VideoGames posted:

Bonfire mimics would be brilliant.

BeanpolePeckerwood posted:

Excited that Elden Ring will have a sixth archstone, after all these years

VideoGames posted:

Bonfire mimics would be brilliant. They always scared the bits out of me when I got shocked by the scholar in DS2.

VideoGames posted:

Is it possible Bluepoint will make Demons Souls DLC for that broken archstone? Seems a shame to never have it, though as flavour and lore it is cool there is this always broken never accessible part of the world. A bit like in God of War with the places you cannot visit.

VideoGames posted:

Is it possible Bluepoint will make Demons Souls DLC for that broken archstone? Seems a shame to never have it, though as flavour and lore it is cool there is this always broken never accessible part of the world. A bit like in God of War with the places you cannot visit.

Dr. Video Games 0031 posted:

I sure hope not. Some other random developer adding whatever they think is cool to Demon's Souls seems deeply profane.

Coolness Averted posted:

Last I read that's not likely to happen, both Bluepoint and From wanted it to be more faithful to the original, and felt adding new content like that begins to open to door to more heavily changing the game.

Ra Ra Rasputin posted:

huh posted:

And some various points from reddit:


-- Player can create a "group", and messages and blood stains from the "group" is shown in priority compared to other online messages. They wanted a feeling of working together stronger in this game by this system. They are hoping to create a new feeling for the players compared to the previous complete random messages and blood stain.

-- There are no limit to the size of the "group" and shared through a "key word." (So we can create a r/eldenring group with keyword "potboi" or something)

Dr. Video Games 0031 posted:

I sure hope not. Some other random developer adding whatever they think is cool to Demon's Souls seems deeply profane.

Groovelord Neato posted:

I was under the impression that "the Lands Between" is the entire game area.

bows1 posted:

Maybe I used that term wrong; but is it a map that ONLY has 6 distinct areas so you are always in one of them, or is there an overworld map that you traverse to get to the 6 distinct areas, is kind of my question. Outside of the main "hub" of course which would probably not be part of any of the 6 areas.

JBP posted:

It all read like the map has six distinct regions to me.

codo27 posted:

Lands Between Things Betwixt

TheMostFrench posted:

The next 'Strand' type game?!

bows1 posted:

Maybe I used that term wrong; but is it a map that ONLY has 6 distinct areas so you are always in one of them, or is there an overworld map that you traverse to get to the 6 distinct areas, is kind of my question. Outside of the main "hub" of course which would probably not be part of any of the 6 areas.

huh posted:

huh posted:

--The field is clearly much larger than previous entries, will there be a world map?

[Miyazaki] Yes, there is what you would call a world map for the open field areas. You can set a waypoint, travel to uncharted areas, and enjoy revealing the map.

On the other hand, as in the Dark Souls series, there is no map in the big dungeon areas. We want you to enjoy figuring out the layout through exploration and to have that great feeling when you finally do.

--It seems like the spirit horse will be useful for this.

[Miyazaki] Travel on horseback will be limited to the open field, but I think it really feels nice. You can use your jumps to quickly jump over small differences in elevation or leap down dangerous cliffs. In certain places you can perform a large jump making exploration dynamic and vertical.

huh posted:

np It's so exciting isn't it?

Also I've edited the previous parts for readability.

Bideo James posted:

Can't wait to see who or what has the Great Moonlight Sword

huh posted:

Part 1 of a Famitsu interview someone on reddit translated:


--So, the release date and support for next-gen consoles has finally been announced. We've had coronavirus and a lot of societal instability, will you be able to meet the announced release date?

[Miyazaki] Yes, we've kept everyone waiting for a long time, but we are finally at the stage where we can anounce the release date. The entire staff is working at full pace on the final polish and development.

--This is the first interview since development of Elden Ring was announced in June 2019 where you explained the game concept. I want to go over the basic information. First of all, what kind of game are you aiming for with Elden Ring?

[Miyazaki] What we are aiming for with Elden Ring, in short, is a proper evolution to the Dark Souls series. We wanted to bring together all of our know-how we have built creating the [Dark Souls] series in terms of action, level design and world building, in order to realize this evolution on an even grander scale.

