Sam Wilkinson, Bandai Namco: First off, please tell me when and how development for Elden Ring took off.
Hidetaka Miyazaki, Game Director: Development for Elden Ring started just after development for the Dark Souls 3 DLC had ended. At the time, Elden Ring was being planned as a more classic fantasy title compared to others that were either being considered or already in the early stages of development.
We wanted to create a new dark fantasy action RPG full of things that we weren’t able to do in the Dark Souls series.
Wilkinson: What genre do you think Elden Ring will fall under?
Miyazaki: It is a third-person action RPG.
Unlike Sekiro, which has a heavy focus on action, Elden Ring puts more focus on RPG elements.
Of course, we are not shying away from the fun of responsive melee-based combat, and these elements will be present as well.
Wilkinson: Do you believe this title will turn out to be a very From-like and challenging game?
Miyazaki: Yes, I do. The importance we place on the joy the player experiences through overcoming challenges will be the same as it is in our other titles. I believe it will prove to be a very satisfying experience.
Earlier I had said that this title focuses more heavily on RPG elements. This title will include a wide variety of weapons, magic, and ways to engage enemies, that make it possible to provide users with a style of gameplay and strategy that suits them.
Even when compared to the Dark Souls series, I believe this title will provide even more variety in the ways for players to overcome challenges and tweak their tactics when facing enemies.
Wilkinson: Will Elden Ring contain character customization elements like in Dark Souls, or will it be similar to Sekiro in that there is a fixed protagonist that the player controls?
Miyazaki: Yes, it will contain character customization elements.
Similar to the Dark Souls series, Elden Ring allows players to design and control their own unique character. As I said earlier, this title puts a heavy focus on RPG elements, and we thought this approach would best suit that focus.
Wilkinson: Regarding the collaboration with George R. R. Martin, can you further explain how this collaboration came about and in what role it has served throughout the project?
Miyazaki: I suppose the start of this collaboration came from the fact that I myself am I huge fan of Mr. Martin’s work.
I loved “A Song of Ice and Fire” as well as the “Tuf Voyaging” series, however if I had to pick a favorite I would probably say “Fevre Dream.”
I personally see “Fevre Dream” as a masterpiece among vampire fantasy and had even previously recommended it to all new employees.
Me being such a known fan of Mr. Martin caused our executive business director Eiichi Nakajima to reach out to him with the expectation that we would get turned down.
However, we were then given the rare opportunity to talk one-on-one with Mr. Martin which was an incredibly fun and stimulating experience. It was then that I strongly felt that I wanted to work with Mr. Martin.
I am still unable to put into words how grateful I am to Mr. Martin for agreeing to our offer.
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.
Wilkinson: What are some differences when compared to your previous titles (especially Dark Souls)?
Miyazaki: If I were to put aside the world full of fresh stimulus thanks to our collaboration with Mr. Martin, I would have to say the biggest difference is it being open world.
Due to this, the scale of the world and its narrative, as well as the depth and freedom of exploration have increased dramatically. It is without a doubt our biggest title yet in terms of sheer volume.
There are many definitions to the term “open world,” and I might not be phrasing it correctly, but we have simply tried our own approach to a game with a large, open field to play in.
It is a world full of danger and threats, as well as many areas ripe for exploration.
Among those areas, you will also find intricately designed, multi-layered castles and such.
Wilkinson: What is the meaning behind the title?
Miyazaki: Elden Ring is the name given to a mysterious concept that defines the world itself.
As the trailer at the conference implied, this “Elden Ring” has been shattered. The significance of this will be one of the important themes of the game.
That’s about all I can say at this point in time (laughter)
Wilkinson: Will Elden Ring contain the gritty, intense boss fights we’ve all come to love and expect from From?
Miyazaki: Yes, of course. Boss fights are something we enjoy making and make up one of the climaxes to this title as well. We feel there is a wide variety of unique and horrifying bosses for players to look forward to.
Wilkinson: What can you teach us about the character shown in the concept art that was released?
Miyazaki: We chose this character because of his eccentric aspects as well as the way he portrays the darkness that the world and story possess.
While Elden Ring may be a classic dark fantasy title, it is more than just that.
This character also represents one more theme in addition to the previously mentioned eccentricity.
That theme is the will, or ambition of mankind.
https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2019/06/09/hidetaka-miyazaki-and-george-rr-martin-present-elden-ring/
Posts
Yes I realize it's a waifu battle and not a battle between waifus, this doesn't change my answer.
Release anniversary event of some sort this month on the 25th
Maybe they'll announce DLC? Maybe not.
"Ranni? Oh god.. its not what looks like, I swear. Its actually a debuff, see?"
I have a pretty good system going to reach the second phase but I’m still trying to figure the second phase out
Got her down to maybe 10% once without really grasping how but I’m sure I can make something work
I even manage to not die from Waterfowl Dance sometimes
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
Her and Lady Maria. Fashion souls has never been more on point.
