It has been a wild ride following the announcement of Elden Ring back at Microsoft's E3 2019 press conference. Following the excitement of From Software's next game, Elden Ring seemingly fell off the face of the Earth, going dark for nearly two years without giving fans anything to go on. Speculation, theories, and rumors ran wild ranging from release dates, to potential trademark issues with the name Elden Ring.
Thankfully, all of that came to an end at the Summer Game Fest, thanks to the Elden Ring's newest trailer giving a much more in depth and detailed look at actual gameplay. A horse that can be summoned seemed to be a core mechanic in the trailer, helping the player character to not only navigate the larger open fields, but assisting in combat as well. The trailer also showcased massive bosses, something fans should be familiar with from past From Software titles. Following the reveal, even more gameplay secrets started appearing online.
Bandai Namco released additional information on Elden Ring following its highly anticipated reveal, giving fans greater insight into what they can expect from the game. As it was heavily rumored, Elden Ring is the largest game that FromSoft has ever made filled with diverse biomes such as swamps, which is likely why the player has access to a horse. Thankfully, the world is also seamless so everything will feel interconnected including the dungeons scattered about the land. This also likely means that the world could contain plenty of shortcuts to help world traversal.
Other gameplay details shared by the publisher reveal that Elden Ring will also have a dynamic weather system and day/night cycles. While time progression has been seen in other FromSoft titles like Bloodborne, Elden Ring appears to be truly dynamic and not locked into a specific event triggering it first.
In addition to the return of the character creator, FromSoft and George R.R. Martin have seemingly placed a bigger emphasis on fleshing out NPC characters and giving them deep backstories. Bandai Namco hinted that enemies will have "profound backgrounds" and that NPC characters will have motivations for either helping or hindering the player's overall progress. They're not simply there for gameplay sake.
The decision to close out Summer Game Fest with the new Elden Ring trailer wasn't by mere coincidence. It was actually from a special request by game director Hidetaka Miyazaki, who asked Geoff Keighley and his crew to show the new footage at the very end of the show to help elevate everything else before it. With many assuming Elden Ring would be at the show, saving it to the end ensured that people stay tuned in as placing the trailer at the very start likely would have caused people to tune out and miss many of the other announcements and reveals.
Elden Ring launches January 21, 2022 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
SOURCE: IGN
