While it was leaked prior to E3, it was still exciting to officially hear that George R.R. Martin was collaborating with FromSoftware to produce a new role-playing game. That RPG was revealed as Elden Ring at Microsoft’s E3 2019 press conference, and even though it was just a CGI trailer, it was enough to get fans hyped.
Here’s a list of quick, fast facts we know about Elden Ring.
GRRM Wrote the Mythos for the Game World
Contrary to what we’d initially though, Martin wasn’t just a consultant for Elden Ring. In the Xbox interview with Director Hidetaka Miyazaki, it was revealed that once the collaboration started and both project leads started discussing themes, Martin began writing the entire mythos for the game world in Elden Ring.
This is pretty huge. This essentially means that Martin had helped to build this world from the ground up, establishing its lore, rules, and fantasy elements. Given the fact that the world-building in A Song of Ice and Fire was pretty stellar, this can only mean good things for FromSoft’s new game.
Development Started After The Ringed City
Interestingly enough, development for Elden Ring started about two years ago, as the final DLC was released for Dark Souls III.
After development was complete for The Ringed City, FromSoft shifted gears to work on both Sekiro and Elden Ring simultaneously, with Miyazaki overseeing both projects. However, it looks like Miyazaki is much more heavily involved in the writing process for Elden Ring than with Sekiro.
It’s a Dark Fantasy Action-RPG
If this wasn’t obvious enough already, Elden Ring is a dark fantasy RPG, as described by Miyazaki himself. While he didn’t provide any more details, it’s probably safe to assume that this game’s tone will be more in line with Souls than Bloodborne or Sekiro.
It Has a Heavier Focus on the RPG Elements Just Like Souls, and Unlike Sekiro
And for fans who were disappointed that Sekiro was more of a character action game than RPG, this should come as good news.
Miyazaki confirmed that Elden Ring will be much more focused on the RPG elements, which means that you’ll get to level up your character through more traditional means, and there will likely be greater potential for character builds.
It Will Have Greater Variety in Gameplay Than the Soulsborne Games
Speaking of character builds, Miyazaki also claimed that Elden Ring is even more varied than past FromSoft games in terms of weapons and armor sets that you can experiment with.
He made sure to mention that there is magic in this game, an aspect that was certainly missed in Sekiro and a large part of Bloodborne. From a gameplay perspective, it sounds like Elden Ring is going to play very similarly to Dark Souls with it being a third-person action RPG, but there will certainly be improvements to the combat with shades of Sekiro.
There Is Character Customization
Yet another important point that most FromSoft fans will be happy to hear, character creation and customization will be available in Elden Ring.
What this means is that players will be able to create their own avatar from scratch, and hopefully this means the Similar Face feature will make a return as well. However, this could also mean the return of the silent protagonist, rather than a fully-fledged personality like Wolf from Sekiro.
It’s an Open World Game
One interesting factoid that Miyazaki brought up regarding Elden Ring was the fact that it’s going to be an open world game.
He stated that this will be the largest game FromSoft has worked on yet, and there will be plenty of opportunities for exploration. He also made sure to mention that there are elaborate castles and dungeons to explore along the way.
It’s not entirely clear what he means by “open world,” whether it’s going to be something like The Witcher 3 and Skyrim, or a more guided experience like God of War.
There Will be Epic Boss Battles
This really shouldn’t come as a surprise, since FromSoft games are now known for their epic boss battles, but yes, Elden Ring will have epic boss battles.
Miyazaki describes them as “unique” and “horrifying,” which is great, as it’s been a while since we’ve really seen anything truly dark and twisted from them. Sekiro had its fair share of disturbing moments, but the western fantasy genre seems ripe for FromSoft to come up with more unsettling imagery and enemy designs.
The Will and Ambition of Mankind
The Elden Ring itself is a key concept that shapes the game world, and Miyazaki revealed that the themes would revolve around the will or ambition of mankind.
These themes have been explored in past FromSoft games, and we definitely wouldn’t be surprised if it tied into the idea of cycles as well, which is a recurring idea that’s appeared in Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro.
No Word on Multiplayer Just Yet
Lastly, while early leaks did suggest that Elden Ring would feature multiplayer PvE and PvP, Miyazaki has yet to confirm whether online functionality will be present in the game.
Be sure to search for Twinfinite for more on Elden Ring.
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