We’ve finally got a trailer for Elden Ring and it looks.. well, it looks like Dark Souls.
That’s no bad thing, though. From Software have all but perfected the spooky, tough-as-nails slash-em-up and Elden Ring seems set to deliver everything Dark Souls fans love.
The trailer shows your lone warrior in action, taking on all manner of foes including what looks to be a murderous version of Beauty and the Beast’s crockery. Story details are sparse, but your character is apparently one of The Tarnished, in a world that looks like it’s seen better days. There’s also mention of the Golden Order being broken who, we guess, were the people meant to keep evil in check. There’s a dash of Bloodborne here too; some of the foes you face are distressingly distorted, including a boss with way, way, too many hands.
Even the creatures who aren’t actively trying to murder you are a little different; the trailer has your protagonist riding past a medieval, bell-testicled AT-AT and a pair of wooden-headed Hulk monsters. Yes, we did say riding – unlike previous Souls titles, you’ll have a horse. It’s unclear whether you’ll be able to use it in combat or if it’ll just be a mode of transport.
But given Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin has helped created Elder Ring’s world, we wouldn’t recommend you get too attached to it. It’s also been revealed that you won’t be just roaming around one singular castle, there’ll be a wealth of environments from swamps through to vast mountains.
Stealth, too will apparently be a factor so if you balk at close combat, you won’t have to get down and dirty all the time. That said, we’ll be interested to see if that holds true for the game’s bosses. Typically, Souls games lock you in with whatever abomination you’re facing down, so we’d be happy to see a boss encounter where sneakery does come into play.
You can expect more footage to emerge between now and Elden Ring’s final release. It’s set to ride onto the Xbox Series S/X, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 this January 21st.
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