Everything we know about Elden Ring – Release date, gameplay, RPG elements, more

Elden Ring is FromSoftware’s newest IP and will be the next game they release following the success of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. While we have yet to see any gameplay as of this writing, expect it to feature the classic, challenging gameplay you would see in Dark Souls, Bloodborne, or Sekiro. Expect this article to increase in size in the future, but for now, here is everything we know so far about the upcoming “Soulsborne” game.

What is the role of Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R.R. Martin?

The game’s story is being directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki, the mind behind Dark Souls, Sekiro, etc., and written by George R.R. Martin, the author of the “Game of Thrones” books. While Sekiro was Miyazaki’s first Japanese setting, Elden Ring will return his games to a western fantasy world. The trailer paints the game to be in an olden fantastical world, but knowing the creators of this world are Miyazaki and Martin, expect it to be very dark.

While the player would normally pick up pieces of lore through fragments of Miyazaki’s environmental storytelling, this time, you will be exploring and discovering Martin’s story.

Is Elden Ring a Sekiro or Souls-like?

Miyazaki has given slight hints to what the game will be like in interviews, but nothing concrete. He has hinted at the game is more of an RPG focusing on its story than his past games, and environments will be castles, ruins, and the traditional settings you would see in a Dark Souls game. There will still be an emphasis on the challenging boss fights. 

In an interview with IGN, Miyazaki described Elden Ring as “a third-person action RPG with a fantasy setting. The gameplay is not so far from Dark Souls. That doesn’t mean that the gameplay will be identical, but you could say that Elden Ring belongs to the same genre.”

He further added that the world will be the biggest ever, so big and open, it will require a horse to travel around. While the world will be larger, don’t expect any city life to interact with. He has cited them focusing on making a new game that they are good at making, so there are no lively towns or anything far-reaching from the traditional formula.

“With a larger world, new systems and action mechanics inevitably become necessary. In that sense, I think that Elden Ring is a more natural evolution of Dark Souls,” Miyazaki says. “Villages will be the dark dungeon-like ruins that you have come to expect from us.”

Does Elden Ring have character creation?

Miyazaki’s games in the past mostly have featured characters that the player creates. This changed with Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, where you played as the named hero, Sekiro. Elden Ring will be bringing back the character creator. “There is no fixed main character in Elden Ring. We mostly leave it up to the player to decide the characteristics and personality of the character they create,” says Miyazaki. While the main character can be expected to be a silent protagonist like in past games, Miyazaki also says he believes the NPCs that George R.R. Martin has created have more personality and are more compelling than “Soulsborne” games have seen in the past.

Will Elden Ring have a multiplayer?

While there has been no official word yet on whether Elden RIng will have some form of multiplayer or not, we imagine there will be. Dark Souls and Bloodborne are well known for having their messaging system that you can leave for other players, but cooperative and competitive multiplayer are also present in those games. Until there is an official word on the subject, we cannot say for sure, but we would be surprised to not see a similar-looking multiplayer system to help (and hinder) others.

Does Elden Ring have a release date?

Elden Ring was revealed at E3 2019 during Microsoft’s conference. You can see the reveal trailer below. Unfortunately, it does not have any information on the release date, and as of this writing, there have been no further official announcements or trailers released.

Is Elden Ring coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X?

Given the very sparse details given on the game, we expect Elden Ring to release on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X within the next couple of years, although it has been promised to release on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC as well.