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ELDEN RING releasing 21.01.2022 - Summer Game Fest TRAILER 2021

Sinthor

Gold Member
Well, I'm all in on this. A new Souls-like game from FROM? Yeah...been wanting more since they first said that DS3 would be it for the Souls franchise. This definitely looks like an evolution of the Souls format and less like the Sekiro type. Which is good to me. I can't wait for this. Basically Dark Souls with updated and better interconnected world, more enemy types and things like mounts to affect strategy as well? This looks like it will be awesome. And no FROM has never been known for the most detailed and groundbreaking graphics, but this still looks beautiful even if it does look more like "last generation." This is going to be awesome. Now, I just hope there are not further delays AND I want January to come SWIFTLY. This is going to be hard to wait for! So looking forward to co-op with my friends and probably going to end up playing this for hundreds of hours like I did with the other Souls titles!
 

GrayChild

Gold Member
Jeez, the hyperbole about how bad the graphics are is ridiculous. People are talking as if ER looks like a PS3 game. Hell, Sekiro looked much MUCH more outdated when it was first shown.

I sure hope none of you expected the game to look on par with Horizon: Forbidden West or Demon's Souls remake.
 
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xrnzaaas

Gold Member
I'm not a soulsborne guy and from an amateur's perspective this looks like another souls game, just a prettier one than Dark Souls 3 or Sekiro.
 
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Jeez, the hyperbole about how bad the graphics are is ridiculous. People are talking as if ER looks like a PS3 game.

I sure hope none of you expected the game to look on par with Horizon: Forbidden West or Demon's Souls remake.

It's the same the other way around. Acting like this game is the best they've ever seen while it just looks exactly like bloodborne in another universe.
 

CamHostage

Member
Just watched the higher quality video and it does look alot better. I just wish from software would update their hair and material physics tech. It looks so stiff and last last gen. If this game had realistic cloth and hair physics it would so much better.
It's weird, sometimes the hair/fur/cloth looks really good IMO, sometimes it's hay in a breeze...

That was always a deficiency of the Souls engine. Their techniques were good enough to bridge the early PS3-to-PS4 releases (and their artistry was always on point,) but it had trouble standing up to the competition as the generation went on. I even thought Bloodborne was sketchy in some ways, but because it was so much in the dark and it had great motion, it hid its flaws well.

I get sometimes why they don't "fix" their engine, because it does some wonderful stuff that's worth preserving even though it's very difficult to improve within its framework. (I remember modder Durante's work trying to patch DS1+2, to the point that, didn't they involve him or rip him off for the 60FPS DS3 PC release?) The time to replace its systems is due now that we're looking at a third generation on the technology tree though. They went out of their way to maximize its good qualities for Elden Ring; there are times I look at it and see the age, but other times that I can just sit back and marvel at some pretty damned good design work and wild effects.
 
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carlosrox

Banned
Is this the main thread for this game/trailer?

I really like the designs and general art style but I think the visuals could stand to be better. I don't get the bitching, but I'm also not surprised.

I don't think the upload quality is doing it much justice. Why no 4K or 1440p upload??

The artifacting is baaaad.

I'm not the biggest Souls fan but I'm definitely willing to give the game a chance. It definitely has my attention.
 

DelireMan7

Member
i agree and i'll just add that, yes, seems like Dark Souls here and there but honestly fighting a giant dragon with a double jumping mount is not exactly Souls style (and there is stealth too), this is kinda huge in terms of gameplay.
However yeah day 0.
Hum didn't catch the stealth bit. I have to rewatch.

Yes it's like Soulsborne but with extended gameplay mechanics and fight.
 

Bartski

Gold Member
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Evil Smile GIF by memecandy
 

Tomeru

Member
Yo BP did an awesome awesome job on ds remake. You can argue on whats good or bad but inthe end its just an opinion. I loved the remake. It felt kinda fresh with all them redesigns.

Also - there is nothing on paper with the remake graphics. 100% impressive.

Elden Ring looks amazing too. I love that it feels familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. Easily my most played game next year (for now).
 

Azurro

Banned
I'm weirdly underwhelmed. The visuals seem stuck in last generation, giving a very odd Dark Souls 2 vibe, and the open world makes me afraid that the deliberate gameplay and tight world design will go away.

