“Elden Ring”: Between “Dark Souls” and “Game of Thrones”

“Elden Ring”
Between “Dark Souls” and “Game of Thrones”

One has had a lasting impact on the video game landscape in recent years. The other created the world on which one of the most successful TV series is based. Hidetaka Miyazaki (48) and George RR Martin (73) worked together on the video game “Elden Ring”, which will be released on February 25, 2022 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.

Two fantasy greats collide

Miyazaki is the mastermind behind the Souls series. It not only enjoys cult status, but is also the model for countless video games from other developers. In recent years, a whole subgenre of games has even been able to establish itself. The so-called “Soulslike” games are similar to the titles in the series in terms of game mechanics or their design.

Martin, meanwhile, has sold millions of books from his A Song of Ice and Fire saga, on which the hit series Game of Thrones is based. Until the controversial end of the series by David Benioff (51) and DB Weiss (50), there was probably no other TV production in the 2010s that series fans discussed even remotely as much. And the series didn’t just impact pop culture. In the summer of 2019, the Society for German Language eV explained that in previous years, Germans had named their babies after more than 20 different characters from the fantasy saga. Among them are the names like Daenerys, Tyrion, Arya, Sansa and Cersei.

Last but not least, December 2021 showed how eagerly many players were looking forward to the release this Friday. “Elden Ring” received the award for “Most Anticipated Game” at “The Game Awards”. As the most anticipated video game, it was able to assert itself against well-known competitors such as the recently released “Horizon Forbidden West” and the sequel to “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild”.

Dark fantasy in between

“Elden Ring” takes place in a newly created fantasy world, the land between. Queen Marika the Eternal rules the vast lands. Players stand in front of an epic, gloomy setting but also countless enemies and monstrosities in dark dungeons – and try to fathom old secrets. Because the Elden ring that gave it its name was shattered. Marika’s children are in possession of the individual fragments. As the so-called Tainted, gamers go in search of these demigods in order to ultimately become the new Lord of the Elden.

Martin laid the foundation stone for the Zwischenland. Miyazaki and his team had contacted the writer a few years ago, as he explained on his blog in December. They had asked him to “help them create the backstory and storyline for a new game they were working on.”

Martin was to develop a “deep, somber, resonant world” as the basis for the planned game. “And I happen to love creating worlds and making up stories,” the author continued. Miyazaki, himself a fan of Martin, already spoke in the summer of 2019 about the task of the writer. He had many “free and creative conversations” with the author, which Martin later used to fill an initial concept with his ideas and background.

Based on this, the game developer and his team brought the land between to life. Written by Martin, the myth was full of interesting characters and contained “a wealth of mystical and mysterious elements”. This was “a wonderful source of inspiration for me and the development team”.

“Elden Ring” is a masterpiece

While video games aren’t really his thing, Martin continued, the offer was too exciting for him to turn down. And while he’s not exactly the biggest gamer, he seems just as excited for the release as the fans. Because what he saw of “Elden Ring” in advance looks “incredible”, as he continued to write.

After all the advance praise, many saw it as an almost impossible task to meet the high expectations of the players. But that’s exactly what the developer From Software seems to have succeeded in doing. The trade press at least agrees that “Elden Ring” is an excellent game.

“GameSpot” talks about of a “masterpiece of open-world design” that will go down in video game history. and “IGN” is sure, that gamers will look back on “Elden Ring” as a game that shaped an entire genre. Even for the German “GameStar” is the title a “milestone” and the “PC Games” writes from one of “the best RPG and open world experiences in a long time”. One step further “Game Informer” in his review: “‘Elden Ring’ isn’t just the best game of this year; it’s one of the best games ever made.”

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