At long last, we finally got a proper look at Elden Ring during Summer Games Fest last week, and all of a sudden we now have a flood of information about what to expect in the upcoming game. In an interview with IGN, legendary director Hidetaka Miyazaki gave plenty of information on the background lore, along with some discussion of abilities, multiplayer and the game’s structure.
One of the first topics discussed was Elden Ring’s setting, The Lands Between, which has been deliberately designed to give “an enormous sense of scale and this broadness and openness”. It’s split into six major areas, each of which is the domain of a demigod. These are lined up to suggest a specific order in which to tackle them, but the player can make their own decisions about which to do first. “You won’t be able to access everything from the start, but there are a lot of different ways you can approach each area,” Miyazaki explained. “And there’s a lot of freedom as to which order you tackle different areas as well.”
Players will be able to access a hub area a little later in the game, which you can “branch out from”, and also the six main areas of The Lands Between. “These will be the domains or the areas of the main demigod bosses,” Miyazaki explained. “From here, you’re able to explore not only these mainline dungeon areas, but also a wide variety of catacombs, castles, and fortresses, which are interspersed throughout the map. These have a range of scale and scope, but the main dungeons are these six – these are the ones that you’re going to be heading to on your adventures throughout the main world. “
