Elden Ring (25th February 2022) | Shadow of the Erdtree (21st June 2024)

[LazyBoy]

7 hours ago, Julius said:

Genuine question having only played Demon's Souls: do any of the other From games have a map? Because this game being open world, it would pretty much have to have a map, right? Which is really weird to think about. 

Of course I can only speak to Demon's Souls, but I know what you mean about the light narrative direction, it's really clear just how much Ueda's works inspired Miyazaki. I'm imagining a largely Shadow of the Colossus-like open world which is virtually empty, save for skirmishes as you get closer to settlements, which would be more intricately designed in line with From's other games. I guess I'm kind of also imagining Hyrule Field from Ocarina of Time? Secrets in the open world of course (hidden dungeons, stuff behind waterfalls, caves, etc.), would be really interesting if there were a Nemesis-like system between settlements, and a massive, SotC-like boss in the open world would be cool too. 

Haven't played Sekiro, but no maps in any of their games otherwise.

Good digging Julius. I'd be gutted with a delay, but I'd rather they took their time and got it right. And this will be tough for them. Not so much putting everything in everything that needs to go into an open world - they'll give us a big map and plenty of quests no problem - but maintaining that incredible atmosphere and gameplay/difficulty balance will require a lot of tuning. 

So yeah, take your time Miyazaki.

[Julius]

Ahem. 

Spoiler

Omnipotent on ResetEra posted this:

So I guess it's happening. Think Summer Game Fest always seemed the most likely for the game to make a return.

Hype Mode: Engaged. 

Also, having lived through the scene in the GIF twice in the last month, I have to ask...what the hell has Geoff had to sacrifice?! 

 

[Julius]

 January 21st 2022!!!

 

Edited June 10, 2021 by Julius

[Hero-of-Time]

 

[Julius]

1 minute ago, Hero-of-Time said:

 

Awesome, but assuming this gets a PS5 case, I'm absolutely just going to go based on which case looks better  love that deep teal colour, and the way the top of the symbol kind of forms an eclipse!

Also, I know Berserk has obviously influenced Miyazaki a lot, but there are several things about this that are just straight up giving off that Berserk influence: the framing of the case and that eclipse, that wolf dude and the Berserker armour, the tree...hell yeah. 

This damn trailer puts me in a weird spot. I'm really looking forward to checking out Rift Apart tomorrow, but now I really want to play Dark Souls! 

[Hero-of-Time]

1 minute ago, Julius said:

This damn trailer puts me in a weird spot. I'm really looking forward to checking out Rift Apart tomorrow, but now I really want to play Dark Souls! 

Skip Dark Souls and play Sekiro instead.  

[Cube]

Why do they use the term "gameplay trailer" when they don't show actual gameplay?

[Julius]

9 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Skip Dark Souls and play Sekiro instead.  

I'll get to it...at some point  after finishing Demon's Souls at the end of last year I went and bought every modern From Software game except for Sekiro, so thankfully I'm forced to make a decision where I don't play it next just by not having it on my shelf! Also kind of want to see how systems evolved as the series went on, especially because I started with Demon's Souls (even if it was the Bluepoint remake). 

I was originally planning on trying to get through the other Souls games before this released (assuming the appetite for them stayed), kind of assuming it was March 2022 or later, but think it might be a bit of a squeeze to get them all in before January; I won't rush, guess we'll see what happens. I've definitely been feeling the craving to play one coming on the last month or two though, so I imagine I'll be digging into Dark Souls sooner rather than later. 

Also just been rewatching the trailer and the stone golem thing with a bell is giving me major Shadow of the Colossus vibes - it's pretty much exactly what I wanted, assuming we can fight it (and if so kind of wanted the Divine Beasts to be in Breath of the Wild). Cannot wait to see more! 

5 minutes ago, Cube said:

Why do they use the term "gameplay trailer" when they don't show actual gameplay?

If it's in-engine showing footage of the game being played, just from camera angles you probably won't get in the game for the sake of being a trailer, then I'd consider it a gameplay trailer? Just not technically raw gameplay footage with a HUD and so on? 

[killthenet]

In the words of Brandon Jones: "Ship it, ship it straight to my face"

[LazyBoy]

So firstly yay, that’s not too long away, and yay I don’t have to buy a PS5 for it, cause otherwise that console ain’t justifying a purchase just yet.

Got to say initially I was a little gutted that it’s just ‘Dark Souls Online’, and that they haven’t gone in a new direction with it like they did Blood and Sekiro. Not just the narrative but the combat seems very much in line with Dark Souls.

But there’s probably so much we’re not seeing there - how the RPG systems will work, how co-op and counter-op will work, what crazy world systems we’ll never understand. And then the world and characters, which will no doubt be rich and numerous. 
 

So yeah, can’t wait, expect me to start bugging you all about making a guild soon. 

Edited June 11, 2021 by LazyBoy

[Julius]

All the stuff from the official site:

Quote

The Golden Order has been broken.

Rise, Tarnished, and be guided by grace to brandish the power of the Elden Ring and become an Elden Lord in the Lands Between.