Of course I'll still buy it, but I'd much rather have a Bloodborne 2.
 
Going from Demons Souls to this (in terms of graphics) is pretty disappointing but Elden Ring still looks so cool, I just can't wait to play it.
Day 1 baby.
What are you talking about ? Demon’s souls is basically a corridor game, this is a majestic, huge open world souls game. DS seems tiny in scope compared to this.

Anyway day one, this seems like the ultimate From Software game.
 
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FunkMiller

Member
It's the same the other way around. Acting like this game is the best they've ever seen while it just looks exactly like bloodborne in another universe.

Not a single Souls fan is saying they think this game looks incredible. We just don't care that it doesn't, because we know how much more important the gameplay is. This has always been the case with From games.
 

sublimit

Banned
Just to be clear about the graphics. I think it's totally understandable that some people (including me) had expectations of a new graphics engine and a fresh look. After all this is a new IP and we're at the start of a new gen so it's only natural that the expectations of many people started to run wild. Granted this game was introduced as a last gen game but maybe some people hoped that they would switch development for new gen consoles only especially since they seemed to take a lot of time not releasing any news.
Not that the graphics are bad or anything but i also can't blame people for not hoping to be surprised by a new graphics engine.

That said any true fan of FromSoftware knows that this studio had always won people through gameplay and through the art direction of their games and not through their graphics.Same goes for this game.
 

Cyborg

Member
What are you talking about ? Demon’s souls is basically a corridor game, this is a majestic, huge open world souls game. DS seems tiny in scope compared to this.

Anyway day one, this seems like the ultimate From Software game.
Talking about the graphics :) don't be offended. Your precious ER is still amazing but the graphics are underwhelming compared to Demons Souls. I do believe ER will excel in other areas and be superb.
 
Talking about the graphics :) don't be offended. Your precious ER is still amazing but the graphics are underwhelming compared to Demons Souls. I do believe ER will excel in other areas and be superb.
There is nothing underwhelming about watching a huge souls-like game compared to a remake of a PS3 corridor souls game. ER looks jaw dropping.
 
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Majukun

Member
looks like another dark souls but with elements from sekiro and bloodborne

i expected something more distinct with the environments and atmosphere to be honest..still seems like a great game
 

Azurro

Banned
What are you talking about ? Demon’s souls is basically a corridor game, this is a majestic, huge open world souls game. DS seems tiny in scope compared to this.

Anyway day one, this seems like the ultimate From Software game.

The problem with open world games is that the ability to create tightly designed enemy encounters is greatly diminished. So I'm a bit afraid of that, I've never seen an open world game with a world design as good as DS1 or Bloodborne.
 

Gargauth

Member
Art style and 4k60fps >>>>>>>> pretty graphics imo
Exactly my thoughts.

While they are vastly different games, I always get more impressed by something like Elden Ring with unique art style than games that are attempting photo-realism and end up so looking so boring due to it (like Naughty Dog's games).But it's great we have variety, there are people who love to look at cinematic photorealistic games, and there are peoplee who prefer more unique looking game with good artstyle, even if they are not technically as advanced.
 

DeaconOfTheDank

Gold Member
There are some laughable takes in this thread by repeat offenders. Say your piece and kindly gtfo - no need to keep going off like broken record every damn page. It's okay, other people can enjoy games even when you don't.

"bUt DeMoN sOuLs LoOkS sO mUcH bEtTeR??!!" - Yeah, no shit. It's a fairly linear game built on top of a PS3 engine which leaves a huge amount of render budget and deals with mostly static lighting. It's also next-gen exclusive and was made such that graphics is the entire point. There's also the fact that Bluepoint only had to focus on revamping assets rather than making an entire game from the ground up.

"lol it's just DS4" - So let me get this straight; because the game has FromSoft's recognizable art direction (which is one of their best traits btw), has a medieval + dark fantasy setting, and builds off the hyper polished gameplay of previous titles... that means ER is just DS4? Anybody who has actually played these games would be able to recognize just how large of leap this is over the Souls series. Plus, Miyazaki has repeatedly stated that ER was meant to be an "evolution" of Souls like DS1 was to DeS. Who would have thought that he would actually, I dunno, make a game in a similar vein as Souls? smh

"Well RDR2 and HFW are cross-gen open-world and they look sooooo much better" - Oh yeah! I completely forgot that every studio has the same unlimited resources + time as Rockstar or a first-party dev like Guerrila! It's all so clear now /s. I enjoyed RDR2 and HZD, but it's quite obvious that these games have different design goals in mind. Plus, FromSoft's gameplay shits on both from high places. What's more, people seem to think that ER is pushing for graphical realism rather than sticking to their own unique art direction. To me, these titles look like something out of a manga whose style looks slightly realistic, but that isn't the main point. It's the same reason that BotW isn't trying to implement every modern graphics technique under the sun: ART DIRECTION.

