If there is was an award for most patient game fans, it might have to go to the Elden Ring community. The game with incredible potential as a collaboration between FromSoftware and George R.R. Martin was announced back at E3 in 2019 and everyone went wild. It seems like a perfect pairing right? FromSoftware likes being physically brutal to players, and Martin loved being emotionally brutal to anyone reading his books. I mean give your characters a break, dude, please.
However, while we've all been waiting for official trailers to drop - leaks have slowly become apparent. It turns out there is quite a lot of leaked footage out there now, and honestly, as annoying as it must be for FromSoftware, fans already think the game looks fantastic.
Leaks really, really suck for developers. It's annoying to see your hard work presented in a way you didn't plan, filmed without permission, old builds being seen - and in this case, with Elden Ring, it's a lot of low resolution, watermarked, shaky footage that people are seeing.
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If you're not into spoilers for what this footage contains, turn away here - we're not going to judge you for not wanting to see the footage before it comes out, in fact, we are a little annoyed FromSoftware didn't get the opportunity to reveal this stuff itself. We will have links to the Reddit posts that have discovered the footage there is though, so beware clicking them if you don't want to see the footage. Some vague story is also discussed.
What can be seen in the videos is very souls-like, as you might expect. A playable character opening heavy doors, jumping from ledge to ledge and looking over dark, cavernous areas. If you told us this was Dark Souls we'd almost believe you.
Some gorgeous architecture can be seen too, and although it isn't in the latest footage to be found - there are dragons involved too. There are a few leaks suggesting a story, about four kingdoms where you travel to each to defeat the leader of the section. One of those potential boss fights is seen in leaked footage, with a very tall, very menacing robed figure.
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Horse-riding seems to be available along with horse-back combat. The world in the video also looks open, large fields and areas to ride across - more open-world than other FromSoftware projects that have come before it.
That's a pretty basic rundown of everything we see in the footage online. We hope that FromSoftware gets the opportunity to show off its work when it's ready. Elden Ring has no set release date, but news on the project could be imminent with footage now scattered across the internet. Footage discussed can be found on this Reddit post and this one too. A YouTube video found by VGC also shows details.
Featured Image Credit: FromSoftwareTopics: News, Dark Souls, FromSoftware, Elden Ring