Even though the pre-E3 leak of Elden Ring and a subsequent official reveal during Microsoft’s E3 conference revealed little about what we were seeing, the post-E3 situation is a bit different.

For example, speaking to IGN, Hidetaka Miyazaki shared new information about the game.

First off, it’s an evolution of the established Dark Souls series, and “Elden Ring belongs to the same genre.” Next, according to Miyazaki, Elden Ring offers larger and more open environments, putter the game on a larger scale. Miyazaki goes on, “With a larger world, new systems and action mechanics inevitably become necessary. I think that Elden Ring is a more natural evolution of Dark Souls.”

There’s a lot of information to digest about the game. “While the narrow and complex dungeons of our previous games were indeed interconnected, Elden Ring’s environments will be much more open and vast,” said Miyazaki. “The more extensive world will form the base of Elden Ring’s gameplay, and its mechanics are designed with that type of environment in mind.”

Knowing that the world presented in Elden Ring is more open than previous games from the developer means your character is able to ride a horse as well as battle enemies while mounted on it. Also, by using the new and more open world aspect of the game, this allows the developers new ways to engage in battles.”

As for towns and villages? Well, don’t expect meadows and lush, green fields. Expect dark, destroyed landscapes you’ve come to encounter in many From Software titles.

Another interesting bit of information coming from the interview is that George R.R. Martin focused on developing the overall lore of the series, leaving the main narrative to Miyazaki. “Storytelling in video games – at least the way we do it at FromSoftware – comes with a lot of restrictions for the writer. I didn’t think it was a good idea to have Martin write within those restrictions. By having him write about a time the player isn’t directly involved in, he is free to unleash his creativity in the way he likes. Furthermore, as FromSoftware we didn’t want to create a more linear and story-driven experience for Elden Ring. Both issues could be solved by having Martin write about the world’s history instead.”

If anything, what Martin worked is akin to what you would find in Dungeon and Dragons, acting as a dungeon master’s handbook.

Just like in previous From Software titles, the player character is define by your creation. There is no fixed main character (like Sekiro) and instead “it is up to the player to decide the characteristics and personality of the character they create.”