One of the biggest highlights of the big E3 2021 opener at Summer Game Fest was the long-awaited Elden Ring trailer, which gave eager fans a proper look at the long-in-development title. In an interview with IGN, iconic director Hidetaka Miyazaki has spilled the beans on tons more information about the game, providing some context for things we’ve seen in the trailer and rounding some gaps in our knowledge regarding the game’s lore, world, and story. “In the world of Elden Ring, The Lands Between are blessed by the presence of the Elden Ring and by the Erdtree, which symbolises its presence, and this has given grace or blessing to the people throughout the land, great and small,” explains the director when talking about the game’s lore. “What this represented in them is this sort of golden light, or this golden aura, that’s specifically shown in their eyes. And this symbolises the blessing or the grace of the Erdtree. However, after a time, there were some individuals who lost this grace, and the light faded from their eyes. And these are what are known as the Tarnished.” Many years prior to the game’s setting, the Tarnished were banished and exiled from the game’s world, but since their ex-communication, the Elden Ring has been shattered. Now – at the start of the game – the Tarnished are being called back to these peculiar lands. As per Miyazaki, Elden Ring takes place in The Lands Between: a location intentionally designed to inspire the feelings of “an enormous sense of scale and this broadness and openness”. The world is carved into six different areas, each belonging to a demigod that you’ll likely have to kill. Though there’s a ‘golden path’ that the game will suggest to you, you will be able to conquer these realms in any order you wish, thanks to the game’s new focus on openness and player freedom. A hub will connect these regions, and there will be “a wide variety of catacombs, castles, and fortresses, which are interspersed throughout the map” too. Said Miyazaki: “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.” You will be able to fast travel from area to area. Another interview with Famitsu confirms that you’ll be playing as your own custom character (more Dark Souls or Bloodborne than Sekiro) and there will be multiplayer elements similar to those you’d have seen in other FromSoft titles, too. Co-op will be possible in large open areas and boss battles, and a similar asynchronous system to that we’ve seen in past Dark Souls games will be included, too. This new trailer, by the way, is our first look at the game since it was announced almost exactly two years ago. Elden Ring has a release date set for January 21, 2022 on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and PC. You can pre-order the game here.
