While not much official news or information about Elden Ring has been released, a fairly long trailer has been leaked showcasing what it seems likely the game is going to be. While it's a leak and so everything in the trailer needs to be taken with a grain of salt, it does seem rather legit.
One fact that can be gleamed from the trailer is that the combat of Elden Ring seems more in line with the slower, more methodical combat of Dark Souls than it is like the faster-paced combat of Bloodborne and Sekiro.
The Souls-like Genre
After the release of Dark Souls and its explosion in popularity, other games decided to take the mechanics of Dark Souls and make similar games. Specifically, a lot of games took heavy inspriation from Dark Souls stamina-based, difficult combat, its bonfire-based checkpoint system, aspects of the intricate level design, and the level up system. One of the first notable games to do this was Lords of the Fallen (which has an upcoming sequel), and it definitely kept the methodical pace of the Dark Souls combat to heart. Many others have followed suit, to varying degrees of success.
Dark Souls vs. Sekiro/Bloodborne
Meanwhile, while other games were taking direct inspiration from what Dark Souls was doing, FromSoftware was busy evolving its own system. After the first two Dark Souls games, the PS4-exclusive Bloodborne came onto the scene. While the combat was easily recognizable as classic FromSoftware, there were some definite differences. Everything was a little bit faster paced, with attack animations taking less time and the parry system incorporating firearms and requiring ammo. There were some other important changes, like the shift from Estus Flasks to Blood Vials, but the game still fit neatly into the genre FromSoftware pioneered already, while changing it in enough meaningful ways to make the game unique.
After Dark Souls 3, Sekiro did a similar thing, though possibly in a more dramatic fashion. A lot more mechanics changed in Sekiro, one of the most notable of which was the different options when it comes to movement. Grappling hooks seriously changed the game, considering the previous FromSoftware games in the genre had pretty restrictive movement. Combat was also faster paced here as compared to combat in Dark Souls, with a more heavy emphasis on some incredibly tight parrying windows.
The Evolution Of the Souls-like
While some developers took the ideas FromSoftware had in their own games and stayed pretty close to games they were replicating, others put their own unique spin on it. Nioh, in particular, took inspiration from Dark Souls and built upon it, creating a game that's recognizable as a Souls-like, but with a ton of its own ideas and mechanics that make it entirely it's own thing. Similarly, other games have started doing the same. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, for instance, had similar combat to Dark Souls, though a bit more simplistic, and a similar idea in its level design. But, it came with a very heavy narrative and quite a few environmental puzzles to solve, again giving it it's own flavor.
With FromSoftware getting back into what appears to be a more Dark Souls pace combat with Elden Ring, but in a game-world that appears bigger, the Souls-like genre is probably going to evolve with it. What it could do is open up the floodgates for Souls-likes that are more in line with Bloodborne and Sekiro, as opposed to the pace of Dark Souls combat. This could be a really good thing for the sub-genre.
Bloodborne and Sekiro added some creative things to the Dark Souls formula, and as long as other developers take the lesson their own unique ideas and mechanics, this could end up creating a lot of really creative games that push the genre further. This is already starting to happen a little bit, with the aforementioned Nioh, but also games like Mortal Shell, which has its own unique hook, and The Surge series, with its crafting system.
FromSoftware has kept itself moving forward to further its own success, and the genre the developer created is slowly following suit. All of these games appear to be getting more and more creative in order to establish its own foothold in the industry, and for fans of the genre, it's been a beautiful thing to watch.
Elden Ring is currently in development, with PC, PS4, and Xbox One as confirmed platforms.