Elden Ring Why George RR Martins Involvement is so Important

Elden Ring: Why George RR Martin’s Involvement is so Important

Contents

FromSoftware’s new game Elden Ring will source its lore from a collaboration with George Martin, which will refresh the studio’s storytelling.

You Are Reading :[thien_display_title]

Elden Ring Why George RR Martins Involvement is so Important

The release of Elden Ring is rumored for June 2020, much to the excitement of Souls fans everywhere. The game is said to be a step back to more traditional RPG elements after the action-adventure format of Sekiro. That alone would be enough to get fans hyped up, but the project is also said to be the studio’s largest game world yet, and is being made in conjunction with incredibly popular fantasy author George RR Martin, the man behind Game of Thrones. There are a few reasons that the collaboration is an exciting prospect, but they will be delved into in full down below.

George RR Martin’s involvement in Elden Ring might seem to just be a cursory partnership, but his contributions will likely be the most important factor in how unique the game ends up being. In most FromSoftware games, Miyazaki is the primary author of all of the lore, NPCs, and story notes that end up in the finished product. However, this time, Miyazaki consulted Martin about the overarching themes of the game, and Martin produced a mythos and lore record to guide the setting and story of Elden Ring. The minutiae of the in-game world will be up to Miyazaki and his team, but the fact that the deep lore of the setting was crafted by someone else is very important for a few key reasons.

Re-Used Lore in FromSoftware Games

Elden Ring Why George RR Martins Involvement is so Important

Anyone who has played a few of the Souls games to come out of FromSoftware will be very familiar with the re-used characters and themes that pervade Miyazaki’s worlds. Miyazaki has an incredible talent for telling stories and building worlds through the medium of video games, but there are certain topics, themes, and character archetypes that rear their heads over and over again. The archetypes of Andre the Smith, Patches, and some form of the Firekeeper have appeared in practically every Souls-Borne game year after year.

See also  Black Ops Cold War Zombies Adds Weapon Unlock Challenges In Season Three

The re-use of lore is to be expected in the Dark Souls games. The trilogy and associated DLC paint a holistic picture of the origins and downfall of a single, sprawling dark fantasy setting. The themes of Gwyn’s sacrifice, the power of souls and flame, and the encroaching darkness of the age of man all tie together through three games to paint a picture of a complete setting. However, even in games that are ostensibly in separate settings, the same ideas tend to crop up, so much so that it is very possible for Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls 1-3, BloodBorne, and Sekiro to all be in the same world, as some Dark Souls fan theorists contend.

Sekiro and BloodBorne were both attempts by FromSoftware at moving away from their dark fantasy roots, but even so, they share enough creative and thematic influence with Dark Souls that they are very recognizably made by the same people. Even Sekiro, the biggest departure from their storytelling formula, has similar story beats and lore details to all their previous games. In some ways, playing through each of the games gives the player a sense that each successive game was another iteration that allowed Miyazaki and his team to get closer to one creative vision.

The early ideas of Demon’s Souls were crystallized in Dark Souls, experimented with in Dark Souls II, transplanted into a lovecraftian theme for BloodBorne, and finally culminated in Dark Souls III, which felt like a final draft that incorporated all the best ideas of the previous games into one holistic presentation. In many ways, Sekiro’s lore feels less like a departure from Souls-Borne and more like a re-imagining of the same core concepts into a similar setting inspired by a different culture.

None of this is to say that the iterative storytelling in these games is bad. In fact, many fans still haven’t got their fill of the central themes found throughout FromSoftware’s games. The way that the stories of each game are up to the player’s exploration and interpretation make the recurring themes feel less stale, and more like familiar anchors to grab on to when trying to piece together each game’s setting. Even so, Elden Ring’s partnership between some of the best storytellers in video games and a successful writer brought in to introduce some fresh new concepts is an exciting prospect.

See also  10 Most Memorable Action Movie Soundtracks

New Ideas in Elden Ring

This is why Martin’s involvement in Elden Ring is so promising. While he is not responsible for the main story, the NPCs, or the way the setting will be presented in-game, his contribution of the backbone of lore that players will be piecing together is exactly the right amount of influence to refresh FromSoftware’s storytelling. FromSoftware has had many deep, polished games to explore very complex, but similar themes and story notes. While many of the themes and characters may be reminiscent of previous titles, the injection of totally different lore from a very different writer will undoubtedly make a very palpable difference in the final product.

Elden Ring’s gameplay will take a different approach to level design and game mechanics, leaning into larger areas and an even greater focus on RPG elements than Dark Souls. However, the game remains in a dark fantasy setting, a genre that FromSoftware has already spent a great deal of creative energy on. The dark fantasy of Dark Souls is one of the most unique takes on the familiar genre, with every mechanic stemming from some integral rule of the in-game universe. With such a deep, finely crafted setting under their belts, it makes sense that the developers would want to bring in some outside inspiration to help them escape the temptation of all the incredible ideas they already have in stock.

Bringing in Martin to collaborate will be the best of both worlds scenario for FromSoftware fans. It allows the developer to explore a setting archetype that they are masters of, while still differentiating Elden Ring from Dark Souls with new ideas and lore. Players will get the same depth of exploration and environmental storytelling but have the added excitement of genuinely new ideas to discover and interpret. Ultimately, Elden Ring will almost certainly be the best kind of Souls-like- one made by true masters of storytelling and focused design, with enough new ideas sprinkled in to be a totally new experience.

Elden Ring is in development for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

#elden-ring-george-rr-martin-important/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>#elden-ring-george-rr-martin-important/

Movies -