Elden Ring - Why Miyazaki and Martin Make a Lot of Sense Together

11 months ago, also known as "The Before Times," FromSoft announced a new game: Elden Ring, which would be a collaboration between Hidetaka Miyazaki (definitely not to be confused with Hayao Miyazaki) and George R. R. Martin.

On the surface, a fantasy writer my dad's age and a Japanese video-game auteur might seem like an odd team to collaborate. Sure, Miyazaki makes games in the dark fantasy genre, and Martin is arguably the most famous name in the dark fantasy fiction (though I've always contended that Stephen King is more of a dark fantasy writer than a horror writer - admittedly, the work I associate most with him is The Dark Tower, so... you know. You could argue that the only difference between dark magical realism and horror is what you call it.)

But the more I think about it, the more I realize how perfect a match it is:

With... oh, you know, a bit of spare time for the past couple months, I've gone down a real rabbit hole, watching YouTube videos about A Song of Ice and Fire (Martin's books the show was based on, the first of which was "A Game of Thrones.") It's preposterous how much is going on in those books - and all the incredibly subtle details that exist below the surface.

For example, you remember how Sam goes to Old Town and studies to be a Maester for a couple episodes in the show? In the books, Old Town is fleshed out a lot more, and we hear about magical artifacts called Glass Candles, there's an ancient fort that might have been built by Deep Ones straight out of H. P. Lovecraft, and the Maester who is basically the "department head" of magical study has connections to Mirri Maz Duur (the lady who "cures" Khal Drogo at the cost of Dany's unborn child) and Quaithe (the lady with the wooden lacquered mask Dany meets in Qarth in season two, who herself seems to be magically communicating to Dany in her dreams over the course of the books.)

The point is, the books are filled with subtle clues and hints at plots going on under the surface. Euron's (way scarier and more interesting in the books) blue lips mean he's been in contact with the warlocks of the House of the Undying, and there's even some evidence to suggest that the Targaryens collaborated with the House of Black and White (the assassin cult Arya trains with in Braavos) to destroy Valyria hundreds of years ago, paying the assassins with gold they got from Casterly Rock (the Lannister hometown) in exchange for a Valyrian Steel sword.

None of this is stated explicitly, but it's all there if you know where to look (and maybe get the aid of other eagle-eyed readers putting their theories together.)

The thing is, the Soulsborne games do exactly the same thing, only in the language of video games.

Consider how the clothing worn by the Arianna, the prostitute, in Bloodborne seems to tie her to the pseudo-vampires of Cainhurst, which might explain why the pious nun, Adela, will murder Arianna if you take too many blood ministrations from her. It could also explain why Arianna gives birth to an alien baby once the game enters its third, Paleblood Moon phase - that maybe the corrupted blood of Cainhurst makes her more susceptible to the effects of the moon.

To be fair, Martin does have a far more straightforward plot going on in his books. Miyazaki's works tend to require that interpretation to understand what's going on.

But I imagine that Elden Ring, whenever it comes out, will probably be incredibly deep in terms of background lore, which is something I'm looking forward to.

Elden Ring: A New Game from From Software and George R. R. Martin

We don't have a ton of details, but after leaks about a week ago, Elden Ring has been announced as a new collaboration between FromSoft, the makers of punishingly difficult games like Dark Souls, and George R. R. Martin, author of the punishingly subversive fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire (which you might know better by the name of its TV adaptation, a little show called Game of Thrones.)

Honestly, it's a good match, given that Martin is someone who builds incredibly detailed worlds and then just barely hints at the details (if you've only seen the show and not read the books, it's amazing how many subtle stories are going on in the background and backstory of the series.) Meanwhile, FromSoft's most famous franchise, the Soulsborne games (Dark Souls I-III, Demon Souls, and Bloodborne) also have a profound number of mysteries and details that you really have to dig through in order to get the whole story.

Now, I don't know if Hidetaka Miyazaki (not to be confused with Hayao,) the auteur behind the Soulsborne games, is involved in this new project, but if we are to assume that it at least carries some of the ethos of those (which. to be fair, is an assumption, as FromSoft has definitely made other types of games,) we can probably expect a bleak, difficult, and dense game out of Elden Ring, which leaks suggest involves your character traveling from kingdom to kingdom to assassinate the leaders of each land.

UPDATE: Yes, Hidetaka Miyazaki is involved. Which means this is going to be good.

"Shadows Die Twice" is Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Well, I sure as hell want to see a Bloodborne II, but the "Shadows Die Twice" teaser From released a while back is not that.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice appears to be set in a Medieval Japan or a Japan-like fantasy world. It appears you will play as a ninja who has seemingly died but been brought back with a strange artificial arm (the object in the teaser) and you can apparently come back from the dead.

It's unclear if this is going to be a Soulslike game or something else, but the tone certainly looks distinct with its apparent emphasis on something of a more straightforward story (though I can't comment too much on that as the trailer more or less just shows the ninja being badass and fighting some giant dude.

I'm still hoping we might get a Bloodborne II at some point, but we're going to have to table it for now.