It feels as though this element has been kinda forgotten about, but a portion of Elden Ring and its world can be attributed to George R. R. Martin. The author, famous for his book series A Song of Ice and Fire, collaborated with FromSoftware on the game, as revealed by the, er, reveal trailer. His contributions have been left largely to our imaginations, but the writer has now shed a little light on the project in a new blog post.
Martin recalls Hidetaka Miyazaki and his team reaching out "many years ago" to ask about getting him involved. The pitch was for him to "create the backstory and history" for what was to become Elden Ring. Despite not being into video games, Martin accepted the job; it was "too exciting to refuse". FromSoftware wanted him to provide the backbone of the world's history and lore, and that's something the author is passionate about: "I love creating worlds and writing imaginary history," he says.
His side of the work ended years ago, but what does he think of the game as it is now? "I’ve got to say, it looks incredible," Martin enthuses, sharing some of the game's recent trailers. Some of his worldbuilding work will be on display in the latest story trailer.
So, that's George R. R. Martin's (brief) thoughts on Elden Ring. Are you excited to discover more about the game's lore when it arrives in February? Summon your steed in the comments section below.
[source georgerrmartin.com]
Comments 40
Cannot wait for this game!!!!! Shame it got pushed back to February because now I have 4 games I want to play in February! Busy month for me.
It really looks great. Next year gonna be spectacular.
Thank goodness From had the foresight to give George years and years of notice to write them some lore or we'd never see the game made.
@lolwhatno we're never going to see Winds of Winter are we? We're forever going to have to think of that last crappy series of GoT as the definitive version 😢
@Integrity @lolwhatno Kotaku had a great post where they said Congratulations to GRR Martin for completing a blog post about elden ring”, noting the post is completed and published.
@Mega-Gazz quick somebody make a TV series about that blog!
He may be slow at writing but Martin is one of the best out there for lore and backstory, i would say his only rival in fantasy is Tolkien so i'm very excited to see what him and From have in store as From themselves are great with lore and backstory with Bloodborne and Souls being very deep and rich with it.
@Integrity I think he's lost his passion for ASOIAF, maybe its down to the show or maybe its the demand and hype and struggling to make everyone happy i don't know. I'm sure he has the endgame done and i'm sure he knows where all the roads lead too its just getting there. I hope he can complete it but i have a feeling it will never be finished, that said maybe he's the writing both books back to back and plans on releasing them within a year of each other hence the long wait.
Cant wait to play this.
@WallyWest yes, that scenario sounds very plausible.
@WallyWest It's unfortunate that the last seasons of GoT were so bad/rushed, because I think that's the only ending we will see. If they'd taken their time, made it a couple seasons longer and gotten more direct input from GRRM, then I don't think the pressure on him finishing the books would be that crushing.
@WallyWest he also has the problem where he is now struggling with so many spinning plates (characters, stories). I read before that he doesn’t write with a detailed outline in advance. He writes the events and imagines how his characters will react to them. After he introduced a load of new characters in the 4th book (I think it was), there are just too many threads to knit together.
Looks great to me
I can't wait to play this. The respawns near bosses is a great touch for me because I suck at these games lol.
The lore, the visual candy and all it has to offer is pulling me into a game I know I'll have trouble with, but since I pre-ordered this back before I knew what I was getting myself into I have no regrets. Bring on the death!
And where's my Winds of Winter at? Been waiting what 10 years now for it?
I stopped watching GoT because I wanted to read the books first.
He's hardly gonna say it's crap is he 😂
@lolwhatno the lore is a huge draw for many fans, labeling them goblins is unnecessary. The lore is the foundation of all world-building they aren't mutually exclusive. Introducing accomplished writers to any game regardless of the genre is great for the industry as a whole. It further legitimises the medium as a comparable choice when reviewed alongside books and movies etc.
Each main character must die at least twice in horrible ways for him to find it incredible.
GRRM being excited about Elden Ring is as surprising as Geoff Keighley being excited about Death Stranding, a game he was in.
I honestly think it looks kinda underwhelming compared to the hype. It's just more Dark Souls with horses and jumping. It doesn't look bad by any means, but I thought this was going to be some brave new direction with their games and instead its just more of the same.
Even if the backstory is AS GOOD as Dark Souls’, we’re in for a real treat. Love the little details these guys throw in to drive that lore home.
@mucc I'm kinda with you there. When I heard of George RR Martin being involved I hoped it would be more high fantasy then FromSoft's typical dark fantasy fair they have done 4 times already. I'll probably get it eventually but when I saw it I was like "it's just open world Dark Souls".
Man people love hating on Souls games lol, I can't wait for Bloodborne 2 next!
It’s honestly impressive how the addition of GRRM to the writing team has changed literally nothing plot wise. It’s… just Dark Souls again. Not that it’s a bad thing per se, it just is nowhere near as distinctive as Bloodborne and Sekiro.
It does look great but he’s not going to say it looks sh*t while his name is attached to it is he 😂
Most writing he has done in a while
Yes, because he is a huge gamer and we should all respect his opinion.
@nessisonett Do we know actually know the plot yet as i'm been keeping mostly spoiler free? I expect as ever the main plot will be vague with all the juicy stuff being in lore and backstory, if its like Souls then we're basically in the aftermath of a much bigger and grand story then the one we partake in.
@WallyWest There used to be a big kingdom. It’s a bit rubbish now. There’s ‘tainted’/‘cursed’ or whatever big bois who used to be cool but now just moan and shuffle while holding massive swords and stuff. You kill them for whatever reason.
@nessisonett Are you sure that you can assess all of this just from playing the beta? Not making accusations it just seems like a lot of assumptions before the game's full release
@nessisonett VaatiVidya, a YouTuber, has done comprehensive analyses on the early network test, and based on the stories thus far, those sensitive to spoilers should avoid it. If you don't care about the intricacies, you can give any game a comparable "it's just" when summarising the plot. I'm not a huge "dark souls" fan and I suck at these games however his videos have shown me how complex and nuanced these games are.
@Alan_cartridge_ Yeah From's games are as deep as hell its just very hidden and not in your face, they are very rich and interesting the more you dig. Knowing the lore and backstory really enhances everything even making some boss fights tragic and sad.
I'm guessing there will be a lot of wieners in it then 😂
@mucc
‘It's just more Dark Souls with horses and jumping.’
And open world.
Hell yeah!
@ObserverPlayz
I know right. More Dark Souls games?
Awesome!
@Integrity this is unfair. George is 73 now, so retirement age when GOT was in its latter stages. He was prolific as a youngster.
@themcnoisy what is unfair?
@ObserverPlayz Probably because they like what they see, but refuse a challenge. Why else would they care to read articles about them.
Bloodborne was my favorite from them, so a sequel would make me squeal like a pig.
So this entire story is based on a single word from an author… 🤦♀️
@Integrity your alluding to his relatively slow pace of writing. I'm saying he's 73.
Fingers crossed this game turns out really epic! I'll probably still wait a year or two for Elden Ring to drop down to $20 though, I'm terrible at Souls games.
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