FromSoftware’s upcoming game Elden Ring looks to be reintroducing and revamping traditional multiplayer components like bloodstains and messages found in previous titles. The new game serves as a spiritual successor to Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice owing to its similar approach to combat, character design, and bleak tone. According to some new information, Elden Ring will be borrowing additional mechanics from these games in its multiplayer systems.
The family of modern FromSoftware games, often referred to as the Soulsborne series, primarily feature single-player experiences that see players taking on insurmountable threats through exploration and brutally challenging combat. However, most of these titles also include multiplayer functions that allow players to engage with each other as friends or foes. Aside from playing alongside one another, gamers are also given the tools to interact through short messages and “bloodstains” that depict how players met their demise. Integration of these multiplayer systems was deliberately obtuse and players did not have much control over who they interacted with. It should be noted that these features were conspicuously absent from Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, FromSoftware’s most recent release.
In an interview with Famitsu (translated by theangryfurlong on Reddit), director Hidetaka Miyazaki gave some insight into how FromSoftware plans to tackle asynchronous multiplayer in Elden Ring. While previous Miyazaki-helmed titles matched players up at random, Elden Ring will give players a bit more control. Through a basic password system, players will have the opportunity to form groups with one another, customizing the pool of people available for communication via messages and bloodstains. Miyazaki noted that there would not be a limit to how many people could be in each group, giving players even more agency when it comes to Elden Ring multiplayer.
![Elden Ring Brings Back Dark Souls Bloodstains & Messages In a New Way](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Elden-Ring-Boss.jpg)
This interview adds to the slowly building list of Elden Ring information revealed over the past few weeks and months, and gives more reason for fans to believe that this new entry will be a big departure from previous FromSoftware games. While the return to a classic fantasy environment is certainly reminiscent of Dark Souls and Demon’s Souls, the open-world setting and collaboration with George R.R. Martin suggest a heavier focus on exploration and storytelling. With the revamping of classic FromSoftware multiplayer functionality and reintegration of the vertical movement mechanics of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Elden Ring also seems to be borrowing the best parts of earlier Soulsborne games.
While the limits of Elden Ring‘s multiplayer might not satisfy everyone, the game looks to switch things up in interesting ways for a Miyazaki-directed game. The customization options that will be provided to players when it comes to who they play with could potentially help build a strong community around the game in a way that wasn’t possible in previous entries. However Elden Ring‘s multiplayer shakes out, it is sure to give gamers a lot to chew on leading up to the game’s release.
Elden Ring will be available on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC on January 21, 2022.