For some time now, Elden Ring fans have known that the game was a collaboration between FromSoftware and George R. R. Martin (known for Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire). The extent was made pretty clear—Martin worked on worldbuilding for the game, while FromSoftware took everything from there. Now, Elden Ring director Hidetaka Miyazaki has commented on how this takes form in the game and how some choices made with certain characters may shock Martin.
In a recent interview with Game Informer, Miyazaki discussed how Martin crafted the mythology of the world of Elden Ring, creating heroic yet flawed heroes. Yet, this was all before the Shattering event—a massive war that took place within The Lands Between (Elden Ring’s setting) following the destruction of the titular item.
FromSoftware seemingly takes over following the Shattering, with the director discussing how the company took these heroes and personalities and twisted them into “boss monsters,” something that FromSoftware has been known for in its games. Miyazaki describes Martin’s created Elden Ring characters and demigods as in their own original form, maybe closer to a human form, and then FromSoftware sought to explain how they became inhuman monsters and how the “mad taint of the shattered shards of the Elden Ring and its power affect them?”
Miyazaki describes this process overall as taking these heroes and misshaping them and distorting them into something they were not, which he adds was a lot of fun for him personally. Elden Ring director Miyazaki continued on to say that Martin imagined something along the lines of more traditional human drama and fantasy characters, also adding that, “if we get a chance to show Martin and if he gets a chance to see the game and see these characters, I think he might be a bit shocked.”
Game Informer also inquired after Miyazaki’s favorite character, as designed by Martin, in Elden Ring, and he points toward a character named Rykard. That’s all that could be gleaned from Miyazaki, so for fans of FromSoftware and Martin’s work, Rykard may be a character worth keeping an eye out for when Elden Ring releases in less than a month.
With these two creators having a penchant for dark fantasy but diverging jobs in terms of presenting that dark fantasy to players, it’ll definitely be interesting to see all the Elden Ring bosses and how they’ve been twisted.
Elden Ring releases February 25 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
Source: Game Informer
