I'd be shocked if they cut PvP, it was such a huge part of Souls in general.
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I'd be shocked if they cut PvP, it was such a huge part of Souls in general.
From the other thread, here is a google translate from the russian interview - https://www.igromania.ru/article/31...krytyy_mir_multipleer_i_yadovitye_bolota.html
About the plot
Elden Ring clearly has a lot in common with the Dark Souls series . Why couldn't it just be called Dark Souls 4?
We wanted Elden Ring to be the culmination of our love for gaming and, in particular, dark fantasy, the action RPG genre. The Dark Souls setting would have bound us with unnecessary restrictions in terms of plot, gameplay, enemy design ... Besides, when it comes to building the world and the universe, we squeezed everything possible from the core theme of Dark Souls - kindling a flame - and therefore decided to try something new ... Fresh world, fresh themes.
Dark Souls presented the plot in small chunks and translucent hints, while Sekiro was more direct, with dialogue and cutscenes. How does the narrative work in Elden Ring ?
The narrative in Elden Ring is closer to Dark Souls. The story will be fragmented, and the player will have to explore the world, collecting scattered pieces of lore, in order to compare and interpret them later. This is an important element of the game - gradually discovering the world and understanding it deeper and deeper.
That being said, we certainly want to leverage the strengths of Sekiro's storytelling in Elden Ring. As you said, it is more straightforward; dialogues and cutscenes, in my opinion, are a good way to present the plot to the player, to interest him. In Elden Ring, it is especially important to understand the characters and their motives, because the story, in fact, has several protagonists. In addition to your hero, who plays the role of a window into the world of the game, many other characters with their own characters and motivation are involved in the scenario. They will affect how you understand and interpret ENT.
Will we be able to make decisions that will affect the plot?
Yes, there will be several endings in the game, depending on your decisions. The NPCs you meet will have a big impact on your worldview and reveal how they see the world themselves. And your path will be determined by what prompts you receive from them and how you behave with them. These characters are an extremely important part of the Elden Ring.
About horses
Horses are perhaps the most notable innovation in the game compared to Dark Souls . What is their role?
A horse, first of all, is needed to move freely and comfortably around the world: its "big jump" allows you to instantly climb huge rocks. You can also quickly cross dangerous terrain on it, and just ride.
The trailer also showed horse fighting. How will they differ from the usual ones?
First of all, the horse is still intended for riding: for battles, players will most likely want to dismount. But in some situations you will have to fight on horseback - or even avoid a risky situation. We will let the players choose how to use the mount: although horseback riding is not available in certain locations, where you can climb on a horse, everything is in your hands.
About multiplayer
In Dark Souls, you could summon other players and NPCs to help you fight bosses. And then the cooperative will work right in the open world?
The summoning of phantoms will not be available everywhere, but everything will not be limited to some bosses. You can explore the open world together, there will also be offline assistants - the spirits of the enemies you defeated. Again, they are not available in all locations, but this is another element of character customization: you can choose allies like magic spells or items - they will become part of your build.
Will there be any other restrictions? For example, earlier assistants disappeared after defeating bosses, and calling a partner did not allow the player to leave the location.
Elden Ring uses a system of signs familiar from Dark Souls, so the scheme is roughly the same: defeat the boss and disperse. True, we would call this not a limitation, but rather a way to let the players relax. A good point after which you can let the players return to their business, so that they do not annoy each other: "well, when we already disperse", "how much more we have."
Otherwise, we aim to reduce stress in multiplayer and make sure that players who want to play together have as few obstacles as possible. So that they can participate in the network game whenever they want. First, we have reduced the amount of resources required for multiplayer. Previously, players needed humanity or other rare items, which repelled the audience: now we want to achieve maximum accessibility, give players as much freedom as possible in this regard.
Secondly, since the world of Elden Ring is huge, it can be difficult to find summoning signs in it. To do this, we have highlighted special locations where players can leave their signs or see who is currently available. And so that the battles do not turn into endless hide and seek, we are adding interface elements that provide enough information to both participants in the confrontation.
Yeah, will there still be PvP in Elden Ring ?
(Miyazaki brightens up noticeably) Yes, there will be invasions and, let's say, optional PvP. Throughout development, we tried very hard to make this aspect of the game as less annoying for both players as possible - we are still working on it.
What about the Covenant?
