Publisher Bandai Namco released a nearly 3-minute long gameplay trailer, seen below, that showcases a dark world full of swords and sorcery known as the Lands Between.
The trailer shows the game in action and provided the first few morsels of story, highlighting the journey of “a lowly Tarnished” searching for the titular elden ring. Of course, fire, light, and darkness also play key roles, all three of which have been long staples of FromSoftware titles.
Much of what’s shown will certainly be familiar to Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls, and Bloodborne fans. While the world looks much more open than anything found in those games — Bandai Namco said that it “features vast, fantastical landscapes and shadowy, complex dungeons that are connected seamlessly” — combat bears a striking resemblance to previous From games, something sure to excite fans.
The trailer also shows players working with and against each other a la other games in the larger Souls-verse.
We know from the publisher that there will be several different biomes in Elden Ring, at the very least, according to a provided fact sheet. Those include “grassy plains, suffocating swamps, spiraling mountains, and foreboding castles…” Aside from that, a subsequent blog post confirmed that the game will have a day/night cycle and some type of weather system.
Perhaps most apparent to Souls fans is the inclusion of a horse. It’s been rumored that Elden Ring would include mounts of some type, but the gameplay trailer confirmed that. The mount is not only used for travel or traversal, either. The trailer does hint that it can be used in combat as well, attacking enemies and bosses from horseback.
The fact sheet shared by Bandai Namco following the reveal also confirmed that Elden Ring will have a free upgrade from PS4 to PS5, and that Xbox One to Xbox Series X|S will use SmartDelivery.
Elden Ring was announced at E3 2019, but following that reveal, both From Software and Bandai Namco went silent. As a joint venture between Souls creator Hidetaka Miyazaki and Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin, the project immediately gained widespread attention.
Having a penchant for digging into deep, often oblique lore, some Souls fans turned Elden Ring fans even began writing their own narrative, creating their own art, and making a concept game.
Now, it seems, barring any hiccups, the wait for the official game is almost over. Stay tuned for more on Elden Ring as we learn it.