In order to do this, we of course had to have even more depth in world design and story, and we were able to bring in GRR Martin. Honestly, this was an extremely fortuitous and powerful addition.

--Did you decide on the open-world format after GRR Martin joined?

[Miyazaki] No. We had a vague idea to do this even before he joined. It would be more correct to say that his joining allowed us further shape the idea going forward, providing us a powerful boost.

--How did GRR Martin come to be a part of this project?

[Miyazaki] I was already a fan of GRR Martin's novels. Of course, I was a fan of "A Song of Ice and Fire", the basis of "Game of Thrones", but I was also a fan of Ferve Dream, the Tuf Voyaging series, the Wild Cards series, etc. One of From's executives, Eiichi Nakajima remembered this, and approached GRR Martin not expecting him to accept, but it turns out he knew about Dark Souls and agreed to speak with us against all expectations.

--You must have been happy about that.

[Miyazaki] At the time, while there was no talk about any concrete business plan, but we had an animated discussion and asked him to join us in creating this game, and he was happy to oblige.

--You've said that GRR Martin didn't actually create the world design, but wrote the basis for it.

[Miyazaki] He created the foundation for the world design of this game, would be the correct way to say it. We knew when he joined that he was extremely busy, and we also didn't want this game to follow a strict story. Also, we didn't want to warp GRR Martin's vision to fit the necessities of the game.

--You didn't want to make a traditional RPG following a set story line?

[Miyazaki] Due to certain circumstances and intentions on our part, we came to ask him to write the mythology to form the foundation for this game taking place in the distant past.

--So is it fair to say that this world wouldn't have been realized without GRR Martin?

[Miyazaki] Yes, without a doubt. The mythology he wrote was extremely fascinating. There is a mysterious depth, and the character drama is built on top of this complicated family relationship. This is a history in addition to being a mythology, and is also an epic - it provided an inspiration we had never had before.

--There is a protagonist, but they don't have a defined personality, correct?

[Miyazaki] We didn't imagine a specific protagonist in this game like we did in Sekiro, for example. Think of it like Dark Souls in that players can each create their own characters freely, with their own play style.

--What kind of person is the "Tarnished" protagonist?

[Miyazaki] It's a long story, but okay?

--Of course!

[Miyazaki] There is a land in this game called "The Lands Between" that is blessed with a golden tree. This land is the stage for Martin's mythology - a race called the Demigods received the blood of the Divine Queen Marika, and are heroes that rule this land, having received a particularly powerful blessing.

All who have received this blessing have a golden light in their eyes, but these people have lost this light. The are called "Tarnished" because they have lost this golden light from their eyes, and are driven out of The Lands Between. The Tarnished who is the protagonist of the game is a descendent of the people who were driven out of The Lands Between.

And now, when the Elden Ring which forms the source of the blessing of the golden tree has been shattered, this once-lost blessing is returned to the Tarnished who reside outside The Lands Between. It is a rumbling to become the king which beckons you to The Lands Between and to the Elden Ring.

--So the protagonist's goal is to become the king of The Lands Between they have been driven from?

[Miyazaki] That's right. That is the clear "beckoning of the blessing". In the world of this game, this amounts to a revelation of god, but it is not an absolute. Some may follow this beckoning, while some may have their doubts, it's up to the player.

Moving away from the world design side of things, this "beckoning" acts as the initial guide for the player. We wanted to have this "beckoning" to act as a simple guide so that the player doesn't feel lost with no clue where to go in this immense world.

--So there is a "beckoning" that guides the player's path, but you can choose to ignore it. So that is one of the degrees of freedom in the game, which means there might be multiple endings in this game as well?

[Miyazaki] Yes, there are multiple endings and many ways to arrive there. It's one of the characteristics of this game, and the degree of freedom in progressing through the game is much higher than in the Dark Souls series.

--That's certainly something to look forward to.

[Miyazaki] If you take boss fights for example, very few absolutely have to be beaten, and the order, or timing, is up to the player in many cases.

huh posted:

Part 2


-So the story leading up to the ending is made up of fragments pieced together by the player like in Dark Souls?

