LogFAQs > #973983602

I never got into these games, but gave Elden Ring a shot and loved it.

Much of the loot is not random, but enemies do have random drops. There is story... but it's not a conventional narrative beat to beat format.

The appeal - for me I like open world games. Elden Ring has great exploration. I don't really love challenging games. Elden Ring has some difficult bosses but you can always level up, power up, improve your gear, etc. You can use broken builds, cheese skills, summons, etc. Streamers tend to go without summons and when they hit a boss, they wont quit until they win. No one wants to watch a streamer use Rot Breath on a boss and ride around in circles while it slowly dies :)

I'll also say that Elden Ring has a great opening segment - the tutorial cave is helpful and then the first stretch with an enemy camp helps you build up some basic skills and gauging/understanding enemies.

(actually the reason I got the game was the Joel Haver "chest high wall" video)