The new FromSoftware game, Elden Ring, has generated a ton of hype. Elden Ring was revealed at E3 2019, and fans were super excited to learn that Miyazaki and George R.R. Martin had collaborated on the ambitious open-world game. The trailer hid deep hints about both the world and the story. And with GRRM providing background information and world building, many gamers are expecting this to be the best FromSoftware take on the Dark Souls DNA ever.
And yes, it will be an open world game, but in the way you expect. The game won’t feature towns or NPCs in the traditional fantasy RPG sense, but players will be traversing the land on horseback and exploring the ruins of a fallen civilization as they go. And according to Miyazaki, “It is without a doubt our biggest title yet in terms of sheer volume.” This much was confirmed in an interview with Xbox Wire.
Deeper analysis of the trailer, which can be seen below, hints at a very interesting dichotomy at play in this new game. Elden Ring apparently plays out the destruction of a race of divine beings, all of which seem to be linked to both fire and the Elden Ring itself. The shattering of the Ring seen in the trailer will be an integral arc of the plot, and we see it actually destroying the beings doing the shattering in a sort of retribution. Said divine beings also look mutated and scarred, perhaps this shattering of the Ring has been a long time coming, and we’re witnessing the fall of their civilization.
The original Dark Souls was intricately linked to the ending of the Age of Fire, and Lord Gwyn’s attempts to prolong it and stave off the Age of Dark. It’s a bit of a trick to say that Elden Ring has the exact same themes though. Dark Souls was about Humanity, whereas Elden Ring is seemingly more about the final fall of that Humanity.
In an interview with IGN, Miyazaki said, “Elden Ring is a third-person action RPG with a fantasy setting. Gameplay-wise, it’s heavily based on Dark Souls.” He then went on to clarify, “However, that doesn’t mean that it plays out in the same way. With a more open and vast environment, the way combat plays out becomes fundamentally different.”
