Although with a slightly more high fantasy twist than Dark Souls veterans are used to, Elden Ring shares a similar graphic iconography and style to previous FromSoftware games. Using Elden Ring's seemingly vast and sprawling world as a visually impressive vehicle, game director Hidetaka Miyazaki's newest game appears tailor-made to invoke a sense of wanderlust alongside the feelings of trepidation and danger. Now, eager to explore what dreadfully mysterious secrets said world holds, one fan artist has created an incredible piece that aims to pay homage to the realm of the Lands.
Besides gaining popularity and trust that can last for decades, it is far from common to see prevalent video game developers encourage the creativity of fans, and few companies have motivated players more than industry-defining Souls genre creator FromSoftware. After more than a decade since the FromSoftware shipped the first game in the Souls series, the company and its games still has a thriving community of players and probably will for years to come, thanks in part to the upcoming release of the long-awaited title Elden Ring.
Now, paying tribute to Elden Ring's iconic art style, artist JamesBousema has transformed the realm of the Lands into an astonishing visual masterpiece that harkens back to the roots of the fantasy genre. Creatively devised to imitate that of an aging sword and sorcery book cover, the attention to detail and minimal yet bold use of color shading are just some of the many elements that make this such an extraordinary homage to FromSoftware's action role-playing game.
Examining closer finds that even production credits and contributors are represented to a staggeringly precise degree here, including the names of both director Hidetaka Miyazaki and writer George R. R. Martin. On top of this, JamesBousema incorporated Malenia Blade of Miquella in this piece, who is a boss that wields a fire-based long sword with what seems to be a prosthetic arm. Finally, JamesBousema neatly wrapped up the cover by describing lore-according iconography, such as the intricate Elden Ring logo in the bottom right corner.
After sharing the art piece to Twitter, the post scored nearly 4000 likes as many users and fans alike stopped by the reply section to applaud JamesBousema on their imaginative masterpiece. Hopefully, with Elden Ring's release date looming, gamers can expect to see more innovative art compositions that draw inspiration from the game and analyze the entire depth of the yet to be fully explored lore.
Elden Ring launches February 25 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
