ELDEN RING Trailer: Good Luck Deciphering George R.R. Martin’s FromSoftware Game

Rumours, speculation, and leaks have been floating around the internet for a while now about a video-game collaboration between Dark Souls creator Hidetaka Miyazaki and Game of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin. Entitled Elden Ring, it's meant to be developer FromSoftware's largest game to date, a fantasy action-RPG adventure set in a world co-created by Miyazaki and Martin.

The trailer is, as one would expect from FromSoftware, dark, beautiful, and near-impossible to glean any details from.

Not much to go on there, other than some very handsome visual compositions, agony-ridden characters, apocalyptic choral music, and an ominous voiceover talking about the titular Ring, once powerful, now shattered. Nor can we really take that much from the title, which reads like a combination of fellow popular fantasy franchises Elden Scrolls and Lord Of Ring. All of which is very FromSoftware, of course, right down to Miyazaki's favourite fashion choice, the helmet that obscures its wearer's eyes, and his favourite character type, the shirtless blacksmith. A Sekiro-like detachable arm makes an appearance, and many many arms make an appearance in the trailer's most striking image, seen atop this article.

It'll be interesting to see how Elden Ring plays out, both in terms of gameplay and story. Miyazaki's games have always left much of the storytelling murky and in the background, whereas Martin's writing - at least on Thrones - centres on intrigue happening in the here and now. There's no indication Martin wrote the game's actual story - merely that he created the world in which it's set - but will his involvement mean a greater emphasis on story-centric gameplay? What even are Martin's sensibilities when it comes to storytelling in games? We're anxious to find out.

Elden Ring has no confirmed release date, but when it does, it will launch on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Windows PC.