An Elden Ring fan has created a beautiful digital art rendition of Liurnia replete with stars, moonlight, and a sense of mysticism. The stunning art shows one of the earlier locations in Elden Ring in a way befitting to that of a book cover or movie poster.
Due to the game’s high quality in gameplay, deep lore, engrossing locations, memorable characters, and of course the amazing sales, it’s safe to say that Elden Ring can be considered an instant classic. The multi award-winning Elden Ring continues to be a deep well of inspiration for fans and artists several months after its release. “Beautiful” may not be the first word that comes to mind when thinking of FromSoftware titles, which are famous for dank, depressing environments, and enemies such as The Gaping Dragon. But with Elden Ring’s vast horizons and inclusion of more high fantasy elements, there are some truly beautiful locations available to players.
One such location is Liurnia Of The Lakes, an area semi-submerged in water and its forests perpetually blanketed in fog. The landscape has been digitally rendered by Reddit user davidgvaquero in amazing detail and with a watercolor painterly style. Home to the magical Academy of Raya Lucaria, Liurnia translates well to the idea of a mystical landscape painting. The artwork depicts a character overlooking the vast, ethereal landscape beyond, with the aforementioned Raya Lucaria being highlighted by the moon, with a vast and foreboding night sky above. This is not the first time Raya Lucaria has been painted by a talented artist, but this style and composition holds a different feeling; one of adventure and anticipation.
One user likened the artwork to that of famous work of Romantic artist Caspar David Friedrich, "Wanderer above the Sea of Fog." Artist davidgvaquero concurs that the beginning of Liurnia has that vibe. With FromSoftware seeking out a plethora of inspirations for their games, it's possible that the artwork was an inspiration for Liurnia. While one now might associate the word “romantic” with love, the Romantic era of art had a clear focus on appreciating the world and natural environment as a tremendous and powerful force, even with aspects of the occult and the search for “self.” All themes that are very present in Elden Ring. With enemies such as powerful Rune Bears being able to easily defeat any unprepared player, and the other amazing landscapes around The Lands Between, nature and the environment are one of the most predominant characters of Elden Ring.
This sense of landscape can easily dwarf the player in their quest early on, but after hours of gameplay, the landscape becomes another defeated foe. The figure featured in this piece is dual wielding swords that have had other users suspecting that they are the Blades of Chaos from God of War, but the artist is somewhat unclear on whether this is the case, simply stating that the likeness has been pointed out before. This is also not the first time fans have seen the Blades of Chaos or Kratos in Elden Ring thanks to other creative players, and with the popularity of both, this is likely not the last case, either.
Elden Ring is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