[Miyazaki] Right. Our essential approach to storytelling hasn't changed. At least that's only according to our standards - the basic parts of the story are easier to understand than before. Furthermore, the story woven together from these fragments is larger and more layered than ever before.

--So, did you oversee the game text yourself?

[Miyazaki] There is a huge amount which makes it difficult, but I try to review everything as a rule, with a large portion being directly written by me.

--Earlier you said you were aiming for a proper evolution to Dark Souls, so why isn't this Dark Souls 4, but a brand-new IP?

[Miyazaki] When we had GRR Martin come in on the project, we wanted to avoid the limitations that the world of Dark Souls would impose, and besides that, it would allow us more freedom of imagination.

We aren't slavishly tied to the Dark Souls style; on the contrary, we tried to avoid it being too much like Dark Souls, while applying our know-how to create a new dark fantasy.

--So the open field system created for this game, would you say it's different than open-world?

[Miyazaki] It depends on your definition of "open-world". The open field in this game first serves to expand the scale of the story, increasing immersion. There is a great unknown and threat in this world, and there is the thrill of feeling your way through the world, intended to bring the joy of discovery and travel. I think this is one of the joys that the old classic RPGs had, and we wanted to aim for that in this game.

--I want to ask about the gameplay - what kind of game system exists for character customization to deepen the roleplaying?

[Miyazaki] It basically continues from the Dark Souls series. Customizing character appearance, weapons, armour, magic can all be chosen freely, raising stats to strengthen your character, etc.




One of the characteristics of this, is the wealth of weapon arts we introduced in Dark Souls 3. Most of the skills in this game are not tied to a weapon, so you can try out various combinations of weapons and skills freely.

--So weapon and skill combinations are important decisions for the player. Can you assign multiple skills to a weapon?

[Miyazaki] You can assign one skill per weapon. However, you can swap these freely - there are about 100 in total. There is also quite a selection of weapons - finding your favorite combination will be one of the things to enjoy.

Also, completely separate from this, it is possible to summon spirits. You can summon these to become allies and fight with you when in the correct place. There is the same element of collecting and equipping that exists with weapons, armor, magic, etc.

--Summoning spirits - this is something new.

[Miyazaki] Yes. Spirits are basically based on enemies, and have their own individual character that is quite varied. You can summon a shield character to protect you from behind, summon archers to aid your advance, place decoys to attack enemies from behind, etc. They have many strategic uses.

--Can the spirits level up? For example, to the point where you can use them against bosses.

[Miyazaki] Yes they can. Just like with weapons, you can choose which spirits to level up. Choose which ones to level to match your strategy or preference. There are even some spirits which aren't of much use, but are quite loveable anyway.

huh posted:

Part 3


From Software games are known for their difficulty, instead of making the action easier, you take the road of increasing what the player can do in order to deepen the strategy. Is it the same in Elden Ring?

[Miyazaki] Yes, and this trend is even stronger in Elden Ring. Like the spirits I was mentioning, you don't have to rely on pure mechanical skill, but can use strategy to defeat your enemies. We are emphasizing a strategic approach to combat in this game.

--You can jump!

[Miyazaki] Yes you can. You can jump for a heavy attack, and you can jump to avoid low attacks. More importantly, I feel it allows a greater degree of freedom in exploration.

--It appears that a more active fighting style is possible, but are finger-biting tense battles still alive and well?

[Miyazaki] Yes, they are still alive and well. Don't worry about that. In addition to what I already mentioned, there is one which is a kind of counter-attack after parrying with a shield. You will have a wide variety of choices to engage in strategic and vigorous battles.

--With more choices, it sounds like boss fights are going to be very engaging

[Miyazaki] Yes. Boss fights are a special experience, one of the high points of the game. At the same time, we hope to minimize instances of being unable to advance in the game because the boss is too hard.

Like I said in the beginning, this game is designed with freedom in mind; you can put off fighting hard bosses, and some but not all bosses need not be beaten at all.

--I plan on asking about multiplayer later, but can you adventure through the game world with friends?

[Miyazaki] Yes. There are a few exceptions, but multiplayer is possible even in this wide open world. You can even go straight into boss battles together. However, during multiplayer you can't use your horse, so be warned.