In this sense, Elden Ring is similar to Demon 's Souls : the conditions for participation in multiplayer are minimum, you just need to leave a sign. The game has a bit of a covenant twist, but the multiplayer-tied ones just add some flavor to the multiplayer. They add their own characteristics, like role-playing. They will not become a mandatory requirement for multiplayer.
About the open world
How does the open world of Elden Ring work ? Are the locations just creating a backdrop for travel between key points, as in Shadow of the Colossus , or are question marks scattered throughout the map, as in The Witcher?
Neither one nor the other (laughs). It's hard to say where he is closer, but the open world of Elden Ring will definitely not be an empty field for horse rides from point A to point B. We wanted him to have character, so that he would have interesting finds, dangers and memorable encounters. The map is not filled with question marks that distract attention: players will have to place markers themselves to mark points of interest. For example, we climbed higher, saw some notable places and wrote down that you want to go there and find out what kind of story unfolds there. We want players to build their own storytelling in these lands. In Elden Ring there will be a so-called "main" path, a natural route of passage - the player will find out about it almost immediately. But there is also an opportunity to turn off the intended path, to find your way.
Sounds just like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild . However, there was a problem with the rewards: exploring the world was very fun, but nothing sensible was found in it. What rewards will Elden Ring offer for exploring the world ?
Many items of equipment are hidden around the world: weapons, armor, spells, skills, spirits for summoning and ingredients for crafting. So there will be rewards for player explorers. But I would also note that meetings with plot characters are in themselves a reward, because thanks to them you get to know the world better and look at already familiar places from a different angle. They add drama to the journey, add twists to the narrative, allow for the story of the hero, and influence the endings.
Well, since you remembered Breath of the Wild - I personally went through it to the end with great pleasure, and my reward was a sense of satisfaction from the process. But our approach is still somewhat different: we place great emphasis on character development and customization.
The most important question
Why is there a poisonous swamp in every game you play?
(laughs) Yes, there will be a poisonous swamp in Elden Ring too! Perhaps this is some kind of my injury! (laughs) I don't know! Something makes me put poisonous swamps everywhere! Maybe something in the subconscious. Good question, I somehow didn't even think about it.
About the plot
Elden Ring clearly has a lot in common with the Dark Souls series . Why couldn't it just be called Dark Souls 4?
We wanted Elden Ring to be the culmination of our love for gaming and, in particular, dark fantasy, the action RPG genre. The Dark Souls setting would have bound us with unnecessary restrictions in terms of plot, gameplay, enemy design ... Besides, when it comes to building the world and the universe, we squeezed everything possible from the core theme of Dark Souls - kindling a flame - and therefore decided to try something new ... Fresh world, fresh themes.
Dark Souls presented the plot in small chunks and translucent hints, while Sekiro was more direct, with dialogue and cutscenes. How does the narrative work in Elden Ring ?
The narrative in Elden Ring is closer to Dark Souls. The story will be fragmented, and the player will have to explore the world, collecting scattered pieces of lore, in order to compare and interpret them later. This is an important element of the game - gradually discovering the world and understanding it deeper and deeper.
That being said, we certainly want to leverage the strengths of Sekiro's storytelling in Elden Ring. As you said, it is more straightforward; dialogues and cutscenes, in my opinion, are a good way to present the plot to the player, to interest him. In Elden Ring, it is especially important to understand the characters and their motives, because the story, in fact, has several protagonists. In addition to your hero, who plays the role of a window into the world of the game, many other characters with their own characters and motivation are involved in the scenario. They will affect how you understand and interpret ENT.
Will we be able to make decisions that will affect the plot?
Yes, there will be several endings in the game, depending on your decisions. The NPCs you meet will have a big impact on your worldview and reveal how they see the world themselves. And your path will be determined by what prompts you receive from them and how you behave with them. These characters are an extremely important part of the Elden Ring.
About horses
Horses are perhaps the most notable innovation in the game compared to Dark Souls . What is their role?
A horse, first of all, is needed to move freely and comfortably around the world: its "big jump" allows you to instantly climb huge rocks. You can also quickly cross dangerous terrain on it, and just ride.
The trailer also showed horse fighting. How will they differ from the usual ones?
First of all, the horse is still intended for riding: for battles, players will most likely want to dismount. But in some situations you will have to fight on horseback - or even avoid a risky situation. We will let the players choose how to use the mount: although horseback riding is not available in certain locations, where you can climb on a horse, everything is in your hands.
About multiplayer
In Dark Souls, you could summon other players and NPCs to help you fight bosses. And then the cooperative will work right in the open world?
