Elden Ring

How FromSoftware makes a masterpiece

By: Quinn McClurg

As the latest release from video game developer FromSoftware, Elden Ring is a new demonstration of how effortlessly and masterfully creative director Hidetaka Miyazaki’s team can create dark fantasy role-playing games. Upon first stepping into the world of Elden Ring, players will be met with a breathtaking and immersive landscape: massive fortresses sprawl across the land, golden trees reach impossibly high into the sky, and countless dungeons and caves spread expansively and hungrily below. 

Though this world may seem to be beautiful at first glance, players are quick to learn how unforgiving it may be: at any point, one must expect to cross paths with wizards, cross swords with knights, and cross their hearts before encountering any dragons, giants, or mythical beasts in the Lands Between. Although gameplay may prove to be brutally difficult at certain points, Elden Ring’s difficulty proves to be fair and rewarding: players must be patient, clever, and persistent to progress through the narrative.

Elden Ring’s immersive world and difficulty aren’t the only aspects fans have praised. Inspired by Norse mythology and co-written by George R.R. Martin, the world of Elden Ring is full of surprisingly rich storytelling, which is subtly interwoven into every facet of every character, building, enemy, and armor piece.

All of these aspects and more have proven to make Elden Ring as exciting, engaging, and immersive as FromSoftware’s previous games. As for myself, I have already sunk around 60 hours into Elden Ring, and I can confidently say that it will be easy for me to sink even more obscene amounts of time into it. So good luck, fellow Tarnished. Don’t you dare go hollow and happy exploring!