Bandai Namco Wrote:

We will continue to develop ELDEN RING not only as a game but also in a variety of other areas in order to deliver the worldview and charm of this title to our fans around the world. We look forward to your continued support.

Quote:So The Lands Between is made up mainly of these six large areas. It’s divided into six major areas, and these are the domains of the major demigod characters who we just talked about. While the areas are lined up in a way so that you would normally tackle them in a specific order, you don’t have to follow it. We wanted to give a free level of progression and exploration throughout the Lands Between, so there’s a lot of different ways. You won’t be able to access everything from the start, but there are a lot of different ways you can approach each area. And there’s a lot of freedom as to which order you tackle different areas as well.

One of our big themes for development of this new world was that, because of the grandeur and sense of scale of it, we didn’t want players to get lost and not have any clue of what to do or where to go. So there is an element of guidance, particularly at the beginning. There is a mainline route that they can follow, but at any time they’re free to break off this route and to take the untrodden path. We wanted to focus on a design that caters to that high level of freedom, that free order of progression throughout the world – which order you choose to tackle the different areas, the different bosses, and how you approach each of them as well. You may get sent to a couple of areas against your will, but there’s a lot of ways that you can explore and approach these different situations.

IGN Wrote:

• Elden Ring will have around 100 skills in total: Elden Ring will allow you to freely interchange skills between a large variety of weapons, Miyazaki says. FromSoftware's goal is rich, varied character creation that can be adjusted on the fly. "You're free to build your character with different weapons and equipment. You're free to learn magic as well," Miyazaki says. Some of these skills can be purchased from stores. "There are cases in which you can buy them [arts, magic, etc.] at stores or learn them from NPCs, but generally they are hidden throughout the game's world for the player to discover through exploration, rather than unlocking them through a skill tree as in previous titles."
  
• You will be able to customize and craft items on the go: Miyazaki shed a bit more light on Elden Ring's customization during the interview. "You can customize and craft items on the go by using materials found in the world," he said. "There are also more resources to recover health on the way as you will be fighting for a longer time than before. The key word I think is retention and retaining sense of progression, so we wanted them to keep going, to keep that flow as they explore and they journey through the map."
  
• Spirits will be a collectible element that can also help you in battle: Elden Ring will feature spirits that can be collected from defeated enemies and used as allies in battle. Miyazaki says there will be a "large variety of them," and they will be a "nice collectible hidden element" to encourage exploration. "They offer a lot of different strategic options, but also the player might find that they just like a certain enemy tagging along with them, a certain summon pleases them aesthetically," Miyazaki says. "So there's a lot of strategic and a lot of personal touch to these summons. And we hope that players will also enjoy discovering their own progression elements as well."
  

• "Elden Ring centres around a vast and interconnected Overworld, and one that's not just big for the sake of being big. Branching out from this open area are numerous dungeons which are seamlessly connected within the Overworld, containing treasures and fearsome bosses. "The Land Between is truly dense with dangers and secrets," Kitao says, "and our aim is for the player to make these discoveries and have these chance encounters just through the act of exploring." "- Eurogamer
  
  
• "Both Legacy Dungeons and the Overworld itself encompass a huge variety of environments and biomes, each with their own unique characteristics and dangers to face. We were told there were wintery plains and snow-capped peaks, a flooded city, and a whole other range of diverse maps, each with their own distinct flavour." - Eurogamer
  
  
• "There is a wide variety of weapons, equipment, magic and skills available to the player, to fit to your personal preference or to adapt to the situation at hand. "Building your character we hope will evoke a sense of the good old fashioned RPG genre," Kitao says. "Plus, with Elden ring you can enjoy testing the limits of your unique character in these new wide open spaces, as well as within the tighter, more confined and slower combat scenarios, where you're constantly judging the distance between yourself and the enemy, like you'd find in the likes of Dark Souls." Just like previous titles, it feels like players won't be confined to a set class and can adapt and adjust their character build as they go - an exercise that will be made all the easier with skills, but more on those in a little bit." - Eurogamer
  
  
• Sleep arrows can be used to knock out an enemy and then instant kill them when you can get close. Presumably this won't work on everything.
  
  
• Players are able to summon spirits from Ashes of the Deceased, and fight alongside them. These spirits are summoned via items in the world, rather than from specific points in the world like seen in previous From titles. They are also not usable in co-op mode.
  
  
• You won't be able to call upon the spirit steed within dungeons or during multiplayer sessions, but anywhere else in the Overworld the mount can be called anywhere at any time.
  
  
• Sites of Lost Grace will serve as the game’s bonfire checkpoints, and some will cause a light to lead the way towards a recommended path, but of course, it's up to you whether you actually follow that path or not.
  
  
• "We have the skill system but skills are not tied to a particular weapon - you're free to swap them between a number of weapons, and you do this while sitting at a Site of Lost Grace." - Kitao, Eurogamer
  
  
• You can fast travel to any visited Site of Lost Grace at any time when in the Overworld without needing to be resting at one, so as to avoid making the player travel great distances just to reach an area to fast travel from.
  
  
• Map information is apparently updated by acquiring map fragments found throughout the world.
  
  
• You can also set various markers on your map screen, but this feature is still being worked on so further details weren't discussed.
  
  
• There is a dedicated jump button like in Sekiro, as well as the ability to break enemy stances.
  
  
• Elden Ring's in-game text is being written by Miyazaki, and not R.R. Martin. The latter is only responsible for the overall world and mythos of the game.