The summoning of phantoms will not be available everywhere, but everything will not be limited to some bosses. You can explore the open world together, there will also be offline assistants - the spirits of the enemies you defeated. Again, they are not available in all locations, but this is another element of character customization: you can choose allies like magic spells or items - they will become part of your build.
Will there be any other restrictions? For example, earlier assistants disappeared after defeating bosses, and calling a partner did not allow the player to leave the location.
Elden Ring uses a system of signs familiar from Dark Souls, so the scheme is roughly the same: defeat the boss and disperse. True, we would call this not a limitation, but rather a way to let the players relax. A good point after which you can let the players return to their business, so that they do not annoy each other: "well, when we already disperse", "how much more we have."
Otherwise, we aim to reduce stress in multiplayer and make sure that players who want to play together have as few obstacles as possible. So that they can participate in the network game whenever they want. First, we have reduced the amount of resources required for multiplayer. Previously, players needed humanity or other rare items, which repelled the audience: now we want to achieve maximum accessibility, give players as much freedom as possible in this regard.
Secondly, since the world of Elden Ring is huge, it can be difficult to find summoning signs in it. To do this, we have highlighted special locations where players can leave their signs or see who is currently available. And so that the battles do not turn into endless hide and seek, we are adding interface elements that provide enough information to both participants in the confrontation.
Yeah, will there still be PvP in Elden Ring ?
(Miyazaki brightens up noticeably) Yes, there will be invasions and, let's say, optional PvP. Throughout development, we tried very hard to make this aspect of the game as less annoying for both players as possible - we are still working on it.
What about the Covenant?
In this sense, Elden Ring is similar to Demon 's Souls : the conditions for participation in multiplayer are minimum, you just need to leave a sign. The game has a bit of a covenant twist, but the multiplayer-tied ones just add some flavor to the multiplayer. They add their own characteristics, like role-playing. They will not become a mandatory requirement for multiplayer.
About the open world
How does the open world of Elden Ring work ? Are the locations just creating a backdrop for travel between key points, as in Shadow of the Colossus , or are question marks scattered throughout the map, as in The Witcher?
Neither one nor the other (laughs). It's hard to say where he is closer, but the open world of Elden Ring will definitely not be an empty field for horse rides from point A to point B. We wanted him to have character, so that he would have interesting finds, dangers and memorable encounters. The map is not filled with question marks that distract attention: players will have to place markers themselves to mark points of interest. For example, we climbed higher, saw some notable places and wrote down that you want to go there and find out what kind of story unfolds there. We want players to build their own storytelling in these lands. In Elden Ring there will be a so-called "main" path, a natural route of passage - the player will find out about it almost immediately. But there is also an opportunity to turn off the intended path, to find your way.
Sounds just like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild . However, there was a problem with the rewards: exploring the world was very fun, but nothing sensible was found in it. What rewards will Elden Ring offer for exploring the world ?
Many items of equipment are hidden around the world: weapons, armor, spells, skills, spirits for summoning and ingredients for crafting. So there will be rewards for player explorers. But I would also note that meetings with plot characters are in themselves a reward, because thanks to them you get to know the world better and look at already familiar places from a different angle. They add drama to the journey, add twists to the narrative, allow for the story of the hero, and influence the endings.
Well, since you remembered Breath of the Wild - I personally went through it to the end with great pleasure, and my reward was a sense of satisfaction from the process. But our approach is still somewhat different: we place great emphasis on character development and customization.
The most important question
Why is there a poisonous swamp in every game you play?
(laughs) Yes, there will be a poisonous swamp in Elden Ring too! Perhaps this is some kind of my injury! (laughs) I don't know! Something makes me put poisonous swamps everywhere! Maybe something in the subconscious. Good question, I somehow didn't even think about it.
Because if everyone opts out there'll be fewer people to invade and that's no fun. We already had those plug-pulling cowards to deal with before lulz
Anyway if you play solo, just play offline to avoid invasions
Because it is incredibly fun to barge into other peoples games.
' Well, since you remembered Breath of the Wild - I personally went through it to the end with great pleasure, and my reward was a sense of satisfaction from the process. But our approach is still somewhat different: we place great emphasis on character development and customization. '
The master knows what is good.
The master knows what is good.
I really like what I'm reading !
- The more open progression ala botw fits well with a souls game, it's great you can go anywhere from the start, though I wonder how they will handle balancing (simple scaling of enemy lvl with yours ?)
