Internally, I can’t help but refer to the game as “Elden Real”, after being given a quick primer on the state of the “fandom” prior to the release date reveal back at Summer Game Fest 2021. Bearer, seek, seek, lest you miss out on our Elden Ring preview, for which I had the absolute pleasure to sit in for as presented by Yasuhiro Kitao himself, assisted by an interpreter. That’s enough overused memes for now, so let’s get into it piece by piece. Much thanks to Bandai Namco Entertainment for the opportunity!

THE BUILDING BLOCKS

Elden Ring as a concept is, at its heart, a “dark fantasy x action RPG” game. With robust action RPG mechanics, this game will see you overcoming challenges, exploring the unknown, weaved in with intricate world building.

“It builds on our strengths while offering a fresh RPG experience that differs from our previous titles.”

It features an original mythology as created by George R. R. Martin providing the rich narrative for the world you will explore. As the Tarnished, you find yourself in the Lands Between, led there by the Lost Grace. It promises a sense of scale far greater than From Software’s previous games. Many characters will be intricately tied in the drama behind the Elden Ring, with old heroes and demigods alike standing in your way.

Once more, the story will be told in a fragmented way, allowing players to interpret the narrative for themselves. Kitao-san acknowledges that their stories have often been hard to understand. This time, it will be centered around the characters in said “drama” so that you can better immerse yourself in the world.

THE MAP

The Lands Between is described as FromSoft’s first attempt in incorporating a vast, interconnected world.

“We want the lands to be filled with threats, and to be exciting, and not to be big just because it SHOULD be big.”

Dense with dangers and secrets, there is a wish for players to be surprised by things just from the act of exploration. Across the land, you can find dungeons, filled with their own challenges and loot. Besides these smaller dungeons, there are also Legacy Dungeons, ranging from multi-tiered castles to other large scale areas. This will be elaborated further below.

I’m shown a slew of vistas: a snowy mountain, a flooded city, a lavish mansion interior with chandeliers and mechanical contraptions. I admit, I prefer more curated, linear experiences to open world, but this? If I could simply sit there and enjoy the view, I would.

THE ACTION AND SYSTEMS

Simply summarized as “the good bits, but expanded”, you’re back to having a customizable character. Your Tarnished can specialize in the swathe of options available: good ol’ swords, magic, archery. You can also have additional assistance by summoning spirits, themselves also coming in several flavours. This differs from the co-op summoning: these are actual spectral minions. It’s not immediately apparent if you’re able to have multiple types on the field at the same time. If you rather not battle, there are stealth elements, allowing you to bypass enemies, or for you to strike from the shadows. You have a lot more toys at your disposal to overcome challenges.

To help you explore this world, you have a Spirit Steed that you can summon anytime on the overworld. Your trusty mount can double jump across ravines, navigate “jump pads” that manifest as columns of air to scale heights AND enable mounted combat. The Spirit Steed is meant to make traversal more comfortable, but is unfortunately unavailable in dungeons, or in multiplayer. I did ask about this limitation:

“It’s not a very interesting answer… it simply comes down to memory allocation and resources available, and wanting to help the rest of multiplayer to stand on its own without fault. The actual area you are able to explore together with friends is also limited to the boss you have to take on. If you have 2 or 3 summons, you’re going to be heading to the boss and not exploring from one region to another. It will be within a certain limit.”

Both asynchronous and direct multiplayer elements return from the “Soulsborne” titles. I’m assured that things will feel fresh in their own way. I’ll leave you guys to it.

I asked if there were going to be gliders to further assist in vertical movement: the answer was simply no.

GAMEPLAY REEL

That was my initial introduction ahead of the gameplay teaser. Now in the Lands Between itself, we start off from a checkpoint, dubbed a “Site of Lost Grace”. Some of these can also emit a faint light trail to guide you in a certain direction that you may choose to follow. A dragon swoops down onto a campsite, quickly turning its sights on you. On your Spirit Steed, you can quickly gallop past the flames it breathes, and get in closer to slash away with your weapon. After a visceral stab into the dragon’s eye, we move onward.

MAP, ELABORATED

Your map is updated accordingly as you collect fragments you find out in the world. The map also comes with several options:

• Place beacon
• Open marker menu
  • There are 10 marker symbols, with a 100 cap
  • Not shown if you can rename these markers
• Show subterranean labyrinth

While I didn’t get the time to ask for more information, gathering materials and crafting seem to be part of the game. The beacon will be a beam of light in the distance at the point you mark. The top of the screen will also have a compass to help orientate you once you exit the map. The subterranean labyrinths differ from the dungeons you can stumble on: I’m informed that these work similarly to your overworld map, where you find pieces to reveal the underlying areas.

