Elden Ring
Summary
Elden Ringis FromSoftware ’s most successful plot yet , and an evolution of the Soulsborne formula that the studio pioneered withDemon ’s SoulsandDark Souls- but many of the aspects ofElden Ringthat make it what it is also make it much more hard to develop a sequel for . WhileElden Ringcould very well be the first of a Modern franchise for FromSoft , especially deal its monolithic success , the studio will have to process past some noteworthy barrier that were n’t present in theDark Soulstrilogy .
With the notable exception of the threeDark Soulsgames , many of FromSoftware ’s RPGs have not been unmediated sequels , withDemon ’s Souls , the originalDark Souls , Bloodborne , and nowElden Ringall being more in the nervure of spiritual successors - building on the studio ’s past body of work without directly transmit forward the same lore or storylines . Dark Souls 2and3stand as notable exceptions , but the same storytelling aspects that madeDark Soulsmore conducive to sequels are n’t needfully present in the studio ’s new and most pop game .
Elden Ring is a tremendously gravid , well-nigh perfect culmination of everything FromSoftware has develop since the release of Demon ’s Souls .
The Dark Souls Approach To Sequels Wouldn’t Work For Elden Ring
An Elden Ring Sequel Can’t Time Skip Like The Dark Souls Sequels Did
DespiteElden RingandDark Soulssharing much of the same desoxyribonucleic acid , Elden Ringdoesn’t share the aspects ofDark Soulsthat made it more conducive to direct subsequence . The tarradiddle of theDark Soulssequels , especiallyDark Souls 2 , are relatively unconnected to what came before them . While there are definite connections to be made , and many direct references to past upshot ( specially in3 ) , both continuation take position after improbably long time skips , making the case of late games more like backdrop details than vital knowledge .
The same approach , however , might prove more difficult to displume off inElden Ring . A core part of the game ’s narrative is built around the history of the Lands Between , write in collaboration with George R. R. Martin , that heavily informs the present day conflict ofElden Ring . Unlike inDark Souls , which pose even many of its most authoritative character and boss as remnant of an age long past , many ofElden Ring ’s most significant figures are still active participants trying to take the mankind in a new direction .
As a result , Elden Ringfeels much more strongly tied to the presentthat player go through in - plot , and going for a massive fourth dimension skip in a subsequence would die hard a greater risk of feeling jarring or narratively unsatisfying . WhereasDark Soulscould jump to new , but vaguely touch configurations and time periods ( avowedly much more overtly related inDS3 ) across its sequels , thelore and story ofElden Ringmake it less well - suit to replicating that effect in a continuation .
Custom Image by Katarina Cimbaljevic.
Elden Ring Director Hidetaka Miyazaki has receipt the possibility of an Elden Ring 2 , but it is still good to constrain any excitement .
An Elden Ring Sequel Can’t Account For Every Ending
Player Choice Is Impossible To Account For
While the meter omission approach of theDark Soulstrilogy would be harder to justify inElden Ring , the approach of trying to make a rightful lineal sequel , set shortly after the ending of the secret plan , face problems of its own . Importantly , one affair thatDark Souls 2neatly circumvented with its massive clip skip was have to calculate for actor choice - whether the player role in the originalDark Soulschose to link the blast or leave it , enough time has passed by the outset of the continuation that it does n’t matter , so there ’s no purely canon player option inDark Souls .
However , Elden Ringcan’t quite take the same glide path - whereasDSandDS2each only had two possible ending that sequels would have to describe for , Elden Ringhas six endings , each of which lead to drastically unlike mankind states that a sequel would n’t be able-bodied to reconcile . The Lord of Frenzied Flame or the Age of the Stars ending , for example , are too drastically unlike from both each other and the other four endings to simply hand - wafture off in a sequel , which signify thatElden Ringwould have to break up a canon end in a subsequence .
AnElden Ringsequel would be caught between the fact thatit ’s not potential to honor every thespian pick and ending from the first game , and also narratively unsatisfying to hired hand - moving ridge those dissimilar endings aside with a time skip . The same facet ofElden Ring ’s tale that process to secernate it fromDark Soulsalso make it hard to develop a continuation for , with no soft answer or obvious approaching for FromSoft to take .
Elden Ring ’s new Shadow of the Erdtree DLC tot up new events to the game ’s story , but it is n’t entirely clear-cut when they take spot on its timeline .
How An Elden Ring Sequel Could Work
Despite The Challenges, A Sequel Could Still Happen
However , while it would be backbreaking to make anElden Ringsequel in a narration sense , it ’s hardly impossible , especially for a studio as experienced as FromSoft . One possible result is to take an approach path standardised toFallout , bypassing the need to canonise any single end by plainly setting the subsequence in another localization . ThoughElden Ringis strongly tied to the Lands Between , the game does make mention of other locations , some of which could mayhap make interesting field in continuation .
IfElden Ringstays within the Lands Between , though , another result would be to simplypick one ending and stick to to it- either the ending with the most interesting consequences , like the Age of Stars , or endings which provide as much elbow room as potential for FromSoft to puzzle out , like the nonremittal Age of Fracture ending . In peculiar , the Lord of Frenzied Flame close has several interesting implications and end on what is fundamentally a cliffhanger , and so could serve as a good basis for a continuation .
lastly , a time skip does rest as an option- though it does n’t seem like it would fitElden Ringas well asDark Souls , it should be noted that the originalDark Soulsitself was n’t really set up for it either . The concepts and take over conflict that made the fourth dimension skip approach work were mostly only premise inDark Souls 2 , and there ’s nothing to say that FromSoft could n’t do something similar for anElden Ring 2- peculiarly if the studio collaborate with George R. R. Martin again to progress the world into some remote hereafter .
Of course , it ’s whole possible that FromSoftware ’s next game afterElden Ringis yet another ghostly heir with an entirely new setting , asDark Soulsis still the only FromSoft - developed Soulsborne to have become a serial - the studio ’s next projection could very possibly not even be a Soulsborne , given thesuccess of other late secret plan likeArmored Core 6andSekiro . Given the level of mainstream solicitation thatElden Ringhas achieve , though , it ’s hard to conceive of that FromSoftware is n’t at least considering a continuation , and the challenge inherent in developing one .
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Elden Ring is a pop game free by From Software , Maker of games such as Armored Core , Dark Souls , and Bloodborne . Players arrogate the role of a Tarnished , a being once exiled to the Lands Between and has recall to animate the Elden Ring after the events of " The Shattering . " " The Shattering " occurred when the offspring of Queen Marika combat to claim the shards of the Elden Ring , known as Great Runes . Their state of war has brought lawlessness , death , and chaos to the land , and the thespian will take exception them with the help of a Maiden acknowledge as Melina as they travel towards the great Erd Tree to present their fate and to become the one true Elden Lord . instrumentalist can undertake the game how they select and can gamble across realms as they make their eccentric how they want - be it a powerful magic castor or a brutal swordsman - they will have complete ascendance over their build .
