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The much-awaited gameplay trailer for Elden Ring finally dropped this week.
The subject of the player's journey to become an 'Elden Lord in the lands between' remains a vague tip of the complex lore iceberg that Miyazaki and George R.R. Martin have constructed. Only a few whiffs of the lore are to be found in the Yggdrasil-like giant tree and the ‘ambition’ of the ‘foul tarnished’ from the Elden Ring trailer. But the gameplay mechanics that it very obviously teased are manifold.
What will Elden Ring gameplay be like?
To address the elephant in the room, Elden Ring does seem to owe a heavy debt to FromSoftware’s flagship Dark Souls series in many departments. It ranges from Dark Souls-inspired armor designs (most notably a Faraam set knockoff) to the grandiose bosses and iconic bonfires.
There is, however, a hefty callback to classic Souls-like gameplay as well. The grounded and methodical melee combat evokes the dodge-rolling and tame pace of earlier Dark Souls titles rather than the more aggressive Sekiro or Bloodborne. The numerous classes of weaponry showcased throughout the trailer also suggests that it could be the best of both worlds.
So far, this only echoes Miyazaki’s 2019 comment about the game being a "natural evolution of Dark Souls." The Elden Ring gameplay trailer showcases many ways it can be an ‘evolution’ of FromSoftware’s earlier titles.
Custom Player Character
Sekiro differed from the Souls-Borne tetralogy in its lack of character creation. Sekiro's deeply personal character motivations would not have it any other way. But the tale of a petty 'tarnished' turned an 'Elden Lord' screams Chosen Undead prophecy. Elden Ring will ship with a comprehensive character creation system. It will also possibly offer great roleplay and build variety with intricate melee and magic classes, and even hybrids between the two.
Bigger Game World
FromSoftware’s games have always been great at weaving different levels together seamlessly. There is no reason why it should be any different in Elden Ring. One element the trailer heavily features is the player’s mount.
An extensive riding system, including horseback combat, suggests a much larger scale of tangible environments. Elden Ring will likely feature a vast interconnected overworld that will transition into labyrinthine levels of dungeons, both below and above ground. It is somewhat unprecedented that such seamless, interconnected level design can be stretched across a world large enough to traverse with mounts.
The environments shown in the trailer so far include misty meadows, craggy mountains, foggy woods, plains dotted with ruins, and of course, the staple Souls-like swamp level.
Day-Night Cycle and Dynamic Weathers
To spice it up, Elden Ring will also feature day and night cycles with a dynamic weather system. By now, these have become orthodox features of RPG overworlds that everyone takes for granted. But it will be a much bigger deal in Elden Ring.
FromSoftware titles have traditionally stuck to static environments. It is always daytime in Undead Parish and night in Huntsman’s Copse. Bloodborne and Sekiro deviated from that norm to some degree. The moon cycles in Bloodborne, and the season and time of day in Sekiro, changes as the player progresses through the story. Whether Elden Ring will have something similar, or something closer to how The Elder Scrolls series handles day-night cycles, remains to be seen.
4-Player Co-op
Like the Dark Souls series, Elden Ring will also feature a co-op multiplayer system with upto 4 players in a single season. Its implementation also seems to imitate Dark Souls’ phantom visuals. That said, there has been no confirmation of any PvP system in Elden Ring till date.
