The hype surrounding Elden Ring has been unparalleled over the last couple of years. Since its reveal back in 2019, FromSoftware’s latest has been shrouded in mystery. Throughout the pandemic we didn’t hear a word about the fantasy adventure helmed by Hidetaka Miyazaki and written by George R.R. Martin. Knowing such legendary figures were behind it, many believed this Soulsborne epic to be a masterpiece in the making, and to be honest I was right there with them. What could possibly go wrong?
Due to this silence, passionate fans began turning Elden Ring into a meme, debating its existence altogether while painting it as an almost cult product that would never live up to the mystique surrounding it. When Geoff Keighley finally lifted the veil at Summer Game Fest a few months ago, what we were greeted with was open world Dark Souls. That’s an uncharitable descriptor, but an accurate one. From the montage of gameplay and cutscenes seen throughout the trailer, it appears that FromSoftware has taken everything it has learned since the release of Demon’s Souls and crafted those lessons into a sprawling experience that could very well be its finest hour yet.
The Lands Between is wrought with deadly creatures, forsaken ruins, and a sense of melancholy that is perfectly befitting of FromSoftware. Like Yharnam and Lordran before it, this is a place doomed to decay, with small bastions of hope situated throughout that will provide slivers of solace to those trying to survive. Yet it also feels keenly familiar, following similar thematic ideas and a mechanical ethos that will make fans of the genre feel right at home. While some might eventually decry Elden Ring for sticking too close to its predecessors, I think there’s a welcoming aura of comfort to be found in a game that understands what it does well and doesn’t attempt to oversell.
This weekend saw a small amount of Elden Ring footage emerge online, providing us with our greatest look yet at the upcoming RPG. We have no idea where the footage came from, but it looks very accurate and provides more than enough clues to piece together what this game is all about. Well, to a certain extent - enough to tell me that Elden Ring will build upon everything that made Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro so special, at least.
The footage is simple yet elegant, focusing on a solitary knight walking towards a duo of eagles on a cliff, with the birds flying away the second you make contact with them. Perhaps more exciting is that you can jump. This shouldn’t be a revelation, but it is in the world of Elden Ring. Sekiro incorporated a grappling hook and generous leap, but Dark Souls and Bloodborne are defined by their lackadaisical approach to movement. Every step is taken with deliberacy, since it can realistically be your last.
Here you seem to be hopping all over the shop, which is likely complementary to environmental design that further encourages exploration and uses verticality to broaden the game’s environmental scope. We also have a horse, who in previous trailers has been seen to jump atop gusts of wind and soar into the sky. Elden Ring’s open world dictates a style of play that evolves beyond everything we’ve seen FromSoftware attempt in the past, yet it also seems to abide stringently by the harsh challenge and natural discovery that made its back catalogue so compelling.
Yet the moment-to-moment character movement doesn’t seem to have changed too much at all, meaning combat will likely require the same reflexes to take down miniscule soldiers and towering giants with little more than a sword and shield in your hands. FromSoftware games wouldn’t be the same if they didn’t make you feel afraid, and part of me was concerned that Elden Ring swapping out claustrophobic curation for uncompromising vastness would see that lost as a consequence of its own evolution. That doesn’t seem to be the case, even if some big changes are already clear from 30 seconds of footage.
The HUD remains subtle, but a compass situated at the top of the screen includes a couple of markers that likely represent specific quests and locations. This seems to imply that progression in Elden Ring will be more focused, doing away with the esoteric approach taken by previous games that encourage exploration for you to progress. The Lands Between also appears less cryptic than its predecessors, with more definition already being applied to this place than everything that came before it. I imagine this is a direct result of Martin’s involvement, with the author providing a basic foundation for Miyazaki to build upon with his own distinct ideas. A world this vast could risk becoming lost in its own subtlety if it failed to explain certain things. While this kind of guiding hand feels almost alien when used by FromSoftware, it also feels necessary - I’m confident much of this world will be a mystery we spend months trying to uncover.
Soaring music also rings out in the background, meaning the soundtrack is likely contextual and certain tracks will play as you enter new environments or just explore The Lands Between of your own accord. Part of me will miss the pervasive silence of Dark Souls and Bloodborne. Nothing but the crunch of your own footsteps and the blood-curdling screeches of enemies bringing these worlds to life made it feel like one of your own making, an organic orchestra that rose and fell with each subsequent death. That intimacy might fall away with Elden Ring, but it feels like a necessary sacrifice for FromSoftware to fully achieve its ambitions.
Despite all of the steps forward it appears to be taking, Elden Ring seems to be the adventure I expected it to be, and that’s fantastic news. It’s FromSoftware completely untethered. Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Sekiro, and Elden Ring are all so unique in their execution, but the core gameplay ideas that define them remain immediately recognisable. We know what we’re getting from this studio, yet the way in which this comes about is always filled with unexpected surprises and moments of lasting innovation. I’m convinced I will sink into Elden Ring and lose myself for hours, regardless of how much it apes what came before, and that’s all the convincing I need.