Elden Ring

[Moonface]

It finally happened! Elden Ring was shown today at Summer Game Fest 2021 and will be releasing on January 21, 2022 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.

[Dragon Lord]

It looks fucking epic. About time we finally get to see something on the game. Gonna be a great start to the gaming year in 2022 with this being one of our first releases.

[Moonface]

I expect the areas in this game to be far bigger than in any other FromSoft game, considering you get an actual mount in this one which hasn't been a thing before, right?
This is definitely going to be setting a high bar right at the start of 2022 for games.

[Dragon Lord]

Yes, when Elden Ring was first announced years ago, one of the first things they said about it was that it was going to basically be an open world version of the Souls games. It looks like the combat will be very similar to Dark Souls 3 (looks like there are weapon arts), but it's going to be completely open world.

The only question will be exactly how big is the world going to be? Hopefully big enough to keep us busy with it for a good 50+ hours, lol.

[ShiraNoMai]

It looks absolutely incredible. The enemy and boss designs, the NPC designs, the combat fluidity, you can tell this is definitely a culmination of all the things From Software has learned from Dark Souls III and Sekiro in the past few years.

I'm honestly shocked the release date is so soon. It's next year but early next year is not what I expected at all, especially because this game has been essentially vaporware since announcement.

[Moonface]

Looks like there's going to be more than just a game for Elden Ring, as per a press release by Bandai Namco:

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.

In the same press release, it was also confirmed that the game supports Smart Delivery on Xbox consoles as well as a Free Upgrade to PS5 for players who purchase the PS4 version.
You can read the full release here: Elden Ring Press Release

[Dragon Lord]

So Miyazaki provided some additional information about Elden Ring, which is..

-The game's story will be told in a similar way to the Dark Souls games, however information will be easier to piece together
-George R. R. Martin's contributions to the game is the foundation of the lore
-The game will feature multiple endings and numerous optional bosses, with the amount of bosses required to beat the game being relatively low, and there will be no specific order the bosses need to be defeated in

Miyazaki also provided some information on how the world of Elden Ring is built:

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.

He also confirmed that the game will have a fast travel system.

[Moonface]

A few more details that you forgot to mention @Dragon Lord:

• 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."
  

I like that not everything is just in the skill tree and has to be found, and extends beyond that being just finding weapons like how it tends to be for FromSoft games. I expect the crafting mechanic is to retain a reason to explore the world after you've searched an area so as to get more ingredients, which is probably a good thing given how large and open the world is and gives more reasons to explore than just weapons/skills.

Spirits reminds me of the mechanic of summoning help but now you can choose when and what to bring out.

I also like that nothing seems to have a linear structure of approach and can be tackled however. Reminds me of the free approach that Breath of the Wild offered.

[Moonface]

So written previews of this game have been going out over the past day (no footage was allowed for any outlet), and these are some of the interesting things I've gleaned from some of them:

• "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.
  

There is probably considerably more than this, but Eurogamer alone has a lot to read and there are also plenty of other sites putting out previews, so for now I'll just share this until I get to read through more of the previews and see what else of interest is in them. Same applies for my thoughts too; I've mostly been skimming the articles for interesting points but not really digesting them to form opinions properly yet. But I will say for now that the scope of this game looks to be insane.

[Moonface]

Elden Ring closed network tests are beginning in November, and FromSoft are offering players a chance to help out! Just make sure you sign up before November 1 for your chance.

[Dragon Lord]

Looking forward to it. Thankfully a couple of the tests are going to be at a time that works for me, even with an overnight schedule. Now I just have to hope I actually have the day off to be able to enjoy it, haha.

Also important to note that the game has been delayed from January 21st, 2022 to February 25th, 2022. Not a huge delay, so no problem. I'm okay with any extra time needed to wait to make sure this game comes out perfect.

[Moonface]

I didn't see the delay so thanks for mentioning it @Dragon Lord. Yeah, it's only a few extra weeks which isn't a huge wait. February is getting increasingly stacked with all the games though. XD

I signed up for the network test. I don't care for the test, I just want to try out the game.

[Dragon Lord]

I need to remember to sign up for it as well, but if the game has cross-platform play, we should totally do some co-op together during the test, if there's a test time that ends up working out for both of us. I'm assuming you signed up on PS4? Or did you go PC?

I plan on signing up for PS5, so hopefully I can at least play with PS4 peeps.

[Moonface]

@Dragon Lord: I think the test is only for consoles. I signed up on PS4 because it was the only option I can play on. I wonder if this game has cross play between gens?

[Mr EliteL]

I've signed up as well, won't care if I don't get in but can't pass up the chance to try out Elden Ring early even if it's not final yet.