In the Lands Between ruled by Queen Marika the Eternal, the Elden Ring, the source of the Erdtree, has been shattered.

Marika's offspring, demigods all, claimed the shards of the Elden Ring known as the Great Runes, and the mad taint of their newfound strength triggered a war: The Shattering. A war that meant abandonment by the Greater Will.

And now the guidance of grace will be brought to the Tarnished who were spurned by the grace of gold and exiled from the Lands Between. Ye dead who yet live, your grace long lost, follow the path to the Lands Between beyond the foggy sea to stand before the Elden Ring.

And become the Elden Lord.

 

Key Features

A New Fantasy World

Journey through the Lands Between, a new fantasy world created by Hidetaka Miyazaki, creator of the influential DARK SOULS video game series, and George R. R. Martin, author of The New York Times best-selling fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire. 

Unravel the mysteries of the Elden Ring’s power. Encounter adversaries with profound backgrounds, characters with their own unique motivations for helping or hindering your progress, and fearsome creatures. 

World Exploration in the Lands Between

ELDEN RING features vast fantastical landscapes and shadowy, complex dungeons that are connected seamlessly.

Traverse the breathtaking world on foot or on horseback, alone or online with other players, and fully immerse yourself in the grassy plains, suffocating swamps, spiraling mountains, foreboding castles and other sites of grandeur on a scale never seen before in a FromSoftware title. 

Genre-defining Gameplay

Create your character in FromSoftware's refined action-RPG and define your playstyle by experimenting with a wide variety of weapons, magical abilities, and skills found throughout the world.

Charge into battle, pick off enemies one-by-one using stealth, or even call upon allies for aid. Many options are at your disposal as you decide how to approach exploration and combat. 

Also what feels like another Berserk reference...

Dude on the left giving me major Griffith vibes with that helmet, pretty sure we also saw someone in a similar helmet against the reindeer boss. 

1 hour ago, LazyBoy said:

Got to say initially I was a little gutted that it’s just ‘Dark Souls Online’, and that they haven’t gone in a new direction with it like they did Blood and Sekiro. Not just the narrative but the combat seems very much in line with Dark Souls.

But there’s probably so much we’re not seeing there - how the RPG systems will work, how co-op and counter-op will work, what crazy world systems we’ll never understand. And then the world and characters, which will no doubt be rich and numerous. 

Yeah, I'm really curious to see how co-op pans out in this game. The way it looked in the trailer, and what they say on the official website, specifically in the section about exploration of the open world...

Quote

Traverse the breathtaking world on foot or on horseback, alone or online with other players

...makes me think that the main (and easiest) part of online play that you can access will be in the open world, which I think makes a lot of sense given that the glimpses of the world show that there will be a variety of enemies most likely at drastically different levels of difficulty as we see in most open worlds. In the settlements/kingdoms/and so on coming off the open world is where I think it'll probably be gated behind beating a boss or calling for help for one, as I believe is the case in the other From games (they do mention that you can "call upon allies for aid" too). 

Does feel less like an "open world" and more like an "open field", which I think I prefer (as I feel it would be more focused). Major Ocarina of Time Hyrule Field and Shadow of the Colossus vibes in that open area!

I know the rest of Summer Game Fest was a bit wonky at times, but still, kudos to Geoff for landing this, you could really tell how enthused he was about it when introducing the game. Strong start to E3 with this, glad this is where the show ended, and if we get some more stuff from other games I'm really excited about that could be next year (Final Fantasy XVI, the Breath of the Wild sequel, Starfield) then I will be extremely happy, but the fact that this trailer specifically is pushing me over the edge towards playing my next From game says it all.

The choir at the end when he jumps gets me every time! 

[Julius]

VaatiVidya trailer breakdown is up:

Haven't watched it yet, but I saw someone suggest earlier that maybe the beams of light from the World Tree Yggdrasil Erdtree might be key points of interest or highlighting optional bosses or something, which I thought would be really cool. Would certainly harken back to following the light of your sword in Shadow of the Colossus!

[Hero-of-Time]

 

[Julius]

Sounds fantastic! IGN with the scoops, go figure 

Not having to follow an order for the major areas makes a lot of sense, I was a bit worried that they might have some gating there, so glad that they've come right out and said it. Open world being multiplayer is in line with what I thought the trailer and website were hinting at, think that's a smart move too, I imagine there will be plenty of boss-type encounters in the open world anyways to keep groups busy. 

Fall damage being low for the sake of exploration reminds me of how generous Xenoblade Chronicles is with its open world traversal. Cool that the game will have a world map, I'm curious if there will be a mini-map or not? I'd imagine not, but if there is, could see myself turning it off like I did with Breath of the Wild, because I enjoyed the game a whole lot more from doing that. Playtime for the crit path, just looking at my From games with HLTB story times on them, seems exactly in line with previous From games, which sounds good to be honest, as a real danger with many open worlds is just filling them with extra stuff just to have a "full" map. 

Everything we're seeing so far is giving me greater Berserk vibes than even what I've seen of some of the other From games that I've yet to play, which is really exciting. Shame IGN didn't ask Miyazaki about Miura's recent passing, I've heard he's a big fan of the series and so it would have been nice to hear some words from him, it's clearly had a big inspiration on the direction of From Software games for the last decade plus. 

