It has been a strange old year, but at Edge we’re determined to close it out with a bang. With FromSoftware’s much-anticipated Elden Ring just a few weeks away from release, we sat down with Hidetaka Miyazaki for an expansive interview to talk about development of the studio’s open-world epic.
It’s a rare chance to hear from one of the industry’s most respected creators, and so for our longest Miyazaki interview to date, we called upon former Edge staffer Jason Killingsworth – who literally wrote the book on Dark Souls – to discuss all things Elden Ring, from working with George RR Martin to the challenge of developing the game during a pandemic, and the story behind the character on this month’s beautiful cover, Godfrey the First Lord.
“Elden Ring is based on a culmination of everything we’ve done with the Dark Souls series and with our games thus far,” Miyazaki tells us, suggesting that the studio has drawn upon all its knowledge and experience to “create a brand-new whole that wouldn’t have been possible before.”
As those fortunate enough to spend time in the network test will doubtless affirm, The Lands Between is one of the most fascinating, mysterious sandboxes we’ve encountered to date. “We wanted to create this world that was full of the joy of exploration of the unknown,” Miyazaki says. “So we wanted to create lots of enticing things for the budding adventurer.”
“Variety is something we strived for when creating this game, and something I believe we’ve managed to achieve,” he adds. “I believe it will be our best [game] to date.”
There’s much, much more to discover in our huge 16-page feature – and that’s just for starters. Elsewhere in E367, we revisit FromSoftware’s fantasy mech game Frame Gride, and explain why the studio’s most unsung release deserves another chance. We talk to Night School Studio about the making of Oxenfree, and the two musicians responsible for bringing Kirby to the Grammys.
If that wasn’t enough, we’ve also got 2021’s biggest Play section, with no fewer than 15 games reviewed, including our now-annual catch-up of the games we missed throughout the year. Which means alongside the definitive verdict on Halo Infinite you’ll find Battlefield 2042, Solar Ash and The Gunk rubbing shoulders with Cruis’n Blast, Dungeon Encounters, The Eternal Cylinder and Unsighted.
You’ll have to pick up the issue to find out which of those games makes an eleventh-hour appearance in The Edge Awards, in which we commemorate the very best of 2021, including crowning our Game Of The Year. Because for all that’s bad in the world at the moment, there are some things worth celebrating.
We’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all well for the New Year, while fulfilling our contractual obligation to remind you that E367 is on sale now.
