Elden Ring (George RR Martin and From Software)

PS5 version didn't have an locked frame rate and there were quite a few times when the frames dipped. Added to the frame pacing and it was juddery in places.

The PS4 version was pretty much locked to 60 FPS at 1080 (I think that's the resolution) and because of the lower resolution the game ran smoother.

Frame pacing and stuttering affected the PC version as well, and it wasn't fixed by the couple patches that were pushed while I was playing it.

Nearly sounds like something went wrong during install. Deleting and reinstalling may have solved it but can't blame you for jumping to PS4 version if it was at that.

I'd say if you are tempted to jump back in, try a clean install of the PS5 version first. At the very least whatever updates the game has gotten since then may help, but a clean install should rule out any issues with the install.

I suggest going south of the map first of you didn't already. It's not an obvious path since everything is pointing North but there's a great area down there, almost seems like it should be tackled first.

I would explore Limgrave and Weeping Peninsula fully before fighting that boss. Loads of great walkthroughs and guides on youtube if you get stuck but beware of spoilers. I found the best approach was to explore areas myself first and then look at walkthroughs to see what I missed. I'm jealous of you getting to play through it for the first time, you only get that once and this game is incredible.

I’ve used his walkthroughs for Elden Ring, Dark Souls 3 and Sekiro. He’s a hero for the amount of work he put into making those.

I found his walkthroughs after getting stuck in Sekiro, and then used his walkthroughs for Bloodborne, Dark Souls 3 and Demons Souls Remake. He's great. I'd usually watch one or two of his half hour videos, then would play those sections maybe a day or two later (which would take me a bit longer to replicate due to doing from memory and not being as familiar with the gameplay/combat). His videos show you where to go to collect all the best items/weapons etc and maybe gives a few gameplay hints, but are also never as overly descriptive that it means you completely cheese the game either. For me, Soulsborne games always have so many different paths, side areas, illusionary walls, weird side mission requirements, and just things that are so easily missable that as I'm likely to only be doing one playthrough, I want to experience as much of it as possible.

Even things in Sekiro where to get the true ending you have to eavesdrop on people, then talk to them, then leave, then come back and eavesdrop again three times, then spin around, then look at the bottom of your shoe, then eavesdrop again.... I don't think I'd ever figure out a lot of the requirements even after 6 playthroughs.

Elden Ring was the first Soulsborne game I've played without his walkthroughs, but just because it was the first I played at launch and wasn't going to wait for him. I did hit up the wikis a lot more though for some of the side mission requirements, but I loved just exploring the map of Elden Ring having no idea what was around the corner, or in what cave etc.

For most games I never bother with walkthroughs but the devs of these games are different. Elden Ring in particular is absolutely vast and you get almost no information at all about where to go or what to do. There’s no journal of any sort or even a basic log of conversations you have with NPCs so for side quests in particular if you don’t use walkthroughs or wikis it will take hundreds and hundreds of hours to figure out and finish everything on your own and even if you could give it that time you’d still miss things. It did annoy me alright when playing through Dark Souls 3 but generally I will try and do as much as I can on my own before looking up help.

While I mostly agree, getting the best ending (as well as the areas, items and bosses that go along with it) takes a fair bit of leg work and is very hard to track without a guide. But then, you don't knowthat you're missing stuff unless you're already looking at a guide or walkthrough, nor do you know which NPCs or quests are side missions or important for the best endings, or what you might lock yourself out of if you don't do something in time.

This probably applies more to the older games as I do think ER is better balanced in that regard, but things like the repeated eavesdropping which eventually leads to Fountainhead Palace in Sekiro, or the invitation to Cainhurst Castle in Bloodborne, or anything to do with World Tendency in Demons Souls... I'm not sure I would have figured out any of them without guides, but also without knowing I needed to follow a guide while playing in the first place.

Oh totally. There's a good ending, a bad ending, and 4 middle endings which are all the same. But the good and bad endings require going to certain areas which aren't that easy to find or access, have interesting items/weapons or have ancient smithing stones, or have brilliant boss fights. Or even accessing the boss fight against Placidusax is definitely very easy to miss though it has no bearing on anything).

With Elden Ring I think you can still do most of those things after completing the game even if you can no longer get that ending, but with other Soulsborne games you can miss or lock yourself out of some great content.

On my second playthrough I flip-flopped between a few different builds. Started as strength/faith but was struggling, so when I got the chance to respec I went dex/faith for a while, then an arcane bleed build, then back to strength/faith by the end as I could quickly level up some great strength & faith weapons/spells.

Don't be afraid to respec, there are plenty of larval tears to find and respec again if you need. The main thing to keep in mind is what weapons will you use if you respec, and can you upgrade those weapons to match the level you're respeccing to.