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Geek Preview FromSoftware's Elden Ring Wants To Rule Them All

Geek Preview: FromSoftware’s Elden Ring Wants To Rule Them All

With Elden Ring inching ever closer to its 25 February release date, FromSoftware certainly knows that the studio has its work cut out for it when it comes to meeting expectations from fans. After all, everyone has the game pegged as one of the biggest titles in 2022, and from our time spent on the final build of the game thanks to Bandai Namco, it is everything one could ask for and more.

Summoning spirits for aid in Elden Ring

If you want to hear more from the FromSoftware team, be sure to head over to our interview with Yasuhiro Kitao. As for gameplay, experiencing the full build is obviously going to be different to the Closed Network Test that took place at the end of 2021, and the refinements made by the team in the meantime have produced significant improvements.

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From the starting cinematics, choosing your class and character, to entering the Lands Between, everything feels more polished and up to snuff in the visual department. Movement is responsive and tight, which is a godsend for any FromSoftware game.

With the shackles thrown off, we were free to experience the upcoming pain with the full roster of classes – Enchanted Knight, Champion, Bloody Wolf, Warrior, Prophet, Hero, Wretch, Vagabond, Bandit, Astrologer, Samurai, and Prisoner – all consisting of different stat advantages and disadvantages.

As seasoned veterans will likely attest, this matters little save for the initial stages of a game like Elden Ring, and we jumped in as the Samurai and the Astrologer to get a taste of different gameplay styles.

The first major foe players will come up against is one of those we have seen before in the CBT, a multi-armed monstrosity that is as aggressive as it is creepy. While it serves the purpose of intimidating players with a guaranteed death, it won’t take too long before the community figures out a way to best this first foe with your vanilla character.

Nevertheless, we already know the stakes, and although some of our media colleagues left before the time limit was up, it was smooth sailing on our end for the first few hours leading up to Margit the Fell Omen. All of the elements expected from a Souls-like game were there, with the combat meshing well with the stamina system. The different equipment afforded to players, as well as magic, all delivered satisfying and engaging periods in between exploration when going up against the enemies in Elden Ring.

Even the mounted combat feels a little bit more effective this time around, and our attacks were connecting as they should. Of course, depending on one’s playstyle, you are going to adjust how you approach things. As the Samurai, we avoided the hard-hitting Tree Sentinel until we were more beefed up, whereas the Astrologer’s mastery of magic allowed us the audacity to take him on straight from the off.

There were plenty of deaths involved, as would the battle with Margit, but it was all worth it just to see just how well-tuned FromSoftware was with this latest iteration of their formula. Then again, if you are heading into the Lands Between on the first day, you would already be familiar with what to expect, just that Elden Ring is the best version of everything the studio has put out.

Unlike Sekiro, which had the deflection mechanic as the main hook, Elden Ring was purposefully designed to be a mixed bag. Combining all of the studio’s expertise and brought to a whole new level with a larger scope, our impression is that it has been successfully done without any glaring gap to fill.

This is especially obvious in how the developers approached storytelling this time around, striking a more delicate balance between being obtuse and hitting players over the head with plot points. There are specific beats that are elaborated upon, with key characters making necessary entrances and unveiling more of what drives the game, and for a player that might not necessarily be diving deep, this is a good way to intrigue them narratively.

As for the hardcore audience, you will still be pleased to know that there is even more beneath the narrative for you to delve into, and item descriptions are still pretty much the repository of information many have come to learn about. And the world itself is stunning, with a variety of locations and striking designs that invoke a gamut of emotions, and you might just catch yourself stopping to marvel at it all.

Secrets await the adventurous in Elden Ring.

The few hours we had were definitely the tip of the iceberg that is Elden Ring, and if history is to be believed, FromSoftware has everything it needs to ensure that that quality remains throughout the player’s adventure as a Tarnished.

From combat, exploration, storytelling, to being immersed in a gigantic open world full of opportunities for experimentation and play, Elden Ring definitely lives up to the billing at this stage. Once 25 February rolls around, we are sure that the fans would love it as another one of those FromSoftware masterpieces in recent years.