Elden Ring's director has added a few more layers to the game following the long-awaited trailer that stole the show at Summer Game Fest last week.
After two years of waiting, FromSoft finally gave the world its first proper look at Elden Ring last week. The trailer was pretty breathtaking and, on the surface at least, was everything everyone who had been waiting for it wanted it to be. However, after giving it a little thought, people started to realize that beyond the stunning cinematics, the trailer didn't actually explain very much about how Elden Ring's world is made up.
Elden Ring's director Hidetaka Miyazaki has since been on hand to add a few layers to what we were shown last week. Miyazaki explained to IGN that the world in which Elden Ring takes place is simply known as The Lands Between, a name thought up by Game of Thrones author and Elden Ring collaborator George R. R. Martin.
The Lands Between is made up of six major areas, or dungeons, each of which is effectively ruled by its own demigod. Miyazaki explains that the dungeons can be explored in pretty much whatever order the player chooses. However, there is an advised route the game's creators suggest you take.
"You won’t be able to access everything from the start, but there are a lot of different ways you can approach each area. And there’s a lot of freedom as to which order you tackle different areas as well," Miyazaki explains. Each of the six areas will have its own unique dungeon map that connects to The Lands Between, and there will also be a hub that is accessible later in the game from which all of the six areas can be accessed.
The biggest takeaway from Miyazaki's explanation is similar to the one from the initial trailer. Elden Ring is big. Very big. Off the back of this slightly deeper dive, it sounds as if Elden Ring could well be a combination of what FromSoft does best while removing what can be frustrating about some of its former titles. A massive world that you are free to explore as you wish, with what sounds like some very flimsy limits, while also making its famed map creation skills a key part of Elden Ring via its six extensive dungeons.