can do is allow prosperity to flourish.
  • The Age of the Stars. Ranni is able to hold the gods to task and create a prosperous age under the power of the moon. She rejects the trappings of the gods and instead values will and independence, for the people can now create their own fate. And you become her immortal consort. You find someone who loves you, and will help you make a just world.
  • The Lord of Frenzied Flame. Nightmarish as the bad ending is, it's still pretty epic. The Lord of Frenzied Flame is able to obliterate the Erdtree with Frenzied Flame, turning the world into what looks like an even worse version of the End of the Age of Fire seen in the Ringed City. The Tarnished does in minutes what took the Abyss an entire trilogy to pull off… And then Melina still swears to kill them by using the God-Slaying power of Destined Death. The game closes in this ending with a shot of her opening her eye, revealing it has a dark blue glow. Some have theorized this and her association with Destined Death mean she is the Gloam-Eyed Queen.
    Melina: "Lord of Frenzied Flame... I will seek you, as far as you may travel... to deliver you what is yours. Destined Death."

Road to the Erdtree Manga

Though it may be a gag manga following Idiot Hero Aseo, it still has its moments.

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• Roderika, of all people, gets one in chapter 16. Seeing Aseo struggle with taking down Bernahl, she, remembering the encouragement of the spirits of her men, devices a Combat Pragmatist stragegy to beat him, which lets Aseo handily take the victory against a much more skilled opponent.
• When Aseo's backed into a corner against Moongrum, Melina can only offer him a strange pose and movements as advice. Cue the "Eureka!" Moment — Aseo uses Thops' Barrier to deflect Moongrum's Glintblades, giving him the opening to land a clean hit.
  Aseo: Thops, my man — best ten runes I ever spent!
• After goading Moongrum into a rage, Aseo blinds him with the Starlight sorcery, and then gives him a taste of his own Carian Grandeur, which was first used moments ago.
• The fight against Commander O'Neil shows that, despite how pathetic and easily beaten he was at the start, Aseo has grown into a true warrior. After siccing his summons on O'Neil's backup, Aseo turns to face the old veteran himself, showing not an ounce of fear as O'Neil charges at him, performing a perfect guard counter, impressing even his opponent.
  Aseo: Heh. I've met more annoying old dudes than you. They taught me how to fight... and more!
• During the fight with Radahn, Aseo volunteers (more an empty gesture to avoid being the only one who didn't) to distract Radahn while the others get close. Radahn's first move is to pull out his Radahn's Rain skill, leading Aseo to hopelessly try to outrun the hail of arrows. They eventually overtake and seemingly kill him, much to Blaidd's horror... Until Aseo bursts out of the sandcloud at the very last moment, astride Torrent. The real battle has begun!
  Aseo: Hey, Radahn! My bond with my steed is just as strong as yours! Now it's our turn!

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