It seemed unimaginable a year ago, but Elden Ring is about to come out. The hotly anticipated spiritual sequel to FromSoftware’s famous Dark Souls franchise is only a month and a few weeks away, and fans are already hoping and preparing for another Soulslike hit. Elden Ring’s open world will evolve the formula pioneered in Demon’s Souls to a yet-unseen state without leaving the combat and customization that makes these games great behind.
2021 proved to be the perfect ramp up to Elden Ring’s launch. While fans were initially wondering what the game would be like and when they would see it again, a leaked internal trailer around the beginning of March provided some hope. E3 2021 rolled around in June, and expectations were shattered by not only a trailer filled with new sights from the game but a close release date as well. Certain influencers and outlets were treated to a private preview that was later released to the public, and a closed but info-rich network test followed soon after. Elden Ring has been set up to have a massive 2022, and fans won’t need to wait long to see how it plays out.
Elden Ring’s Release Date and Lead-Up
Elden Ring will be released on February 25, 2022. It was delayed from its initial release date of January 21st for additional polish but seems to be on track to meet this new window. Further delays are unlikely, considering the feature-complete state the network test was in. Much about Elden Ring has been revealed already, but there is still room for more news before its launch. A launch trailer, if nothing else, is likely inbound a week or two before February 25.
Additional information on the game will be disseminated in several ways leading up to release. Official channels will probably start reviewing information about the game in late January, covering topics like jumping, riding the horse Torrent, stealth, different types of magic, and other key features. This should help bring newcomers attracted by all the hype up to speed. More images and short lore tidbits will be released through social media in addition to these informative posts. There will also probably be unspoken balance changes in multiplayer functionality and spell balance compared to the Elden Ring network test, a notion that already has PvPers and magic enthusiasts waiting with bated breath.
Avoid Elden Ring Spoilers
While this influx of news is a good reason to be excited, spoiler-sensitive fans may want to avert their gaze. Elden Ring spoilers are already in the wild, so it’s best to be mindful of what online circles one is frequenting. Many communities have cracked down on this information, and most content realtors and outlets refuse to cover it, but it will still pay to limit Elden Ring content intake. From out-of-bounds discoveries in the network test to datamines revealing models, animations, and dialogue, there is far more out there than one would think.
Elden Ring is also popular enough to break street date well before it launches, so players may want to start muting the game’s name and actively avoiding it by the end of January. New content will likely be shown in previews, so avoiding Bandai Namco and FromSoftware channels, alongside Souls content creators, is a must for avoiding minor content spoilers. Theories about the lore presented in the Elden Ring story trailer and the network test’s item descriptions are also being discussed, so there should be caution there too. Still, if Elden Ring is as big as it looks, seeing one or two more dungeons probably won’t amount to much.
What to Expect From The Lands Between
Elden Ring’s world still has plenty of secrets left to find and a seemingly massive amount of map left to explore. The area present in the network test was a fraction of the first major region of the Lands Between. Comparing the map in the network test to the more complete map in the gameplay trailer reveals that roughly half of the initial stretch of land is excluded from the test, including a large island to the south. Some sort of subterranean labyrinth with a separate map was alluded to during the private gameplay preview, which could be revealed in the lead-up to launch. There is plenty of new ground for Elden Ring previews to cover, and that’s just the locations themselves.
Despite how small the network test area appears next to the larger map, there was still a shocking number of spells, Ashes of War, bosses, enemies, dungeons, and NPCs packed into it. Even Elden Ring’s true starting classes are likely to contain some unseen armor and abilities. It’s clear that FromSoftware wants Elden Ring to be its magnum opus, and is putting a titanic amount of development effort into it. This is why spoiler-conscious fans should already be protecting themselves: there is so much optional content to show. The Lands Between hold countless secrets amidst their ruins, and fans will be eager to uncover them upon release.
Elden Ring’s Launch Will Be Hectic
While it’s too soon to say if Elden Ring will fulfill or disappoint, its impact will be felt upon release day. The internet will flood with videos, guides, and impressions. Even releasing a week after the competing open-world title Horizon Forbidden West is not expected to slow Elden Ring down. Among all the Soulslikes coming out in 2022, Elden Ring is the most anticipated and will serve as a point of comparison for its contemporaries. Players will quickly get to work unraveling FromSoftware’s latest batch of quests, lore, and ending requirements. Builds will gradually be refined for both solo adventures and player-vs.-player matches. And above all else, players will be exploring the massive, open-ended world of Elden Ring with a new sense of freedom.
The game isn’t likely to remain the same as it launches, however. Bugs and balance issues will no doubt be found in the first few weeks of Elden Ring’s life, and FromSoftware will work to fix them over a few months. During that time, mods will start rolling in to swap models, examine the game more closely, and potentially make Elden Ring more or less difficult. Overhaul mods are probably outside the scope of early 2022, but those will likely come later on down the line. Players will probably have a particularly fun time switching Torrent’s model out for plenty of silly steeds, so expect to see some similarities to the heyday of Skyrim modding.
Elden Ring Could Get DLC
Based on the history of FromSoftware’s Souls titles, there is a distinct possibility that Elden Ring could receive DLC. The chances for it are higher than Sekiro, given that the traditional Soulslike formula lends itself better to modular gameplay. Elden Ring is even more focused on customization than usual with the addition of summoned spirits and Ashes of War, so more content could easily be added. Bandai Namco also tends to market DLC with its games, so FromSoftware working with Bandai again adds further credence that an expansion could come.
Typically, FromSoftware expansion DLC releases six-to-twelve months after its base game. This has held for Dark Souls 1, 2, 3, and Bloodborne. However, Elden Ring’s scope and ongoing pandemic could delay things. It’s possible that even if Elden Ring DLC is coming, it will not be announced until the end of 2022 or later. Fans could hear about it at E3 or the Game Awards, but it’s simply too soon to say. It’s also too soon to guess what the DLC’s content would be, but given Elden Ring’s open format, an additional region (or regions, if there is multiple DLC) would be a safe guess. If the base game doesn’t include it, there could also be a cosmetic change for Torrent, possibly as an early purchase incentive.
Will 2022 Be The Year of Elden Ring?
With or without the DLC, 2022 could end up as the Year of Elden Ring. If it’s as good as it appears, it will have the staying power to be a contender in awards shows and game of the year discussions. The game will hopefully please Souls fans who have been waiting for another FromSoftware Soulslike since Dark Souls 3’s The Ringed City was released in March 2017. Sekiro and the Demon’s Souls Remake were good, but they were no replacement for an all-new iteration of Dark Souls.
The community has also been desperate to see more of Elden Ring after its E3 2019 reveal, and that extended period of anticipation has resulted in enough hype to keep people talking for a while. Elden Ring represents many things to many people, and one of those things is the catharsis of seeing Dark Souls 2’s power stance gameplay back in a game possessing the colorful, open world and advanced shadow system DS2 was intended to have.
In the meantime, those who are having trouble waiting for Elden Ring can play the Dark Souls: Nightfall mod coming out on Elden Ring’s original release date of January 21, 2022. The Bloodborne PSX demake, which is releasing January 31, 2022, will also help pass the time. While it’s impossible to say if Elden Ring can meet the fandom’s high expectations, what has been shown looks promising, and players won’t have to wait long to find out.
Elden Ring releases February 25, 2022, for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
