New details on FromSoftware’s Elden Ring are finally emerging, courtesy of a leaked trailer. Many that have seen the footage are left with one big question in mind, however: Is Elden Ring in the Dark Souls universe? Here’s the need-to-know on how the game slots into the FromSoftware multiverse.
Is Elden Ring a Souls game?
Keen observers may have noticed that when battling a fire-breathing dragon in the gameplay leak, the Elden Ring protagonist uses the Homing Soulmass sorcery. This spell has already appeared in several FromSoftware titles, including Demon’s Souls and the Dark Souls franchise. Some take this to be confirmation that Elden Ring takes place in the Souls universe, but, in reality, that isn’t necessarily the case.
Elden Ring is a Soulslike from the originators of the genre — Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls developer, FromSoftware. All of the games shares similar gameplay mechanics, narrative delivery, oppressive visual styles, and more. Despite sharing numerous key elements, currently, there is nothing official to suggest that Elden Ring is formally a Souls game.
Bloodborne features a homing spell, A Call Beyond, that functions and appears somewhat similar. Additionally, the Moonlight Greatsword has appeared in several FromSoftware games starting way back with King’s Field on the original PlayStation. Rather than being the confirmation of a shared multiverse, these are Easter eggs for devoted fans of the developer to discover.
Of course, Elden Ring isn’t out yet and the full game could theoretically contain a revelation tying the two together. It seems unlikely, however; after launching the final Dark Souls III DLC, game director and president of FromSoftware, Hidetaka Miyazaki, stated his intentions to move on from the series. Although it’s now been several years, it isn’t likely that Miyazaki would return immediately after the creation of Sekiro.
Elden Ring’s absence from the latest State of Play recently caused the game to trend. Who would’ve thought that just days later a leak would stoke anticipation all over again? There arguably hasn’t been this much hype since the game’s official E3 2019 reveal.
