Elden Ring has finally returned to the menu after showing a new gameplay trailer at Geoff Keighley's Summer Game Fest last night, with a release date of 21 January, 2022.
The FromSoftware game was originally revealed two years ago at E3 2019, with Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin collaborating with Souls series director Hidetaka Miyazaki.
Since then the dark fantasy game has been eerily silent, leaving fans on tenterhooks as devs adjust to remote working conditions to build the new action RPG world.
The fruits of their labor were revealed in the first gameplay trailer for Elden Ring last night, showing a number of grim and grotesque boss fights, gigantic creatures stomping around an open world and horseback combat.
Elden Ring appears to follow very closely in the Souls tradition of enigmatic worlds with tough combat and creative character designs, but will also offer a few new twists. The first being the mount that you can summon at will and use to jump up terrain or charge down enemies. You will also be able to play in up to four-player co-op with friends online, as the Souls series' summon system (that's satisfying to say) appears to have expanded a bit.
The world itself is the usual seamless, interconnected, sprawling affair that will doubtless make you whisper "oooohhh" every time you unlock a shortcut and realize where you are. But this time around there will be dynamic weather and day/night cycles, as opposed to previous FromSoft games that would lock you in to one time of day to suit each area. There will, of course, be a poisonous swamp.
Are you excited about Elden Ring releasing on January 21, 2022? What did you think of the gameplay trailer? Let us know in the comments, and we'll keep you up to date with all the biggest games revealed at E3 and Summer Games Fest this year.