--One thing that struck me about bosses is the uniqueness of each ones design.

[Miyazaki] One of the features of bosses in this game is, they are based on the demigods in GRR Martin's mythology; they aren't just enormous and twisted, but we emphasize a certain heroic and mysterious aspect. All of the demigods have their own backbone as a character which makes them more appealing characters than simple bosses.

--This may be hard to answer, of course it will involve trial and error, but how difficult will it be compared to Sekiro or Bloodborne?

[Miyazaki] That's a difficult question, but I think it will be less difficult mechanically compared to the titles you mentioned.

It may be easier to compare to Sekiro, because in Elden Ring you can choose to level up or engage in coop play. In that way, I think it's closer in difficulty to Dark Souls 3. Even compared with DS3, you have new strategic options, summoning spirits, and stealth. This along with a lower barrier to engage in coop play should mean that while it will still be a meaty challenge, you should be able to get through it.

--The game field seems to be enormous; how will players progress through the story?

[Miyazaki] Basically, we want you to explore freely. Something may happen while exploring, prompting you with further goals.

At the same time, the "beckoning of blessing" mentioned earlier will be the main story choice. There are NPCs who nudge you along this path, so you shouldn't be stuck not knowing what to do. This "beckoning" is not forced choice, so you have the freedom to ignore it if you like.

--So there will be dungeons and other special areas off the beaten path?

[Miyazaki] Yes. Besides dungeons, it might be NPCs.

--About the dungeons, besides the large-scale "legacy" areas that make up the large beats of the story, will there be places to explore in each area?

[Miyazaki] Besides the extremely thought-out vertical "legacy" dungeons that you mention, there are many small-medium scale dungeon areas. Forts, catacombs, caves, mining tunnels, etc.

We are planning to have many NPCs, but currently there are no towns or villages where they reside. There are places that were once villages, but are now abandoned and the prowling place of dangerous enemies. This is because we decided to put our development resources into what we do best.

--So these "legacy" dungeons are like the previous entries, with a vertical and complex structure?

[Miyazaki] Yes, imagine the areas in the Dark Souls series. Only this time, the scale is larger and there may be new places you can reach by jumping, which should make exploration even more enjoyable.

--Talking about exploration by jumping makes me worried about fall damage.

[Miyazaki] We've adjusted fall damage to make the game less stressful considering the freedom allowed by jumping is an important part of the game. We've made it so enemy attacks won't cause you to fall unfairly and have also adjusted the fall damage down.

--How many "legacy" areas will there be?

[Miyazaki] There will be six, what we would call "legacy" areas.

huh posted:

And some various points from reddit:


-- There are dungeons that are built with extreme care like the levels from previous games, but there are also many smaller-medium sized dungeon through out the world. There are no cities or towns with npc's, only places that used to be a cities/town. This was due to developmental resource reason, and to focus on what From is good at.

-- The main dungeons are even larger in scale compared to previous games levels.

-- There are world map, and you can see more of it as you visit more locations (again probably like SoC)

-- While riding the horse, you can easily jump up and down a small ledges in the open world.

-- There are crafting system. You gather resources and craft an item anytime. However, life related item are specials and separate from other (like Estus I assume)

-- During the night, both the player and enemy have limited vision. However, there are some signs/markings that are only visible at night. There are also some scary (strong?) enemies that only appear at night.

-- Player can create a "group", and messages and blood stains from the "group" is shown in priority compared to other online messages. They wanted a feeling of working together stronger in this game by this system. They are hoping to create a new feeling for the players compared to the previous complete random messages and blood stain.

-- There are no limit to the size of the "group" and shared through a "key word." (So we can create a r/eldenring group with keyword "potboi" or something)

Miyazaki was keep emphasizing the larger scale of everything in Elden Ring. Level Design, lore, weapon options, side activities, etc. I kind of skimmed through the second half so I may have missed some information, but tons of new stuff!

huh posted:

Part 4


--Can you reach the ends of the game map from the start of the game?

[Miyazaki] No, there are some barriers, that is to say you must overcome some areas to reach further areas on the map.

