A short clip of FromSoftware's upcoming Elden Ring has leaked online, briefly showing some of the title's gameplay and environment. The much-anticipated role-playing game was originally announced at E3 in 2019 before falling silent and gathering nonstop speculation from excited fans. Finally, after two years, a full-length gameplay reveal trailer was released for Elden Ring at the end of the Summer Games Fest Kickoff Live event, giving players a glimpse of what to expect when the title launches in early 2022.
Elden Ring is an open-world, third-person action RPG, developed by the studio behind the popular Dark Souls franchise, FromSoftware, in collaboration with George R.R. Martin, the beloved author of epic fantasy novels and the award-winning Game of Thrones. Set in the realm of the Lands Between, Elden Ring will feature a much different structure compared to its predecessor and will give players the chance to plot out their own adventure across its bleak world filled with mythical dragons and aberrations. The title will, however, keep to the studio's Soulsborne tradition, with gameplay continuing to focus on combat and exploration.
In a video posted to Twitter (via VGC), user IdleSloth84 has shared a brief clip of Elden Ring's gameplay outside of its initial reveal trailer. The thirty-second footage shows the player on a rocky hilltop near a medieval castle before completely rotating the camera and showing off an immense tree off in the distance. After flashing the environment, the character exhibits the game's movement by jumping up a hill, before causing a pair of eagles to take flight and envelop them in feathers. While its origin remains mysterious, and is unconfirmed at the time of this writing, the clip was allegedly recorded on Xbox One and has already been removed from a number of YouTube channels before circulating on Twitter.
FromSoftware's distinctive game design choices and innovation with the Dark Souls series led to the informal creation of an entire video game genre. The souls-like genre relies on three main defining features - higher than average difficulty, severe penalties for death, and, most importantly, high-risk, skill-based combat. Though the developer has continued the use of its Dark Souls formula, its two spin-off series, Bloodborne and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice have expanded it with the introduction of new mechanics and systems.
If this footage is indeed real, the leaked short clip gives fans a better look at Elden Ring's movement and its environmental design. FromSoftware hasn't officially debuted any character gameplay footage aside from what was shown in its reveal trailer, but that might soon change, as Elden Ring is set to launch on January 21, 2022 and more in-depth looks are expected prior to its release.
Elden Ring will release on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S platforms on January 21, 2022.
Source: VGC, IdleSloth84/Twitter