- When trying to analyze the trailer, there were people saying we will not get regular summons but summons as "ai pets". In the end we got both which is great !
- A bit disappointed that they are keeping the formula of the summon expiring after defeating a boss, so it will be a hassle like before if you wanna do the whole game in coop with a friend. Also disappointing that you can't use horses while in multiplayer, probably to keep players from wandering too far. I was dreaming of pvp horse chases, probably won't get those either.
- It's great we'll get real rewards for exploring the open world unlike botw where it was mostly pointless loot wise (also no shitty weapon break yay)
Maybe they could implement an incentive to leave invasions on. If you can just opt out by going offline isn't that already the same thing?
The whole go anywhere you want always make me concerned about the balancing of the game.
Either there is an intended path which kinda makes the "go anywhere" thing just seem like window dressing or the areas are similar in difficulty and you just end up being overpowered for the areas you choose to do last.
Either there is an intended path which kinda makes the "go anywhere" thing just seem like window dressing or the areas are similar in difficulty and you just end up being overpowered for the areas you choose to do last.
DS1 already did that pretty well, and to a lesser degree Sekiro. I don't think there will be too much to worry about. They definitely have successful use case data to draw from.
Not the same thing, since a lot of players do want to stay online for the ghosts, messages, and coop.
30 hours sounds short to my ear, kinda fear getting all hyped now and the game will be over before I know it.. I'll still go for 100% achievements but hopefully 30 hours is just "kill primary bosses with no exploration" time and actually engrossing yourself in the world can take hundreds of hours.
As others have said, Dark Souls and Demon's Souls already do this. There's an intended path (and yeah Miyazaki said there's an intended path in Elden Ring as well), but if you're skilled/stubborn enough, you can go to more difficult areas first and gain access to weapons, armor, skills, etc that would normally be obtained later in the game. It'd be like going to the Catacombs, New Londo Ruins, Blighttown, Valley of the Drakes, etc early in Dark Souls. Doing the Old Hunters DLC ASAP in Bloodborne would be another good example. Basically it just opens up build variety in the early-mid game for experienced/dedicated players and keeps replays fresh.
not buying this. i've never spent only 30 hours with any souls game so far...
Fucking Miyazaki gets it! BotW isn't about tangible rewards. Not surprised at all from the best in the business right now.
Aside from my first Souls game, I have literally never spent 30 hours on a single playthrough of a Souls game before. DS3 took me like 23 hours, Sekiro about 26, Bloodborne even less without the DLC. Personally I don't really don't see the issue with the length - 30 sounds completely fine to me for a main story + minor side tracking playthrough. I think people are looking into his comment a bit too much to be honest.
I think 30 hr might be main quest no sidetracking. All their Souls games are very beefy so I imagine this one will be bigger in size and play length with the focus on exploration. And he said the elk is mainly for traversal which means the map is big. And he also says it is not like SotC where the map is just meant to be traversed to get to important locations. It's going to have many POI that the player can go after after spotting from high ground ala Zelda. Im not worried.
Around 30 hours for basic completion is normal for their games. Just because this game has larger spaces doesn't automatically mean that equates to more hours. Especially since our movement speed through those spaces is sped up via the mount, which shrinks the space.
fantastic news. fewer obstacles to coop should mean less standing around to be summoned, and here's hoping they find that balance to invading.
Not really, if you do not die often you can easily finish most Dark Souls games (including Bloodborne) within that time. The only one I'm not sure about is Dark Souls 2 because that's a very long game but I'm sure it's possible there too if you only do the critical path and skip optional bosses.
I would assume that Miyazaki is referring to 30 hrs not counting player deaths and people being stuck on bosses for hours.
Level scaling would hinder feeling of progression which they seem to be big on so I doubt it.
Depends on who is occupying it?
I think mostly size, castles are bigger and taller
examples from the series: fortress - Sen's, castle - Cainhurst
30 hours doesn't mean much. You can beeline a lot of open world games for the same amount of time or less. But me personally I'll be exploring all the nooks and crannies for optional areas, bosses, collecting all the items in the world scattered around, doing character sidequests, etc. That 30 hours should easily balloon to 50-60+ hours.
30 hours sounds just about perfect. Loving pretty much everything about this. Most anticipated game since forever basically.
Yeah sounds like 50-60 hours will be a more realistic expectation with dying and side quests.
30 hours is actually really long for mainlining an open world game with no deaths.