Exploration is seamless as you move through the overworld, to dungeons. For clarification, while loading will mostly be kept to a minimum, there will be buffer screens between respawning from death or fast travel.

“The Sites of Lost Grace checkpoints work like bonfires of previous games: refreshing enemies, replenishing healing items, and clear status effects. You’ll be able to swap skills between weapons here too. Previously, you had one skill locked to one weapon but this time you can freely interchange them to an extent.”

“Anytime you’re out in the overworld – not in the dungeons – you’ll be able to travel to a previously discovered checkpoint. Before you could only travel between bonfires, but now, you can just head back to a checkpoint to alleviate that stress of travelling long distances.”

They’ve yet to measure the actual size of the map, but it will consist of six regions / continents. Besides being their largest world yet, it’s also their most diverse, once again stressing they have handcrafted it to be interesting, and to motivate the player to explore. That interesting backdrop you could never explore in the older games? They’re wide open to you now.

COMBAT, ELABORATED

Armed with a telescope, you can scout ahead and find some avenues of infiltration. You can use sleep arrows to knock out enemies, and execute them while they’re prone. With jumping attacks, you can break enemy stances, and parry is also in. As briefly touched on, weapons can have skills attached to them; lightning strikes, wind blades, and the like are fair game. Even if you don’t opt to specialize in magic, items that invoke them are obtainable. One I saw works when thrown onto the ground, exploding in a frontal cone and dealing damage. Swapping between your current loadout looks very fast, with the example switching between 3 equipped weapons. A nice touch is the quiver showing up on your model, carrying blue glowing arrows.

In multiplayer, you can have a maximum of two other partners who can call out to you (and emote, that’s important). As I observe the various weapons – shields, axes, spears – a short bladed weapon turns into a spear after a brief animation, which can still be wielded in one-hand. At this point in the Elden Ring preview, I assume trick weapons will appear in some form. There’s a brief glimpse of a spell or skill, conjuring a dragon’s head to breathe fire. Unlike the Dragon Head Stone from Dark Souls 3, this apparent transformation is only temporary. You can bring along friends for dungeons too.

LEGACY DUNGEONS

Unlike the arguably much maligned Chalice Dungeons of Bloodborne, both the smaller scale dungeons and these Legacy Dungeons have been lovingly handcrafted. I am briefly shown around Stormveil Castle, an imposing structure of gothic design. You are presented with two options: storm the front gate, or take the back door, a gaping hole in a wall to the rickety wooden ramps lining the outside. A helpful NPC suggests you take the back door, though he will call for the gates to open for you daredevils.

The bodies you can loot right behind the gate informs you of the fate you can expect: an apparent shotgun from the seasoned guards knocks the Tarnished off their feet, their body skidding on the ground. Later, inside the castle, I learn that enemies can and will backstab you. But, most importantly, you can JUMP!

“Legacy Dungeons are multi-layered and built with this traversal in mind.”

Parkour around the ledges and hop over gaps, what an exciting time to be a FromSoft fan. There’s a few more glimpses at the skills you can slot into weapons, like a spear casting lightning. At this juncture, the difference between an actual magic system and the weapon skills are unclear. I was also allowed a peek at the dungeon’s boss, but I think I’ll keep that under wraps for now. Part of the fun is seeing people learn the tells, after all.

CLOSING

With regards to future content, Kitao-san says post-launch support will most likely be focused on bug fixing and multiplayer balance. They are considering on how to further expand the potential of the world, but no concrete plans have been made. For now, they will focus on making the best game they can.

As the game will also launch on PC, I also asked about mod support. Unfortunately, they don’t have plans for that either, not on launch or after. To close out this Elden Ring preview, I expressed my excitement about seeing the future speedruns (or Real Time Attacks). With some laughter, Kitao-san agrees, adding, “We never know what players are going to come up with.”

Set for a 25 February 2022 launch, Elden Ring will be available for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S and PC via Steam. Good luck to those already planning your FromSoft marathons!

Once again, thanks to Bandai Namco Entertainment for the preview access, to Yasuhiro Kitao for the presentation, and the unsung hero in the interpreter present.