Bits of Elden Ring gameplay leaked onto the internet last month. But now, Bandai Namco has released 15 minutes of gameplay onto its YouTube channel. And it offers a much better look at what the game has to offer when it releases next year.
The clip starts off with a little bit of what we saw in the leak, an open expanse known as The Lands Between. We then get to see the mount that materialises out of nowhere on command, which will look familiar to those who have played Warriors Orochi 3. It also fades away immediately on dismount. The mount itself is what is best described as a horse with buffalo horns, which can double-jump, likely a first for mounts.
Mounted combat in Elden Ring is pretty rudimentary, but is shown to be pretty effective against large bosses like dragons. And when you knock down such bosses, an obvious weakpoint appears for the player to execute a critical attack. These two elements give the game a very Shadow of the Colossus-like vibe to it. The fights themselves follow the tried and tested formula, where damaging attacks have large, obvious windups, and longer windups may indicate an unblockable or a grab attack.
In combat, there also seems to be a lot more magic-augmented attacks. You can also summon friendly spirits to aid you, and these are not to be confused with other players in co-op multiplayer. But because the gameplay video doesn’t show the UI, it remains to be seen if these are actually viable options to aid in gameplay, or something you build around, locking you out of other options.
There’s also a map in Elden Ring, a rare thing in games of this type. You can even place beacons to indicate where you want to go to in the world. Stealth is also a bit more meaningful here, allowing you to sneak past enemies too strong for your current level of progress.
Overall, Elden Ring looks to play like most other Soulsborne games by FromSoftware. But while the enemies punish your mistakes as gravely as before, your tools to fight back look to be a lot more powerful as well. For those who didn’t like the extremely one-sided nature of previous titles, this may be the one to make you dip your toes into the genre.
(Source: Bandai Namco Europe / YouTube)
