I feel no remorse about save scumming in video games

Sort of. It depends where your save point is. If you’re on the world screen and save before selecting a mission your mission can generate differently when it loads. If you save in mission making the same moves will always give the same results, but changing your moves slightly will cause some different background math and change the chances on a shot hitting, etc. All the enemy groups are generated already if you save in level, so if you get ambushed in some horrific way you can avoid them on reload. I would typically save just before selecting a mission, another at mission start once I’m deployed, and then once more on mission completion. I would rarely use it and eat most of my mistakes, but on a few occasions I would have one of my units get totally fucked by a group somehow hidden one space away around a corner or something like that and then the scum power comes out to save my ass.

The RNG will return the same sequence of random numbers, but doing things in a different order will have those numbers used for different purposes. So saving and trying the exact same shot again will give the same result. If you rolled a 23 and you needed >25 to hit, it will always miss no matter how many times you reload it because 23 will always be the first number in the sequence. But if you do some other action, that 23 gets used for that, and if 56 is the next number in the sequence then that shot will hit when you do it on the next action.

wished there was an easier mode

Okay, that's a completely different issue though. The reason that difficulty selection gets push back is because developers are often very lazy in how they implement it, and it makes the "hard" modes little more than an exercise in tedium rather than an actual challenge. So people who enjoy the Dark Souls style games tend to get protective over one of the very few significant titles which scratches that itch these days. There are a wealth of significantly easier games to explore (and frankly better, too, unless you are there for the challenge).

A few tips, one of my favorite games but it is daunting.

Early enemies that you can’t beat like the horse rider mini boss are meant to be skipped initially and returned to later. There are a lot of immediately accessible areas which are pretty tough, but there’s also beginner dungeons. You kind of have to poke around and find them.

Co op makes this game way, way easier. Use the furled finger to place a sign down and be summoned as a helper. This is a great consequence free way to learn. If you die you keep all your runes and can upgrade and purchase stuff, and you can figure out where enemies hide, traps are, or what moves enemies use. Sometimes other players will show you useful tactics, and having someone distract enemies while the other person attacks from behind trivializes a lot of fights. Finally, helping someone beat a boss rewards you with a chunk of runes, and a finger remedy.

You can use a finger remedy to summon help to your world. This can have the consequence of allowing invaders, but you can summon two helpers at a time usually, resulting in a 3 on 1 fight for invaders. If you get lucky your helper will destroy bosses for you so keep an eye out for summoning signs at boss doors. Often times those people are well prepared to assist and may know the boss weakness and move sets.

If you don’t want player help but still want an assist you can use “summoning ashes” with a summoning bell. You can get this at the church where one of the first merchants is - go there at night after you’ve acquired your horse. As you play further you’ll find more powerful summons to help you, some with special abilities, some more useful than others. It requires mana to use these and will replace player helpers (only one at a time), but you won’t get invaded, can resummon them if you have mana, and they are useful as a distraction to enemies.

There’s a lot to discover, and bypassing harder parts to backtrack later is highly recommended. Beginner dungeons usually reward you with summoning ashes after defeating their bosses. Knowledge is power in Elden Ring, don’t be afraid to die to gain that knowledge.

It’s still a tough fucking game though, so I don’t blame you if it’s still not your thing. If any of that seems helpful though maybe give it another try!

YES! I was going to say WeMod, but chose cheats instead, because some games I play require Cheat Engine since WeMod doesn't have the cheats I'm looking for. Sometimes, Cheat Engine also has more options, and can always be used to make your own.

So, I know the fans can be obnoxious, I get that, but just hear me out.

Like you, I wasn't interested in watching it, then somebody posted this clip on Reddit. I watched it and thought, damn, I gotta check this out.

Im like 4 seasons behind, and I'm in no rush to get caught up, but maybe someday if I'm bored. If you have some personal vendetta or point to prove, then nevermind my comments, but if the popularity just turned you off, it's not all bad.