Since the launch of Dark Souls in 2011, Japanese FromSoftware has slowly but surely developed into one of the most reputable game developers in the world. Cryptic storytelling, exquisite design and pig-headed enemies have become part of the studio’s core values, and this is still central when their latest project, Elden Ring, is just around the corner.
We have secured early access to the game’s closed network test, and after five hours behind the levers we can report that there is a lot to look forward to here.
A whole new world
For your feet.
FromSoftware
New this year is the fact that Elden Ring shifts focus from the closed and delicately tailored corridors the developers are known for, and instead throws us into a wide-open world. The universe in the game goes by the nickname The Lands Between, and is reportedly quite big stuff.
In this first sneak peek, we got to frolic across parts of Limgrave, a lush plain landscape full of simple fantasy fauna, tons of manly enemies and ancient ruins. You begin the adventure in one of these ruins – where you go through a fairly typical training part – before the world opens up in earnest.
The first thing you see is a castle in the distance, with an associated tower and a huge world tree on the respective flanks. The back of the ruin reveals huge masses of land, with several glowing trees, statues of ancient warriors and even more huge ruins. Everything seems improbably massive, and it’s hard not to feel a little overwhelmed.
The open structure means that in the final game you will be able to go a little where you want, to tackle enemies and dungeons in the order you want. I doubt that alt is available from the outset, whether the developers lock areas behind unique features or with physical objects you have to use as keys, but it is still large.
Elden Ring’s answer to Dark Souls’ campfire (with accompanying pot creatures).
FromSoftware
To remedy this, one can choose to follow glowing rays of light that constantly come with hints of where one can and should go. These rays of light lead as far as I can understand to the next logical “site of lost grace”, which is this game’s response to the campfires from Dark Souls. Here you can learn magic, allocate bottles that replenish health or magic, and eventually also reach new levels.
However, this last opportunity does not unlock until a short distance into the sneak peek, when you stumble across a campfire outside Stormveil Castle and are offered a deal by the cloaked Melina. By accepting the agreement, she will act as our “maiden”, and then you can use runes (READ: souls) you find to get more health, better endurance or strength.
Familiar and dear
Melina leads you along the road.
FromSoftware
If a lot of this sounds familiar, it’s because the basic structure of the game is not enormously different from what we’ve been served before. You choose an early class that focuses on a type of magic, weapon or miracle, and then specialize further as time goes on.
The first impression of Elden Ring testifies to a combat system that is quite similar to what we got in Dark Souls 3, but now with even greater freedom to experiment. This shows up early, when you meet a merchant who not only offers different weapons, but who also sells spells and the opportunity to summon different spirits. In addition to this, each weapon can be assigned unique special attacks, not unlike “weapon arts” from Dark Souls 3, and these are picked up regularly while exploring the world.
It so happened that for a while in the demonstration I not only fenced with saber and shield, but also could summon three wolf figures whenever I wanted, at the same time as I fired off wind attacks and manifested a huge magic sword at irregular intervals.
Magic and special attacks seem to play a bigger role in Elden Ring.
FromSoftware
My only major problem with the fight so far is that it has become a bit awkward to activate the two-hand mode, which now has to be done with two keystrokes instead of what was previously just one. Here I had to be more precise than I wanted, and this can probably quickly become very annoying if things go awry at crucial moments.
Otherwise, it all flows normally well, and combined with FromSoftware’s flair for “i-frames”, clear animations and challenging matches, there is little doubt that Elden Ring will offer cracking good clashes.
On horseback
I also got several tasters of this along the way, not only against dedicated boss enemies who blocked the way I had to take, but also in the form of creatures roaming around in the open world. Here you stumble right as it is over fearsome opponents, whether it is riding cavalry, ugly trolls or eagles with razor-sharp claws. At one point, even a solid dragon appeared out of the blue!
It is quite possible to fight from the horse’s back, but I’m not very precise.
FromSoftware
Then it is good that you can eventually also invoke your very own horse, so that it is easier to escape the most hairy situations on the open map. The jumper goes by the nickname Torrent, and appears immediately when you shout. This leads me to believe that the developers want to fight both on and off the horseback throughout the game, without me thinking that the control of and the fighting from the horseback was something special to write home about.
Outside of combat, Torrent works just fine, and he helps immensely to break up what could otherwise be a very large and empty universe. I notice already after five hours that Limgrave may be a bit in the empty layer, with elongated plains where it does not seem like the whole world happens. It simply does not fill me with exactly the same exemplary urge to explore as in, for example, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
A little Bloodborne too
Something however, it is here, and across the relatively small bolt space we got in the network test, there were several unique dungeons to explore. These are immediately a bit reminiscent of the “Chalice Dungeons” piece from Bloodborne, but are clearly better designed and thus also shorter in nature.
The journey goes quickly underground, where you pick up the occasional treasure, solve simple puzzles, activate a mechanism and finally fight a chief enemy.
Caves and dungeons are hidden around the world.
FromSoftware
All of this is apparently optional, but accounted for most of the fun I got out of my time with the Elden Ring demonstration.
Sensationally stylish boss enemies
Here I also found a number of the game’s main enemies, and this was undoubtedly the big highlight. Here, FromSoftware uses the revamped Dark Souls engine to deliver more vibrant and unique opponents than ever before.
This was first revealed in the form of an exceptionally cool dog-tree-statue guard who moved with nasty “stop-motion” -like attacks; later I found a chain- and cloak-laden gladiator who gave strong resistance; while the crown of the work was the obligatory thug Margit the Fell.
It is difficult to describe exactly what Margit looks like, other than that he is big and fantasy-like, with a huge stick and the ability to make magical weapons out of nothing. He guards the road into the heart of the mighty Stormveil Castle, and kept me busy for a long, long time before I finally cracked part of his code.
The battle oozes FromSoftware, with overly cool animations, powerful choral music and tons of unique attacks you must learn to avoid. It is still difficult for pigs in the best possible way, and the previously mentioned variation also does little to contribute to experimentation along the way.
I’m really looking forward to seeing more of the game’s main enemies …
FromSoftware
Conclusion
Even after five hours, we have only got a tiny taste of all that Elden Ring has to offer. The game does not make any massive changes from FromSoftware’s previous projects, but instead appears as a melting pot filled with the best the developers have done in the last ten years.
The Dark Souls 3 inspirations in particular are strong here, with many unique playing styles, special attacks and exceptionally cool boss enemies.
… and several indoor areas.
FromSoftware
That these are now spread for all winds in an open world, it is still too early to say anything about, as until now we have been limited to a relatively small part of the map. That part of the universe we has got to explore feels a bit empty at the moment, although it is exciting to stumble across small and big secrets.
The promise of a number of detailed and neatly designed levels well distributed throughout the universe certainly gives me hope, and the little we saw of Stormveil Castle reminded me of both Boletarian Palace from Demon’s Souls and Undead Burg from the very first Dark Souls. And those are very good shots.
The same can be said about the combat system and the enemies you stumble across, and I already notice that it itches really after playing more. February can by no means come fast enough.
Elden Ring is scheduled to launch on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 (tested), Xbox One, Xbox Series X / S and Windows on February 25th.
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