Elden Ring is a Wide-Open Sandbox Action Souls-like RPG developed by FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The game is directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki, of Demon's Souls and Dark Souls fame, who has described Elden Ring as a Spiritual Successor to the Dark Souls trilogy. George R. R. Martin, famous fantasy writer of A Song of Ice and Fire fame, contributed to the game's mythos and Worldbuilding. It was released on February 25, 2022 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
In a realm known as the Lands Between, Marika the Eternal ruled a majestic Empire as both its queen and goddess with the power of a mystical rune known as the Elden Ring, source of the Erdtree. Marika's demigod offspring and descendants served as lords, generals, and clergy, imposing the divinely-ordained order of the Greater Will. But one night, the queen's favorite son, Godwyn the Golden, was assassinated with a stolen fragment of the Rune of Death and became the first demigod to ever die. Then Marika and her consort, the Elden Lord Radagon, disappeared without a trace, and the Elden Ring was shattered into the Great Runes. The remaining demigods seized the Great Runes and gained immense power, driving them mad and sparking a titanic Succession Crisis as they each vied to restore the Elden Ring and become the next Elden Lord. Countless years later, the Lands Between lie in ruins; the Forever War has stalemated, the corrupted demigods languish in their strongholds, and the Greater Will is long gone.
You are a Tarnished, one of the dead who yet live from a line of disgraced exiles banished from the Lands Between long ago, only to now be drawn back by the call of long-lost grace of the Erdtree and the lure of the empty throne. With the guidance of grace behind you, it falls to you to confront the inhabitants of the Lands Between, acquire the Great Runes, reforge the Elden Ring... and with its power, become the new Elden Lord.
In terms of gameplay, Elden Ring is a vast evolution the mechanics of previously created FromSoftware Souls Like RPGs, adding features such as mounted combat and transversal, Item Crafting, a dedicated summoning system, a vast open-world to explore and fight through (which now includes massive, dynamic "field bosses" to clash with in the open expanses), and a more overt, but still grounded and cryptic Dark Fantasy storyline penned with input by George R. R. Martin. It also features many returning gameplay features from past FromSoftware games, though mostly with unique spins; some examples include a modified version of Weapon Arts (now called "Ashes of War") returning from Dark Souls III and the expansive vertical level design, platforming, and stealth mechanics of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, adapted to a more free-form open world. And as always, the brutal difficulty, dynamic bosses, and frequent deaths which define the Souls-like RPG continue to be in play here.
On February 28, 2023, an expansion called Shadow of the Erdtree was announced to be in development, and has been scheduled to be released on June 21, 2024. Set in the 'Land of Shadows', a world separated from the Lands Between and hidden by Queen Marika, the Tarnished will have to trace the footsteps of the lost demigod Miquella and discover why he made this journey into this hidden land. Along they way they will come face to face with various new threats, including a mysterious new foe known as "Messmer the Impaler".
The game received a comedy manga adaptation called Elden Ring: The Road to the Erdtree, and it has also been adapted into a board game by Steamforged Games called Elden Ring: The Board Game.