"Bloodborne looks better from a visual standpoint" - You have a point there, but there's good reason for it:
  • FromSoftware doesn't have a Sony budget backing them this time around
  • This game is open world and thus the volume of content is much higher
  • They've shifted from static lighting to real-time and so they can't really get away with all the shortcuts of baked lighting to achieve higher levels of fidelity.
  • They have to make this game run across the entire spectrum of gaming hardware (including base XB1, eek!!). This means a ton of time testing performance and less hardware-specific optimization.

That about addresses the majority of concerns I've seen repeated ad nauseam. Come at me bro.
 

Mister Wolf

Member
I'm sure their next game will be on a overhauled in house engine. They will never pay Epic to use UE, its a waste of money for them. Graphics are not what makes videogames sell well.
 
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Okamiden

Member
There are some laughable takes in this thread by repeat offenders. Say your piece and kindly gtfo - no need to keep going off like broken record every damn page. It's okay, other people can enjoy games even when you don't.

"bUt DeMoN sOuLs LoOkS sO mUcH bEtTeR??!!" - Yeah, no shit. It's a fairly linear game built on top of a PS3 engine which leaves a huge amount of render budget and deals with mostly static lighting. It's also next-gen exclusive and was made such that graphics is the entire point. There's also the fact that Bluepoint only had to focus on revamping assets rather than making an entire game from the ground up.

"lol it's just DS4" - So let me get this straight; because the game has FromSoft's recognizable art direction (which is one of their best traits btw), has a medieval + dark fantasy setting, and builds off the hyper polished gameplay of previous titles... that means ER is just DS4? Anybody who has actually played these games would be able to recognize just how large of leap this is over the Souls series. Plus, Miyazaki has repeatedly stated that ER was meant to be an "evolution" of Souls like DS1 was to DeS. Who would have thought that he would actually, I dunno, make a game in a similar vein as Souls? smh

"Well RDR2 and HFW are cross-gen open-world and they look sooooo much better" - Oh yeah! I completely forgot that every studio has the same unlimited resources + time as Rockstar or a first-party dev like Guerrila! It's all so clear now /s. I enjoyed RDR2 and HZD, but it's quite obvious that these games have different design goals in mind. Plus, FromSoft's gameplay shits on both from high places. What's more, people seem to think that ER is pushing for graphical realism rather than sticking to their own unique art direction. To me, these titles look like something out of a manga whose style looks slightly realistic, but that isn't the main point. It's the same reason that BotW isn't trying to implement every modern graphics technique under the sun: ART DIRECTION.

"Bloodborne looks better from a visual standpoint" - You have a point there, but there's good reason for it:
  • FromSoftware doesn't have a Sony budget backing them this time around
  • This game is open world and thus the volume of content is much higher
  • They've shifted from static lighting to real-time and so they can't really get away with all the shortcuts of baked lighting to achieve higher levels of fidelity.
  • They have to make this game run across the entire spectrum of gaming hardware (including base XB1, eek!!). This means a ton of time testing performance and less hardware-specific optimization.

That about addresses the majority of concerns I've seen repeated ad nauseam. Come at me bro.
Respect bro. Very well put. But I can't see how people think BB looks better tbh. ER much cleaner and lighting more nuanced from what I saw. Also I think models look more detailed.
 

Outlier

Member
So it's Sekiro Souls...

Was hoping for something different, but hey might as well stick to what you're good at if you MUST succeed.
 

Bartski

Gold Member
Summoning not only involves PvE but there is a lot of diversity in NPC summons and apparently non-human creatures, like the bird you see on one of the screenshots. Your mount could be just one of such creature summons.
At least that was the case in some very old screenshots leaked among journos that never made it to the public. Neogaf exclusive ;)
 
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