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Elden Ring is going to transport you to another world on February 25, 2022. FromSoftware – the studio responsible for more than a few broken controllers in its 35 year history – is building upon the foundations it established with Demon’s Souls, that it iterated on so thoughtfully throughout the Dark Souls trilogy, and later expanded with Bloodborne and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Elden Ring is an all-new fantasy adventure that is destined to be Big in 2022 – if not one of the most analyzed, discussed, played, and live-streamed games of the year.
And for good reason. Its story is guided by George R.R. Martin, who is doing anything he can to procrastinate on the writing of Game of Thrones: Winds of Winter. Its action engineered by Hidetaka Miyazaki, the game director known the world over for creating torturous challenges and atmospheric worlds. Elden Ring will be, as Miyazaki put it in a wide-reaching interview that you can read below, “a culmination of everything we’ve done with the Dark Souls series and with our games thus far.”
The ‘Soulslike’ genre is often discussed as if it is a niche-interest. That the difficulty scale is such that it repulses more players than it attracts, or that FromSoftware only creates video games for those that crave a seemingly-insurmountable challenge. But the truth is, the appeal of Elden Ring will be wide-reaching. The trilogy of Dark Souls games have exceeded 27 million sales, and it’s from that base of popularity that Elden Ring launches – with the potential to reach new communities unlocked by its more approachable systems, streamlined combat, mysterious story, and sprawling playable spaces.
As we begin our Countdown to Elden Ring, GamesRadar+ has teamed up with Edge Magazine and Play Magazine for an expansive look at this upcoming action-RPG – we’ll need all the help we can get to cover The Lands Between. This coverage hub will be updated regularly on the road to Elden Ring’s release with updated impressions, interviews, analysis, and more.
Video| Elden Ring in 60 seconds
The ‘Countdown to Elden Ring’ begins here
Hidetaka Miyazaki Interview
The director behind some of the industry’s most influential and impactful video games is starting to feel the pressure. Speaking just weeks out from the launch of FromSoftware’s most-ambitious release in its 35 year history, company president and Elden Ring creative director Hidetaka Miyazaki found the time to sit down for a wide-reaching interview. In it, he discusses the formation of The Lands Between, the experience of collaborating with George R.R. Martin, and how he is dealing with pre-launch nerves. Read this meeting with Hidetaka Miyazaki to discover the treasures of Elden Ring.
Elden Ring Story Explained: Queen Marika, Demigods, something about an Erdtree, pot boys… FromSoftware is hardly known for guiding through their games from a lore perspective – but Elden Ring may be its most confusing yet. Not to worry, the following explainer has you covered: exploring the origins of the game’s universe, its ominous Rune of Death, The Shattering, The Tarnished and the Elden Lord, and the contributions of Game of Thrones topman George RR Martin among other things.
Elden Ring is getting its first book before the game’s even out: Ahead of the game’s release on February 25, Elden Ring has a digital lore and world-building “primer” from manga specialist, Yen Press. Named “The Overture of Elden Ring”, the book offers greater detail about the scale, depth and open-world elements of Elden Ring, as well as providing new information on its enemies and locations. The book also contains an exclusive interview with game director Hidetaka Miyazaki.
Elden Ring New Game Plus: The end is simply the beginning in Elden Ring. Producer Yasuhiro Kitao likened the incoming action-RPG’s New Game Plus system to previous Dark Souls games – wherein players can beat the game multiple times with the same character. Kitao said that while this feature has always been integral to Dark Souls games, the fact that Elden Ring’s open-world is so vast means New Game Plus here will be vital in exploring the entirety of its sandbox.
Elden Ring release day may be “a hellscape” according to Dark Souls 3 security modder: A prominent Souls community member paints a grim picture for Elden Ring from a security perspective. Having poured over the backend netcode for Elden Ring’s recent closed network test, community member LukeYui believes cheaters have the means to port nefarious scripts from Dark Souls 3 to Elden Ring. Doing so, LukeYui believes, could create a “hellscape” for Elden Ring at launch.
Why Elden Ring is so much more than an ‘open world Dark Souls’
You might have a picture of what Elden Ring is in your mind – the style and substance of Dark Souls, stretched across the largest world FromSoftware has ever engineered. But Play Magazine is here to help you understand that there’s so much more to Elden Ring than that. From what we’ve even of it so far, Elden Ring is punishing, approachable, and equipped with the sort of torturous depth that’s going to keep us occupied for months to come.
We are counting down the final weeks to the release of Elden Ring. Expect interviews, features, essays, and more to be reflected in this coverage hub as we Countdown to Elden Ring throughout February.
