Elden Ring’s creative director, Hidetaka Miyazaki, is hunkered down in his office at FromSoftware’s Japanese HQ,bundled up in a black padded winter vest. Despite a perennially youthful face, his demeanour this evening is unmistakably sober, alert. Behind his desk are shelves lined with the colourful spines of books he has no time to browse, the gap between his shelves and the ceiling stacked with board games he has no time to unbox and play. Crunch has arrived. There are just over two months left before launch, and pressure is mounting.
Miyazaki’s crowning achievement up until now, Dark Souls, was recently honoured via public vote as The Ultimate Game Of All Time at the Golden Joystick Awards, besting nominees such as Super Mario 64, Tetris and Half-Life 2. The Dark Souls franchise has sold close to 30 million copies, a surprising figure for a series that people continue to suggest, apparently without irony, caters to a niche audience.
Elden Ring not only has the potential to expand the ranks of the Dark Souls faithful, enlisting the worldbuilding talents of beloved fantasy author George RR Martin, it expands the design canvas of the Dark Souls franchise itself. Players lucky enough to land a spot in November’s closed network test spent dozens of hours exploring it and still flocked to YouTube and message boards to see what loot, bosses and tucked-away caverns they had inevitably missed.
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