Elden Ring

The Elden Ring has been destroyed and its shards have scattered throughout the lands, forming the Great Runes. Some of these shards have fallen into the hands of the children of Queen Marika the Eternal, and the promise of even more power has corrupted each of the six demi-gods.

The people who live on the land, used to enjoy the Grace of the Ring, given by the Erdtree, which showed with a kind of golden glow in the eyes – this glow has faded, indicating the loss of Grace, and those who remain are now called ‘the Tarnished.’ You are one of them, an exile from the Lands Between, because of the loss of Grace – and now it is your job to find the shards, restore the Ring and become Elden Lord, returning good to the land.

The Lands Between is a vast open world system so you can wander through the six regions (one per boss/ demi-god) in the Lands Between:

exploring castles, fortresses, catacombs, caves, grassy plains, suffocating swamps, spiralling mountains and so much more.

Each demi-god (being one of the Queen’s children) rules their section of the land, and eventually defeating them is the equivalent of a boss battle. All defeated enemies are transformed into spirits who can then be summoned to help you out when you need it. This summoning is also available in multiplayer mode – although in this case you call up other players to give you a hand!

For unexplained reasons, you have a spectral horse to ride as you wrest the shards from the demi-gods and hope to impress the Erdtree into restoring your Grace.

The Nitty Gritty

The intense combat scenes thrive on close-up melees in which you get hands-on with the enemies. However, there is also a newly introduced stealth mode for those who prefer to sidle past rather than attack.

Instead of skill trees, you will find advances in skill and weaponry by exploring the map and discovering hoards, crafting what you need, and chatting to NCPs and demons alike to see what tips and gifts they can offer you.

The character is fully customisable so you can tweak your look to your own satisfaction. Gameplay, while hard, is still not be as tricky as some of the Souls games. Pay attention to the weather, though, as there is a weather and time system which can affect your success rate.

Other details to be aware of include the fact that you can fast travel between places, there is a central hub area which you can access after completing the game to a pre-set point – access to it is not given, it must be earned! Your stamina bar is a useful measure of how you’re doing, you can change readily between the wide array of weapons, and your magical horse can go straight up sheer cliffs!

Ways to Play

Story Mode: Single player mode sees you exploring the large and detailed open world setting, exploring to your heart’s content and solving quests as you like

PVP: Multi-player mode sets you up against fellow players to battle to see who is the best!

Co-op: Play with up to three of your friends (in a team of four, in other words) and enjoy the banter and working together to achieve your goals