But also, after doing Fia's questline and
Sometimes people just like to celebrate a cool thing!
My understanding is that it's
I have the option to do one other
Also, (character)
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
That sort of religious horror is kind of an undermined theme. Guilt, self flageration, sacrifice, obsession, all can be abit unnerving depending on how you look at it.
Really interested to get into that one...athough its successful in a way at making me uncomfortable that I'll probably wait on it until I'm done with the lions share of other 2D souls.
Blasphemous is easily my favorite 2d Souls Like
That might be the easy assumption, but the key item says something very different.
"Embed the principal of life within Death into Order" means something quite different from making death work like we'd expect it to.
Also, Death is cut loose when you deal with Maliketh.
Godwyn was basically always meant to die, as said by the finger crone down near him who was his wet nurse
Fia is explicitly about undead and protecting them. Godwyn got screwed up by Ranni's interference in the long-term plan (presumbably Marika's) to kill him and now there are undead and she wants them to have a proper place in the world
Melina herself though is still abit of a mysterious to me at the moment. I don't think I've found any lore any related to her yet (that I know of). I'm just waiting for her to be revealed as an eldritch horror from the great void fifteen galaxies away now.
Cleared Liorna, Limgrave, Caelid, Nekron and the Lake of Rot so far. Dicking around Volcano Manor and Altus right now. Game has a massive (for Souls) 130 hours clocked in now.
I finally stopped playing so cautious and reactive and just went on the offense with Morgott’s Cursed Sword+10 spamming L2 (though there were probably a couple others I could have gone with, like Maliketh’s Black Blade or Rivers of Blood) and basically stunlocked her for most of the fight.
Screw learning how to dodge that cheating-ass 4-combo whirlwind attack
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
L & Z was just... boring? It was just a duo redskin boss that I'd just beaten anyway, and the snowfield wasn't bad, just annoyingly bright.
All that said, I think I'm just about done with ds2. Gonna wrap a couple things up and move on to ds3, which I'm super excited about.
Did you go talk to the king one last time with all four crowns (three from DLC, one with the King's Set from Shrine of Amana after Vendrick is down)?
I will admit I used my only bright bug of the run there on the phase transition, not because I hate the second half but because I was that unwilling to do the first half again.
Yeah I think since my big hook into these games was Bloodborne I've never relied on shields. I tried one in Elden Ring for a minute but gave it up quickly and stuck to rolling all over the place. Burnt Ivory King was definitely a tough battle but I guess dodging around was quite effective.
Become the dog turtle.
Anywhere that kind of shield works surprisingly well, that's a fight or attack that meant you to block it. If something is blowing up your guard, don't block it. Simple!
Of course, you can just sit behind something like the Fingerprint Stone Shield and laugh at incoming attacks in ER and do alright, but I'm not even kidding with my suggestion as a way to find the 'optimal' approach to surviving certain fights.
If I'm gonna defend in a game like this, I prefer to block and with heavy armor aswell. Its why DS1 remains probably my favorite playthrough of the series. All the other games are built to be more punishing for people with slower reaction times as From tries to find new ways to force people to dodge/play more offensively.
I'm glad Elden Ring feels like its trending back towards giving people more options rather than bemoaning at how said options "engender passivity" as Bloodborne would say. I love being able to suck up big blows and dish it out.
I just started Fallen Order and you can't walk five feet without a tooltip telling you what to do or when to do it.
Just let me play the game please.
Generally I will never parry unless the game forces me to. It's too high risk, too binary - either the parry works or you get absolutely fucked. And of course some attacks that look impossible to parry are perfectly parryable while others that look easier to parry are actually immune to parries. Either block or dodge are much safer and more reliable.
Sekiro works because a partial parry doesn't mean you eat shit completely, and also you can trust that parry works against everything that does not have a clear sign saying so, so if you do eat shit you at least know that was you messing the timing, not "wait, did I parry wrong, are the impact frames on this attack at a different part of the animation, is it not parryable?".
DS2 so far ive parried once as well. Pursuer. Because getting the damn ballistas to work for me is impossible I guess heh.
In elden ring I did it during the tutorial and that was it. Guard Counters are just so good there.
I’ll parry certain enemies in DS1, and never do it in DS2 because the parry there is so bad
DS3… eh, rolling got too good there
And then Elden Ring has guard counters which own so I just do those and roll around
PSN ID : DetectiveOlivaw | TWITTER | STEAM ID | NEVER FORGET
This just makes me excited to see what crazy mechanics they're going to make for giant robots with huge guns.
There were a couple of bosses in DS3 that parrying just made much easier. IIRC Champion Gundyr and first phase Pontiff Sulyvan were both very vulnerable to parry and it made both a lot less threatening.
I'm curious to see what they've been doing for 7 years, since "early development" was in 2016. I assume it was with designers, concept artists, and other similar people during the planning.
Every other game - cannot parry a thing.
I made a game, it has penguins in it. It's pay what you like on Gumroad.
Currently Ebaying Nothing at all but I might do in the future.