When the first information came out that George R. R. Martin (the creator of A Song Of Ice And Fire and Game of Thrones) would be working on a new game with FromSoftware, the creators of popular games like Dark Souls and Bloodborne, people were ecstatic. FromSoftware is known for making hard games with steep learning curves that are technically very impressive. It has been known that they have had multiple games in development, even after their most recent game, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, released not too long ago. But this is the first time information has been released about one of these supposed games, and people are hyped up.
The first cinematic trailer for their new game, Elden Ring has been revealed, and it seems to be based in the fantasy genre, something the developers haven’t done since Dark Souls 3. The Dark Souls series heavily delves into fantasy elements, so it will be interesting to see how much further Elden Ring will go. FromSoftware has confirmed that it is an action RPG, just like their past games, so this game is shaping up to be a dream come true. Hidetaka Miyazaki has confirmed that the game will focus heavily on RPG elements like creating your own character to suit your personal play style, unlike Sekiro, which has you play as a predetermined character with only one real playstyle.
But why is George R. R. Martin’s involvement such a big deal? George is easily the most renowned fantasy authors of our time, let alone of all time, so the fact that he is involved someway in creating a game is a big deal. George is known for taking many fantasy genre clichés and norms and flipping them on their heads. He constantly admits that he was influenced by The Lord of The Rings, but that he likes to take a more realistic approach to his writing and fantasy as a whole. His knack for including realism into fantasy is great, but so is his in-depth writing about fantasy politics, character relationships, and overarching plotlines. His writing style will lend itself beautifully to the video game medium.
What’s also interesting is the fact that FromSoftware’s approach to video game stories is a bit different from other developers. Instead of just flat out giving you the narrative, they often give you vague hints about the plot and world around you. This can either be through item descriptions, talking to certain characters and by literally piecing together the information you get. Things are never flat old told to you, and if you want the full story, you really have to search for it yourself. Adding George into this fold is going to be something incredibly interesting indeed. Because either FromSoftware is going to be pushing narrative much more into the limelight of Elden Ring, or George is going to be helping them craft a world where the narrative takes a backseat like their past games. It would just be very unlike him if that were the case since he is known for going into such great detail about plot points, the histories of his worlds, and character relationships. Either way, FromSoftware or George are going to have to change their usual style and it will be interesting to see what comes of this collaboration.
A recent interview with Xbox Wire confirms that George worked on creating the world and mythos of Elden Ring. Miyazaki, the producer of the game had this to say-
“The actual collaboration itself begun with Mr. Martin ever so politely confirming what sorts of themes, ideas as well as many game-related aspects I had envisioned for the game. This allowed us to have many free and creative conversations regarding the game, in which Mr. Martin later used as a base to write the overarching mythos for the game world itself. This mythos proved to be full of interesting characters and drama along with a plethora of mystical and mysterious elements as well. It was a wonderful source of stimulus for me and the development staff. Elden Ring’s world was constructed using this mythos and stimulus as a base. Even I myself find it hard to contain my excitement from time to time. We hope that everyone else is looking forward to the world we have created.’
It has been confirmed that Elden Ring will focus much more on being an open world game!
Apparently the sheer volume and scope of the game is much bigger than anything FromSoftware has made before. As with previous titles, exploration will be key, with hard challenges stopping you around every corner. No release date has been confirmed yet, but we are very eager to see more from the master developers, FromSoftware, and their collaboration with the master of fantasy, Mr. Martin himself.
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