Elden Ring has a lot of focus on bouncing around the map and sort of finding stuff.
There’s hints if you’re looking for a specific challenge, but overall you just sort of wander until you say “ooh cool” followed by “ow that was really tough” and eventually getting through it laughing and saying “you all said a tarnished couldn’t possibly do this, now who’s laughing!”.
But hey, if you’re not feeling it, don’t feel bad about it. You kinda need to be in the right mood for it, and I’ve not been able to find the energy for a replay because the ‘oooh shiny’ from exploration is gone.
Dark Souls has a similar exploration piece, but much more defined pathways, and I find it more replayable. ER is just so much.
Yep, was the case in all TES games before Oblivion as well, typically more strength in starting male characters but more intelligence in female characters varying depending on the character’s race. Only went away in Skyrim as they’d simplified the stats so much that starting stats were more uniform.