--Speed runners are going to have a field day

[Miyazaki] Yes, it's not that we have speed runners in mind, but personally I enjoy watching them, and I hope people will enjoy doing them.

--The field is clearly much larger than previous entries, will there be a world map?

[Miyazaki] Yes, there is what you would call a world map for the open field areas. You can set a waypoint, travel to uncharted areas, and enjoy revealing the map.

On the other hand, as in the Dark Souls series, there is no map in the big dungeon areas. We want you to enjoy figuring out the layout through exploration and to have that great feeling when you finally do.

--It seems like the spirit horse will be useful for this.

[Miyazaki] Travel on horseback will be limited to the open field, but I think it really feels nice. You can use your jumps to quickly jump over small differences in elevation or leap down dangerous cliffs. In certain places you can perform a large jump making exploration dynamic and vertical.

--Can items be crafted anywhere?

[Miyazaki] Yes. Various useable or consumable items can be crafted from items you find while exploring. You can replenish resources and craft items as needed. However, HP recovery is a special case in Elden Ring as well [as in previous titles].

--Is there a concept of passage of time and dynamic weather?

[Miyazaki] Yes, those are elements that change in real time. This also has an effect on the game. For example, at night visibility decreases for both you and the enemy bringing new strategic aspects to approaching enemies. There are certain trails that are more visible at night and terrifying enemies that only appear at night.

--From everything I've heard so far, it sounds like both the amount of gameplay and the field size are substantial.

[Miyazaki] Without a doubt. Our aim from the start was a grandness of scale. Suffice it to say that this is our biggest game yet.

Rather, we are now working hard making adjustments to make sure this doesn't become cumbersome. We want this to be something enjoyable for the player.

--So this is the biggest game From Software has ever created?

[Miyazaki] Yes

--What do you expect the play time to be?

[Miyazaki] I hate questions like this If you don't stray from the main story very often we're looking at around 30 hours, but to be honest I can't say for sure. We are aiming for a much larger and deeper experience where players go beyond that kind of playstyle.

--Seems the play time will vary depending on whether you play online or not. You say you are still working on how exactly coop play and PvP will work. What other features are you expecting to have?

[Miyazaki] In regards to asynchronous interactions like phantoms, bloodstains, and messages, users will be able to create their own groups.

You will be able to share these asynchronous elements while playing, and by setting groups, those belonging to the group will be prioritized and will have a different appearance.

--So you will be going a step further than the sort of loose connections in previous titles?

[Miyazaki] Phantoms, bloodstains, and messages were always left behind by some nameless player out of the masses, but by using groups this information will sort of belong to players you know. Or by knowing that it will be used by those players, there may be some new meaning or emotion attached to it, that is our aim.

It's a simple system, but we expect that it will lead to new ways to play.

--How do you create user groups?

[Miyazaki] Based on passwords. Users can set their own passwords for these asynchronous elements, so that only people that know the password become group members. There is no limit on the size of groups and it's up to you on how to share the passwords so we expect there to be a bunch of new ways to have fun.

--Hopefully this kind of system leads to a new segment of fans.

[Miyazaki] Yes. It's fun to play with someone else, so we hope to slightly lower the barriers to this.

With a game like this, people tend to brace themselves for a struggle, but we want them to know that there are many reliable people online ready to help them through the struggle. By lowering the barriers to start playing with these allies, we hope to gain many new users.

We hope it will be a game you can recommend to people interested in the world building, story, and characters but are still somehow hesitant to jump in.

--Well, I've learned a lot about the game from this talk and expectations are even higher. I look forward to the new challenge From Software has set for itself.

[Miyazaki] The entire staff is all-out working hard to make a game that players will enjoy. I know it's a bit of a cliché, but please look forward to what's coming.

quote:

[Miyazaki] The entire staff is all-out working hard to make a game that players will enjoy. I know it's a bit of a cliché, but please look forward to what's coming.

net cafe scandal posted:

Yeah man this is like... a messianic game. I feel Miyazaki's grace shining over me.

The part about the world map filling in as you go is great. I can't wait to see the aesthetics of that.

codo27 posted:

Elden Hnnnnggggggg am I rite