It took years, but gamers are finally getting an idea of what to expect from Elden Ring, the next big game being developed by FromSoftware. With Elden Ring gameplay shown off during Summer Game Fest, and rumors of more news to come in the next few days, fans are getting inundated with details about the game. Even Game Director Hidetaka Miyazaki is opening up now, as evidenced by a new Famitsu interview.
While the interview has been translated by Google and some of Miyazaki’s meaning may have been lost, there’s still a healthy chunk of new information to be learned from the interview. Among them is a general feel of Elden Ring’s length, and it turns out that it will be the biggest FromSoftware game yet.
When asked if he was sure Elden Ring is the “it is the largest game from FromSoftware,” Miyazaki offered a simple “yes” in response. In terms of specific playtime, Miyazaki admitted that it wasn’t an easy question for him, which does indicate that total playtime will range depending on how much players want to sink their teeth into Elden Ring. However, Miyazaki stated that he had been playing for about 30 hours without a lot of detours.
Miyazaki went on to state that his intention was to “expand from play without detours and to have very large depth.” The nature of the translation makes Miyazaki’s meaning a bit more ambiguous, but there are two primary scenarios that seem likely. The first is that Miyazaki is focusing his efforts on Elden Ring’s main story, which sounds like it takes about 30 hours to complete. Alternatively, it’s possible that the game has about 30 hours of completed main content currently, and that the team is still working on other, “detour” content.
There’s a solid six months before Elden Ring’s release date arrives, and there’s always the possibility of delays, so there’s likely still content being implemented into the game. Regardless, FromSoftware games are often hailed for their replayability, and with Elden Ring being the biggest of them yet, fans shouldn’t be lacking content when the game finally arrives.
For reference, How Long to Beat logs Dark Souls 3 at 32 hours if players focus on the main story and about 47.5 hours for players that do the main story and some additional content. Miyazaki is giving an approximation here, and there will likely be more side content given Elden Ring’s open-ended nature. Together, that should help push playtime to new heights.
Elden Ring will release on January 21, 2022, for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
Source: Famitsu, How Long to Beat
