Elden Ring has gone from ‘it’ll never happen’ to blurry videos to actually looking great in pretty much record time. See for yourself.
Earlier today Bandai Namco and FromSoft released a 19ish-minute trailer of actual gameplay footage from the much-anticipated Elden Ring. The game is FromSoft’s newest title, building off of the controller-twisting difficulty and weighty melee combat that powered games like Dark Souls.
Because Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Sekiro: Shadows die Twice and all the rest truly shine due to their worldbuilding. The story that you discover as you play through the game is one of the draws of games like Elden Ring.
The World of Elden Ring
You wander through the open world without being told much of anything. If you never bother to read item descriptions or talk to NPCs, you might wonder why you do the things you do.
But for those who look there’s a world of secrets and hidden stories, some of which are quite tragic, there’s a lot happening just beneath the surface.
Elden Ring looks poised to build off of that mindset. But it adds a lush, open-world concept to the mix.
The Best Bits of the Elden Ring Preview
In the video, you can definitely see the FromSoft Soulsborne DNA writ large. It’s in everything from the interface menus to the way the player character stuns targets and performs “finishing attacks.”
Or having them done TO you
In Elden Ring, there are special unique weapon arts that you can learn from any given weapon. And that there’s a system for switching them. We got a chance to see what some of those special attacks looked like:
No word yet on if you could take, say, the multiple skeleton strike and put it on a greatsword or something. Theoretically, you’re supposed to be able to do exactly that, though.
We also got to see summonable spirits in action, which are supposed to be as much a part of your build as your weapon/weapon arts:
We also see that pretty much every character will want to have at least a little magic. Or a lot of magic, like this guy:
Also, there’s Mounted Combat, which adds a whole other layer of depth to the game.
Did I Mention the World?
One of the big principles of Dark Souls was looking off into the distance and seeing sprawling vistas that looked inviting, and that you would later get to visit. You could see the giant, ruined Cathedral in Anor Londo and know you were going to have to make your way up there.
The same holds true here. Players still move towards massive castles, but now you can explore a vast, dangerous world. Be on the lookout for dungeons and catacombs and treasure (oh my!)
And you can mark all of this on your new map. That way you can keep track of where you are, where you’ve been, and where you want to go.
So far, Elden Ring is looking like it’ll be a title well worth the hours you sink into playing it. The game combines the exploration of Breath of the Wild with the “oh, did you think you weren’t getting backstabbed?” difficulty of Dark Souls. And adds in co-op. It’s everything you could want!
What do you think of the gameplay footage? Let us know in the comments!
Source: Bell of Lost Souls
