Edited by Yujin Tchun
Elden Ring is a dark fantasy RPG, open-world, third-person combat, and exploration game that was created and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. In the time in which this article was written, the game has only been handed out to certain select people for pre-release gameplay to promote the game. Even before its release on the 25th of February, it has already become one of the best-reviewed games ever, reaching an astounding 10/10 on IGN, 90% on PC gamer, and a 5/5 on Games Radar. Since 2020 the game has been nominated for 4 awards in the most wanted or anticipated game and won 3 of them (Saltzman, 2022) (Colp, 2022) (Franey, 2022).
The gameplay was heavily based on the Dark Souls series, which was another one of Bandai Namco Entertainment’s popular multi-million-making games. After 3 sequels of Dark Souls, they decided to discontinue the series and create a brand new series with a new story and setting called Elden Ring (Clark, 2022) .
Among the many changes in the new game, the main difference between the two games is that Elden Ring is open-world, featuring an open explorable landscape similar to Zelda or Genshin. However, it still features the same mechanics such as close-ranged and melee-based combat with the use of skill-building, magical abilities, blocking and dodging mechanisms, and hopefully has better hitboxes (Wikipedia, n.d.).
Elden Ring is set in the realm of the Lands Between where the player’s goal is to traverse the realm to find all the Great runes scattered across the land and to restore the Elden Ring. The players are allowed to freely explore the land which consists of castles, fortresses, and catacombs. With Demi-gods who rule each area and act as the game’s main bosses (Wikipedia, n.d.). The game was also influenced by the Lord of the Rings and The Eternal Champion (Palumbo, 2022).
With the game yet to release as this article is being written, we have yet to see how the game will be received by the general public and how big the game will become.
References
BANDAI NAMCO Europe. (2022, February 20). ELDEN RING – Overview Trailer [Video].
YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=OT8if6DXOFQ&ab_channel=BANDAINAMCOEurope
Clark, P. A. (2022, February 23). Elden Ring's open world breathes new life into a great
series. Axios. Retrieved February 24, 2022, from https://www.axios.com/elden-rings-
open-world-breathes-new-life-into-a-great-series-be6d0e00-f7f3-44fb-bde0-
be26e11b453c.html
Colp, T. (2022, February 23). ELDEN RING REVIEW. PC Gamer. Retrieved February 24,
2022, from https://www.pcgamer.com/elden-ring-review/
Elden Ring. (n.d.). Wikipedia. Retrieved February 24, 2022, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elden_Ring
Franey, J. (2022, February 23). ELDEN RING REVIEW: "SUFFERING HAS NEVER BEEN AS
MUCH FUN." GamesRadar+. Retrieved February 24, 2022, from
https://www.gamesradar.com/elden-ring-review/
Litchfield, T. (2022, February 24). Elden Ring is already one of the best-reviewed games
ever. PC Gamer. Retrieved February 24, 2022, from https://www.pcgamer.com/elden-
ring-is-already-one-of-the-best-reviewed-games-ever/
Palumbo, A. (2021, December 30). Elden Ring Was Influenced by Lord of The Rings and
The Eternal Champion; Godfrey Character Explained. WCCFtech. Retrieved February
24, 2022, from https://wccftech.com/elden-ring-was-influenced-by-lord-of-the-rings-
and-the-eternal-champion-godfrey-character-explained/
Saltzman, M. (2022, February 23). Elden Ring Review. IGN. Retrieved February 24, 2022,
from https://www.ign.com/articles/elden-ring-review
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