I'm not getting my hopes up for it to be there, but Bandai Namco is holding their E3 event tomorrow, and at the moment we haven't heard so much as a peep about it outside of it being on the E3 schedule (Bandai Namco themselves haven't tweeted about last I checked). I remember From at a "normal" E3 seemed to be pretty good at giving people hands-on time so we could hear impressions and see a bit more gameplay, so while I'm not expecting it, I don't think it's entirely impossible? Could absolutely just be a Scarlet Nexus and Tales of Arise blowout, though. 

[Julius]

Nice VaatiVidya video which wraps up the info not just from Miyazaki's IGN interview, but his Famitsu and Igromania (a Russian site) interviews too:

 

[Julius]

In final stages of development:

You'd kind of hope so with the January launch and all  

Pretty crazy that the only thing of note since E3 is that some press got to see the game in action at the end of August:

Next trailer probably at The Game Awards and then a marketing blast once January hits?

[LazyBoy]

God damn I'm so fucking excited for this. Im going to desperately try to be ready for Day 1, as the From games are absolutely the kinds of game you want to be in on the ground floor with, discovering secrets and untangling the lore.

[Julius]

Delayed by a month from 21st January to 25th February 2022. Closed network test coming next month, you can try to sign up here. 

Shame about the delay, but considering marketing was limited only to the E3 2019 and SGF 2021 trailers up to this point - only three months from its January release date - I don't think it really comes as a huge surprise. 

November for the beta test, probably a trailer at The Game Awards, and a crazy amount of marketing come January should set it up nicely. Early next year is stacked everywhere, with open worlds in particular, as they've moved the release from one week before Pokémon Legends: Arceus to the week following Horizon Forbidden West and the day of Saints Row. 

If I were Guerrilla I'd seriously consider pushing Horizon back a few weeks. The first game being overshadowed by Zelda's first foray into (a modern, 3D) open world with Breath of the Wild, and potentially now the second being overshadowed by From's first foray into (a more traditional) open world, yikes. 

Edited October 18, 2021 by Julius

[Julius]

15 minutes of gameplay coming tomorrow at 14:00 GMT. 

 

Edited November 4, 2021 by Julius

[LazyBoy]

I imagine it'll be the gameplay demo they showed to press a couple months back. Bloody excited.

[Julius]

Collector's edition has leaked through a Twitch ad, and it looks real nice (well, minus the digital OST). 

Pretty sure a 40 page book isn't going to be quite that thick, either  would imagine that we'll see confirmation of this after today's stream? 

[Julius]

Today's gameplay preview:

Yeah, I'm definitely going to be saving my From appetite for this. 

Edited November 4, 2021 by Julius

[drahkon]

Looks like the logical evolution of the Souls series. Can't wait.

[LazyBoy]

Yep, that looks great. I wonder if the addition of those summonable spirits is meant to help balance the game against the coop experience - allowing them to make the co-op game harder without making it too hard for solo players.

[Julius]

So I watched it again a few hours ago, and I've got to ask: am I the only one concerned about the jump? It looks...incredibly floaty, especially when they were trying to sneak around the side and jump onto that small ledge. 

Also, maybe I've just managed to blank it out the two times I've watched the preview (so please correct me if I'm wrong!), but we haven't seen the character falling inside yet have we? I'm really curious about that as we see ambitious leaps from great heights and it seemingly does no or very little damage, at least based on the animation used when this is executed (or rather, the lack thereof?). It makes sense in the open world for traversal and stealth reasons, as seen in the trailer, but I just wonder if fall damage is going to be more prominent in these dungeons/castles/etc., seeing as shots we saw here (such as the several storeys of wood plank floors) or in previous footage, because a potential lack of / reduction in fall damage could drastically change how you approach dungeons. I feel like it's been a big part of the dungeon traversal so far in what I've experienced from From is all, so it was something I weirdly latched onto; I'm curious if anyone else feels the same?

Do find it funny how even though the earlier From games I've played clearly have points of inspiration from Zelda and Ueda's games, just how on the nose a lot of it is here, the underground dungeon we saw in the preview immediately gave me a Zelda vibe from what I've experienced of the first Zelda on NES: very cramped and seemingly very direct dungeon design (oh, and also the above-ground entrance). 

It's funny though, because even though I've heard Dragon Quest has inspired From games before, I can really, really feel it with the spirits you can summon; it's like they took some of those designs and throwed an ugly, gritty, freaky From-made coat of paint all over them. 

For instance, the pot dude really reminds me of a Dragon Quest pot (urn?) mimic (which I find kind of funny because he has the appendages of a Dark Souls mimic!)...

...and the hefty guy we see summoned to face the boss really reminded me of a Hood, just the way he awkwardly lumbered around and swung his weapon. 

And now that I mention it, Asylum Demon, Stray Demon and Demon Firesage from Dark Souls are all a dead ringer for Clubbers! 

I feel like this is a rabbit hole I'll never escape from 

Edited November 5, 2021 by Julius