Watch: Elden Ring gameplay reveal, bosses, multiplayer, campaign

From Software reveal 15 minutes of new Elden Ring gameplay giving fans their first proper look at the spiritual successor to Dark Souls.

The official Elden Ring Twitter account has shown off 15 minutes of new gameplay from the long-awaited action RPG. While the original trailer only showed small snippets, this gave fans their first full look at Elden Ring’s gameplay.

Elden Ring is the latest game from developer From Software and publisher Bandai Namco, the game has also been developed in collaboration with George R.R. Martin, author of A Song of Ice and Fire and creator of the Game of Thrones phenomenon.

Elden Ring gameplay details, open-world, combat

Elden Ring is the most ambitious ‘SoulsBorne’ game yet. For the first time, it will be set in a vast open world. Elden Ring’s gameplay retains many of the qualities of Dark Souls but also takes cues from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Combat appears similar to the usual From Software style, methodical and unforgiving, and players will also be able to tailor their build to suit their own preferred style. We saw melee tanks, wizards, and more dexterous builds throughout the gameplay demo.

Players can traverse the landscape on horseback, but unlike games like Zelda, Red Dead, Assassin’s Creed, and The Witcher, rather than whistling for their horse, players summon them through a spell. Players can also scale cliffs and other high or jagged surfaces on horseback by taking advantage of areas that grant temporary flight.

Bonfires also return, but this time are known as Points of Grace, although they appear to serve a similar function to the Dark Souls games. They work as checkpoints for progress or somewhere the player can heal, level up, and more.

Important bosses still reside behind fog gates like in previous SoulsBorne games, but many are also freely wandering the world. Players can take them on or use stealth mechanics to avoid them. Most of the game will take place in the overworld which seamlessly blends into dungeons and other landmarks like buildings and castles.

Elden Ring gameplay multiplayer, co-op, PvP, invasions

The narrator confirmed that co-op, PvP, and invasions are also returning from earlier games like Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls 3, and Bloodborne, but didn’t provide many details on how this will work. The nature of Elden Ring’s open world will mean that some mechanics are likely to change when it comes to summoning players for support or avoiding invaders.

Players can also summon AI spirits to back them up in combat. Earlier From Software games had a similar mechanic, but this version seems greatly expanded, allowing the protagonist to summon multiple spirits at once. They can also choose which spirits they summon and the narrator implies there are options to customize them.

Elden Ring lore

The plot of FromSoft’s latest is still mostly shrouded in mystery, but the player is one of a group known as The Tarnished. They are also being hunted for some unknown reason. One character mentions the player character coming “through the fog” which sounds similar to the lore of Demon’s Souls. In that game, the fog brought the demons with it.

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At the end of the gameplay demo, a character says they want to “extinguish thy flame” which sounds very similar to phrases used throughout the Dark Souls games. Here the character’s mission was to either rekindle or extinguish another flame and doing so had major ramifications for the world.

How to watch the gameplay demo

The gameplay demo can be seen below. It can also be watched here on YouTube or here on Twitch.

Don’t forget, the game is also hosting a beta test from November 12, 2021. Here’s what you need to do to register for this ready for the game’s release on February 25, 2022.

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