Elden Ring closed-door session info roundup

While the gaming world awaits on Fromsoftware to complete their next masterpiece, that being Elden Ring. A handful of journalists and media personalities watched 16-minutes of never seen footage in a closed-door session with FromSoftware spokesman Yasahiro Kitao. Sadly everyone who was invited to the event is NOT allowed to share the footage. I can only hope that Bandai Namco will share this in the near future. Please, Bandai Namco, share this footage for all our sakes.

As I understand it, this footage provided a look at several features of the game, including a look at the in-world map, a first-ever for any Fromsoftware game. Every game from this company, from Kings Field (look it up) to Dark Souls and beyond, had relied on the gamer to figure out where they were going on their own or create a hand-drawn map. Elden Ring must be so massive that an in-game map is required.

One particular outlet compared Elden Ring to Nintendo’s Breath of the Wild and its massive world. That in itself has me excited as the worlds of Dark Souls, Sekiro, and even Bloodborne, while full of interaction and danger, were still quite small. If Elden Ring is this massive, we’re going to be playing this for a very long time, and that’s just fine with me.

There’s just so much to recap, but seeing how there are several articles from the outlets who were able to watch the footage, here’s the cliff notes version:

The game will have a fully fleshed-out story—no more heading to Google or YouTube for answers from your favorite loremasters.
There is a Firekeep-like character who can be summoned. Her name is Melina, and you can level her up.
Fast travel is in (I know this is going to upset some fans)
Players are presented with multiple paths to reach objectives, no more linear pathing (YES!)
Tons of world lore
Can regain health by defeating enemies in the open world
Ranged characters can fight via horseback (we had wondered about that, so that’s in)
The hub will allow for NPCs that you’ve encountered in the world to visit you.
No fall damage similar to Sekiro
The gameplay feels like traditional Dark Souls gameplay mechanics
Stealth is similar to that of Sekiro
There are multiple dungeons in the massive world; smaller dungeons where players can find smaller bosses and treasure and Legacy Dungeons that progress the story.
The parry system returns.
A new mechanic called Guard Counter allows players to strike after a block quickly. I’ve seen this in another game, but I can’t quite remember which. It’s seemly similar to riposte.

All of this sounds super yummy, and I can’t wait to get my hands on the game when it releases. For more reading, check out the full impressions from the following outlets. They’re worth the read if you want more info on Elden Ring.