Everything we know about Elden Ring

Ohhhhh, Elden Ring! For years, we’ve wondered when this dark fantasy collaboration between From Software and GRR Martin would arrive. We’ve got a release date and a ton of information on this open-world version of From Software’s action-RPG formula. Elden Ring takes aspects of the Souls, Bloodborne, and even Sekiro franchise and turns them into an epic fusion. Do you have any questions? We have answers. Let’s take a look at everything we know about Elden Ring.

Who is doing it?

From Software has essentially redefined itself over the past decade as the best in the action RPG genre. From a game destined for internal failure, Demon’s Souls, to bursting out of the blazing gates as a game that played by its own rules and challenged players to explore, discover, and fight during a time when heavy-handed mentoring was taking hold. becoming the norm. From Software is leading this project, and part of the history, tradition and building of the world comes from a collaboration with Song of ice and fire GRR Martin.

Who am I playing?

You play as a tarnished, attempting to restore the shattered titular Elden ring. Like many of the Souls games, here you create your own character to use from scratch. You can play as a brutal melee bonebreaker, a skilled magic user powered by armed magic, an archer, or any combination of multiple fantasy archetypes. As always, you will not be governed by your starter kit and you will be able to steer your character in any direction you want during the course of the game.

How does the open world work?

There are six critical “legacy dungeons” in the Elden Ring that feature massive bosses, fog gates, and tons of secrets to uncover in a typical software looped dungeon layout. These areas are NOT present in the open world and are isolated and closed instances that preserve the nature of a curated dungeon experience. However, out in the larger open world, you can ride your spirit steed at lightning speed all over the place, teleport to obtained checkpoints at will, and roam to find all kinds of secrets, mini-dungeons, and even bosses. field. While these experiences are isolated from each other, you will bring all the items and special abilities discovered in the open world to those inherited dungeons to give yourself a chance to battle challenging bosses and twisted levels found within.

What tools do I have to fight?

Like most other games in the From Software suite, you can “level up” at checkpoints using earned currency, which will make battles much easier. Of course, finding new weapons, spells, and abilities is critical to success as well. Cooperative play is available and you can have up to two other allies helping out with a boss or an area. Stealth play can be of great help. With a Sekiro chapter, grass and other areas to hide and move around giant dangers. Or maybe you want to sneak around and take out large groups of enemies one at a time, making a deadly scenario much more manageable. Elden Ring also introduces the concept of on-demand non-player character summons, which allow you to collect and upgrade various spirits that can be unleashed to offer serious support, from a gang of goblins that tank or attack and, more importantly, distract and grab the attention of a boss monster or many enemy targets that it would be overwhelming to take by yourself. While there’s no question that the Elden Ring is likely to be challenging, there are plenty of tools and strategies to explore that give you the upper hand.

Okay, does this sound like Dark Souls 4? Is this really just Dark Souls 4?

No way. While the core is absolutely based on From’s ARPG master and contains many of the same framework elements such as checkpoints, fog gates, big boss battles, and levels full of secrets (which certainly have elevators that you can jump in motion to find hidden areas), the open world and everything related to it add serious and significant alterations to the game. Map Fragments allow you to unlock the mysteries of the overworld, you can fly around the world with unbridled speed and verticality thanks to the spirit steed, and explore areas and encounters that are absolutely massive in scale and scope for anything in games. From existing. More importantly, due to the open world aspect, you can really build your own path through the game. While everyone will be heading to the legacy dungeons, the way you traverse the open world, what you find, when you find it, and how you use it offers some awesome new choice skins to the formula, much more than the minor branching paths. players are familiar with Souls. With that said, if you like Souls games, you’ll probably feel right at home right away.

When will the game come out?

Elden Ring is scheduled to release on January 21, 2022 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X / S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

Dive deeper into various aspects of the Elden Ring right here: