Is Elden Ring Too Much Like Dark Souls  And Does It Matter?
Credit: FromSoftware  Elden Ring. Oh Elden Ring. FromSoftware finally gave us what weve been asking for now for two whole years: A gameplay trailer for the studios next big game, Elden Ring. The action-RPG is a collaboration between the Japanese studio and A Song of Ice And Fire author George R.R. Martina man always eager to work on projects that arent called Winds Of Winter. The trailer is epic, showing off the new mount systemsummonable horses that seem to operate a little bit like Sparrows in Destiny 2and a host of enemies, bosses and plenty of combat. The world is dark and wild looking, as bleak and forlorn as any Souls game. Indeed, manyincluding your humble narratorsaw the trailer and thought Well that looks an awful lot like Dark Souls . . . .  And it really does. The combat, the various beasts and mangled demons, the weapons and move-sets, the magic, it all looks startlingly similar to Dark Souls. FromSoftwares games all play a bit like the Souls titles, of course, but both Bloodborne and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice have very distinct worlds and major innovations to combat. Sekiro especially. That game has only superficial similarities to the Souls franchise. Its tight, parry-based dueling mechanics are wildly different in practice. Thats the subject of my latest video which you can watch below. Let me know in the comments of that videoor on Twitter or Facebookwhat you think. Check out a whole bunch of Elden Ring screenshots right here. P.S. I heard about this collaboration years before it was announced, though at the time the little birds told me that FromSoftware was working on an open-world Game of Thrones adaptation. Clearly some wires were crossedMartin is involved but not his famous fiction. Thats probably for the best. What this tells me, however, is that this game has actually been in development for quite some timeits not a rush job, in other words. And screenshots like the one at the top of this post, of a character holding a torch, make me wonder if From is finally utilizing the torch-bearing mechanic that was neutered in Dark Souls II. That would be really cool. It was in that games beta but absent in the final release, and it really hurt the game. Having a real torch system, with truly dark areas that require a torch in hand, would add some real tension and atmosphere to the game. Follow me on Twitter and Facebook and feel free to share this post! Subscribe to my YouTube channel here. Subscribe to my Substack newsletter here.