The many bosses of Elden Ring __ are one of the most unique features of Elden Ring , though their notorious difficulty levels is a classic FromSoftware __ approach. Initially revealed in 2019, the astounding silence that followed for any news of Elden Ring left many FromSoftware __ fans in a worried frenzy that the game might never come. Awaiting further news and updates for Elden Ring ’s release, VaatiVidya hosted an art competition encouraging artists to conceptualize what different bosses and boss encounters might look like within the game. Many of the subsequent artworks would have fit beautifully within Elden Ring , while others could create a world of their own. The curated Elden Ring conceptual artworks in Soul Arts reveal the deep depths of imagination, creativity, and passion of FromSoftware __ fans across the gl

Underrated weapons in Elden Ring can be very powerful, especially with the different affinity types and Ashes of War. This gives many players, regardless of their build, the ability to use the same weapons. However, there are underrated weapons with specific skills and bonuses that will benefit only one or two types of bui

Ten years later, Dark Souls is still important as one of the most groundbreaking and influential video games in history. Soul Arts featured some of the best concept artworks focused on the unseen lands mentioned, but never visited within the lore and roguelike co-Op gameplay of Dark Souls . Artist Brent Lecluyse’s two conceptual artworks of the land of Carim, a land praying for the end of the Undead Curse, as undeath is treated quite harshly in the city. Throughout the gameplay of Dark Souls , one can encounter quite a few characters of Carim, yet never visit nor learn much more about the land for themselves. Brent Lecluyse’s imaginative rendering of what Carim could have been within Dark Souls is a powerful reminder of all the lore and secrets still kept within the three Dark Souls ga

A key part of Elden Ring 's backstory is the fate of the Tarnished, the lineage of humans the player's character belongs to. Near the height of the Golden Order - the divinely-inspired monarchy which rules over the Lands Between's denizens - Elden Ring 's Queen Marika the Eternal banished a number of her subjects from her realm, stripping away the golden Grace that had once connected these individuals to the power and vitality of the Erdtree. These Tarnished people departed the Lands Between, embarking on a long voyage to other lands, carving out new, lesser lives for themselves, until the guidance of Grace returned and called them to the Lands Between once more. Players of Elden Ring never directly see the Tarnished traveling from their places of exile, but certain details about the regions outside the Lands Between can be gleaned from item descriptions and the features of certain N

The opening cinematic of Elden Ring further identifies Godfrey/Hoarah Loux as " Chieftain of the Badlands ," while the item descriptions for the Champion's Set armor pieces expound on how " the brave warriors of the badlands shun excess adornment " __ in emulation of their chieftain. In-game, the character of Godfrey never discusses his life in the Badlands (which hopefully won't be Elden Ring's DLC setting ), but the NPC Nepheli Loux , a distant relation of Godfrey and axe-wielding warrior, shares a lot about her life in dialogue with the player. In the Village of the Albinaurics, Nepheli recounts a grim slaughter she witnessed as a child, describing it as " The oppression of the weak. Murder and pillage unchecked. A waking nightmare, made by men. " __ Throughout her quest line, she refers to the " wind " as a divine force of nature and the " storm " as a force of cleansing justice. These words and others suggest that the Badlands are a harsh, desolate place, wind-swept like Stormveil and full of marauders who use their strength to take from the w

It's one of the more apparent differences, as combat in the original Demon's Souls was FromSoftware's first effort in how its Souls -like games would play. Elden Ring is certainly an evolution of that 13 years later, as it blends elements of Dark Souls III and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice 's more fluid and faster-paced combat -- as well as some of the latter's acrobat

The rich, detailed world-building of Elden Ring stems from two creative sources. The mythology, prehistory, and semi-divine champions of Elden Ring were designed by George R.R. Martin, author of the dark fantasy novel series A Song of Ice And Fire . Hidetaka Miyazaki and other convention-beaking Elden Ring developers then took Martin's base setting and used it to create the beautifully ruined Lands Between setting players encounter at the start of a playthrough: a once-prosperous kingdom torn apart by a civil war fought between the Demigod children of Queen Marika, haunted by strange monsters and alien beings, with secretive conspiracies searching for the power and methods needed to create a new