Game director Hidetaka Miyazaki breaks down Elden Ring’s reveal trailer during the Summer Game Fest in a recently released video.
The reveal of the Elden Ring as the end of the Summer Game Fest launch event has now opened the floodgates for From Software’s once mysterious game. Although some fans were concerned that the game was stuck in development hell, its reveal was timed by Hidetaka Miyazaki himself, who reportedly requested the Elden Ring trailer as the end of the Summer Games Fest. Miyazaki now seems to be sharing a lot of information about the game world and its development process in a new video from IGN.
Although players who kept up with the Elden Ring prior to its reveal knew that the game would slightly change the Souls series formula with an open field concept, no one knew exactly how this world would be laid out. Soul games are known for the interconnected nature of their environments, and these environments are traditionally self-contained with secret passages or tunnels to connect them. With the Elden Ring, Miyazaki encourages players to travel on horseback through the expanse called The Lands Between, which has six main connecting areas and many other smaller locations to explore.
But before players can explore the vast world of the Elden Ring, they must first understand who they are. Elden Ring is essentially the “evolution” of the Dark Souls series and, like the games that inspired it, players will control a customizable blank slate character. This time it’s the Faded, ancient inhabitants of The Lands Between who have somehow lost the grace provided by the Elden Ring and another relic, the Heir Tree. When the Elden Ring is broken, players must return to collect pieces from bosses from around the world.
As players search for these Elden Ring fragments, Miyazaki hopes they will make the most of the Elden Ring’s exploration approach. There are a wide variety of weapons and spells found in the nooks and crannies of The Lands Between and over 100 different weapon abilities for a variety of builds. The Elden Ring’s emphasis on player freedom also extends to the game’s narrative. While there is a story to follow, a deep understanding of the game’s bosses and lore will only come through discovery and exploration.
However, the Elden Ring bosses deserve some further exploration. Miyazaki claims that these powerful entities are primarily George RR Martin’s conception, and that his work on them will help the game become “more character-centric.” Little is currently known about these chiefs, other than that they were Old World gods corrupted by the shattered pieces of the Elden Ring. Miyazaki indicated that From Software worked to combine the design of these bosses with the mythology of Martin, focusing on a dichotomy of heroism and ruin.
Elden Ring will be released on January 21, 2022 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X / S.