Elden Ring

Elden Ring is an action role-playing game developed by FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki, it released on February 25, 2022, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Its setting, the Lands Between, follows a player-created Tarnished summoned by grace to seek the shattered Elden Ring and become Elden Lord. The game's backstory was created in collaboration with novelist George R. R. Martin, whose material concerned the world's history before its main events. Miyazaki and FromSoftware then shaped that foundation into the game's narrative, characters, and fragmented presentation style and structure. Rather than a linear sequence of stages, Elden Ring presents an open world traversed on foot or with Torrent, the spectral steed available early in the adventure. Its map includes regions such as Limgrave, Liurnia of the Lakes, Caelid, Altus Plateau, and the Mountaintops of the Giants, plus extensive underground areas. Major legacy dungeons include Stormveil Castle, Raya Lucaria Academy, Leyndell, Royal Capital, and Crumbling Farum Azula. Players choose a starting class, distribute attributes, equip weapons and spells, and use the Sites of Grace as checkpoints. The game retains FromSoftware's demanding combat system, while allowing exploration to uncover optional bosses. Among its central figures are Queen Marika the Eternal, Radagon, and their demigod offspring, who claimed Great Runes after the Elden Ring was shattered. The player's route through the Lands Between can lead to confrontations with Margit, the Fell Omen; Godrick the Grafted; Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon; Starscourge Radahn; Morgott, the Omen King; Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy; Malenia, Blade of Miquella; and the Elden Beast. Malenia became especially notable for her optional encounter and the line "I am Malenia, Blade of Miquella," delivered when she is defeated. Multiple endings are possible, including outcomes connected to Ranni the Witch. Critical reception was exceptionally strong: Elden Ring received Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2022, where it also won Best Game Direction, Best Art Direction, and Best Role-Playing Game. By June 2024, Bandai Namco announced that the game had sold 25 million copies worldwide. Its expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, released on June 21, 2024, and takes place in the Land of Shadow, an area obscured by the Erdtree. The expansion follows the trail of Miquella and introduces new locations, enemies, weapons, and bosses. It is accessed through an in-game requirement: players must defeat both Starscourge Radahn and Mohg, Lord of Blood, then interact with Miquella's cocoon at Mohgwyn Palace. Elden Ring was later adapted into a board game by Steamforged Games, announced in 2022. Its success shaped discussion of open-world design.