Elden Ring finally received gameplay trailer during the Summer Game Fest and will release in January 2022. Much has been revealed story-wise about The Lands Between, its main setting, but director Hidetaka Miyazaki provided even more in recent interview with IGN. He revealed that the name was created by Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin himself.
“The Lands Between is actually a name that was invented by George R.R. Martin himself when he was coming up for the impetus for this world and writing its history and its deep mythos. And we hope that as well as taking away the idea of it being the sort of impetus and the starting place for the world, we want people to feel that it’s really like an invitation to this mysterious new land.”
In terms of design, Elden Ring combines the unique worlds of Demon’s Souls with the interconnected nature of Dark Souls and Bloodborne. There are six major areas to explore and each serves as the “domain” for a Demigod character (with its “own mainline dungeon map” that connects the world). While there will be a set order to play through them, it’s not a hard and fast rule. As Miyazaki notes, “We wanted to give a free level of progression and exploration through The Lands Between, so there’s a lot of different ways.
“You won’t be able to access everything from the start, but there are a lot of different ways you can approach each area. And there’s a lot of freedom as to which order you tackle different areas as well.” A hub is also confirmed and accessed a bit later into the story. There are also “a wide variety of catacombs and castles and fortresses which are interspersed throughout the map” that players can take their time and explore in the open world.
Elden Ring is slated to release on January 21st 2022 for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5 and PC. It sees the various entities of the world fighting over the shards of the Elden Ring, known as the Great Runes. As the Tarnished, players will seek to become Elden Lord (which doubtlessly involves slaying the Demigods and obtaining their runes). Along with mounted combat and multiplayer, there will be a wide variety of weapons and skills available to choose from.