“I'm not playing no damn Elden Ring!” – Demetrious Johnson explains why he isn’t playing this RPG
When he’s not working his craft inside the cage, Demetrious Johnson spends his time playing video games and even streams on Twitch whenever he plays.
There is, however, one massive game that the MMA GOAT contender will never play and that’s the recent viral hit, Elden Ring.
From Software’s masterpiece, which they created with the help of A Song of Ice and Fire author George R. R. Martin, has swept across the gaming landscape like wildfire, earning a score of 96 on Metacritic.
Johnson, whose Twitch channel 'MightyGaming' has 173,000 followers, said he’s already played From Software’s previous SoulsBorne games and it would oftentimes push him into a rage.
For those unfamiliar with the SoulsBorne genre, it specializes in extremely difficult role-playing games wherein gamers are expected to “git gud” or “get better” in non-gaming terms.
In an interview with ONE Championship, Johnson said:
“Why don't I play Elden Ring? For me, the thing that I felt like, what lacked on those other previous games and their predecessors, is that it didn't really have a storyline for me. It didn't have, like, for how cool the combat is. The fight sequences are and just the overall game itself, it just lacked for me a bit. Like the story, even though there's a lot of lore in the game, you have to read it so it's not a lot of cinematic that I would love to have in that game. So Elden Ring, not going to play it. I've done it many, many times and I don't want to get pissed off and break something.”
Elden Ring pushes the difficulty to a near stressful level, where facing a single enemy isn’t the norm and that other opponents would suddenly appear to just gang up on opposing players.
Johnson is all up for relaxation when gaming
Professional fighters have it different from other athletes as their sport revolves around the hurt business and in turn, getting hurt themselves.
Johnson also falls into that premise and he’s set to return to the Circle at ONE X when he faces ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon in a special-rules fight.
The ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix winner currently plays Lost Ark, a fantasy massively multiplayer online action RPG that emphasizes exploration and has a player vs. environment theme.
On that, he told ONE:
“No, I'm not playing no damn Elden Ring. I'm playing Lost Ark and here's the reason why I'm not playing the Elden Ring and it's always funny, right. 'Elden Ring, this game is amazing, it's the best game I've ever had.' It’s like, guys, this game, this style of game has been out since 2000. And maybe seven or 10 They started with Demon Souls and Dark Souls One, Dark Souls Two, Dark Souls Three, Bloodborne. I beat every single one of those games, and I have a rage. Every single one of those, every time I play that damn game.”
Tune in to see Johnson swap the controller for the gloves on March 26 when he squares off with Rodtang in what promises to be a blockbuster affair.