To celebrate the launch of Elden Ring, famed novelist George R.R. Martin donned cosplay in the form of Malenia's iconic winged helmet. George R.R. Martin named Elden Ring's world and played an integral role in developing the overarching lore and mythos alongside FromSoftare developers. His involvement in the project undoubtedly inspired many non-Souls fans to jump into the experience, but it seems the well-designed open-world landscape and gameplay mechanics have also kept players engaged over the last several days.
Like FromSoftware's various Souls titles before it, Elden Ring tasks players with exploring the narrative and background stories on their own terms. Some connections prove easier to make than others, of course, but much of the fun stems from moments of discovery that don't typically factor into more scripted narrative-driven adventures. And critical reception referring to the title as a masterpiece suggest FromSoftware is at the top of its game in the storytelling department. Now even George R.R. Martin is celebrating Elden Ring's early successes.
While joining FromSoftare in reveling in Elden Ring's critical accolades, George R.R. Martin took to Twitter to share a photo of himself in partial Elden Ring cosplay. The fantasy writer dons a helmet in the image in question, particularly the winged helm that belongs to Malenia, Blade of Miquella, a female warrior who first appeared in early marketing materials for the acclaimed role-playing game. Martin wears the replica winged helmet well, as seen in the social media post linked below:
Unsurprisingly, Malenia's stylized headpiece has already proven a fan-favorite item. Ahead of the title's launch, in fact, one Elden Ring fan built a replica winged helm as a prop for streaming. Those who purchased the Premium Collector's Edition from the Bandai Namco Store received a 1:1 replica of the iconic gear, too, meaning quite a few people likely have at least part of their Elden Ring-inspired Halloween costume sorted for the year. It'll be interesting to see if George R.R. Martin counts among that bunch.
FromSoftware and publisher Bandai Namco Entertainment originally announced Elden Ring during E3 2019, just months after the studio shipped Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice with Activision Blizzard. The open-world RPG finally re-entered the spotlight during Summer Game Fest 2021, with a gameplay reveal and January 2022 release date attached. Bandai Namco later pushed the launch back by a month, but the widespread praise suggests it was more than worth the wait.
Elden Ring is out now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: George R.R. Martin/Twitter